Preservation of
the Qur'an
Sabeel Ahmed
There are hundreds of religions
flourishing around the world: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism,
Judaism, Bahaism, Babism,
Zoroastrianism, Mormonism, Jehovas Witnesses,
Jainism, Confucianism etc. And each of these religions claim that their
scripture is preserved from the day it was revealed (written) until our time. A
religious belief is as authentic as the authenticity of the scripture it
follows. And for any scripture to be labeled as authentically preserved it
should follow some concrete and rational criteria.
Imagine this scenario: A professor gives a three hour lecture
to his students. Imagine still that none of the students memorized this speech
of the professor or wrote it down. Now forty years after that speech if these
same students decided to replicate professor’s complete speech word for word,
would they be able to do it? Obviously not. Because the only two modes of preservation historically is through
writing and memory. Therefore, for any claimants to proclaim that their
scripture is preserved in purity, they have to provide concrete evidence that
the Scripture was written in its entirety AND memorized in its
entirety from the time it was revealed to our time, in a continuous and unbroken
chain. If the memorization part doesn’t exist parallel to the written part to
act as a check and balance for it, then there is a genuine possibility that the
written scripture may loose its purity through unintentional and intentional
interpolations due to scribal errors, corruption by the enemies, pages getting
decomposed etc, and these errors would be concurrently incorporated into
subsequent texts, ultimately loosing its purity through ages.
Now, of all the religions mentioned
above, does any one of them possess their scriptures in its entirety BOTH
in writing AND in memory from the day of its revelation until our time.
None of them fit this required criteria, except one: This unique scripture is the
Qur’an – revelation bestowed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) 1,418
years ago, as a guidance for all of humankind. Lets analyze the claim of the preservation of the
Quran…
Memorization
‘In the ancient times, when writing was
scarcely used, memory and oral transmission was exercised and strengthened to a
degree now almost unknown’ relates Michael Zwettler.(1)
Prophet Muhammad (S): The First
Memorizer
It was in this ‘oral’ society that
Prophet Muhammad (S) was born in
Prophet Muhammad (S) miraculously
memorized each revelation and used to proclaim it to his Companions. Angel Gabriel
used to refresh the Quranic memory of the
Prophet each year.
‘The Prophet (S) was the
most generous person, and he used to become more so (generous) particularly in
the month of Ramadan because Gabriel used to meet him every night of the month
of Ramadan till it elapsed. Allah’s Messenger (S) use to recite the Qur’an for
him. When Gabriel met him, he use to become more
generous than the fast wind in doing good’. (2)
‘Gabriel used to repeat
the recitation of the Qur’an with the Prophet (S) once a year, but he repeated
it twice with him in the year he (Prophet) died’. (3)
The Prophet himself use
to stay up a greater part of the night in prayers and use to recite Quran from
memory.
Companions of the Prophet: The First
Generation Memorizers
Prophet Muhammad (S) encouraged his
companions to learn and teach the Quran:
‘The most superior among
you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it’. (4)
‘Some of the companions
who memorized the Quran were: ‘Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Ibn Masud, Abu Huraira,
‘Abu Bakr,
the first male Muslim to convert to Islam used to recite the Quran publicly in
front of his house in
The Prophet also
listened to the recitation of the Qur’an by the Companions: ‘Allah Apostle said
to me (
Many Quranic
memorizers (Qurra) were present during the lifetime
of the Prophet and afterwards through out the then Muslim world.
‘At the battle of Yamama, many memorizers of the Quran were martyred.
‘Narrated Zaid bin Thabit
al Ansari, who was one of those who use to write the Divine Revelations: Abu Bakr sent me after the (heavy) casualties among the
warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a great
number of Qurra were killed). Umar
was present with Abu Bakr who said: "Umar has come to me and said, the
people have suffered heavy casualties on the day of (the battle of) Yamama, and I am afraid that there will be some casualties
among the Qurra (those who memorized
the entire Quran) at other place…"’ (8)
‘Over the centuries of
the Islamic Era, there have arisen throughout the various regions of the
Islamic world literally thousands of schools devoted specially to the teaching
of the Quran to children for the purpose of memorization. These are
called, in Arabic, katatib (singular: Kuttab). It is said that the Caliph ‘Umar
(634-44) first ordered the construction of these schools in the age of the
great expansion’. (9)
Second Generation Memorizers
"…Quranic schools were set up everywhere. As an example to
illustrate this I may refer to a great Muslim scholar, of the second Muslim
generation, Ibn ‘Amir, who
was the judge of
Memorizers in Subsequent Generations
The Number of Katatib
and similar schools in
Currently both in the Muslim and
non-Muslim countries thousands of schools with each instructing tens of
hundreds of students the art of memorizing the entire Quran. In the city
of
Further Points of Consideration
Muslims
recite Quran from their memory in all of their five daily prayers.
Once a year, during the
month of Fasting (Ramadan), Muslims listen to the complete recitation of the
Quran by a Hafiz (memorizer of the entire Quran)
It’s a tradition among
Muslims that before any speech or presentation, marriages, sermons, Quran is
recited.
Conclusion
Quran is the only book, religious or
secular, on the face of this planet that has been completely memorized
by millions. These memorizers range from ages 6 and up, both Arabic and
non-Arabic speakers, blacks, whites, Orientals, poor and wealthy.
Thus the process of memorization
was continuous, from Prophet Muhammad’s (S) time to ours with an unbroken
chain.
"The method of
transmitting the Quran from one generation to the next by having he young
memorize the oral recitation of their elders had mitigated somewhat from the
beginning the worst perils of relying solely on written records…" relates John Burton (12)
"This phenomenon of
Quranic recital means that the text has traversed the
centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be
handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical
document out of a distant past. The fact of hifz (Quranic Memorization) has made the Qur’an a present
possession through all the lapse of Muslim time and
given it a human currency in every generation never allowing its relegation to
a bare authority for reference alone" reflects Kenneth Cragg (13)
Written Text of the Quran
Prophet’s Lifetime
Prophet Muhammad (S) was very vigilant
in preserving the Quran in the written form from the very beginning up
until the last revelation. The Prophet himself was unlettered, did not knew how
to read and write, therefore he called upon his numerous scribes to write
the revelation for him. Complete Quran thus existed in written form in
the lifetime of the Prophet.
Whenever a new revelation use to
come to him, the Prophet would immediately call one of his scribes to write
it down.
‘Some people visited Zaid Ibn Thabit
(one of the scribes of the Prophet) and asked him to tell them some stories
about Allah’s Messenger. He replied: "I was his (Prophet’s) neighbor, and
when the inspiration descended on him he sent for me and I went to him and wrote
it down for him…" (14)
Narrated by al-Bara’: There was revealed ‘Not
equal are those believers who sit (home) and those who strive and fight in the
cause of Allah’ (4:95). The Prophet said: ‘Call Zaid for me and let him bring the board, the ink pot and
scapula bone.’ Then he (Prophet) said: ‘Write: Not equal are those believers…’ (15)
Zaid is reported to have said: ‘We use to compile the Qur’an
from small scraps in the presence of the Apostle’. (16)
‘The Prophet, while in
Madinah, had about 48 scribes who use to write for him’. (17)
During the Prophet’s
last pilgrimage, he gave a sermon in which he said: ‘I have left with you
something which if you will hold fast to it you will never fall into error – a
plain indication, the Book of God (Quran) and the practice of his
Prophet…’ (19)
‘Besides the official
manuscripts of the Quran kept with the Prophet, many of his companions use to
possess their own written copies of the revelation’. (20)
‘A list of Companions of
whom it is related that they had their own written collections included
the following: Ibn Mas’ud, Ubay bin Ka’b, Ali, Ibn Abbas, Abu Musa, Hafsa, Anas bin Malik, Umar, Zaid bin Thabit, Ibn Al-
‘The best known among
these (Prophet’s Scribes) are: Ibn Masud, Ubay bin Kab and Zaid bin Thabit’. (22)
‘Aisha and Hafsa, the wives of the Prophet had their own scripts
written after the Prophet had died’. (23)
Conclusion
The complete Quran was written
down in front of the Prophet by several of his scribes and the companions
possess their own copies of the Quran in the Prophet’s lifetime. However the
written material of the Quran in the Prophet’s possession were not bounded
between the two covers in the form of a book, because the period of revelation
of the Qur’an continued up until just a few days before the Prophet’s death.
The task of collecting the Qur’an as a book was therefore undertaken by Abu Bakr, the first successor to the Prophet.
Written Quran in First Generation
At the battle of Yamama
(633 CE), six months after the death of the Prophet, a number of Muslims, who
had memorized the Quran were killed. Hence it was feared that unless a written
official copy of the Quran were prepared, a large part of revelation might be
lost.
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit al-Ansari, one of
the scribes of the Revelation: Abu Bakr sent for me
after the casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamama
(where a great number of Qurra (memorizers of the Quran, were killed). Umar
was present with Abu Bakr who said: "Umar has come to me and said, the people have suffered
heavy casualties on the day of (the battle) of Yamama,
and I am afraid that there will be some casualties among the Qurra at other places, whereby a large part of the Quran may be lost,
unless you collect it (in one manuscript, or book)…so Abu Bakr
said to me (Zaid bin Thabit):
You are a wise young man and we do not suspect you (of telling lies or of
forgetfulness) and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah’s
Apostle. Therefore, look for the Qur’an and collect it (in one manuscript)’…So
I started locating the Quranic material and
collecting it from parchments, scapula, leafstalks of date palms and from the
memories of men (who know it by heart)…" (24)
Now, a committee was formed to under
take the task of collecting the written Quranic
material in the form of a book. The committee was headed by Zaid
bin Thabit, the original scribe of the Prophet, who
was also a memorizer of the complete Quran.
‘…Zaid
bin Thabit had committed the entire Quran to memory…’
(25)
The compilers in this committee, in
examining written material submitted to them, insisted on very stringent
criteria as a safeguard against any errors.
1. The material must have been
originally written down in the presence of the Prophet; nothing written down
later on the basis of memory alone was to be accepted. (26)
2. The material must be confirmed by
two witnesses, that is to say, by two trustworthy persons testifying that they
themselves had heard the Prophet recite the passage in question. (27)
‘The manuscript on which
the Qur’an was collected, remained with Abu Bakr till
Allah took him unto Him, and then with Umar (the second
successor), till Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained with Hafsa, ‘Umar’s daughter (and wife
of the Prophet)’. (28)
This copy of the Quran, prepared by the
committee of competent companions of the Prophet (which included Memorizers of
the Quran) was unanimous approved by the whole Muslim world. If they committee
would have made a error even of a single alphabet in
transcribing the Quran, the Qurra (memorizers of the
Quran) which totaled in the tens of hundreds would have caught it right away
and correct it. This is exactly where the neat check and balance system of
preservation of the Quran comes into play, but which is lacking for any other
scripture besides the Quran.
Official written copy by Uthman
The Quran was originally revealed in Quraishi
dialect of Arabic. But to facilitate the people who speak other dialects, in
their understanding and comprehension, Allah revealed the Quran finally in
seven dialects of Arabic. During the period of Caliph Uthman
(second successor to the Prophet) differences in reading the Quran among the
various tribes became obvious, due to the various dialectical recitations.
Dispute was arising, with each tribe calling its recitation as the correct one.
This alarmed Uthman, who made a
official copy in the Quraishi dialect, the dialect in which the Quran was
revealed to the Prophet and was memorized by his companions. Thus this
compilation by Uthman’s Committee is not a different
version of the Quran (like the Biblical versions) but the same original
revelation given to the Prophet by One God, Allah.
Narrated Anas bin Malik: Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to Uthman at the time when the people of Sham (
Again a very stringent criteria was set up by this Committee to prevent any alteration
of the Revelation.
1. The earlier recension
(Original copy prepared by Abu Bakr) was to serve as
the principal basis of the new one. (30)
2. Any doubt that might be raised as to
the phrasing of a particular passage in the written text was to be dispelled by
summoning persons known to have learned the passage in question from the
Prophet. (31)
3. Uthman
himself was to supervise the work of the Council. (32)
When the final recension
was completed, Uthman sent a copy of it to each of
the major cities of
The action of Uthman
to burn the other copies besides the final recension,
though obviously drastic, was for the betterment and harmony of the whole
community and was unanimously approved by the Companions of the Prophet.
Zaid ibn Thabit is
reported to have said: "I saw the Companions of Muhammad (going about)
saying, ‘By God, Uthman has done well! By God, Uthman has done well!" (33)
Another esteemed
Companion Musab ibn Sad ibn Abi Waqqas
said: "I saw the people assemble in large number at Uthman’s
burning of the prescribed copies (of the Quran), and they were all pleased with
his action; not a one spoke out against him". (34)
Ali ibn
Abu Talib, the cousin of the Prophet and the fourth
successor to the Prophet commented: "If I were in command in place of Uthman, I would have done the same". (35)
Of the copies made by Uthman, two still exist to our day. One is in the
city of
1. The copy which Uthman
sent to Madina was reportedly removed by the Turkish
authorities to
‘Article 246:
Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, Germany
will restore to His Majesty, King of Hedjaz, the
original Koran of Caliph Othman, which was removed from Madina
by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the
ex-Emperor William II". (36)
‘This manuscript then
reached
2. The second copy in existence is kept
in
It Came to
‘The Manuscript was
afterwards returned to its former place and reached
Conclusion
‘Two of the copies of
the Qur’an which were originally prepared in the time of Caliph Uthman, are still available to us today and their text and
arrangement can be compared, by anyone who cares to do, with any other copy of
the Quran, be it in print or handwritten, from any place or period of time.
They will be found identical’. (41)
It can now be proclaimed, through the
evidences provided above, with full conviction and certainty that the Prophet
memorized the entire Quran, had it written down in front of him through his
scribes, many of his companions memorized the entire revelation and in turn
possess their own private copies for recitation and contemplation. This process
of dual preservation of the Quran in written and in the memory was carried in
each subsequent generation till our time, without any deletion, interpolation
or corruption of this Divine Book.
Sir William Muir, Orientalist of the 19th
century states, "There is probably no other book in the world which has
remained twelve centuries (now fourteen) with so pure a text". (42)
This divine protection provided to the
Quran, the Last Reveled Guide to Humanity, is proclaimed by One God in the
Quran:
We*
(Allah) have, without doubt, send down the Message; and We
will assuredly Guard it (from corruption)’ (Quran – Chapter 15, Verse 9).
*(‘We’ is the plural of Majesty, and not the Christian plural of trinity)
Compare this divine and historical
preservation of the Quran with any literature, be it religious or secular and
it becomes evident that none possess similar miraculous protection. And as
states earlier, a belief is as authentic as the authenticity of its scripture.
And if any scripture is not preserved, how can we be certain that the belief
arising out of this scripture is divine or man made, and if we are not sure
about the belief itself, then our salvation in the hereafter would be
jeopardized.
Thus the above evidence for the
protection of the Quran from any corruption is a strong hint about its divine
origin. We request all open hearted persons to read, understand and live the
Quran, the ‘Manual for Mankind’. Welcome to Islam…
References
(1) (Michael Zwettler, The Oral
Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry, p.14.
(2) (Transmitted by Ibn Abbas, collected
in Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6.519, translated by Dr.
Muhammad Muhsin
(3) (Transmitted by Abu Hurayrah,
collected in Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6.520, translated by
Dr. Muhammad Muhsin
(4) (Transmitted by Uthman bin Affan, collected in Sahih Bukhari,
6.546, translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin
(5) (Jalal al-Din Suyuti,
‘Al-Itqan fi-ulum al-Quran,
Vol. I, p.124)
(6) (Ibn Hisham:
Sira al-nabi,
(7) (Bukhari, 6.106)
(8) (Al-Bukhari, 6.201)
(9) ( Labib as-Said, the Recited Koran, Translated
by Bernard Weiss, M.A.Rauf, and Morroe
Berger, The Darwon Press, Princton,
New Jersey, 1975, pg.58).
(10) (Ibn al Jazari,
Kitab al-Nash fi al-Qir’at al-Ashr, (
(11) (Labib as-Said, the Recited Koran,
Translated by Bernard Weiss, M.A.Rauf, and Morroe Berger, The Darwon Press,
Princeton, New Jersey, 1975, pg.59)
(12) (John Burton, An Introduction to the Hadith, p.27.
(13) (Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the
Qur’an, p.26. George Allah & Unwin: 1973)
(14) (Tirmidhi, Mishkat
al-Masabih, No. 5823)
(15) (Bukhari, 6.512)
(16) (Suyuti, Itqan,
I, p.99)
(17) (M.M.Azami, Kuttab
al-Nabi,Beirut, 1974)
(18) (Muslim, III, NO. 4606, also 4607, 4608; Bukhari,
4.233)
(19) (Ibn Hisham,
Sira al-nabi, p.651).
(20) (Suyuti, Itqan,
I, p.62).
(21) (Ibn Abi Dawud: Masahif, p.14)
(22) (Bayard Dodge: The fihrist of al-Nadim: A Tenth Century Survey of Muslim Culture, New York,
1970, pp.53-63)
(23) (Muwatta Imam Malik, Lahore, 1980,
no.307, 308, translation by M. Rahimuddin).
(24) (Bukhari 6.201)
(25) (Labib as-Said, The Recited Koran,
translated by Bernard Weiss, et al. 1975, p.21.
(26) (Ibn Hajar,
Fath, Vol. IX, p.10)
(27) (ibid., p.11)
(28) (Bukhari, 6.201)
(29) (Bukhari, 6.510)
(30) (Ibn Hajar,
Bath, IX, p. 15)
(31) (Suyuti, Itqan,
Vol.I, p.59)
(32) (ibid., p.59).
(33) (Naysaburi, al-,Nizam
al-Din al-Hasan ibn Muhammad, Ghara’ib
al-Quran wa-ragha’ib al-furqan.
4 vols. To date.
(34) (Ibn Abi Dawud, p.12)
(35) (Zarkashi, al-, Badr
al-Din, Al-
(36) (Fred L. Israel, Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, New
York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. II, p. 1418 )
(37) (
(38) (Ahmad Von Denffer, Ulum Al-Qur’an, Islamic Foundation, revised ed., 1994,
p.63)
(39) (The Muslim World, Vol.30(1940), pp.
357-8.)
(40) (Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum Al-Quran, Islamic Foundation, revised Ed., 1994,
p.63).
(41) (ibid., p,64)
(42) (Sir Williams Muir, Life of Mohamet,
Vol.I. Introduction)