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.
Transmission of the
Qur'an: Oral & Written
Lets analyze the claim
of the preservation of the Quran…
1. 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 Mecca in the year 570 C.E. At the
age of 40, he started receiving divine Revelations from the One God, Allah,
through Archangel Gabriel. This process of divine revelations continued for
about 22.5 years just before he passed away.
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.
Prophet's Companions:
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, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As,
Aisha, Hafsa, and Umm Salama'. [5]
'Abu Bakr, the first male Muslim to convert to Islam used to recite the Quran
publicly in front of his house in Makka'. [6]
The Prophet also listened to the recitation of the Qur'an by the Companions:
'Allah Apostle said to me (Abdullah bin Mas'ud): "Recite (of the Quran) to
me". I said: "Shall I recite it to you although it had been revealed
to you?!" He Said: "I like to hear (the Quran) from others". So I
recited Sura-an-Nisa' till I reached: "How (will it be) then when
We bring from each nation a witness and We bring you (O Muhammad) as a witness
against these people?"' (4:41) 'Then he said: "Stop!"
Behold, his eyes were shedding tears then'. [7]
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 Damascus under the Caliph Umar Ibn 'Abd Al-Aziz. It is reported that in
his school for teaching the Quran there were 400 disciples to teach in his
absence". [10]
Memorizers in
Subsequent Generations:
The Number of Katatib
and similar schools in Cairo (Egypt) alone at one time exceeded two thousand. [11]
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 Chicago itself, there are close to 40+ Mosques, with many
of them holding class for children instructing them the art of Quranic
memorization.
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]
2. 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]
Abdullah Ibn 'Umar relates:… 'The Messenger of Allah (S) said: "Do not
take the Qur'an on a journey with you, for I am afraid lest it should fall into
the hands of the enemy"' [18]
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-Zubair, Abdullah
ibn Amr, Aisha, Salim, Umm Salama, Ubaid bin Umar'. [21]
'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 Qur'an 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 (Syria) and the people of Iraq were waging war to conquer
Armenia and Azherbijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their differences in the
recitation of the Quran, so he said to Uthman, 'O chief of the Believers! Save
this nation before they differ about the Book (Quran) as Jews and Christians did
before'. So Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, 'Send us the manuscripts of
the Quran so that we may compile the Quranic materials in perfect copies and
return the manuscripts to you'. Hafsa sent it to Uthman. 'Uthman then ordered
Zaid bin Thabit, 'Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, Said bin Al-As and Abdur Rahman bin
Harith bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. Uthman said to
the three Quraishi men, 'In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point
in the Quran, then write it in their (Quraishi) tongue'. They did so, and when
they had written many copies, Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of
what they had copied and ordered that all the other Quranic materials whether
written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt…" [29]
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
Makka, Damascus, Kufa, Basra and Madina.
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
Tashkent, (Uzbekistan) and the second one is in Istanbul (Turkey). Below is a
brief account of both these copies:
1. The copy which
Uthman sent to Madina was reportedly removed by the Turkish authorities to
Istanbul, from where it came to Berlin during World War I. The Treaty of
Versailles, which concluded World War I, contains the following clause:
'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 Istanbul, but not Madina (Where it now
resides)'. [37]
2. The second copy in existence is kept in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. 'It may be
the Imam (master) manuscript or one of the other copies made at the time of
Uthman'. [38]
It Came to Samarkand in 890 Hijra (1485) and remained there till 1868. Then it
was taken to St.Petersburg by the Russians in 1869. It remained there till
1917. A Russian orientalist gave a detailed description of it, saying that
many pages were damaged and some were missing. A facsimile, some 50 copies, of
this mushaf (copy) was produced by S.Pisareff in 1905. A copy was sent to the
Ottoman Sultan 'Abdul Hamid, to the Shah of Iran, to the Amir of Bukhara, to
Afghanistan, to Fas and some important Muslim personalities. One copy is now
in the Columbia University Library (U.S.A.). [39]
'The Manuscript was afterwards returned to its former place and reached
Tashkent in 1924, where it has remained since'. [40]
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 Williams Muir states, " There is otherwise every security, internal and
external, that we possess the text which Muhammad himself gave forth and
used". [42]
Sir William Muir continues, "There is probably no other book in the world
which has remained twelve centuries (now fourteen) with so pure a text". [43]
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 this 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'.
Notes
1. Michael Zwettler, The
Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry, p.14. Ohio State Press: 1978.
2. Transmitted by Ibn
Abbas, collected in Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6.519, translated by Dr. Muhammad
Muhsin Khan.
3. Transmitted by Abu
Hurayrah, collected in Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6.520, translated by Dr.
Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
4. Transmitted by
Uthman bin Affan, collected in Sahih Bukhari, 6.546, translated by Dr.
Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
5. Jalal al-Din Suyuti,
'Al-Itqan fi-ulum al-Quran, Vol. I, p. 124.
6. Ibn Hisham, Sira
al-nabi, Cairo, n.d., Vol.I, p. 206.
7. Al-Bukhari, 6.106.
8. Al-Bukhari, 6.201.
9. Labib as-Said, The
Recited Koran, tr. 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, Cairo, al-Halabi, n.d._ vol. 2, p. 254; also
Ahmad Makki al-Ansari, al-Difa' 'An al-Qur'an. Cairo, Dar al-Ma'arif,
1973 C.E., part I, p. 120.
11. Labib as-Said, The
Recited Koran, tr. 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, Edinburgh University Press: 1994, p. 27.
13. Kenneth Cragg, The
Mind of the Qur'an, George Allah & Unwin: 1973, p.26.
14. Tirmidhi, Mishkat
al-Masabih, No. 5823.
15. Al-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. Imam Malik, Muwatta,
tr. M. Rahimuddin, Lahore, 1980, no.307, 308.
24. Bukhari, 6.201.
25. Labib as-Said, The
Recited Koran, tr. 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. Cairo, 1962.
34. Ibn Abi Dawud, p.
12.
35. Zarkashi, al-Badr
al-Din, Al-Burhan fi-ulum al-Quran, Cairo, 1957, vol. I, p. 240.
36. Fred L. Israel, Major
Peace Treaties of Modern History, New York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. II, p.
1418.
37. Makhdum, op.cit.,
1938, p. 19.
38. Ahmad Von Denffer, Ulum
Al-Qur'an, revised ed., Islamic Foundation, 1994, p. 63.
39. The Muslim World,
vol. 30 (1940), pp. 357-8.
40. Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum
Al-Quran, revised ed., Islamic Foundation, 1994, p. 63.
41. ibid., p. 64.
42. Sir Williams Muir, Life
of Mohamet, vol.1, Introduction.
43. ibid.