The Qur'an ( When Was It Complied )

Related Also From the Purified Imams

(a). 'If you come across a hadith related from us then compare it with the book of Allah. Whatever is in agreement with the book of Allah then take it and whatever contradicts the book of Allah then reject it or refer it to us.' 40

(b). 'If you come across two hadiths related from us then compare them with the book of Allah, what is in concord then take it and what is in disagreement then reject it.' 41

(c). 'Whatever comes to you related from us then compare it with the book of Allah, whatever is in concord with it then accept it and what contradicts it then reject it.' 42

Furthermore, there are numerous Qur'anic verses and traditions which point out that the Qur'an was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah (S) in two ways: once it was sent down in its entirety upon the heart of the Messenger of Allah as in the Qur'anic verse: {Verily we sent down revelation on the night of Qadr.}43, and once more in instalments over the space of twenty-three years according to the appropriate occasions and issues. The Prophet's heart contained the Qur'an, which was revealed to him firstly in its entirety, then he collated and structured the Qur'an that was revealed to him secondly bit by bit according to the structure of the first revelation of the Qur'an. This is the very same Qur'an as that which exists with us today.

This and other evidence shows that the Qur'an we have today is the Qur'an that was gathered and collated at the command of Allah and His Messenger (S) during his lifetime without the addition or

39 Usul al-Kafi: vol.1, p.69. 40 Al-Tahdhib: vol.7, p.274. 41 Al-Istibsar: vol.1, p.190. 42 Al-Istibsar: vol.3, p.157. 43 The Qur'an: The Decree (97): 1.

subtraction of a single letter, or any change or substitution. For Allah has said: {Falsehood does not approach it (the Qur'an) from before it or from behind.}44, and:

{We have sent down the Reminder and We shall be its protectors.}45

The Integrity of the Qur'an

In our book 'The Ways to the Messages',46 we mentioned that the Qur'an, as we can show from evidences and from common sense, has not been subject to any additions or subtractions or any changes or alterations from the way in which the Messenger of Allah organised it during his life even though chronologically some verses were revealed before others. The Qur'an of the time of the Messenger of Allah is exactly the same as that which we have today. The Prophet himself specified the placing of verses and chapters in the way we see now and there are many traditions that testify to this.

It is widely related that the Prophet (S) said: 'Whoever completes a recitation of the Qur'an will receive such and such a reward.' 47

Had the Qur'an not been complete then this would not have been possible. The Qur'an was also present at his time in a complete written form in the Prophet's mosque, by the Prophet's pulpit, from which anyone could make a copy.

Also, thousands of Muslims had memorised the entire Qur'an as the chronicles of the time report. In this way the integrity, structure and organisation of the Qur'an remained until this day.

44 The Qur'an: Verses Explained (41): 42. 45 The Qur'an: The Rocky Tract (15): 9. 46 Al-Wasa'il ila al-Rasa'il (The Ways to the Messages): vol.2, p.97-100. 47 Usul al-Kafi: vol.2, p.604.

The Qur'an of 'Ali

As for the question of the Qur'an of 'Ali which he presented and was not allowed (by the ruler of the time), what is meant by this are the commentaries and interpretations which he collected and which he himself mentioned in a speech related from him. It is clear that they did not want the commentary or interpretation because it was a special merit of 'Ali's.

Also, what is meant by the gathering of the Qur'an by 'Umar or 'Uthman, if this was the case, is that the scattered incomplete documents of the Qur'an written by the companions of the Prophet were brought together so there would not be one complete Qur'an and several incomplete versions. This is a natural thing, for example when the speeches of a lecturer are gathered by his students, some students will be absent for reasons of illness or travel or the like and hence not have the complete versions of the speeches. Those who had a full attendance record however will have the complete version.

'Umar and 'Uthman destroyed the scattered and different documents but not the complete Qur'an from the time of the Prophet.

I myself have seen copies of the Qur'an written over one thousand years ago in the coffer of the Shrine of Imam al-Hussein; they were absolutely no different to the Qur'an we have today. There are also a number of copies of the Qur'an written in the hand of the Imams in Iran and 'Iraq and Turkey, all of which are the same as the Qur'an existent today with no changes.

The Different Readings

The 'different readings' are a modern phenomenon that arose from the opinions of a particular group. Muslims at the time of the great reciters and after them did not pay those opinions heed and were not concerned with them so as to change the Qur'an. For this reason, we would consider the prayer of those who practise these 'readings' to be invalid.

The 'Corruption' of the Qur'an' in the Traditions

Those traditions that attest to the corruption of the Qur'an which are to be found in the books of the Sunnites and Shi'a alike are spurious and groundless traditions. Upon further examination we found that 90% of these traditions in the books of the Shi'a are related by a man called al-Sayaari who is, by the unanimous opinion of the biographers, a liar, forger of hadith and mislead. The rest of the traditions have either no valid chain of narration or no proof, as any careful examiner would find out. The Sunnite traditions also show themselves up to be false as is clear to anyone who cares to consult the narrations in the book of al-Bukhari and others.