Textual History of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

At no time during Muhammad's life did he ever order these alleged revelations to be compiled into a single book.<ref name="Abu Bakr">"''...Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur'an be collected." I said to 'Umar, "How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do?" 'Umar said, "By Allah, that is a good project...''" - {{Bukhari|6|61|509}}</ref> If Muhammad was, as he claimed, a messenger to all mankind, it is perplexing as to why he never gave thought to the written preservation of his message.  

We would say no, as Muhammad himself had forgotten portions of the Qur'an and needed his followers to remind him.<ref>"''Allah's Apostle heard a man reciting the Qur'an at night, and said, "May Allah bestow His Mercy on him, as he has reminded me of such-and-such Verses of such-and-such Suras, which I was caused to forget."''" - {{Bukhari|6|61|558}}</ref> This led to him having a [[Muhammad's Just In Time Revelations|"just in time" revelation]]<ref>"''Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it...''" - {{Quran|2|106}}</ref> claiming that some verses were to be forgotten. Furthermore, evidence that Muhammad had a somewhat casual attitude to variant readings is provided in the Qira'at section later in this article.

What about the great memorizers of Islam from among the [[Salaf]], maybe they had successfully memorized it? Well, that would not work as an argument. The best, and most, of the Qurra' (“reciters”) had died before its compilation.<ref>"''...Umar has come to me and said: "Casualties were heavy among the Qurra' of the Qur'an (i.e. those who knew the Quran by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yalmama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra' on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost...''" - {{Bukhari|6|61|509}}</ref> Abu Bakr even knew that the Qur'an would be hard to collect<ref>"''...Then Abu Bakr said (to me). 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'an and collect it in one book)." By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an...''" - {{Bukhari|6|61|509}}</ref> and that Muhammad had never ordered such an action to be taken.<ref name="Abu Bakr"></ref>  

Had the companions fully memorized it and there was full agreement, why then would they look for verses in leafs and stones? The last two verses of Surah al-Taubah were found in written form with only one person, though some others recalled hearing it.

 

The fact that in more recent times there have been many memorizers (huffaz) of the complete Qur'an is not a helpful analogy because they have the benefit of choosing a standard qira'at (recitation) and standard written Qur'an as a complete book to help them or their teachers in the learning process.

During the [[Caliph|Caliphate]] of Uthman, he heard that many Muslims in different regions were arguing that they can recite the Qur'an better, and they had differences between them.<ref>"''...Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to 'Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Quran) as Jews and the Christians did before...''" - {{Bukhari|6|61|510}}</ref>  

Sahih hadiths and tafsirs record a great many variations of recitation among the sahaba (companions) for many different verses. An interesting example concerns the controversial topic of mutah (temporary marriage), which Muhammad banned in his final years according to sahih hadiths, and verse 4:24, which says:

 

 

Al-Tabari's tafsir for verse 4:24 includes narrations saying that ibn 'Abbas, ubay ibn Ka'b, and Sa'id ibn Jubayr (others too in other tafsirs) included the words 'until a prescribed period' ('ila ajal musamma') after the words 'whom you profit by'. If one were to speculate that this represents an abrogated version of the verse, where is the evidence and why did these sahaba not seem to know?

Another interesting example, recorded in a sahih hadith that appears in many collections, concerns a variant reading of verse {{Quran|2|238}}. It was given by [[Aisha]], according to whom in this verse it says 'the middle prayer and the Asr Prayer', as she heard Muhammad reciting it.<ref>"''Abu Yunus, freedman of Aishah, Mother of Believers, reported: Aishah ordered me to transcribe the Holy Qur'an and asked me to let her know when I should arrive at the verse Hafidhuu alaas-salaati waas-salaatiil-wustaa wa quumuu lillaahi qaanitiin (2.238). When I arrived at the verse I informed her and she ordered: Write it in this way, Hafidhuu alaas-salaati waas-salaatiil-wustaa wa salaatiil 'asri wa quumuu lillaahi qaanitiin. She added that she had heard it so from the Apostle of Allah.''" - Muwatta Imam Malik, p.64. Also in {{Muslim|4|1316}}, for example.</ref> As such, her version of the verse combines what was, according to another hadith, the pre-abrogated version of the verse, which mentions the asr prayer, and post-abrogation version, which says the middle prayer.<ref>{{Muslim|4|1317}}</ref>. What purpose would be served by an abrogation to replace one specific word with another that more ambiguously indicates the same prayer (according to most scholars) is a mystery. Rather, all this is evidence for the inconsistency of Muhammad's recitations.

Many other examples of such variations among the sahaba are discussed in another online article<ref>[http://www.islam-watch.org/Amarkhan/Corruption-in-Quran.htm Corruption and Distortion (Tahreef) in the Quran] by Amar Khan, 2009 [http://www.webcitation.org/6lPZcJIAX webcitation archive link]</ref>.

When Uthman ordered the destruction of Ibn Mas'ud's codex, Ibn Mas'ud gave a sermon in Kufa and said "Conceal the manuscripts! I like it better to read according to the recitation of him (Prophet) whom I love more than that of Zayd Ibn Thabit. By Him besides Whom there is no god! I learnt more than seventy surahs from the lips of the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him, while Zayd Ibn Thabit was a youth, having two locks and playing with the youth".<ref>Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p.444</ref>  

 

 

Zaid bin thabit was in no place to be a rival to the great scholar and teacher Ibn Mas'ud, and such sermons by him are devastating to the history of Islam and to the authenticity of the Qur'an.

Ubay ibn Ka'b, was another one of the four which were singled-out by Muhammad,<ref name="bin Masud"></ref> and was considered the best reciter of the Qur'an.<ref>"''Affan ibn Muslim informed us ... on the authority of Anas ibn Malik, he on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him; he said: The best reader (of the Qur'an) among my people is Ubayyi ibn Ka'b.''" - Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir, Vol. 2, p.441 </ref> He was known as Sayidul Qura' (The Master of Reciters). Umar the Caliph also agreed that Ubay was the best reciter, even though he rejected some of what Ubay recited.<ref>"`Umar said, Ubai was the best of us in the recitation (of the Qur'an) yet we leave some of what he recites." {{Bukhari|6|61|527}}</ref>  

Some examples where Ubay agreed with Ibn Mas'ud and disagreed with Zayd include the following:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We know that, whereas Ibn Mas'ud omitted three surahs (al-Fatihah, 113 and 114) from his Qur'an mashaf (codex), Ubay ibn Ka'b had 116 surahs in his, including two extra short surahs, al-Hafd (the Haste) and al-Khal' (the Separation):

 

{{Quote|1=al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan|2='''al-Hafd:'''

 

You (alone) we worship,  

 

and to You (alone) we pray and lie prostrate,

 

and to You (alone) we proceed and have descendants.

We fear Your torture and hope for Your mercy.  

 

Truly Your torture will overtake the infidels.<BR>

<BR>'''al-Khal':'''

 

O Allah, You (alone) we ask for help and forgiveness.  

 

We speak appreciatingly of Your goodness.  

 

Never do we disbelieve You.  

 

We repudiate and disbelieve anyone who follows immorality.

<ref>([http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Miracle/ubay.html the Separation])<BR></ref><ref name=SuyutiItqan>al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan, p.152-153</ref>}}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ubai said that it was considered as a saying from the Qur'an for a while during Muhammad's lifetime. This cannot be excused simply as abrogation because it would still have been a saying (and part of a whole surah) from the Qur'an if it was merely considered to be abrogated by later verses:

{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|76|446}}|Narrated Sahl bin Sa`d: I heard Ibn Az-Zubair who was on the pulpit at Mecca, delivering a sermon, saying, "O men! The Prophet used to say, "If the son of Adam were given a valley full of gold, he would love to have a second one; and if he were given the second one, he would love to have a third, for nothing fills the belly of Adam's son except dust. And Allah forgives he who repents to Him." '''Ubai said, "We considered this as a saying from the Qur'an till the Sura (beginning with) 'The mutual rivalry for piling up of worldly things diverts you..' (102.1) was revealed."'''}}

Al-Suyuti records the recollection by Abu Waqid al-Laithii of the occasion when the lost passage about the valleys was revealed. He says that Muhammad claimed it as a revelation from Allah, just like when he received other revelations.<ref>"''Abu Waqid al-Laithii said, "When the messenger of Allah (saw) received the revelation we would come to him and he would teach us what had been revealed. (I came) to him and he said 'It was suddenly communicated to me one day: Verily Allah says, ...''" - As-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur'an, p.525</ref>

===Lost verses from Surah at-Tawba===

Surah at-Tawba (also known as al Bara'at) was originally equal to the length of al-Baqara according to narrations recorded by al-Suyuti (best known for his Tafsir al-Jalalayn) in The Itqan<ref>"''Malik says that several verses from chapter 9 (Sura of Repentance) have been dropped from the beginning. Among them is, ‘In the name of God the compassionate, the Merciful’ because it was proven that the length of Sura of Repentance was equal to the length of the Sura of the Cow.''" -  "The Itqan" by Suyuti Part 3, Page 184</ref> and Tafsir al-Qurtubi<ref>“Malik said among what had been narrated by Ibn Wahb and Ibn Al Qasim and Ibn Abdul Hakam is that when the first part of Surat Bara'at was lost, ‘Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem’ was also lost along with it. It has also been narrated from Ibn Ajlan that he heard that Surat Bara'at was equal to the length of Surat Al Baqarah or approximately equal to it, so the part was gone and because of that "Bismillah Al Rahman Al Raheem" wasn't written between them (between the lost and the remaining part) .” Tafsir al-Qurtubi on Surah al Bara'at</ref>. In a Hasan hadith in the collection of Tirmidhi, Uthman is narrated as saying that they didn't know whether or not Surah at-Tawba was part of Surah al-Anfal, and Muhammad died without making it clear, so they were placed together.<ref>'Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:

"I said to 'Uthman bin 'Affan: 'What was your reasoning with Al-Anfal - while it is from the Muthani (Surah with less than one-hundred Ayat), and Bara'ah while it is from the Mi'in (Surah with about one-hundred Ayat), then you put them together, without writing the line Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim between them, and you placed them with the seven long (Surah) - why did you do that?' So 'Uthman said: 'A long time might pass upon the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) without anything being revealed to him, and then sometimes a Surah with numerous (Ayat) might be revealed. So when something was revealed, he would call for someone who could write, and say: "Put these Ayat in the Surah which mentions this and that in it." When an Ayah was revealed, he would say: "Put this Ayah in the Surah which mentions this and that in it." Now Al-Anfal was among the first of those revealed in Al-Madinah, and Bara'ah among the last of those revealed of the Qur'an, and its narrations (those of Bara'ah) resembled its narrations (those of Al-Anfal), so we thought that it was part of it. Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) died, and it was not made clear to us whether it was part of it. So it is for this reason that we put them together without writing Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim between them, and we put that with the seven long (Surahs).'"' Tirmidhi [http://sunnah.com/urn/640920 Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3086]</ref>

As demonstrated in the sections above, there were non-Qur'anic surahs and verses that sounded very much like those of the Qur'an. Indeed, they were so much like it that many of the Sahabah couldn't tell the difference. Surah al-Hafd and Surah al-khal', the verses about Adam and the valleys, and indeed, Muhammad's infamous [https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur%27an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Satanic_Verses Satanic verses] were all created by human beings, yet sounded so Qur'anic that they were at one time believed to be so by speakers of 7th century Arabic.

Apart from other earlier variant texts, and the riwayats of al-Duri from Abu Amr used in Sudan, and of Hisham from ibn Amir used in parts of Yemen, there are two different texts (mushaf) of the Qur'an currently in print, named after their respective 2nd-century transmitters Hafs (from Kufa) and Warsh (from Medina).  

The Hafs text is the more common and used in most areas of the Islamic world. Warsh is used mainly in West and North-West Africa as well as by the Zaydiya in Yemen. Here are some of the differences.

|wasari'u (And hasten)

|sari'u (Hasten)

|ataytukum (I have given)

|ataynakum (We have given)

|nunshizuha (We grow them)

|nunshiruha (We spread them)

|taquluna (You say)

|yaquluna (They say)

The Qur'an was first written without [[Diacritical Marks of the Qur'an|diacritical marks]]. At the time of Muhammad, Arabic orthography was yet to develop into what we have known for centuries.  

For the early interpreters who added diacritical marks, to read the Qur'an as it was originally written, would lead the reader to interpret and choose for themselves from the many possible meanings available.