Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Textual History of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
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According to orthodox Islamic belief, the Qur'an is the unchanging, eternal word of [[Allah]], pre-existent before all time and space, handed to the [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|prophet]] through divine revelation. The text of this final word of Allah is thus eternal and unchanging, as opposed to the previous revelations given to [[People of the Book|people of the book]], which were changed and corrupted over the ages. This picture, though, is highly complicated by the fact that the Islamic tradition recognizes 7 historical reading traditions, each with two transmitters featuring different | According to orthodox Islamic belief, the Qur'an is the unchanging, eternal word of [[Allah]], pre-existent before all time and space, handed to the [[Muhammad ibn Abdullah|prophet]] through divine revelation. The text of this final word of Allah is thus eternal and unchanging, as opposed to the previous revelations given to [[People of the Book|people of the book]], which were changed and corrupted over the ages. This picture, though, is highly complicated by the fact that the Islamic tradition recognizes 7 or 10 historical reading traditions, each with two transmitters featuring many different short vowels and consonantal dottings to vocalise the "rasm" or consonantal skeleton of the text. Recent work on the language of the Qur'an, extant manuscripts, and discoveries such as the [[Sana'a Manuscript]] complicate this picture significantly more. From the Sana'a palimpset it is apparent that the received text of the Qur'an at one point had variants which were not preserved in any of the reading traditions, and the reading traditions themselves differ sometimes significantly in grammar and meaning. The Islamic tradition itself also complicates the picture. The below hadith traditions indicate that the complete, pristine text of the Qur'an did not make it out past the first generation of Muslims. According to the tradition, many of the Muslims who had memorized the entirety of the Qur'an were killed in battle before they could put their verses to writing, and some verses were lost with them; the ends and beginning of some of the suwar or chapters were in dispute, and several ahadith state that the entirety of the Qur'an was not passed down. Shi'ites in particular have traditions which claim that up to a quarter of the Qur'an was not passed down to the present day. Some hadith also claim that entire verses were "cancelled" or removed from the text for no apparent reason. All of these traditions were written down in or after the second Islamic century, so they likely reflect the thoughts and feelings of people alive at that time about the textual integrity of the Qur'an, which was by this time well known as the sacred text of the Muslims and their empire. | ||
{{Main|Textual History of the Qur'an}} | |||
==Difficulty in Collecting the Qur'anic Verses== | ==Difficulty in Collecting the Qur'anic Verses== | ||
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Some apologists claim that Abi Sarh returned to Islam under his own free will without pressure by citing al-Tabari's tafsir on 6:93, which says that Abi Sarh returned to Islam before the conquest of Mecca. However, Tabari's History and hadiths in Sunan Abu Dawud say that he returned to Islam on the same day that Mecca was taken (i.e. under pressure, when he was presented to Muhammad by his foster brother, `Uthman). | Some apologists claim that Abi Sarh returned to Islam under his own free will without pressure by citing al-Tabari's tafsir on 6:93, which says that Abi Sarh returned to Islam before the conquest of Mecca. However, Tabari's History and hadiths in Sunan Abu Dawud say that he returned to Islam on the same day that Mecca was taken (i.e. under pressure, when he was presented to Muhammad by his foster brother, `Uthman). | ||
{{quote |{{citation|The History of al-Tabari|trans_title=Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk|volume=IX|ISBN=0-88706-691-7| | {{quote |{{citation|title=The History of al-Tabari|trans_title=Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk|volume=vol. IX|ISBN=0-88706-691-7|year=1990|publisher=SUNY Press|author=al-Tabari (d. 923)|editor=Ismail K. Poonawala|url=https://archive.org/details/HistoryAlTabari40Vol/History_Al-Tabari_10_Vol/page/n2267/mode/2up|page=148}}<br>{{citation|title=تاريخ الرسل والملوك|author=أبو جعفر الطبري|url=https://app.turath.io/book/9783|publisher=al-Maktabah al-Shamilah|volume=vol. 11|page=540}}|'Abdallah b. Sa'd b. Abi Sarh used to write for him. He apostatized from Islam and later returned to Islam on the day of the conquest of Mecca. }} | ||
{{quote | {{Abudawud|14|2677}} | Narrated Sa'd: On the day when Mecca was conquered, the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) gave protection to the People except four men and two women and he named them. Ibn AbuSarh was one of them. He then narrated the tradition. He said: Ibn AbuSarh hid himself with Uthman ibn Affan. When the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) called the people to take the oath of allegiance, he brought him and made him stand before the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him). He said: Apostle of Allah, receive the oath of allegiance from him. He raised his head and looked at him thrice, denying him every time. After the third time he received his oath. He then turned to his Companions and said: Is not there any intelligent man among you who would stand to this (man) when he saw me desisting from receiving the oath of allegiance, and kill him? They replied: We do not know, Apostle of Allah, what lies in your heart; did you not give us an hint with your eye? He said: It is not proper for a Prophet to have a treacherous eye.}} | {{quote | {{Abudawud|14|2677}} | Narrated Sa'd: On the day when Mecca was conquered, the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) gave protection to the People except four men and two women and he named them. Ibn AbuSarh was one of them. He then narrated the tradition. He said: Ibn AbuSarh hid himself with Uthman ibn Affan. When the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) called the people to take the oath of allegiance, he brought him and made him stand before the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him). He said: Apostle of Allah, receive the oath of allegiance from him. He raised his head and looked at him thrice, denying him every time. After the third time he received his oath. He then turned to his Companions and said: Is not there any intelligent man among you who would stand to this (man) when he saw me desisting from receiving the oath of allegiance, and kill him? They replied: We do not know, Apostle of Allah, what lies in your heart; did you not give us an hint with your eye? He said: It is not proper for a Prophet to have a treacherous eye.}} | ||
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[[Category:Qur'anic textual history]] | [[Category:Qur'anic textual history]] | ||
[[Category:Revelation]] | [[Category:Revelation]] | ||
[[ar:القرآن_والحديث_والعلماء:_التاريخ_النصي_للقرآن]] |
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According to orthodox Islamic belief, the Qur'an is the unchanging, eternal word of Allah, pre-existent before all time and space, handed to the prophet through divine revelation. The text of this final word of Allah is thus eternal and unchanging, as opposed to the previous revelations given to people of the book, which were changed and corrupted over the ages. This picture, though, is highly complicated by the fact that the Islamic tradition recognizes 7 or 10 historical reading traditions, each with two transmitters featuring many different short vowels and consonantal dottings to vocalise the "rasm" or consonantal skeleton of the text. Recent work on the language of the Qur'an, extant manuscripts, and discoveries such as the Sana'a Manuscript complicate this picture significantly more. From the Sana'a palimpset it is apparent that the received text of the Qur'an at one point had variants which were not preserved in any of the reading traditions, and the reading traditions themselves differ sometimes significantly in grammar and meaning. The Islamic tradition itself also complicates the picture. The below hadith traditions indicate that the complete, pristine text of the Qur'an did not make it out past the first generation of Muslims. According to the tradition, many of the Muslims who had memorized the entirety of the Qur'an were killed in battle before they could put their verses to writing, and some verses were lost with them; the ends and beginning of some of the suwar or chapters were in dispute, and several ahadith state that the entirety of the Qur'an was not passed down. Shi'ites in particular have traditions which claim that up to a quarter of the Qur'an was not passed down to the present day. Some hadith also claim that entire verses were "cancelled" or removed from the text for no apparent reason. All of these traditions were written down in or after the second Islamic century, so they likely reflect the thoughts and feelings of people alive at that time about the textual integrity of the Qur'an, which was by this time well known as the sacred text of the Muslims and their empire.
Difficulty in Collecting the Qur'anic Verses
Organization of the Qur'an
Lost Verses
Verse of Rajam (Stoning)
The present day Qur’an does not contain the penalty of Rajm (stoning) for adulterers. But Sahih Hadiths testify that there was a verse in the Qur’an pertaining to the ‘Stoning Punishment’. Umar, the second Caliph of Islam, confirms the loss of this verse from the Qur’an:
Abd Allah Ibn Sa`d Ibn Abi Sarh and Verse 6:93
Some apologists claim that Abi Sarh returned to Islam under his own free will without pressure by citing al-Tabari's tafsir on 6:93, which says that Abi Sarh returned to Islam before the conquest of Mecca. However, Tabari's History and hadiths in Sunan Abu Dawud say that he returned to Islam on the same day that Mecca was taken (i.e. under pressure, when he was presented to Muhammad by his foster brother, `Uthman).
أبو جعفر الطبري, تاريخ الرسل والملوك, vol. 11, al-Maktabah al-Shamilah, p. 540, https://app.turath.io/book/9783
Surah of Repentance Lost 157 Verses
Miscellaneous
"Whatever verse (Revelations) do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten but We bring a better one or similar to it." (2.106)
Cancelled Verses
There is evidence to the cancellation of some verses from the Qur’an even though they were revealed to Muhammad and the people of his time had memorized them.
It is not clear who had decided to cancel them.
The Seven Ahruf of the Qur'an
A number of hadiths narrate that the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad in up to seven "ahruf" (literally "words" or "letters"), which has been variously interpreted by classical scholars to mean dialects, or ways of recitation, among other theories. The concept of seven ahruf is not to be confused with the seven (or ten) canonical qira'at, or readings of the Qur'an.
See Also
References
- ↑ "The Itqan" by Suyuti Part 1, Pages 172-173
- ↑ Is the Qur'an Infallible? by `Abdallah `Abd al-Fadi,
- ↑ Tafsir Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta'wil by `Abdallah Ibn `Umar al-Baidawi
- ↑ "The Itqan" by Suyuti Part 3, Page 184
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Suyuti, "The Itqan", part 3, p. 72
- ↑ The Sweetest [Al Mohalla] vol. 8, Part 11, pp. 234-235
- ↑ Suyuti, "The Itqan", part 1, p. 168
- ↑ Suyuti, "The Itqan", part 3, pp. 62-63
- ↑ Ibn Hazm Volume 8, Part II, Pages 235 and 236
- ↑ Suyuti, "The Itqan", part 3, p. 73
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Suyuti, "The Itqan", part 3, p. 74
- ↑ "The Beginning and the End" Part 7, Page 218
- ↑ "The Itqan" by Suyuti Paragraph 1, Page 137. Ibid pages 141 and 142
- ↑ "The Itqan" by Suyuti Paragraph 1, Page 170 and 171