Article From University of Paramadina -- Is Al-Qur'an Error Free?
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Salaam all,
Below is an article written by a lecturer of Islamic History from University of Paramadina. The original article can be found here. I put the article in this section so it will be more accessible and perhaps some would like to throw a comment or two. D
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Most Muslims believe that the quran in its entirety is the words of Allah which was revealed to Muhammad verbally, both the words (lafDan) or the meaning (ma'nan). Muslims believe that the quran that they see and read today is exactly like the one during the prophet's time more than 1400 years ago.
This kind of believe is actually more of a formulation and theological wishful thinking which were concocted by the ulamas as part of the formalization of Islamic doctrines. The truth and history of how the quran was written down, in itself, are filled with delicate situations, and not free from debates, conflicts, intrigues, and manipulations.
In the form that we now know, the quran is actually an innovation which originated not more than 79 years ago. This number is based on the first ever attempt of printing this holy book using modern printing methods and by using the standard Egypt Edition in 1924. Before that, the quran was written in various forms of hand writing (rasm) along with the technique called diacritical marks and otography in various forms.
The arrival of printing machines and the marking techniques not only make the quran easier to read and study, but also formalized the various versions of the quran which before have circulated into a formal standardized reading as we now know.
Pencetakan Edisi Mesir itu bukanlah yang pertamakali dalam upaya standarisasi versi-versi Alquran. Sebelumnya, para khalifah dan penguasa Muslim juga turun-tangan melakukan hal yang sama, kerap didorong oleh keinginan untuk menyelesaikan konflik-konflik bacaan yang muncul akibat beragamanya versi Alquran yang beredar.
The printing of the Egypt Edition is not the first time such attempts have been made to standardize versions of the quran. The khalifahs and Muslim rulers also took part in doing the same, most of the time driven by the intention of resolving conflicts of the reading which emerges due to the various versions of the quran which were being circulated.
However, the printing in 1924 was an amazing effort, because it is the most successful one in the history of the codification and standardization of the quran in history. It is later proven, that the Egypt Edition of the quran is the version which being circulated the most and used by the Muslims.
The success of distributing the Egypt Edition of the quran has a strong relationship with power. As in the past, codification and standardization of the quran is the work of an institution which supported by -- and become part of the project -- the political authorities. The reason is quite simple, that as a charity (non-profit) project, publication and distribution of the quran will not be effective if not supported by a wealthy organization.
What the Saudi Arabia government had done, which the printing of hundreds of thousands of copies of the quran since the 1970s, was that it was part of the charity project and at the same time an effort to goal the standardization of the holy book. Even though unlike Uthman bin Affan who ordered all versions (muSaf) of the quran which did not belong to him to be burnt deliberately (even though it didn't really succeed), the act of Saudi ruler to flood the market with a single edition of the quran, covering and slowly getting rid of other editions which were still lurking around the market (especially in Maroko and its surroundings).
It looks like that it will not be long for this world to witness a single version of the quran, that is the version that we now know. And if this really becomes a reality (which I don't know when), then that is the first time the Muslims may declarre that the quran is now one, uniform, and whole.
The Egypt Edition is one of the hundreds of versions on how to read the quran (qira'at) which have been circulated throughout the history of the development of this holy book. The edition itself is one of the three versions of reading which survives to the modern times. That is, Warsh from Nafi which mainly circulated in Madinah, Hafs from Asim which mainly circulated in Kufah, and al-Duri from Abu Amr in Basrah. The Egypt Edition is the edition which uses Hafs from Asim.
A reading version (qira'at) is a certain type of how to read the quran. This version began to exist during the first periods of Islamic history (from the first to the third century) due to the various ways how to read and understand the then circulated muSaf. A muSaf is just another terminology for the quran, which is a collection or bundle of Allah's ayats which are written down and compiled into a book.
Before Uthman bin Affan (died 35 H), the third caliph, ordered one standard of the quran which then known as "MuSaf Uthmani," there were already circulating tens -- if not hundreds -- muSaf that had been trusted to the prophet's companions. Some of them have their own muSaf which differs from each other, in its reading, the order of ayats and surahs, and the count of ayats as well as surahs.
Ibn Mas'ud, a close companion of the prophet, for instance, owned a muSaf of the quran which does not include surah al-Fatihah (the first surah). Moreover, according to Ibn Nadiem (died 380 H), who was the author of Kitab al-Fihrist, the muSaf of Ibn Mas'ud did not include surahs 113 and 114. The order of the surahs too was different from the current versio of the quran. For instance, the sixth surah was not surah al-An'am, but surah Yunus.
Ibn Mas'ud was not alone in the ownership of the quran which did not include al-Fatihah as a part of the quran. Another companion who considered that "important" surah is not part of the quran was Ali bin Abi Thalib, who did not include surahs 13, 34, 66, and 96. This triggered debates between ulamas on whether al-Fatihah was part of the quran or it was just a "preface" which in essence is not part of the holy book.
One of the great ulama who considered that al-Fatihah was not part of the quran was Abu Bakr al-Asamm (d. 313 H). He and other ulamas who supported this view argued that al-Fatihah is just "liturgical expression" to start reading the quran. This was a popular tradition among Mediteranian society during the first years of Islam.
One of the Prophet's hadith supported this fact "Whoever does not begin his work by saying alhamdulillah , then his work will be rendered useless.
The difference between Uthman's muSaf with other muSafs can be seen from the Prophet's wife Aisyah's complain which quoted by Jalaluddin al-Suyuthi in his book, al-Itqan, in the following words "During the time of the Prophet, the surah al-Ahzab had 200 verses. After Uthman carried out his codification, the number of the verse become what we know now ". Aisyah's view was also supported by Ubay bin Ka'b, another companion of the Prophet, which in his muSaf there were two surahs which were not found in Uthman's muSaf, which were the surah al-Khal and al-Hafd.
After Uthman performed the codification and the standardization, he ordered that all muSafs, except his (the Uthmani MuSaf), to be burn and destroyed.
Most of the muSaf were indeed successfully destroyed, but few others survived. One of them, as often referenced by the books of 'Ulum al-Qur'an, was the Hafsah muSaf, one of the Prophet's wife, which was only destroyed during the reign of Marwan ibn Hakam (d. 65 H), a few decades later.
Actually, even though physically the muSafs of the companions were burnt and destroyed, their existance could not be vanquished from the companions' memory or their followers, due to the fact that the quran at that time were memorized more often that recited. This is what explains the various versions of readings which circulated during post-codification of Uthman. Books regarding variants of the reading (Kitab al-Masahif) which emerged during the second and third centuries of Hijra, were undeniable evidence of the existance of those classic muSafs in circulation.
Thanks to their works, the companions' muSafs which were previously destroyed, were ressurected in their physical form (written text).
The history of the writing of the quran mentions names such as Ibn Amir (d. 118 H), al-Kisai (d. 189 H), al-Baghdadi (d. 207 H); Ibn Hisyam (d. 229 H), Abi Hatim (d. 248 H), al-Asfahani (d. 253 H) dan Ibn Abi Daud (d. 316 H) as writers who resurected those classical muSafs in their masahif works (commonly entitled Kitab al-Masahif or Ikhtilaf al-Masahif). Ibn Abi Daud succeeded in collecting 10 muSafs of the Prophet's companions dan 11 muSafs of the followers (tabi'in) of the Prophet's companions.
The re-emergence of those muSafs were also supported by the fact that Uthman's muSaf which were widely circulated to numerous Islamic citites were not fully equiped with vocalization marks, so for those who never heard of Arabic quran word, they have to consult authorities who can recite it to them. And there were many of those authorities who were the heirs of non-Uthmani variant of the reading.
Authority of the reading was not the only source of the various variants of the reading. If an authority could not be found, the Muslims at that time usually conducted their own choice depending on the language rules and understanding preference of a meaning owned by the text. From here on emerged various different readings due to the absent of dots and vocalization marks (scripta defectiva). For instance, the present form (muDari' from the word a-l-m can be read yu'allimu, tu'allimu, or nu'allimu or can also becomes na'lamu, ta' lamu or bi'ilmi.
What was more impossible was the vocabulary differences due to differences of meaning, and not just about the absent of dots and vocalization marks. For example, the muSaf of Ibn Mas'ud repeteadly used the word "arshidna" rather than "ihdina" (both means "show us" which can be found in Uthmani muSaf. Other example is "man" as a replacement for "allaDi" (both means "who". This list can be lengthened with different words and meanings, just like "al-talaq" becomes "al-sarah" (Ibn Abbas), "fas'au" becomes "famDu" (Ibn Mas'ud), "linuhyiya" becomes "linunshira" (Talhah), and so forth.
To deal with the more uncontrolled variants of the reading, on the year 322 H, the Abbasiyah Caliphate through his two ministers Ibn Isa and Ibn Muqlah, ordered Ibn Mujahid (d. 324 H) to implement an order. After comparing all muSafs that he could find, Ibn Mujahid chose seven variants of the reading from the famous qurra, which were Nafi (Madina); Ibn Kathir (Mecca); Ibn Amir (Syam); Abu Amr (Bashrah); Asim, Hamzah, and Kisai (all three were from Kufah). This act was based on the Prophet's hadith which stated that "The Quran was revealed in seven letters."
But some ulamas rejected Ibn Mujahid choice and considered him acting arbitrarily by ignoring other variants which were considered more Sahih. The climate of the politics and rivalries between ulamas during that time was pretty thick. This situation was reflected in cases such as Ibn Miqsam and Ibn SanabuD whose views were ignored by Ibn Mujahid because there were rivalries between them, especially between Ibn Mujahid and Ibn SanaBud.
Nevertheless, the reaction from the ulamas did not have any great effects. History has proven that Ibn Mujahid's view, which was fully supported by the ruler, which now generally accepted by the majority (or with a little modification to be 10 or 14 variants). The quran which we now have in our hands is one of the variants from what was actually chosen at that time. If a variant is lucky enough, it can be found in books concerning quranic studies whose circulation and influence are very limited.
What can be learned from the development of the history of the quran which I have briefly told above? The ulamas, especially the conservative ones, are worried if the fact of history like this to be known by the public.
They even try to cover up and blur the history, or by giving apologetics which clearly do not solve the problem, but instead create new ones. For example, by interpreting the Prophet's hadith "the quran was revealed in seven letters" by interpreting "letters" as languages, dialects, readings, pronounciations, and so forth which in the end explains absolutely nothing.
I agree with some modern Muslim scholars who say that there is a big possibility that the hadith was something the ulamas created later to explain the complexcity of the circulating variants of the quran. But, instead of explaining, it confuses.
It is confusing because the number of letters (languages, dialects, readings, pronounciations), was more than seven. If it was said that the number seven is just a symbol to mean "many", then this is even more problematic, because it questions God's credibility in revealing His verses.
Are we going to say that each variant of the reading, which has different vocabulary and pronounciation (due to the method of writing and grammar) was God's words verbatim (as it is)? If this view does not sound petulent and simplistic, it clearly being unresponsible, because it ignores the the fact of a very dinamyc Muslims society during early Islamic hithe story.
Then, what about the faith that says the quran from surah al-Fatihah to al-Nas are truely kalamullah (Allah's words) which were revealed to the Prophet, words and meanings (lafDan wa ma'nan)? As I have mentioned above, this faith is only theological formula which was created later by the ulamas. It is part of a very long process of the formulation of Islam orthodoxy.
I am more inclined to believe that the quran was basically a kalamullah which was revealed to the Prophet but later underwent numerous process of "copy-editing" by the companions, tabi'in, experts of the scripture, qurra, otography, printing machines, and power. These processes in essence are perfectly human and part of the Muslim's efforts to deal with the spiritual aspect which they have.
I think, variants and different readings which proliferated during early Islamic history, was more correctly understood as an effort of the Muslims to free the meaning from the word, rather than attributing them in a simplistic way to God. As a contemporary France philosopher said, texts -- and even more so the "holy" texts -- are always "repressive, violent, and authoritarian." The only way to save it is to free it.
The early generations of Islam had conducted this freeing effort, by creating variants of the reading which were very creative. If there is a lesson that can be learned from the formationn of the quran, I think, the enthusiastic passion of freeing the texts which is good to be done today, of course must be coupled by performing new creativities.
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peace
where is this university?
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peace waleed
Yes i read the NAME of the university, i wondered where as in what country? I looked it up....Indonesia
It's just before i read something i like to know who/where/ etc....Because of prejudices
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Salaam Imran K,
Yes this university is in my country D
I don't have a problem with the notion that word-for-word of the quran has undergone changes, such as vocalization marks. But I'm curious about the part of extra/deleted surahs in the article above, whether anyone has any info on that. Or the words for that matter.
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Many Muslims believe that Abu Bakr, the first Caliph (reigned 632-634) ordered the first compilation of the different fragments of the Qur?an, from odd parchements, pieces of bone, and the memories of Muhammad?s followers. Shi?as reject the idea of Abu Bakr?s compilation of the Qur'an, claiming it was Ali who made the compilation of Qur'an immediately after the death of Muhammad. Uthman (Caliph 644-656) ordered a compilation of the Qur?an due to disputes arising about recitation. The relation of this compilation to that of Abu Bakr?s reign is not clear. If Abu Bakr?s compilation were in existence, it is not clear how disputes arose which required Uthman to compile the Qur?an. Some traditions consider the first compilation to be the basis of the second (which requires the first to be incomplete), others that the first never existed, and others still that the two compilations were made independently but were found to be identical. The Qur?anic compilation of Uthman?s reign was completed between 650 & 656, about 20 years after Muhammad?s death, and about 40 years after the first revelations. Muslim?s consider that the text of this compilation, known as the ?rasm?, is the same text as that of the Qur?an today. Uthman ordered all alternative copies to be destroyed. The oldest physical text of the Qur?an is to be found on inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock, built in 691. Some Qur'anic fragments have been dated as far back as the seventh or eighth century. The oldest fragments yet found are from San?a in the Yemen. Both the San?a fragments and the Dome inscriptions differ slightly from the current text (only in diacritics). The oldest comprehensive copy of the text is from the ninth century, over one and a half centuries after Muhammad?s death.
Critics argue that the absolute political and religious authority of the caliphs would have allowed them to easily add or remove text during the compilation process, (as later caliphs may have tried to do so after).
Supporters of the Qur'an claim its initial circulation as a spoken text, and claim that the several hundred companions perfectly memorized the Qur'an. Islamic sources suggest that Muhammad would recite the Qur'an in its entirety (that is, including both the earliest and the most recent elements) once every Ramadan but twice in the year he died. Also, The Qur'an was not only transmitted orally but also were written down by the four scribes selected by Muhammad. Some supporters of Quran argue that the claimed consistency and mathematical structure of Quran shows that Qur'an should have had one author. Some non-Muslim academics reject the notion that the Qur'an of today is markedly different from the Qur'an recited at the time of Muhammad's death. See Qur'an for further information about Compilation of Qur'an.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Islam
that's an excerpt from the above article from wikipedia (the free encyclopia that anyone can edit!)
peace waleed
Yes i read the NAME of the university, i wondered where as in what country? I looked it up....Indonesia
It's just before i read something i like to know who/where/ etc....Because of prejudices
Who's prejudices? yours?
peace
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Paramedina
i thought it was already established that the Quran has not been preserved 'word for word.'
Peace bro
I can see the flaw in your statement in two angles
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what you say is a clear cut lie that it has been established as such, what is your proof and where exacly that been confirmed globally?, well it seems you are following Satan message that the Quran is not preserved and you don't believe Allah in the Quran that He will preserve it, now that is so funny for someone calling himslef Muslim, haha
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why not the process done by humans to reach a final version of the Quran was part of the preserving plan by Allah?, another haha
Salam
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peace Ahmed,
i didn't say it was established globally, but on this forum. It was pretty much decided that although the quran has not been preserved exactly, word for word, letter for letter, it's message has remained virtually unchanged.
anyway, take a look at this thread
http//www.free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=5802.0