When Muslims talk about their faith, most of
them start with the Qur 'an. But what is the
Qur 'an really? And has its text truly been perfectly
preserved the way many modern Muslims claim?
Have you ever wondered what the Qur 'an actually
is? The word Qur 'an means recitation. The word
Kitab means book. From the very beginning, early
Muslims focused strongly on memorizing and reciting
the chapters or surahs that Muhammad said he
received from the angel Gabriel. Did early Muslims
always believe the Quran we have today was complete
and unchanged? Many Muslims today believe the
Quran has never been changed. But early Islamic
reports show that some companions believed parts
of the Quran had been lost. They also indicate
that not all collections of verses were identical.
Different companions kept their own codices,
and there were disagreements about which set
of verses should be treated as the official Quran.
How did one version of the Quran become standard?
This conflict led to a major decision under the
third caliph, Uthman. He ordered a committee
led by Zayd ibn Thabit to produce a standard
version of the Quran. After copies of this version
were sent to key cities, Uthman commanded that
other Quranic materials and codices be destroyed
so that only this one standard text would remain.
How did other companions react to Uthman's decision?
Some Muslims were angered by what Uthman did.
Certain companions such as Abdullah ibn Masud
and Ubayy ibn Kab are reported to have preferred
their own codices and to have regarded them as
more reliable than the version standardized by
Zayd ibn Thabit. Many Muslims today do not know
this part of the story and are often surprised
when they first hear about multiple early codices
and the burning of other manuscripts. What about
verses that seem to conflict or disappear? Even
if we accept a standard written text, another
issue arises. What happens when verses appear
to conflict or when some teachings are said to
be no longer valid? This is where the doctrine
of abrogation enters. Abrogation means that some
revelations were later cancelled or made no longer
binding for Muslims. Some passages that Muslims
describe as abrogated are no longer in the Quran
at all. Others remain in the text but are considered
cancelled by later verses or by teachings preserved
only in hadith, which are claimed to come from
lost Quranic verses. Does abrogation affect the
idea of perfect preservation? These ideas raise
serious questions. If a verse can be revealed
and then removed or cancelled, what does that
mean for the claim of a perfectly preserved and
unchanging scripture? If some teachings are lost
and others are abrogated yet still printed in
the text, how does that fit with the belief that
every letter has been kept intact? What do most
modern Muslims say about the Quran today? Most
Muslims today believe firmly that the Quran,
as compiled under Uthman and transmitted since
then, is the exact revelation of Allah to humanity.
Muslim scholars often describe the Qur 'an as
a living miracle given by Allah to the Prophet
through the Holy Spirit Gabriel. And they point
to Surah 15 verse 9 where Allah says that He
Himself will guard the reminder from corruption.
How do modern writers describe the preservation
of the Qur 'an? Contemporary authors explain
that the Qur 'an is the literal word of God.
They say that Muhammad memorized it and dictated
it to his companions. His followers then memorized
it, wrote it down, and reviewed it with him.
They also say that Muhammad reviewed the Quran
with Gabriel once every year, and twice in the
last year of his life. Many writers add that
from the time the Quran was revealed until today,
there have always been large numbers of Muslims
who memorized the entire text letter by letter,
and that not a single letter has changed over
the centuries. Can these modern claims be easily
reconciled with the early history? So we are
left with a crucial question. How do we reconcile
the strong modern claim that not one letter has
changed with early reports of multiple codices'
disagreements among companions and Uthman ordering
other manuscripts to be burned? And how does
the doctrine of abrogation fit with the idea
that the Quran is a perfectly preserved book?
when some teachings are said to be lost or cancelled
while others remain in the text but are no longer
binding. These tensions do not automatically
answer every question, but they do invite any
serious seeker to look more carefully at the
real history of the Qur 'an, its compilation,
and its claims of preservation before simply
accepting a simplified modern story.