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Preservation of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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Muslims say the [[Qur'an]] has been perfectly preserved, but is this claim true? The textual integrity of scripture is an important topic in Muslim circles and will be brought up by both Islamic scholars and non-scholars alike. The Muslim argument says that the text of the Qur'an today is identical to that received by [[Muhammad]]. However, there are some problems with this argument. | Muslims say the [[Qur'an]] has been perfectly preserved, but is this claim true? The textual integrity of scripture is an important topic in Muslim circles and will be brought up by both Islamic scholars and non-scholars alike. The Muslim argument says that the text of the Qur'an today is identical to that received by Prophet [[Muhammad]]. However, there are some problems with this argument. | ||
==First Problem== | ==First Problem== | ||
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==Fourth Problem== | ==Fourth Problem== | ||
You have probably heard about the [[Satanic Verses]] incident where Muhammad tried to reconcile differences with pagans. There are reports of this incident in all major tafsirs to demonstrate this was an actual event during the time of the | You have probably heard about the [[Satanic Verses]] incident where Muhammad tried to reconcile differences with pagans. 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!}} | ||
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===Ibn Ishaq=== | ===Ibn Ishaq=== | ||
From Ibn Ishaq's "[[Sirat Rasul Allah]]". (Ibn Ishaq is the earliest known Islamic | From Ibn Ishaq's "[[Sirat Rasul Allah]]". (Ibn Ishaq is the earliest known Islamic historian.) | ||
{{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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===Al-Tabari=== | ===Al-Tabari=== | ||
Al-Tabari was an early and prolific Islamic | Al-Tabari was an early and prolific Islamic historian who also recorded the Satanic verses incident. | ||
{{Quote||Then God revealed: | {{Quote||Then God revealed: | ||
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==Fifth Problem== | ==Fifth Problem== | ||
We know from various sources that the | We know from various sources that the third caliph Uthman ordered various copies of the Qur'an to be burnt because there were clear differences in the recitation of Qur'an among people of Sham and people of Iraq. The differences were so great Uthman and his companions feared future dispute about true Qur'an. (We are not talking about pronunciations, but the contents). So Uthman asked Hafsa for her copy and he ordered to make many copies of Qur'an and to burn and destroy all the existing copies of the Qur'an. Uthman ordered others to accept Hafsa's copy as the official Qur'anic text. This shows that memorization had failed to completely preserve the Qur'an (meaning recitation) in its original form but help of text was taken. | ||
{{Quote|{{Bukhari|6|61|510}}| | {{Quote|{{Bukhari|6|61|510}}| | ||
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==Sixth problem== | ==Sixth problem== | ||
The compilation of the Qur'an was clearly a very human process involving trial and error, educated guesses, faulty memories, fallible opinions, disagreements, mistakes, ignorance, and bad decisions. And we can't forget, of course, the pile of manuscripts reduced to ashes by Uthman in his desperate attempt to destroy all evidence that the Qur'an hadn't been perfectly preserved. The early Muslim community left modern Muslims with a huge mess to clean up if they want to cling to the | The compilation of the Qur'an was clearly a very human process involving trial and error, educated guesses, faulty memories, fallible opinions, disagreements, mistakes, ignorance, and bad decisions. And we can't forget, of course, the pile of manuscripts reduced to ashes by Uthman in his desperate attempt to destroy all evidence that the Qur'an hadn't been perfectly preserved. The early Muslim community left modern Muslims with a huge mess to clean up if they want to cling to the belief that the Qur'an was perfectly preserved as you can see in this hadith; | ||
{{Quote|{{Muslim|5|2286}}| Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur'an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara'at. '''I have, however, forgotten it''' with the exception of this which I remember out of it: "If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust." And we used to recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and '''I have forgotten it''', but remember (this much) out of it: "O people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise" (lxi. 2) and "that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection"}} | {{Quote|{{Muslim|5|2286}}| Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur'an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara'at. '''I have, however, forgotten it''' with the exception of this which I remember out of it: "If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust." And we used to recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and '''I have forgotten it''', but remember (this much) out of it: "O people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise" (lxi. 2) and "that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection"}} | ||
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The earliest found copies of the Qur'an do not have diacritical marks, and evidence points to 'trifling' changes made to the Uthmanic recension.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web |last=Taher |first=Abul |title=Querying the Koran |work=The Guardian |date=2000-08-08 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4048586,00.html |}} | The earliest found copies of the Qur'an do not have diacritical marks, and evidence points to 'trifling' changes made to the Uthmanic recension.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web |last=Taher |first=Abul |title=Querying the Koran |work=The Guardian |date=2000-08-08 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4048586,00.html |}} | ||
</ref> Multiple people collected the Qur'an after Muhammad's death. Differences existed among the various versions of the Qur'an before Caliph Uthman decided to burn all the copies except one. Muhammad himself forgot Qur'anic verses. Some verses, like the ones for stoning, are missing from the Qur'an we have today. We can thus conclude from Islamic sources that the Qur'an has not been perfectly preserved and today's text is not exactly the same as recited by Muhammad. | </ref> Multiple people collected the Qur'an after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]]. Differences existed among the various versions of the Qur'an before Caliph Uthman decided to burn all the copies except one. Muhammad himself forgot Qur'anic verses. Some verses, like the ones for stoning, are missing from the Qur'an we have today. We can thus conclude from Islamic sources that the Qur'an has not been perfectly preserved and today's text is not exactly the same as recited by Muhammad. | ||
{{Core Scripture}} | {{Core Scripture}} | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
*[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Text/ Textual Variants of the Qur'an] ''- Answering Islam'' | *[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Text/ Textual Variants of the Qur'an] ''- [[Answering Islam]]'' | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||