Theological Instructions

LESSON THIRY-THREE: THE IMMUNITY OF THE QUR’AN FROM ALTERATION

Introduction

As it has been indicated earlier, the necessity of prophethood requires that the Divine message must reach mankind without any alteration, in order that they can apply it in their lives to arrive upon the felicity of this world and the next. Therefore, the immunity of the Noble Qur’an like any other Divine Book is not established until its deliverance.

However we know that the other Divine Books, once delivered into the hands of the people were distorted and lost. We do not have any sign of the books which were given to the Prophet Noah (a) and to the Prophet Abraham (a), and on the other hand the books given to the Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Jesus (a) have been distorted.

By focusing upon these issues one might question that the Book which is known to be the last Divine Book, is indeed the very same as that brought by the Prophet of Islam (s) many centuries ago. How can we be sure that it too has not been altered and is free from addition and deletion?

It is for certain, that those who have a little understanding of the history of Islam and Muslims will recognise the importance paid by the Prophet (a) and his successors to the writing and recording of the Qur’anic verses. They will also be aware of the importance paid by the Muslims to the preservation of the Qur’an as a whole; in one battle alone seventy of those martyred had memorized the entire Qur’an by heart.

Throughout history great significance has been given to the counting of verses and words of the Qur’an in an extended effort towards its preservation.

However if we disregard the distinctive and credible historical indications of the Qur’anic preservation, one can also prove the immunity of the Qur’an through a combination of intellectual and traditional proofs. The lack of addition to the Qur’an can be proven intellectually, and after recognising that the present Qur’an is from God the Supreme then the traditional proofs - through its verses - upon the lack of deletion could be established.

From this standpoint one can investigate into the issue of the immunity of the Qur’an from alteration on two different levels.

Lack of addition in the Qur’an

Lack of addition in the Qur’an is a matter of consensus amongst the Muslims, aswell as being an issue that all the knowledgeable and well-informed people of the world agree upon. No incidents have been cited in the course of history, which indicate that any alteration has occurred in the Qur’an. There is no evidence that can originate a probability of considering that the Qur’an contains any form of addition or deletion.

The slightest supposition of alteration can be nullified through intellectual proofs.

If it were supposed that a comprehensive addition had been made to the Qur’an, it would mean that it is therefore possible to produce a book like it.

Such an assumption is incompatible with the Qur’an’s miraculous nature. As indicated earlier, the miraculous nature of the Qur’an was that mankind could not produce a book or even a verse like it. Furthermore, if it is to be assumed that a word or a verse has been added to the Qur’an, the speech and resonating harmony of the Qur’an would become disrupted, and the miraculous nature of the Qur’an would hence not exist.

As the miraculous nature of the Qur’an is established so is the argument provided for proving the lack of any addition. Likewise the lack of deletion of words and phrases from the Qur’an is also nullified by the mentioned argument. However proving the lack of deletion of a chapter or a comprehensive issue from the Qur’an requires another argument.

Lack of deletion from the Qur’an

The great scholars of Islam from both the Shi’ite and Sunnite schools have emphasised upon the fact that there has been no addition or deletion to the Qur’an, in order to establish this they have provided several arguments. However it is quite unfortunate that due to some of the false and fabricated traditions and on account of the misconceptions of some of the authentic traditions, the possibility of deletion from the Qur’an has arisen according to some.

Nevertheless, apart from the definitive historical indications upon the Qur’an’s immunity and the arguments used to prove its miraculous nature, one can also utilise the Noble Qur’an in establishing the immunity of the deletion of a verse or chapter.

As it has already been established, the Qur’an is the speech of God the Supreme, and it contains no addition. These verses then become the most solid transmitted reason for the proof. One of the key subjects that can be understood from the verses of the Qur’an is that this book has been guaranteed protection from God, unlike other Divine books, whose protection is in the hands of the people.

This is mentioned in the following Qur’anic verse:“Indeed We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will preserve it” (al-Hijr:9) This glorious verse contains two phrases, the first (Indeed We have sent down the Reminder) emphasizes that the Noble Qur’an has been revealed from God the Supreme, without any form of intervention. The second phrase (We will preserve it) also emphasizes upon the constant protection of the Noble Qur’an from any form of alteration.

While concluding, it is necessary to explain that the meaning of the immunity of the Qur’an from alteration does not mean that every copy of the Qur’an that is found in the market is protected and is perfect. What is meant by immunity is that those who are in search of the truth will be able to have access to all the revealed verses.

Therefore imperfections or differences in pronunciation or mistakes in some copies of the Qur’an and even in the arrangement of the verses do not contradict the reality of the immunity of the Qur’an from alteration.

Questions

  1. Provide the grounds for explaining the issue of the immunity of the Qur’an from alteration.

  2. What is the historical evidence for the immunity of the Qur’an?

  3. How can the immunity of the Qur’an from alteration be proved?

  4. Provide the proof that the Qur’an contains no addition.

  5. How can the lack of deletion in the Qur’an be established?

  6. Can the same abovementioned argument be used to reject any addition to the Qur’an? Why?

  7. Explain whether the difference in pronunciation or the arrangement of the verses or chapters in the Qur’an contradicts the reality of immunity.