Preservation of the Quran

[Joseph Islam]

PRESERVATION OF THE QURAN

In my articles, readers would have noted that I have respectfully argued from a Quranic perspective that only one transmission of the Quran was inspired to the Prophet who recited it in one form. [1] The Quran was also being penned by noble scribes (plural) (80:15-16) during the Prophetic ministry on parchments (80:13).

There is every possibility that different copies of verses / surah's / Quran were made by the different scribes. This cannot be ruled out. The Quran also was put together and arranged in an appropriate order during the Prophetic ministry (25:32) and overseen by the Prophet himself (73:4). The Quran was recited in the Prophet's company at times for prolonged periods. (73:20). The religion was completed / perfected for the Arabs during the Prophet's ministry (5:3) which alludes by implication, to a completed revelation which underpinned it.
 
There is every possibility that numerous written copies of the Quran were in situ at the time of the Prophet's ministry. I have yet to see convincing proof from the Quran to argue against this assertion.

Absence of those very manuscripts today is not unequivocal proof that they did not exist.

However, these written codices were only a backup to a primary oral narration which was memorised en masse and arguably remained the primary mode of transmission. This tradition continues today. The majority reading today is in the HAFS transmission which is recited by approx 95% of the Muslim world. [1]

Unless an individual can produce every single written codex of the Quran ever written during the Prophet's ministry and immediately afterwards to assess the 'majority reading' based on written codices alone, I respectfully posit that no soul on Earth can assert 'as fact' what the majority reading entailed based on transcriptions alone. The possession of isolated codices of the Quran from antiquity which exhibit different transmissions is not unequivocal proof.

There was only one reading that was inspired in the Prophet and transmitted en masse as the majority reading.

To support the common views of different transmissions and recitations authorised by the Prophet, I would humbly request clear evidence FROM THE QURAN (an NOT from Islamic secondary sources) that:

• The Quran was revealed in different recitation modes
• The Quran was revealed in different transmissions
• The Prophet sanctioned different recitation modes of the Quran
• The Prophet sanctioned different transmissions of the Quran

Unless, I am satisfied / convinced of a suitable response which presents unequivocal evidence as requested above, I humbly assert, that all the prevalent common views widely held are based simply on Islamic secondary sources [2], [3] and NOT the Quran.


REFERENCES

[1] THE COMPILATION OF THE QURAN
http://quransmessage.com/articles/the%20compilation%20of%20the%20quran%20FM3.htm
[2] ISLAMIC SECONDARY SOURCES
http://quransmessage.com/articles/hadith%20FM2.htm
[3] THE SEVEN AHRUF, RECITATIONS (QIRAAT), HAFS AND WARSH
http://quransmessage.com/articles/seven%20readings%20FM3.htm

[aledrus]

Dear Joseph

Do you think the Quran is preserved?

Can the Quran be modified?

A verse in the Quran says it is guarded, is there a possibility that this verse was "inserted" into the Quran? i.e. the Quran thus validating itself?

[Truth Seeker]

Salaam aledrus,

Joseph is currently unavailable at the moment. However, the articles that he shares in his post above clearly provide answers to your questions in detail. Please can you refer to them. Thanks

[Bassam Zawadi]

Joseph,

We do know that the Qur'an has been transmitted down the ages in different recitation modes. How do we explain the reality of this occurrence in light of the Qur'an alone? If we cannot, then how by using the Qur'an alone do we know which reading is the correct one to adhere to? We can't appeal to mutawattir, since more than one reading has been passed down to us in mutawatir form.

Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Bassam

[Joseph Islam]

We do know that the Qur'an has been transmitted down the ages in different recitation modes. How do we explain the reality of this occurrence in light of the Qur'an alone?

Dear brother Bassam,

May peace be with you.

I respectfully offer an article for your academic perusal cited below [1] and as a base for my response.

In the article, I argue based on purely a Quranic perspective that only one recitation left the Prophet during his ministry in his vernacular. Arguably, what we 'allegedly' know of the existence of 'different' recitation modes are from later sources which are not contemporaneous to the Prophetic ministry.

For example, purely from an academic perspective, if a 2nd century AH document cites the existence of 1000 recitations at the time of the Prophet, this does not make the claim true. This is simply a case of a later testimony by a people removed from the Prophetic ministry purporting to depict an earlier period. Therefore, the veracity of such a report is based simply on 'trust' of these sources and not necessarily the best historic evidence we have.

As I'm sure you will concur, that the earliest and the most authentic / reliable historical record we have of the Prophetic ministry is the Quran itself and I humbly contend that it is here that we must seek our primary evidence for the support of any religious claim including the one that you kindly share.

With utmost respect, hitherto I have yet to see any cogent unequivocal evidence from the Quran foremost, that it was revealed in either different 'Ahruf' or 'Qiraat'.

Hence, this is why I have often posited my request for evidence in the format below:

To support the common views of different transmissions and recitations authorised by the Prophet, I would humbly request clear evidence FROM THE QURAN (an NOT from Islamic secondary sources) that:

The Quran was revealed in different recitation modes
The Quran was revealed in different transmissions
The Prophet sanctioned different recitation modes of the Quran
The Prophet sanctioned different transmissions of the Quran

In my view, if we limit our evidence purely from a Quranic perspective, then I am inclined to respectfully posit that discussions of any variances are arguably mute.

Hence why I have argued that the HAFS transmission in the Qiraat that goes under the name / school Abu Bakr 'Asim recited by 95% of the Muslims world today is the one that has the greatest claim of authentic en masse propagation.

Please feel free to read my perspectives in the article and I will be more than happy to address any follow up questions that you may have in due course, God willing.

Yours respectfully,
Joseph. 


REFERENCE

[1] THE SEVEN AHRUF, RECITATIONS (QIRAAT), HAFS AND WARSH
http://quransmessage.com/articles/seven%20readings%20FM3.htm

[islamist]

Salaam!
Good analysis Joseph Islam!
Regards,
Islamist

[Mubashir]

Salam

Looking at the issue in a logical way, it is unimaginable that Allah would be revealing His Final Testament and steps are not taken immediately to preserve it. Even human authors make more efforts to make sure their manuscripts are safe and secure! We have these stories about the goat having eaten rajam verses, variant readings, Qurans burnt and a Final version retained, people reporting having no recollection about certain verses when they came accross them!!

If somebody manages to create a suspicion about the Quran we have today not the whole book, or the real book, or with inserted verses, then firstly the preservation promise of Allah goes down and then people are left wondering for life what is true and what is not.

To counter such objections, the Shias came up with the story that the real Quran existed with Ali and passed down to the Imaams! It will be revealed in the future when a certain imam comes out of hiding. Then some say the real Quran is preserved up high in the heaven on a tablet!! Rashad Khalifa came up with his own versin of two inserted verses in chapte nine.

Nice way to sabotague the thinking process through the backdoor and create doubts. Buyer beware!!