Voice of British Muslim Women

Anila Ahmad, Cardiff

A few days ago, I was scrolling online, when a video showed up about a Muslim man debating with a Christian man. It was a debate about whether or not Jesus (peace be on him) was a Muslim or not. As I looked through the comments, people were twisting things around, and eventually, I saw a comment asking: “what about the 900+ versions of the Qur’an?”  

Now I am sure the person must have been exaggerating, but it inspired me to learn about the history of the Qur’an, and why this person would ever believe that there is more than one version of the Qur’an. 

Since the start of the revelation of the Qur’an, God, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) and his companions have taken much care into making sure the Qur’an remains free from any excision or interpolation. God has Himself promised this in Chapter 15, verse 10 of the Qur’an, which states: 

‘Verily, We Ourself have sent down this exhortation, and most surely We will be its guardian.’ 

His Holiness Musleh Maud (may Allah have mercy on him), second Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, writes a commentary on the verse above, where he notes that the preservation of the Qur’an was not a coincidence, which he says are hinted at by the words ‘Qur’an’ and ‘Al-Kitab’. Qur’an means ‘to recite’, and Al-Kitab means ‘the book’ or ‘the scripture’, which shows the two ways the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) and his companions have preserved the Qur’an: by memorizing and writing. His Holiness Musleh Maud (may Allah have mercy on him) also notes that God sent the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) at a time where religiousness was at its lowest, and revealed the Qur’an in its purest form, becoming a source of divine guidance. 

The Holy Qur’an says: 

‘And the Qur’an we have revealed that thou mayest read it to mankind at intervals, and we have sent it down piecemeal.’ 

This verse reveals the utmost Divine care and planning taken when revealing the Qur’an. The Qur’an took 22 and a half years to reveal, which further supports the verse above, as it is more than enough time to memorize the Qur’an.  

It is narrated that: ‘Whenever a verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would call one of his scribes.’  

His Holiness Musleh Maud (may Allah be pleased with him) tells us about 15 scribes, the most important one being Hazrat Zaid Bin Thabit. However, based on the two narrations given below, it can be inferred that there were only five people who had written the Qur’an down in its entirety during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): 

“Narrated Qatada: I asked Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): “Who collected the Qur’an at the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?” He replied, “Four, all of whom were from the Anṣār: Ubayy bin Ka‘b, Mu‘ādh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thābit and Abū Zaid” 

Narrated Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): When the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed away, none had collected the Qur’an but four persons: Abū Ad-Dardā’, Mu‘ādh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thābit and Abū Zaid. 

Research shows that the Holy Qur’an did not exist in a book form during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). A section from Sahih Bukhari talks about an incident during the Khilafat of Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): during the battle of Yamama, 500 reciters of the Qur’an had been martyred. Consequently, Hazrat  Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) suggested that the Qur’an should be compiled into a single volume. He realised the importance of doing this, and assigned Hazrat Zaid Bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) to this task. 

Later on, during the time of Hazrat Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), complaints had arisen on the fact that tribes were enunciating the words of the Qur’an differently, which can change the meaning of words. Therefore, he started distributing copies of the Qur’an to everyone, and ordered the burning of all other manuscripts to decrease any form of misunderstanding, which could be caused by notes written by the companions on pages. 

Briefly, this is how the Qur’an was made into one complete book. It took a long time; the companions of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), however, have shown great devotion throughout the entire process. We can learn from their profuse loyalty to the Qur’an and Islam, and follow in their footsteps by teaching it to others. So, to whoever commented that there are 900+ versions of the Qur’an, no, there are not. The versions they may have been talking about could have been commentaries and translations, otherwise, there is only one version of the original Holy Qur’an in Arabic.

I conclude with an eminent quote from the Holy Qur’an: 

‘This is the perfect Book, there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the righteous’ Surah Baqarah 2:3 

Sources:  

https://www.alislam.org/updates/was-holy-quran-perfectly-preserved/#_ednref7