Short answer
Not in the way the Qur'an was. By the Buddhists' own chronicles, the monks handed the Buddha's teaching down by memory alone. Only later, in Sri Lanka, under King Vattagamani, did they write it down, so that the teaching would not be lost. Wilhelm Geiger, who translated one chronicle, dates this to the first century BCE, more than four hundred years after the Buddha's death. One of them, the Dipavamsa, says that long before then, rival monks had altered the texts, moved discourses about and composed new ones. The Buddha also let monks learn his words each in his own dialect. In its own scripture, the Buddha even says the true teaching would last only five hundred years. The Qur'an was written down as it came, by scribes in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime. His first successor gathered it into one book.
Full explanation
The teaching was to be the Teacher
Before he died, the Buddha told his monks that the teaching and training he had given would be their Teacher after his passing. So everything depended on keeping that teaching whole.
“The teaching and training that I have taught and pointed out for you shall be your Teacher after my passing.”
Carried by memory, written down centuries later
Two chronicles from Sri Lanka, the Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, tell how the scriptures were kept. Monks handed down the three collections of scripture, called the Tipitaka, and their commentary by memory. In the reign of King Vattagamani, the monks saw that people were falling away. So they met and wrote the scriptures down in books, so that the teaching would last. Wilhelm Geiger, who translated the Mahavamsa, puts the Buddha's death at about 483 BCE, a rough date. He puts this king's reign in the first century BCE.
“Before this time, the wise Bhikkhus had orally handed down the text of the three Pitakas and also the Atthakatha. At this time, the Bhikkhus who perceived the decay of created beings, assembled and in order that the Religion might endure for a long time, they recorded (the above-mentioned texts) in written books.”
“The text of the three pitakas and the atthakatha thereon did the most wise bhikkhus hand down in former times orally, but since they saw that the people were falling away (from religion) the bhikkhus came together, and in order that the true doctrine might endure, they wrote them down in books.”
Geiger, the chronicle's translator, gives about 483 BCE as the probable year of the Buddha's death, and stresses that the date is only approximate. He places the beginning of the second half of King Vattagamani's reign at the end of 29 or the beginning of 28 BCE, and his return to the throne about ten years earlier by the chronicle's own figures.
Other versions, by the chronicle's own account
The Dipavamsa says that after the Second Council, about a hundred years after the Buddha, monks it calls wicked held a rival Great Council. They changed the original order and moved teachings from one place to another. They also made up other teachings, and another Vinaya, the monks' rule book, that only looked genuine. The chronicle counts seventeen such schools within two hundred years of the Buddha. It calls its own school the only one with nothing left out and nothing added. So by the Theravada's own history, more than one version of the scriptures was being recited long before any was written down.
“When the first hundred years had been completed and the second century had begun, a great schism happened, a most violent one, in the doctrine of the Theras.”
“The Bhikkhus of the Great Council settled a doctrine contrary (to the true Faith). Altering the original redaction they made another redaction. They transposed Suttas which belonged to one place (of the collection), to another place; they destroyed the (true) meaning and the Faith, in the Vinaya and in the five Collections (of Suttas).”
“Rejecting single passages of the Suttas and of the profound Vinaya, they composed other Suttas and another Vinaya which had (only) the appearance (of the genuine ones).”
“The most excellent Theravada which resembles a large banyan tree, is the complete doctrine of the Jina, free from omissions or additions. The other schools arose as thorns grow on the tree. In the first century there were no schisms; in the second century arose the seventeen heretical schools in the religion of the Jina.”
- About 483 BCE
The Buddha dies
His teaching is to be the monks' Teacher after him.
- Soon after
The first council
The elders give six answers on which minor rules he let go.
- About a century after
A rival council
By the Dipavamsa's account, monks alter the arrangement and compose other discourses.
- First century BCE
Written down in Sri Lanka
Under King Vattagamani, after centuries carried by memory.
Each in his own dialect
The monks' rule book tells of monks from the priestly class who complained about other monks. Monks from many backgrounds, they said, were spoiling the word of the Buddhas by repeating it in their own dialects. They asked to put it into Sanskrit verse instead. The Buddha refused. He allowed each monk to learn his word in his own dialect, as the nineteenth-century translators read the phrase. So from the start, the teaching travelled in more than one form of speech.
“At the present time, Lord, Bhikkhus, differing in name, differing in lineage, differing in birth, differing in family, have gone forth (from the world). These corrupt the word of the Buddhas by (repeating it in) their own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the word of the Buddhas into (Sanskrit) verse.”
“You are not, O Bhikkhus, to put the word of the Buddhas into (Sanskrit) verse. Whosoever does so, shall be guilty of a dukkata. I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in his own dialect.”
Rules he let go, but no one knew which
Before he died, the Buddha said that after his passing the monks could, if they wished, abolish the lesser and minor training rules. At the first council, held soon after his death, Ananda told the elder monks of this. They asked whether he had asked the Buddha which rules those were. He had not. The elders then gave six different answers. In the end Maha Kassapa had the council keep every rule as laid down, and the elders told Ananda to confess a fault for not asking. So at the first council, his closest followers could not say what his parting permission covered.
“If it wishes, after my passing the Saṅgha may abolish the lesser and minor training rules.”
“'The Blessed One, Sirs, at the time of his passing away, spake thus to me: "When I am gone, Ananda, let the Samgha, if it should so wish, revoke all the lesser and minor precepts."' 'Did you then, venerable Ananda, ask the Blessed One which were the lesser and minor precepts?' 'No, Sirs.'”
“Some Theras then said that all the rules save the four Paragikas; others that all save those and the thirteen Samghadisesas; others that all save those and the two Aniyatas; others that all save those and the thirty Nissaggiyas; others that all save those and the ninety-two Pakittiyas; others that all save those and the four Patidesaniyas were lesser and minor precepts.”
“If the time seems meet to the Samgha, not ordaining what has not been ordained, and not revoking what has been ordained, let it take upon itself and ever direct itself in the precepts according as they have been laid down. This is the resolution.”
“'That was ill done by thee, friend Ananda, in that thou didst not ask the Blessed One which were the lesser and minor precepts. Confess thy fault.' 'Through forgetfulness was it, Sirs, that I did not ask that of the Blessed One. I see no fault therein. Nevertheless, out of my faith in you, I confess that as a fault.'”
A true teaching that would last five hundred years
In one of the Numbered Discourses, the Buddha says that if women had not been allowed to become nuns, the true teaching would have lasted a thousand years. Because they had been allowed, it would last only five hundred years. Geiger puts the Buddha's death at about 483 BCE. By that date, even a thousand years ran out in the sixth century CE. So either the Buddha's prediction failed, or, by his own words, the true teaching is already gone.
“Ānanda, if ladies had not gained the going forth from the lay life to homelessness in the teaching and training proclaimed by the Realized One, the spiritual life would have lasted long. The true teaching would have remained for a thousand years. But since they have gained the going forth, now the spiritual life will not last long. The true teaching will remain only five hundred years.”
Geiger, the chronicle's translator, gives about 483 BCE as the probable year of the Buddha's death, and stresses that the date is only approximate. He places the beginning of the second half of King Vattagamani's reign at the end of 29 or the beginning of 28 BCE, and his return to the throne about ten years earlier by the chronicle's own figures.
A test any reader can apply
Ask three questions of any scripture. Was it written down while the one who brought it was alive, by people who heard it from him? Was it checked with him while he lived? And does its own community's record say that parts were changed? By its own chronicles, the Pali canon was carried by memory for centuries, rival versions were recited, and the writing down came long after the Buddha.
“Before this time, the wise Bhikkhus had orally handed down the text of the three Pitakas and also the Atthakatha. At this time, the Bhikkhus who perceived the decay of created beings, assembled and in order that the Religion might endure for a long time, they recorded (the above-mentioned texts) in written books.”
“The Bhikkhus of the Great Council settled a doctrine contrary (to the true Faith). Altering the original redaction they made another redaction. They transposed Suttas which belonged to one place (of the collection), to another place; they destroyed the (true) meaning and the Faith, in the Vinaya and in the five Collections (of Suttas).”
Geiger, the chronicle's translator, gives about 483 BCE as the probable year of the Buddha's death, and stresses that the date is only approximate. He places the beginning of the second half of King Vattagamani's reign at the end of 29 or the beginning of 28 BCE, and his return to the throne about ten years earlier by the chronicle's own figures.
What the Qur'an says and what the record shows
The Qur'an says God (﷾) sent down the Message and will guard it, and that falsehood cannot come near it. Zayd ibn Thabit used to write down the revelation for the Prophet (ﷺ). Gabriel went over the whole Qur'an with him every year, and twice in the year he died. After his death, Abu Bakr, the first leader after him, had Zayd gather the written pieces and the memorised text into one volume.
“We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).”
“No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it: It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of all Praise.”
Zayd ibn Thabit reports that after many who knew the Qur'an by heart were killed at Yamama, Abu Bakr asked him to gather the Qur'an into one volume, reminding him that he used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah. Zayd collected it from written pieces and from the memories of men, and the finished copy passed from Abu Bakr to Umar and then to Hafsa.
Abu Hurayra reports that Gabriel went over the Qur'an with the Prophet (ﷺ) once every year, and twice in the year he died.
The usual answers
Sahih al-Bukhari 4986 — Kitab Fada'il al-Qur'an (Virtues of the Qur'an), hadith 4986
Zayd ibn Thabit reports that after many who knew the Qur'an by heart were killed at Yamama, Abu Bakr asked him to gather the Qur'an into one volume, reminding him that he used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah. Zayd collected it from written pieces and from the memories of men, and the finished copy passed from Abu Bakr to Umar and then to Hafsa.
Cited for
Abu Bakr also had the Qur'an gathered after reciters were killed. Muslims wrote their scripture down to stop it being lost, just as the monks did.
The response
The Qur'an was already written down in pieces as it came, in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime, by scribes such as Zayd. Abu Bakr had those written pieces gathered into one volume, checked against the men who knew it by heart, soon after the Prophet's (ﷺ) death. The monks, by their own chronicles, had nothing written for centuries.
Where it lands — The Qur'an was gathered from what was written in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime. The Pali canon was first written centuries after the Buddha.
Qur'an 33:63 — Surat al-Ahzab (The Clans), verse 63
“Men ask thee concerning the Hour: Say, "The knowledge thereof is with Allah (alone)": and what will make thee understand?- perchance the Hour is nigh!”
Cited for
The Qur'an also says the Hour is near, and it has not come.
The response
The Qur'an says the knowledge of when the Hour comes is with God (﷾) alone, and that it may be near. It gives no date. The Buddha gave a number: the true teaching would remain five hundred years.
Where it lands — The Qur'an set no date for the Hour. The Buddha set a span, and it has passed.
Perspectives
Theravada Buddhist
The monks were trained reciters who chanted the texts together. So memory kept the texts faithfully until they were written down. The Buddha also gave a test for any teaching said to be his.
The monks handed the texts down by memory with great care, and wrote them down only so that they would not be lost. Nothing was changed.
Rebuttal
The same chronicle says that a rival council of monks changed the original order, moved teachings around, and made up other teachings and another Vinaya, the monks' rule book. So memory did not keep one text. It kept several, and the Theravada says only its own is genuine.
The Buddha gave a test: a teaching said to be his must fit the discourses and appear in the training. The Pali canon passes it.
Rebuttal
That test checks a new saying against the texts a community already has. It cannot show that those texts were kept unchanged. And the chronicles tell of rival schools, each with its own texts.
'In his own dialect' means in the Buddha's own language, so the teaching stayed in one tongue.
Rebuttal
Whatever the ruling meant, the complaint behind it shows what was already happening. Monks from many backgrounds were repeating the word of the Buddhas in their own dialects, and others said they were spoiling it.
The council kept every rule, so nothing the Buddha laid down was lost.
Rebuttal
The permission was never used, because no one knew what it covered: the elders gave six different answers. A founder whose parting permission his closest followers could not understand did not leave a settled law. The Qur'an says God (﷾) perfected the religion, and Umar said that verse came down at Arafat, while the Prophet (ﷺ) was alive. So the religion was complete before he died.
The Buddha laid down eight rules of respect as a dam, a safeguard. Through them the true teaching would still last the full thousand years.
Rebuttal
Even a thousand years, counted from about 483 BCE, ended in the sixth century CE. Today is long past the span the Buddha gave, by either count.
The five hundred years are only the first stage of a long decline. The teaching itself is still here.
Rebuttal
The words are that the true teaching will remain only five hundred years. If it is still here, those words failed. If it is not, Buddhists today do not have it.
What the record shows
By the Theravada's own chronicles, the scriptures were carried by memory for centuries. They were written down in Sri Lanka in the first century BCE, after rival versions had already been recited.
The Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa say the monks handed down the Tipitaka by word of mouth. They wrote it down in the reign of King Vattagamani.
Geiger puts the Buddha's death at about 483 BCE, a rough date, and Vattagamani's reign in the first century BCE.
The Dipavamsa says a rival council altered the original redaction and composed other discourses and another Vinaya.
The Vinaya says the elders at the first council could not agree which rules were the lesser and minor ones. So they kept them all.
The Buddha says the true teaching would remain only five hundred years, instead of a thousand.
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an was written down as it was revealed, reviewed with the Prophet (ﷺ) every year, and gathered into one volume by his first successor. God (﷾) promised to guard it.
The Qur'an says God (﷾) sent down the Message and will guard it, and that no falsehood can approach it.
Zayd ibn Thabit used to write down the revelation for the Prophet (ﷺ). Later he gathered the Qur'an into one volume for Abu Bakr.
Gabriel went over the Qur'an with the Prophet (ﷺ) once every year, and twice in the year he died.
The Qur'an says God (﷾) perfected the religion and completed His favour. Umar said the verse came down at Arafat, in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime.