WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259 When Muslims talk about their faith, most of 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:04.639 them start with the Qur 'an. But what is the 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.700 Qur 'an really? And has its text truly been perfectly 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:10.060 preserved the way many modern Muslims claim? 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:12.660 Have you ever wondered what the Qur 'an actually 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:16.339 is? The word Qur 'an means recitation. The word 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:19.280 Kitab means book. From the very beginning, early 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.500 Muslims focused strongly on memorizing and reciting 00:00:22.500 --> 00:00:25.320 the chapters or surahs that Muhammad said he 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:28.600 received from the angel Gabriel. Did early Muslims 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.859 always believe the Quran we have today was complete 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:35.179 and unchanged? Many Muslims today believe the 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:38.000 Quran has never been changed. But early Islamic 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:41.000 reports show that some companions believed parts 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.899 of the Quran had been lost. They also indicate 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:46.679 that not all collections of verses were identical. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.560 Different companions kept their own codices, 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:52.200 and there were disagreements about which set 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:55.039 of verses should be treated as the official Quran. 00:00:55.710 --> 00:00:58.250 How did one version of the Quran become standard? 00:00:58.490 --> 00:01:01.310 This conflict led to a major decision under the 00:01:01.310 --> 00:01:04.030 third caliph, Uthman. He ordered a committee 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:07.209 led by Zayd ibn Thabit to produce a standard 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:10.290 version of the Quran. After copies of this version 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:13.790 were sent to key cities, Uthman commanded that 00:01:13.790 --> 00:01:16.670 other Quranic materials and codices be destroyed 00:01:16.670 --> 00:01:19.909 so that only this one standard text would remain. 00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:23.450 How did other companions react to Uthman's decision? 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:26.739 Some Muslims were angered by what Uthman did. 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:29.900 Certain companions such as Abdullah ibn Masud 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:33.260 and Ubayy ibn Kab are reported to have preferred 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:36.340 their own codices and to have regarded them as 00:01:36.340 --> 00:01:39.239 more reliable than the version standardized by 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:42.739 Zayd ibn Thabit. Many Muslims today do not know 00:01:42.739 --> 00:01:45.579 this part of the story and are often surprised 00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:48.219 when they first hear about multiple early codices 00:01:48.219 --> 00:01:51.650 and the burning of other manuscripts. What about 00:01:51.650 --> 00:01:54.689 verses that seem to conflict or disappear? Even 00:01:54.689 --> 00:01:56.989 if we accept a standard written text, another 00:01:56.989 --> 00:02:00.069 issue arises. What happens when verses appear 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:03.010 to conflict or when some teachings are said to 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:05.670 be no longer valid? This is where the doctrine 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:09.110 of abrogation enters. Abrogation means that some 00:02:09.110 --> 00:02:12.310 revelations were later cancelled or made no longer 00:02:12.310 --> 00:02:15.530 binding for Muslims. Some passages that Muslims 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:18.550 describe as abrogated are no longer in the Quran 00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:21.949 at all. Others remain in the text but are considered 00:02:21.949 --> 00:02:25.530 cancelled by later verses or by teachings preserved 00:02:25.530 --> 00:02:28.650 only in hadith, which are claimed to come from 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:32.030 lost Quranic verses. Does abrogation affect the 00:02:32.030 --> 00:02:35.229 idea of perfect preservation? These ideas raise 00:02:35.229 --> 00:02:38.229 serious questions. If a verse can be revealed 00:02:38.229 --> 00:02:40.830 and then removed or cancelled, what does that 00:02:40.830 --> 00:02:43.810 mean for the claim of a perfectly preserved and 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:46.900 unchanging scripture? If some teachings are lost 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:49.520 and others are abrogated yet still printed in 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.099 the text, how does that fit with the belief that 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:55.199 every letter has been kept intact? What do most 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.280 modern Muslims say about the Quran today? Most 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.020 Muslims today believe firmly that the Quran, 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:04.400 as compiled under Uthman and transmitted since 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.039 then, is the exact revelation of Allah to humanity. 00:03:08.669 --> 00:03:11.569 Muslim scholars often describe the Qur 'an as 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:13.969 a living miracle given by Allah to the Prophet 00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:16.729 through the Holy Spirit Gabriel. And they point 00:03:16.729 --> 00:03:20.189 to Surah 15 verse 9 where Allah says that He 00:03:20.189 --> 00:03:23.030 Himself will guard the reminder from corruption. 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:25.889 How do modern writers describe the preservation 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:28.909 of the Qur 'an? Contemporary authors explain 00:03:28.909 --> 00:03:31.569 that the Qur 'an is the literal word of God. 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:34.830 They say that Muhammad memorized it and dictated 00:03:34.830 --> 00:03:37.919 it to his companions. His followers then memorized 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:41.479 it, wrote it down, and reviewed it with him. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:44.379 They also say that Muhammad reviewed the Quran 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:47.819 with Gabriel once every year, and twice in the 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:50.780 last year of his life. Many writers add that 00:03:50.780 --> 00:03:53.340 from the time the Quran was revealed until today, 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:56.240 there have always been large numbers of Muslims 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:59.000 who memorized the entire text letter by letter, 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.000 and that not a single letter has changed over 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.379 the centuries. Can these modern claims be easily 00:04:05.379 --> 00:04:08.360 reconciled with the early history? So we are 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.280 left with a crucial question. How do we reconcile 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:14.539 the strong modern claim that not one letter has 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:17.420 changed with early reports of multiple codices' 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:21.339 disagreements among companions and Uthman ordering 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:24.459 other manuscripts to be burned? And how does 00:04:24.459 --> 00:04:26.839 the doctrine of abrogation fit with the idea 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.779 that the Quran is a perfectly preserved book? 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.819 when some teachings are said to be lost or cancelled 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:35.920 while others remain in the text but are no longer 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.519 binding. These tensions do not automatically 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.759 answer every question, but they do invite any 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:44.519 serious seeker to look more carefully at the 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:47.019 real history of the Qur 'an, its compilation, 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:50.660 and its claims of preservation before simply 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:53.420 accepting a simplified modern story.