Za vrijeme Muhameda, Kur'an nije postojao u onom obliku koji imamo sada. Dijelovi su bili razbacani među njegovim drugovima. Dok je bio živ, prorok nije dao upute svojim sljedbenicima da ga sastave u knjigu. Kur'ani su postojali uglavnom u recitacijama muslimana, ali neki stihovi su bili napisani na kamenju, kostima i lišću.

Muhamed je uputio svoje sljedbenike da nauče Kur'an od četiri osobe. Četiri izabrana proroka bila su posebno:
1Abdulla Ibn Mas'ud,
2 Salim (oslobođeni rob Abu Hudhaifa),
3 Mu'adh bin Jabal i
4 Ubay bin Ka'b. (Sahih Bukhari 6.61.521)

1. Prvo ime na popisu je Abdulla ibn Mas'ud, kojeg je Muhamed osobno povjerio kao autoritet na Kur'anu.

Ubay ibn Ka'b, još jedan od četiri, također je izdvojio Muhammad i smatran je najboljim recitatorom Kur'ana tog vremena. Ustvari, Ubay je bio poznat kao Sayidul Qura (što znači Majstor recitatora).

Treći kalif Umar također se složio da je Ubay najbolji recitator.

Nakon Muhameda umro 632. godine, mnoga arapska plemena su se pobunila, a neki su se željeli vratiti svojim starim religijama. To je dovelo do Apostatskih ratova. (Ridda Wars). Kalif, Abu Bakr, otišao je u rat protiv otpadnika.

U jednom od ovih posljednjih ratova, poznatih kao Bitka kod Yamame, tisuće je ubijeno. Do kraja rata, 700 recitatora (hafiz) iz Kur'ana su bili mrtvi. To je bila katastrofa i Umar, nadolazeći vođa i budući kalif, predvidio je problem i shvatio da će jednog dana svi recitatori umrijeti. Bez recitatora ne bi bilo više Kur'ana. Stoga se približio Abu Bakru, kalifu u to vrijeme, da predloži da se Kur'an sastavi u knjigu. Abu Bakr, koji je bio najbliži Muhamedov pratilac, bio je duboko zabrinut zbog tog prijedloga i rekao: "Kako mogu učiniti nešto što Allahov apostol nije učinio?" Ali Umar se nastavio prepirati sve dok Abu Bakr nije bio uvjeren.

Sada, umjesto da ide na četiri recitatora koje je Muhamed osobno odabrao, Abu Bakr je odlučio otići u Zaid Ibn Thabit, koji je bio pisac Muhameda, da ga zamoli da sastavi Kur'an. Zaid je bio šokiran i rekao: "Kako se usuđuješ učiniti nešto što Prorok nije učinio?" Raspravljali su se dok ga nisu uvjerili.

Tako je Zaid Ibn Thabit, koji NIJE bio jedan od prvobitnih četvorice koje je povjerio Muhammad, počeo skupljati one ostatke stihova pronađenih na kamenju, lišću, kostima i sjećanjima muškaraca. Onda je sve to napisao na listove pergamenata.

Kakve su bile reakcije četvorice, koje je Muhamed osobno izabrao i povjerio riječima Kur'ana? Očito, bili su uzrujani jer ih nisu savjetovali Abu Bakr niti Zaid ibn Thabit.

Što su učinili? Mnogi od ovih ranih poznatih znanstvenika i recitatora, uključujući Ibn Ma'suda, Ubay bin Ka'b, Alija, Abu Musa, al-Aswad, i drugi odbili su Abu Bakrov 'projekt' i počeli pisati i svoje verzije Kur'ana. kao što ih je naučio prorok, odvojeno od Zaida ibn Thabit. (Prema istraživanjima navedeno je 15 primarnih verzija i velik broj sekundarnih verzija koje su izvedenice iz primarnih).

Zapamtite, u ovo vrijeme Muhamed više nije bio tu i nije bilo drugog proroka koji bi mogao odobriti ili odbiti ono što su činili. I nijedan od tih ljudi nije bio proroka.
U međuvremenu, Zaid je radio na svojoj kompilaciji prema uputama Abu Bakra. Nakon što ga je dovršio, kopija je predana Abu Bakru na čuvanje. Nakon što je Abu Bakr umro, kopija je proslijeđena Umar al Khattabu, drugom kalifu.

As-Suyuti, jedan od najpoznatijih i najcjenjenijih komentatora Kur'ana, citira 'Umar al Khattab govoreći:' Neka nitko od vas ne kaže da je stekao cijeli Kur'an, jer kako on zna da je sve to ?
Velik dio Kur'ana je izgubljen, pa neka kaže: 'Ja sam od njega stekao ono što je dostupno' '(As-Suyuti, Itqan, 3. dio, str. 72).

Nakon što je umar umro, njegova je kći Hafsa naslijedila primjerak i zadržala ga ispod kreveta. Prošlo je mnogo godina, a Osman, treći kalif, koji je naslijedio Umara, počeo je shvaćati da su se u to vrijeme pojavili mnogi različiti Kur'ani! Stihovi su se izgovarali na drugačiji način zbog različitih dijalekata, pa čak i sadržaja koji su bili različiti u različitim regijama i to je počelo izazivati velike sporove među ljudima!

U Kitab al-tabaqat vol 2 p444 - Ibn Sa'd kaže: "Ljudi su krivi za čitanje Kur'ana zbog različitih recitacija."
To je posebno bilo vidljivo među ljudima iz Šama i Iračanima. Razlike su bile tako velike, ne samo u izgovoru, već iu samom sadržaju koji se razlikovao. Bilo je tako ozbiljno da se Osman bojao da u budućnosti nitko neće moći znati koji je pravi Kur'an.

Tako se još jednom povijest ponavlja i kalif Uthman-Osman, iz povjerenstava za frustraciju, ponovno napiše novu "službenu" verziju.

Zašto nije samo upotrijebio kopiju koja je bila pod Hafsinim krevetom? Ona koju je izvorno sastavio pod vodstvom Abu Bakra? Ne, to nije dovoljno dobro prema Uthmanu-Osmanu. To je morala biti "čišća" uređena verzija, tako da više neće biti sporova.

Jedan od propelema koji je postojao u tekstovima bio je da u ranoj verziji nije bilo točkica i razmaka između slova, kao ni bez samoglasnika. To može uzrokovati veliku zbrku. Na primjer, razlika između slova “ba”, “ta” i “tha” samo je broj točaka! Dakle, bez točkica i prostora, bilo koja riječ može biti neka druga riječ. Bacite nedostajuće vokale i dobivate beskrajne mogućnosti!

Uthman-Osman je želio da se ovo ispravi. Tako je Zaid koristio svoju verziju, uspoređujući je s Hafsinom verzijom i dodao potrebne interpunkcije i samoglasnike. U slučaju da postoje razlike, Uthman-Osman je naredio Zaidu da koristi samo verziju koju je koristilo pleme Kurejšija. Kako može samo odabrati koje varijante koristiti? Zar to ne bi trebale biti riječi Allaha?

Veće razmatranje je da su vokali uvedeni samo na arapskom krajem 8. stoljeća. To dokazuje da Kur'an nije bio dovršen u 7. stoljeću, kako tvrde neki znanstvenici. To je moralo biti krajem 8. stoljeća, možda početkom 9. stoljeća! To bi trajalo više od sto godina nakon Muhammedove smrti!

Opet, zapamtite, Muhamed je bio dugo mrtav i nije bilo proroka koji bi vodili Zaida ibn Thabit. I nije se posavjetovao s ranijim znanstvenicima niti s verzijama Kur'ana koje pripadaju prvobitnim četirima koje je Muhamed odabrao i povjerio riječima Kur'ana.

Nakon što je dovršena verzija Osmana, poznata kao Medinski kodeks, napravili su kopije i poslali ih u sva metropolitanska središta, Meku, Damask, Kufu, Basru, a jedan primjerak je zadržan u Medini. Gdje su sada ti originalni primjerci? Nitko ne zna. I nijedan musliman nije bio u stanju proizvesti ga kako bi ušutkao sve nemuslimanske kritičare.

Za ovo se kaže da je u 7. stoljeću. Kako mogu nestati takve važne, vrijedne i očito poštovane kopije? (S druge strane, čitav biblijski rukopis Novog zavjeta iz 4. stoljeća dostupan je i danas. Možete ga sami vidjeti u Britanskoj knjižnici. Kopije su također digitalizirane i dostupne na internetu.)

Osman je također naredio da se sve druge različite verzije Kur'ana unište!

Zašto je bilo potrebno spaliti ove rukopise Kur'ana? Kako Osman može biti siguran da nije zauvijek uništio jedan pravi Kur'an?

Kad su došli u Bagdad kako bi zaplijenili i spalili verziju koja je pripadala Ibn Mas'udu, bio je bijesan. Tko ga može kriviti!

Ibn Mas'ud se zakleo da je bolje znao sve suhe Kur'ana nego bilo tko drugi, govoreći: “Allah, osim koga nitko nema pravo obožavati! U Allahovoj knjizi se ne otkriva Sura, ali znam na kojem mjestu je otkriveno; a u Allahovoj knjizi ne postoji nikakav stih, ali znam o kome je otkriven. A ako znam da postoji netko tko poznaje Allahovu knjigu bolje od mene, a on je na mjestu koje kamile mogu doseći, ja bih išao k njemu. "

Bio je ogorčen što je u pravu. To ima smisla jer je, prema Muhammedovim vlastitim riječima, Ibn Mas'ud bio jedan od izabranih učitelja kojima je zapovjeđeno da muslimani idu u učenju Kur'ana.

Kur'an Ibn Mas'uda imao je 111 Sura (poglavlja). Uthmanova-Osmanova verzija koju je napisao Zaid imao je 114.

[Uthmanov-Osmanov tekst je dodao ove sure 1- al-Fatiha i mu'awwithatayni (suhe 113 i 114) koje Ibn Mas'ud odbacuje. Kada proučavamo ostatak razlika u tekstu, nalazimo da su postojale brojne druge razlike u čitanju između tekstova Zaida i Ibn Mas'uda. Ovo je zabilježeno u knjizi Ibn Abu Dawud u Kitab al-Masahifu i popunjava ne manje od devetnaest stranica i, iz svih dostupnih izvora, može se pratiti samo 101 razlika u samom Sura 2 al-Baqarah!

Ibn Mas'ud odbacio je Osmanov Kur'an

Zapravo, Ibn Mas'udov Kuran je već bio u upotrebi, poznat i široko prihvaćen od mnogih muslimana.
Kada je Osman naredio uništenje Ibn Mas'udove verzije, Ibn Mas'ud je u Kufi dao propovijed i rekao: „Ljudi su krivi za prevare u čitanju Kur'ana. Bolje mi je da čitam u skladu s njegovim recitiranjem (Poslanikom) koje volim više od Zayda Ibn Thabita. Njemu osim onoga što nema boga! Naučio sam više od sedamdeset surah s usana apostola Allahovog, neka ga Allah blagoslovi, dok je Zayd Ibn Thabit bio mlad, (prije prihvaćanja islama) imao je dvije brave i igrao se s mladima ”.

Bilo je očito da je Ibn Mas'ud prezirao Zaida i odbacio njegovu verziju Kur'ana. Očito, Zaid se nije mogao slagati s tako velikim učiteljem i učiteljem kao što je on sam, Ibn Mas'ud, a takve propovijedi su mu razorne za povijest islama i autentičnost Kur'ana.

Još jedan od izvornih četiri koje je Muhamed odabrao i povjerio Kur'anu bio je Ubay bin Ka'b, priznat kao najbolji recitator svog vremena. I on je bio jako razočaran "novim" Kur'anom.

Sahih Bukhari 6.61.527 navodi: "Ubayy je bio najbolji recitator, a ipak izostavljamo dio onoga što recitira."

Ubayova verzija imala je 116 sura. Ubayy se zapravo više složio s verzijom Ibn Mas'uda nego sa Zaidovom verzijom.
Znamo da, dok je Ibn Mas'ud izostavio dvije sure (113 i 114) iz njegove verzije, Ubay je uključivao dvije dodatne sure, al-Hafd (Haste) i al-Khal '(Odvajanje). Gdje se nalazi Ibn Mas'ud Quran? A gdje je Ubayov Kur'an? Nestao. Spaljeno od Uthmana-Osmana. Kako možemo napraviti usporedbe i vidjeti koja je verzija sada istinita kada su svi dokazi u dimu?

Prije uništenja rukopisa, neki muslimani su preferirali verzije koje nisu Uthmanove-Osmanove verzije, primjerice one Ibn Mas'uda, Ubay ibn Ka'b i Abu Musa.

Sve te verzije nestale su s vremenom. Ali pogriješili biste kad biste mislili da je tekst koji imamo danas savršeno Uthmanova-Osmanova izmijenjena verzija Kur'ana. Ne baš. Došlo je do daljnjih promjena koje je napravio Al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf Al-Thakafi (umro 714. godine).

Na kraju, pod utjecajem velikog Kuranskog učenjaka Ibn Mudžahida (umro 935.A.D.), konačno je došlo do standardizacije (kanonizacije) u tekstu što je rezultiralo prihvaćanjem sedam sustava, poznatih kao Qira'at Kur'ana. Popis je prikazan ispod. [Ali drugi znanstvenici prihvatili su deset čitanja, a neki su prihvatili četrnaest čitanja.
Čak je i Ibn Mudžahidovih sedam dalo četrnaest mogućnosti, budući da je svaki od tih sedam tragao kroz dva različita odašiljača, naime,

1. Nafi iz Medine prema Warshu i Qalunu
2. Ibn Kathir iz Meke prema al-Bazzi i Qunbulu
3. Ibn Amir iz Damaska prema Hishamu i Ibn Dakwanu
4. Abu Amr u Basri prema al-Duriju i al-Susi
5. Asim Kufa prema Hafsu i Abu Bakru
6. Hamza od Kuga prema Khalafu i Khalladu
7. Al-Kisai od Kufa prema al Duriju i Abul Harithu

Trenutno se u modernom islamu, čini se da su dvije verzije u upotrebi i trenutno u tisku, nazvane po njihovim prijenosnicima Hafs (iz Kufa) i Warsh (iz Medine).

Hafs verzija

Hafsov tekst je uobičajeniji i koristi se u većini islamskih zemalja, uključujući Saudijsku Arabiju i Egipat.

Varšavska verzija

Warsh se uglavnom koristi u zapadnoj i sjeverozapadnoj Africi, kao i u Zaydiyi u Jemenu.

Mnogi muslimani čak i ne znaju za postojanje ovih različitih verzija modernog Kur'ana. Ili će tvrditi da su samo neke manje razlike u izgovoru ili pravopisu.(Manja ili ne, tvrdnja da je Kuran savršeno očuvan, izlazi kroz prozor.)

No, dokazi pokazuju da postoji više od razlika u pravopisu i izgovoru. Evo samo nekoliko razlika, koje pokazuju promjene riječi, pa čak i razlike u značenju.(Postoje i druge razlike koje možete sami istražiti na internetu.)

Što smo naučili ovdje?

Kur'an koji danas imamo je prošao kroz brojne promjene u povijesti. Nijedan musliman to neće priznati, ali Osmanovo spaljivanje učinilo je muslimane i svijet velikim neuspjehom jer sada nitko ne može biti siguran je li ijedna od ranijih verzija istinita. Sada se s njom ništa ne može usporediti. Tako muslimani i dalje misle da je Kur'an nepromijenjen otkako je prvi put napisan. A to je nesretna laž.

Nedostaju stihovi i poglavlja. Umar, drugi kalif je to shvatio kad je rekao: "Neka nitko od vas ne kaže da je stekao cijeli Kur'an, jer kako on zna da je to sve?" Velik dio Kur'ana je izgubljen, pa neka kaže: 'Ja sam od njega stekao ono što je dostupno' '

Najbolji učenjaci i recitatori za vrijeme Muhammeda kao što je Ibn Mas'ud i Ubay bin Ka'b, kojega je sam Muhamed osobno odobrio, odbacili su Kur'an od Osmana, o kojem se nikada nisu savjetovali.

Što imamo? Je li Kur'an savršeno očuvan? Odgovor je ne.

Prevedeno sa Google Translite

https://matthew2124.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/is-the-quran-perfectly-preserved/

Koju verziju Kurana su hafizi recitovali Hafs (iz Kufa) iili Warsh (iz Medine)?

---------------------------------

Prevedeno sa Google Translite

https://matthew2124.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/is-the-quran-perfectly-preserved/

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Is The Quran Perfectly Preserved?

https://matthew2124.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/is-the-quran-perfectly-preserved/

During the time of Muhammad, the Quran did not exist in the form that we have now. Parts of it were scattered among his companions. While he was alive, the prophet gave no instructions to his followers about compiling it into a book. The verses of the Quran existed mainly in the recitations of the Muslims but some verses were written on stones, bones and leaves.

Muhammad instructed his followers to learn the Quran from four individuals. The four chosen by the prophet were specifically: Abdulla Ibn Mas’ud, Salim (a freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa), Mu’adh bin Jabal and Ubay bin Ka’b. (Sahih Bukhari 6.61.521)
The first name on the list is Abdulla ibn Mas’ud, whom Muhammad personally entrusted as an authority on the Quran.
Ubay ibn Ka’b, another one of the four, was also singled out by Muhammad and was considered to be the best reciter of the Quran of the time. In fact, Ubay was known as Sayidul Qura’ (meaning The Master of Reciters). Umar the third Caliph also agreed that Ubay was the best of reciters.

After Muhammad died in 632 AD, many Arab tribes revolted and some wanted to return to their old religions. This led to the Apostate Wars. (Ridda Wars). The caliph, Abu Bakr, went to war against the apostates.

In one of these last wars, known as the Battle of Yamama, thousands were killed. By the end of the war, 700 reciters (hafiz) of the Quran were dead. This was a disaster and Umar, an upcoming leader and future caliph, foresaw the problem and realized that one day all the reciters would die. Without the reciters, there would be no more Quran. So he approached Abu Bakr, the caliph at the time, to suggest that the Quran be compiled into a book. Abu Bakr, who had been the closest companion of Muhammad, was deeply troubled at this suggestion and said, “‘How can I do something which Allah’s Apostle has not done?” But Umar kept on arguing until Abu Bakr was persuaded.
Now instead of going to the four reciters that Muhammad had personally selected, Abu Bakr decided to go to Zaid Ibn Thabit, who had been a scribe of Muhammad, to ask him to compile the Quran. Zaid was shocked and said, “How dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not done?” They argued until they persuaded him too.

And so Zaid Ibn Thabit, who was NOT one of the original four who were entrusted by Muhammad, began collecting those scraps of verses found on stones, leaves, bones and from the memories of men. Then he wrote it all out on to sheets of parchments.
What were the reactions of the four, whom Muhammad had personally chosen and entrusted with the words of the Quran? Obviously, they were upset because they were not consulted by Abu Bakr nor Zaid ibn Thabit.

What did they do? Many of these early well-known scholars and reciters, including Ibn Ma’sud, Ubay bin Ka’b, Ali, Abu Musa, al-Aswad, and others rejected Abu Bakr’s ‘project’ and began writing their own versions of the Quran too as taught them by the prophet, separate from Zaid ibn Thabit. (According to research there are listed 15 primary versions, and a large number of secondary versions which were derivatives from the primary ones).
Remember, by this time, Muhammad was no longer around and there was no other prophet who could approve or disapprove what they were doing. And none of these people were prophets.
Meanwhile, Zaid worked on his compilation under the instruction of Abu Bakr. After he completed it, the copy was handed to Abu Bakr for safe-keeping. After Abu Bakr died, the copy was passed to Umar al Khattab, the second Caliph.
As-Suyuti, one of the most famous and revered of the commentators of the Quran, quotes ‘Umar al Khattab as saying: “Let no one of you say that he has acquired the entire Quran, for how does he know that it is all? Much of the Quran has been lost, thus let him say, ‘I have acquired of it what is available’” (As-Suyuti, Itqan, part 3, page 72).
And after Umar died, his daughter Hafsa inherited the copy and kept it under her bed. Many years passed, and Uthman, the third Caliph, who had succeeded Umar, began to realize that by this time, that many differing Qurans had surfaced! The verses was being recited differently because of different dialects and even the contents were different in different regions and this was beginning to cause major disputes among the people!
In the Kitab al-tabaqat vol 2 p444 – Ibn Sa’d says, “The people have been guilty in the reading of the Quran because of differing recitations.”
This was especially evident among people of Sham and the people of Iraq. The differences were so great , not just in the pronunciations but in the content itself which differed. It was so serious that Uthman feared that in the future, no one would be able to know which is the true Quran.
So once again, history repeats itself and the caliph Uthman, out of frustration commissions Zaid ibn Thabit again to re-write the new “official” version. During the time of Muhammad, the Quran did not exist in the form that we have now. Parts of it were scattered among his companions. While he was alive, the prophet gave no instructions to his followers about compiling it into a book. The verses of the Quran existed mainly in the recitations of the Muslims but some verses were written on stones, bones and leaves.

Muhammad instructed his followers to learn the Quran from four individuals. The four chosen by the prophet were specifically: Abdulla Ibn Mas’ud, Salim (a freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa), Mu’adh bin Jabal and Ubay bin Ka’b. (Sahih Bukhari 6.61.521)
The first name on the list is Abdulla ibn Mas’ud, whom Muhammad personally entrusted as an authority on the Quran.
Ubay ibn Ka’b, another one of the four, was also singled out by Muhammad and was considered to be the best reciter of the Quran of the time. In fact, Ubay was known as Sayidul Qura’ (meaning The Master of Reciters). Umar the third Caliph also agreed that Ubay was the best of reciters.

After Muhammad died in 632 AD, many Arab tribes revolted and some wanted to return to their old religions. This led to the Apostate Wars. (Ridda Wars). The caliph, Abu Bakr, went to war against the apostates.

In one of these last wars, known as the Battle of Yamama, thousands were killed. By the end of the war, 700 reciters (hafiz) of the Quran were dead. This was a disaster and Umar, an upcoming leader and future caliph, foresaw the problem and realized that one day all the reciters would die. Without the reciters, there would be no more Quran. So he approached Abu Bakr, the caliph at the time, to suggest that the Quran be compiled into a book. Abu Bakr, who had been the closest companion of Muhammad, was deeply troubled at this suggestion and said, “‘How can I do something which Allah’s Apostle has not done?” But Umar kept on arguing until Abu Bakr was persuaded.
Now instead of going to the four reciters that Muhammad had personally selected, Abu Bakr decided to go to Zaid Ibn Thabit, who had been a scribe of Muhammad, to ask him to compile the Quran. Zaid was shocked and said, “How dare you do a thing which the Prophet has not done?” They argued until they persuaded him too.

And so Zaid Ibn Thabit, who was NOT one of the original four who were entrusted by Muhammad, began collecting those scraps of verses found on stones, leaves, bones and from the memories of men. Then he wrote it all out on to sheets of parchments.
What were the reactions of the four, whom Muhammad had personally chosen and entrusted with the words of the Quran? Obviously, they were upset because they were not consulted by Abu Bakr nor Zaid ibn Thabit.

Why didn’t he just use the copy that was under Hafsa’s bed? The one that he had originally compiled under the direction of Abu Bakr? No, that wasn’t good enough according to Uthman. It had to be a “cleaner” edited version so that there would be no more disputes.

One of the propblems that existed in the texts was that in the early version, there were no dots and spaces between the letters and also no vowels. This can cause huge confusion. For example, the difference between the letters “ba”, “ta” and “tha” are just the number of dots! So without the dots and spaces, any word could be made to be some other word. Throw in the missing vowels and you get endless possibilities!

Uthman wanted this corrected. So Zaid used his version, comparing it with Hafsa’s version and added the necessary punctuations and vowels. In case there were differences, Uthman ordered Zaid to just use the version that the Quraysh tribe used. How can he just pick and choose which variants to use? Isn’t this supposed to to be the words of Allah?

A bigger consideration is that vowels were only introduced in Arabic in the late 8th century. This proves that the Quran was not completed in the 7th century as claimed by some scholars. It had to be late 8th century, possibly early 9th century! This would take the timeline to more than hundred years after the death of Muhammad!
Again, remember, Muhammad was long dead and there were no prophets to guide Zaid ibn Thabit. And, he did not consult the earlier scholars nor the Quran versions belonging to the original four whom Muhammad had chosen and entrusted with the words of the Quran.
Once Uthman’s version was completed, known as the Medinan Codex, they made copies and sent to all the metropolitan centers, Mecca, Damascus, Kufa, Basra and one copy was kept in Medina. Where are these original copies now? No one knows. And no Muslim has been able to produce one to silence all the non-Muslim critics.

This is said to be in the 7th century. How can such important, valuable and obviously revered copies go missing? (On the other hand, the Bible’s entire New Testament manuscript from the 4th century is available even today. You can see it for yourself in the British Library. Copies of it are also digitized and available online.)

Uthman also ordered that all other differing versions of the Quran to be destroyed!

Why was there a need to burn these manuscripts of the Quran? How can Uthman be sure that he has not destroyed forever the one true Quran?

When they came to Baghdad to confiscate and burn the version belonging to Ibn Mas’ud, he was furious. Who can blame him!

Ibn Mas’ud swore that he knew all the surahs of the Quran better than anyone else, saying “By Allah other than Whom none has the right to be worshipped! There is no Sura revealed in Allah’s Book but I know at what place it was revealed; and there is no verse revealed in Allah’s Book but I know about whom it was revealed. And if I know that there is somebody who knows Allah’s Book better than I, and he is at a place that camels can reach, I would go to him.”

He was indignant that he was right. This makes sense because, according to Muhammad’s own words, Ibn Mas’ud was one of the chosen teachers whom Muslims were commanded to go to when learning the Quran.

Ibn Mas’ud’s Quran had 111 Sura (chapters). Uthman’s version written by Zaid had 114.

[Uthman’s text added these surahs – al-Fatiha and the mu’awwithatayni (surahs 113 and 114) which Ibn Mas’ud rejects. When we study the the rest of the differences in the text, we find that there were numerous other differences of reading between the texts of Zaid and Ibn Mas’ud. This is recorded in Ibn Abu Dawud’s Kitab al-Masahif and fills up no less than nineteen pages and, from all the sources available, one can trace no less than 101 differences in the Sura al-Baqarah alone!]

Ibn Mas’ud rejected Uthman’s Quran

Actually, Ibn Mas’ud’s Quran was already in use, known widely and agreed upon by many Muslims.
When Uthman ordered the destruction of Ibn Mas’ud’s version, Ibn Mas’ud gave a sermon in Kufa and said “The people have been guilty of deceit in the reading of the Qur’an. 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, (before embracing Islam) having two locks and playing with the youth”.
It was obvious that Ibn Mas’ud despised Zaid and rejected his version of the Quran. Clearly, Zaid was no match to such a great scholar and teacher as himself, Ibn Mas’ud, and such sermons by him are devastating to the history of Islam and to the authenticity of the Quran.

Another of the original four that Muhammad had hand-picked and entrusted with The Quran was Ubay bin Ka’b, acknowledged as the best reciter of his time. He too was greatly disappointed with the “new” Quran. Sahih Bukhari 6.61.527 states: “Ubayy was the best reciter yet we leave out some of what he recites.”

Ubay’s version had 116 Surahs. Ubayy, in fact, agreed more with Ibn Mas’ud’s version rather than Zaid’s version.
We know that, whereas Ibn Mas’ud omitted two surahs (113 and 114) from his version, Ubay included two extra surahs, al-Hafd (the Haste) and al-Khal’ (the Separation). Where is Ibn Mas’ud Quran? And where is Ubay’s Quran? Gone. Burnt by Uthman. How can we make comparisons and see which version is genuine now when all the evidences have gone up in smoke?

Before the destruction of the manuscripts, some Muslims preferred the versions other than the Uthman version, for example, those of Ibn Mas’ud, Ubay ibn Ka’b, and Abu Musa.

All those versions have disappeared in time. But you’d be mistaken if you thought that the text we have today is perfectly Uthman’s Revised Version of the Quran. Not really. There were further changes made by Al-Hajjaj Ibn Yusuf Al-Thakafi (died 714 AD).

Eventually, under the influence of the great Koranic scholar Ibn Mujahid (died 935A.D.), there was finally a standardization (canonization) in the text resulting in acceptance of seven systems, known as the 7 Qira’at Of The Quran. The list is shown below. [But other scholars accepted ten readings, and still others accepted fourteen readings. Even Ibn Mujahid’s seven provided fourteen possibilities since each of the seven was traced through two different transmitters, viz,]

1. Nafi of Medina according to Warsh and Qalun
2. Ibn Kathir of Mecca according to al-Bazzi and Qunbul
3. Ibn Amir of Damascus according to Hisham and Ibn Dakwan
4. Abu Amr of Basra according to al-Duri and al-Susi
5. Asim of Kufa according to Hafs and Abu Bakr
6. Hamza of Kuga according to Khalaf and Khallad
7. Al-Kisai of Kufa according to al Duri and Abul Harith

At present in modern Islam, TWO versions seem to be in use and currently in print, named after their respective 2nd-century transmitters Hafs (from Kufa) and Warsh (from Medina).

Hafs version

The Hafs text is more common and used in most Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Warsh version

Warsh is used mainly in West and North-West Africa as well as by the Zaydiya in Yemen.

Many Muslims don’t even know of the existence of these different versions of the modern Quran. Or they will argue that it is only some minor differences in pronunciation or spelling. (Minor or not, the claim that the Quran is perfectly preserved goes out the window.)

But the evidence shows there are more than just differences in spelling and pronunciation. Here are just a couple of differences, showing word changes and even differences in meaning. (There are other differencess which you can research for yourself on the internet.)

What have we learnt here?

The Quran that we have today has gone through numerous changes in history. No Muslim will admit to it but Uthman’s burning did Muslims and the world a big disfavour because now no one can be sure if any of the earlier versions was the true one. Now there is nothing to compare with. So Muslims go on thinking that the Quran is unchanged since it was first written. And that is an unfortunate lie.

There are missing verses and chapters. Umar, the second caliph understood this when he said “Let no one of you say that he has acquired the entire Quran, for how does he know that it is all? Much of the Quran has been lost, thus let him say, ‘I have acquired of it what is available’”

The very best scholars and reciters during the time of Muhammad like Ibn Mas’ud, and Ubay bin Ka’b, whom Muhammad himself had personally approved of, rejected the Quran of Uthman, which they were never consulted on.

So what do we have? Has the Quran been perfectly preserved? The answer is no.

https://matthew2124.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/is-the-quran-perfectly-preserved/

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