Most Common Questions asked by Non-Muslims
who have some knowledge of Islam
who have some knowledge of Islam
Q1. Present Qur'an in not the
original but that of Usman (R.A.)
Question:
There were many versions of the Qur’an all of which were burnt by Usman
(r.a.) except for one. Therefore is it not true that the present Qur’an is the
one compiled by Usman (r.a.) and not the original revelation of God?
PRESENT QUR'AN IS NOT THE ORIGINAL BUT THAT OF USMAN (R.A.)
Answer:
One of
the most common myths about the Qur’an, is that Usman (r.a.), the third Caliph
of Islam authenticated and compiled one Qur’an, from a large set of mutually contradicting
copies. The Qur’an, revered as the Word of Allah (swt) by Muslims the world
over, is the same Qur’an as the one revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It was
authenticated and written under his personal supervision. We will examine the roots
of the myth which says that Usman (r.a.) had the Qur’an authenticated.
- Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) himself supervised and authenticated the written texts of the Qur’an
Whenever
the Prophet received a revelation, he would first memorize it himself and later
declare the revelation and instruct his Companions who would also memorize it.
The Prophet would immediately ask the scribes to write down the revelation he had
received, and he would reconfirm and recheck it himself. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
was an Ummi who could not read and write. Therefore, after receiving each revelation,
he would repeat it to his Companions. They would write down the revelation, and
he would recheck by asking them to read what they had written. If there was any
mistake, the Prophet would immediately point it out and have it corrected and
rechecked. Similarly he would even recheck and authenticate the portions of the
Qur’an memorized by the Companions. In this way, the complete Qur’an was
written down under the personal supervision of the prophet (pbuh).
- Order and sequence of Qur’an divinely inspired
The
complete Qur’an was revealed over a period of 22½ years portion by portion, as and
when it was required. The Qur’an was not compiled by the Prophet in the chronological
order of revelation. The order and sequence of the Qur’an too was Divinely
inspired and was instructed to the Prophet by Allah (swt) through archangel Jibraeel.
Whenever a revelation was conveyed to his companions, the Prophet would also
mention in which surah (chapter) and after which ayat (verse) this new revelation
should fit.
Every
Ramadhaan all the portions of the Qur’an that had been revealed, including the
order of the verses, were revised and reconfirmed by the Prophet with archangel
Jibraeel. During the last Ramadhaan, before the demise of the Prophet, the
Qur’an was rechecked and reconfirmed twice. It is
therefore clearly evident that the Qur’an was compiled and authenticated by the
Prophet himself during his lifetime, both in the written form as well as in the
memory of several of his Companions.
- Qur’an copied on one common material
The
complete Qur’an, along with the correct sequence of the verses, was present during
the time of the Prophet (pbuh). The verses however, were written on separate
pieces, scrapes of leather, thin flat stones, leaflets, palm branches, shoulder
blades, etc. After the demise of the prophet, Abu Bakr (R.A.), the first caliph
of Islam ordered that the Qur’an be copied from the various different materials
on to a common material and place, which was in the shape of sheets. These were
tied with strings so that nothing of the compilation was lost.
- Usman (R.A.) made copies of the Qur’an from the original manuscript
Many
Companions of the Prophet used to write down the revelation of the Qur’an on their
own whenever they heard it from the lips of the Prophet. However what they wrote
was not personally verified by the Prophet and thus could contain mistakes. All
the verses revealed to the Prophet may not have been heard personally by all
the Companions. There were high possibilities of different portions of the
Qur’an being
missed by different Companions. This gave rise to disputes among Muslims
regarding the different contents of the Qur’an during the period of the third Caliph
Usman (R.A.).
Usman
(R.A.) borrowed the original manuscript of the Qur’an, which was authorized by
the beloved Prophet (pbuh), from Hafsha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet’s
wife. Usman (r.a.) ordered four Companions who were among the scribes who wrote
the Qur’an when the Prophet dictated it, led by Zaid bin Thabit (r.a.) to rewrite
the script in several perfect copies. These were sent by Usman (r.a.) to the main
centres of Muslims.
There
were other personal collections of the portions of the Qur’an that people had with
them. These might have been incomplete and with mistakes. Usman (r.a.) only appealed
to the people to destroy all these copies which did not match the original manuscript
of the Qur’an in order to preserve the original text of the Qur’an. Two such
copies of the copied text of the original Qur’an authenticated by the Prophet are
present to this day, one at the museum in Tashkent in erstwhile Soviet Union and
the other at the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Diacritical marks were added for non-Arabs
The
original manuscript of the Qur’an does not have the signs indicating the vowels
in Arabic script. These vowels are known as tashkil, zabar, zair, paish
in Urdu and as fatah, damma and qasra in Arabic. The Arabs did
not require the vowel signs and diacritical marks for correct pronunciation of
the Qur’an since it was their mother tongue. For Muslims of non-Arab origin,
however, it was difficult to recite the Qur’an correctly without the vowels.
These marks were introduced into the Quranic script during the time of the
fifth ‘Umayyad’ Caliph, Malik-ar-Marwan (66-86 Hijri / 685-705 C.E.) and during the governorship of
Al-Hajaj in Iraq.
Some
people argue that the present copy of the Qur’an that we have along with the vowels
and the diacritical marks is not the same original Qur’an that was present at the
Prophet’s time. But they fail to realize that the word ‘Qur’an’ means a
recitation. Therefore, the preservation of the recitation of the Qur’an is
important, irrespective of whether the script is different or whether it
contains vowels. If the pronunciation and the Arabic is the same, naturally,
the meaning remains the same too.
- Allah Himself has promised to guard the Qur’an
Allah
has promised in the Qur’an:
“We
have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly Guard it
(from corruption).”
[Al-Qur’an 15:9]
