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Preservation of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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{{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1726}}| | {{Quote|{{Muslim|4|1726}}| | ||
Ibn Mas'ud reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Wretched is the man who says: I forgot such and such a sura, or I forget such and such a verse, but he has been made to forget.}} | Ibn Mas'ud reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Wretched is the man who says: I forgot such and such a sura, or I forget such and such a verse, but he has been made to forget.}} | ||
==Claims of Missing Verses== | ==Claims of Missing Verses== | ||
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{{Quote|{{Muslim|17|4194}}|Abdullah b. 'Abbas reported that 'Umar b. Khattab sat on the pulpit of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Verily Allah sent Muhammad (may peace be upon him) with truth and He sent down the Book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him. We recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) awarded the punishment of stoning to death (to the married adulterer and adulteress) and, after him, we also awarded the punishment of stoning, I am afraid that with the lapse of time, the people (may forget it) and may say: We do not find the punishment of stoning in the Book of Allah, and thus go astray by abandoning this duty prescribed by Allah. Stoning is a duty laid down in Allah's Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established, or it there is pregnancy, or a confession.}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|17|4194}}|Abdullah b. 'Abbas reported that 'Umar b. Khattab sat on the pulpit of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said: Verily Allah sent Muhammad (may peace be upon him) with truth and He sent down the Book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sent down to him. We recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) awarded the punishment of stoning to death (to the married adulterer and adulteress) and, after him, we also awarded the punishment of stoning, I am afraid that with the lapse of time, the people (may forget it) and may say: We do not find the punishment of stoning in the Book of Allah, and thus go astray by abandoning this duty prescribed by Allah. Stoning is a duty laid down in Allah's Book for married men and women who commit adultery when proof is established, or it there is pregnancy, or a confession.}} | ||
[[Al-Nurayn and Al-Wilaya|Al-Nurayn and al-Wilaya]] are two surahs (chapters) that are claimed to be included in the Qur'an by some Shi'ite sects. These sects | [[Al-Nurayn and Al-Wilaya|Al-Nurayn and al-Wilaya]] are two surahs (chapters) that are claimed to be included in the Qur'an by the scholars of some Shi'ite sects. These sects argue that Ali had a different copy of the Qur'an as compared with the third Caliph Uthman. Sunni Muslims scholars see claims of the existence of these verses as frauds. Sunni scholars often allege that they are forgeries intended to increase animosity towards the Shi'ite Muslims in the Sunni world. | ||
==The Satanic Verses== | ==The Satanic Verses== | ||
The famous [[Satanic Verses]] were verses of the Qur'an which Muhammad | The famous [[Satanic Verses]] were verses of the Qur'an which Muhammad received but later claimed came from Satan and not Allah, calling for the worship of the pagan "daughters of Allah" that were supposedly worshiped by the Meccans. There are reports of this incident in all major tafsirs to demonstrate this was an actual event during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. | ||
{{quote | {{cite quran|53|19|end=22|style=ref}} | Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza,<BR>And another, the third (goddess), Manat?<BR>What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female?<BR>Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair!}} | {{quote | {{cite quran|53|19|end=22|style=ref}} | Have ye seen Lat. and 'Uzza,<BR>And another, the third (goddess), Manat?<BR>What! for you the male sex, and for Him, the female?<BR>Behold, such would be indeed a division most unfair!}} | ||
So the story goes, under increasing pressure and boycotts from the pagan Meccans, a weakened and precarious Muhammad accommodated the Meccan pagans by adding verses acknowledging the existence of the three pagan goddesses Lat, Uzza, and Manat, alongside Allah. | |||
===Ibn Ishaq=== | ===Ibn Ishaq=== | ||
From Ibn Ishaq's "[[Sirat Rasul Allah]]". (Ibn Ishaq is the earliest extant Islamic historian to chronicle the life and times of Muhammad, though his work is only preserved in the later text of his pupil ibn Hisham | From Ibn Ishaq's "[[Sirat Rasul Allah]]". (Ibn Ishaq is the earliest extant Islamic historian to chronicle the life and times of Muhammad, though his work is only preserved in the later text of his pupil ibn Hisham): | ||
{{Quote||Because of his love for his people and his anxiety over them it would delight him if the obstacle that made his task so difficult could be removed; so that he meditated on the project and longed for it and it was dear to him. Then God sent down 'By the star when it sets your comrade errs not and is not deceived, he speaks not from his own desire,' and when he reached His words 'Have you thought of al-Lat and al-'Uzza and Manat the third, the other', Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it (sc. reconciliation) to his people, put upon his tongue 'these are the exalted Gharaniq whose intercession is approved.' When Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him; while the believers were holding that what their prophet brought them from their Lord was true, not suspecting a mistake or a vain desire or a slip, and when he reached the prostration 3 and the end of the Sura in which he prostrated himself the Muslims prostrated themselves when their prophet prostrated confirming what he brought and obeying his command...<ref name="Ishaq Satanic Verses">Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, Translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, (Re-issued in Karachi, Pakistan, 1967, 13th impression, 1998) 1955, p. 146-148.</ref>}} | {{Quote||Because of his love for his people and his anxiety over them it would delight him if the obstacle that made his task so difficult could be removed; so that he meditated on the project and longed for it and it was dear to him. Then God sent down 'By the star when it sets your comrade errs not and is not deceived, he speaks not from his own desire,' and when he reached His words 'Have you thought of al-Lat and al-'Uzza and Manat the third, the other', Satan, when he was meditating upon it, and desiring to bring it (sc. reconciliation) to his people, put upon his tongue 'these are the exalted Gharaniq whose intercession is approved.' When Quraysh heard that, they were delighted and greatly pleased at the way in which he spoke of their gods and they listened to him; while the believers were holding that what their prophet brought them from their Lord was true, not suspecting a mistake or a vain desire or a slip, and when he reached the prostration 3 and the end of the Sura in which he prostrated himself the Muslims prostrated themselves when their prophet prostrated confirming what he brought and obeying his command...<ref name="Ishaq Satanic Verses">Ibn Ishaq, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, Translated by A. Guillaume, Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, (Re-issued in Karachi, Pakistan, 1967, 13th impression, 1998) 1955, p. 146-148.</ref>}} | ||
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No copy of the Uthmanic rescension exists despite its centrality as the Ur-Qur'an of all modern readings, so no confirmation is available via comparison with it. A very old palimpset (imprinted scroll which was washed and written over) is extant from Sana'a, Yemen, which contains variants not found in any of the accepted readings of the Qur'an. The Islamic narrative itself comes to us mostly through the hadith tradition, which has been proven since Ignac Goldziher in the 19th century to be unreliable due to the nature of the "asaanid" or chains of authority supporting the hadith and the immense gulf of time between when the hadith were collected and when Muhammad lived. In addition the earliest copies of the Qur'an lack vowel and many diacritic markings, indicating that they were more a guide for memorization than the fully-fleshed out text that is extant today. | No copy of the Uthmanic rescension exists despite its centrality as the Ur-Qur'an of all modern readings, so no confirmation is available via comparison with it. A very old palimpset (imprinted scroll which was washed and written over) is extant from Sana'a, Yemen, which contains variants not found in any of the accepted readings of the Qur'an. The Islamic narrative itself comes to us mostly through the hadith tradition, which has been proven since Ignac Goldziher in the 19th century to be unreliable due to the nature of the "asaanid" or chains of authority supporting the hadith and the immense gulf of time between when the hadith were collected and when Muhammad lived. In addition the earliest copies of the Qur'an lack vowel and many diacritic markings, indicating that they were more a guide for memorization than the fully-fleshed out text that is extant today. | ||
==Conclusion== | ==Conclusion== | ||