A Reality for Christians on Quran and Bible Preservation

The claim that there are numerous Qurans is a result of a foundational misunderstanding on the Muslim view of the Quran and its preservation. Muslims know what constitutes the Quran as the Readings of the Quran with a Tawatur tradition are all accepted Readings (and thus considered the Quran). Any one of these Readings is sufficient and is considered to be the Quran. The problem here is, many critics don’t understand this point and think Muslims have a load of different Qurans. The take home point here is that the Muslims know for certainty the contents of each Reading of the Quran and these are considered to be the Quran while the Christians have long admitted defeat on this front vis-a-vis the Bible.

Christians actually have variants whilst Muslims have Multiple Readings. Muslims are meant to have multiple Readings of the Quran as per the way the Quran was Revealed. Christians are not meant to have variants. Because they have variants they need Textual Criticism (to speculate which MS reading is the original) and continuous archeology (to continually look for new MSS to help them find new variants or to find evidence which helps them speculate the strength and veracity of various readings already in the NT MS tradition). In addition, the Bible is a text still in flux, in that any verse could be relegated to a the status of a later addition (i.e. forgery) upon a new manuscript find – the historical precedent was set quite spectacularly for this in the 19th Century with Dr Von Tischendorf’s find (or theft :)) of Codex Sinaiticus (relegating the PA and the ending of Mark to the status of later additions). In fact the Christians have given up the keys to the Bible to the academy now.

Qur'an Seminar 2017: Learn about Quranic Preservation

Facts About Birmingham Quranic Manuscript Discovery - Louay Fatoohi

Western Scholars Affirm Quran Textual Integrity

 

Shk Haitham Al Haddad The Qu'ran A Concise History and the Compilation of the Quran

 

Why did the Third Caliph Uthman Burn the Copies of Quran?

 

 

 

The Book Without Doubt - The Quran

Why is the Qur'an the only religious book in history to have been flawlessly preserved to the present day? Whether it's preservation of its content, the recitation style or the meanings of its words, God has made sure that the Qur'an is the book about which there is no doubt.

Muslims Have Least Sex Outside of Marriage (Least Fornication and Adultery By Muslims)

Muslims give the most charity and have least sex outside of marriage!

British Muslims Protested to Defend Jesus p

Sharia Law against terrorism

Christians having dreams and converting to Islam

Conversions to Islam

Learn about Islam

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Qur'an Seminar 2017: Learn about Quranic Preservation

The Muslim Apologetics Podcast's Qur’an Seminar featuring speaker Ustadh Adnan Rashid today.

Quran, preservation, ahruf, textual transmission, manuscripts.

Tovia Singer: Does the New Testament Teach Jesus is God?

Why Islam

Christians having dreams and converting to Islam

Sharia Law against terrorism

Learn about Islam

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk 

Facts About Birmingham Quranic Manuscript Discovery - Louay Fatoohi

Two months ago came the exciting discovery of fragments of a Qur’anic manuscript that radiocarbon dating has shown to be among the earliest, if not the earliest, in existence. The manuscript was found in the Mingana Collection Middle Eastern manuscripts, which are held by the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, which is why it is often referred to as the “Birmingham Qur’an.” It is common practice to name old manuscripts of the Qur’an after the places where they were found. However, it is more accurate to call any manuscript of the Qur’an “muṣḥaf” rather than “Qur’an,” because the word “Qur’an” refers to the revelation whereas “muṣḥaf” denotes the compiled, written record of the Qur’anic revelation. I have previously published an article about the distinction between “Qur’an” and “muṣḥaf.” This is why I will call the newly found manuscript the “Birmingham muṣḥaf” rather than “Birmingham Qur’an.”

The fragments consist of two leaves that are made of animal skin, 33.3 cm by 24.5 cm in dimension. The verses of the Qur’an are written in clear Hijazi script. The text has skeletal dots that differentiate consonants. Skeletal dots were used well before the time of the Qur’an, as they are found in a number of ancient Arabic writings that predate Islam. The text of the two folios does not have diacritical marks for the short vowels. These marks are believed to have been introduced by Abū al-Aswad al-Du’alī (d. 69 H / 688 CE), a grammarian and close companion of the fourth caliph Imam ʿAlī bin Abī Ṭālib (40 H / 661 CE).

The folios are double-sided, making up four pages in total. They were almost certainly part of a complete muṣḥaf. The front page of the first leaf covers verses 17-22 from Chapter 16, “al-Kahf.” The back page of this leaf continues from verse 23 to verse 31.

The second leaf is from a later part of the Qur’an. The first half of the front page contains verses 91-98 of Chapter 19, “Mariam,” which are the last verses of the chapter. The second half contains the first 12 verses of Chapter 20, Ṭāhā. The back page contains verses 13-39.

There is more than one reason for considering these fragments to be extremely significant and for the incredible excitement they generated among both laypeople and scholars:

1) These two leaves were probably written just after the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allah ‘alaihi wa ṣallām) died. The Prophet was born in 570 CE and received the first revelation of the Qur’an when he was 40 years old, i.e. around 610 CE. All verses of the Qur’an were written down as soon as they were revealed. So the Qur’an had all been written down by the time the Prophet (ṣallā Allah ‘alaihi wa ṣallām) departed this world in 632 CE. Most scholars believe that the Qur’an was first compiled in one volume during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (d. 13 H / 634 CE). This process was then formalized during the rule of ‘Uthmān bin ʿAffān (d. 35 H / 656 CE), around the year 29 H / 650 CE. Personally, however, I think the muṣḥaf was compiled during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (ṣallā Allah ‘alaihi wa ṣallām), but this is not the subject of this article.

Radiocarbon dating has dated the parchment to the period 568-645 CE with 95.4% accuracy. The writing on the parchment is likely to have been made immediately or shortly after the death of the animal it was taken from. One has to talk about a combination of range and accuracy level when using this technique, but the range suggests that the muṣḥaf to which the two leaves belong was probably written shortly after the departure of the Prophet (ṣallā Allah ‘alaihi wa ṣallām) or maybe even late in his life.

2) An equally significant fact is that the text on the two leaves is identical to the text of the muṣḥaf we have today. The text of each verse in the muṣḥaf that Muslims have today and the manuscript match word for word. Even the order of the verses in both is exactly the same. Furthermore, the front page of the second folio shows that the order of the chapters is also the same, with the Chapter of Ṭāhā following that of Mariam. In other words, the manuscript confirms that the Qur’anic text has been perfectly preserved and has reached us without being changed. Read more here

Shk Haitham Al Haddad The Qu'ran A Concise History and the Compilation of the Quran

Numerical miracle in Quran

Sharia Law against terrorism

Christians having dreams and converting to Islam

Conversions to Islam

Learn about Islam

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Muslim Scholar on Recent Quranic Manuscript Carbon 14 Dating

The recent carbon dating of an ancient Quranic manuscript at the University of Birmingham has now added even more proof regarding the unparalleled degree of certainty with which the Quran has been preserved. These folios have been Carbon 14 dated to within the same time frame, or perhaps shortly after, our Prophet (salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam). In other words, if this parchment wasn't written for/by a Companion, then it was written by/for a student of one of the Companions.

In this image, prepared by Prof Godlas, you can see the original manuscript, written in the ancient Hijazi manuscript, and compare it with its modern, typed equivalent.

This collection, called the 'Mingana collection' (after the researcher Alphonse Mingana, d. 1937) was purchased by Mingana in either Iraq or Syria, almost a hundred years ago. Edward Cadbury, the founder of the famous chocolate company, sponsored Mingana's trips to the Middle East. His collection, which includes hundreds of manuscripts, is primarily housed at the University of Birmingham, in the UK.

 Many Muslims ask me, 'How come so many Islamic documents and manuscripts ended up in non-Muslim lands and libraries?' The response, in a nutshell is: colonialism, and the power of money. Some manuscripts were simply 'acquired'; but most were sold by private owners, or on the black market, to travelers from Europe who could pay what would have been considered astronomical prices for the time.

And frankly, that is a good thing. The Muslim world simply did not have (nor does it have!) the latest technology or the scientific means to take care of these manuscripts the way that the Western world is now doing. It is my belief that Divine Will is allowing these manuscripts to be preserved in the best manner possible, even if that is occurring at the hands of those who do not believe in them in the first place.

"Truly, we have sent down this Remembrance, and We shall, for sure, preserve it" [Quran]

[Photo and Arabic type up courtesy of Prof Alan Godlas]

Taken from Dr Yasir Qadhi's FB

Western Scholars Affirm Quran Textual Integrity

The majority of Western scholars also affirm the Quran's date of origin and overall textual integrity. See Behnam Sadeghi and Mohsen Goudarzi, 'San'a' 1 and the Origins of the Quran'. Misquoting Muhammad, Jonathan A.C Brown, Kindle, Loc. 868

This video gives a brief summery of how the Quran was preserved and is unchanged till today.

The preservation of the Quran - Adnan Rashid - LDM Show



Here are just a few examples of non-Muslim religious and textual scholars who testify to the preservation of the Qur’an:

 A.T. Welch, a non-Muslim Orientalist, writes:

“For Muslims the Qur’an is much more than scripture or sacred literature in the usual Western sense. Its primary significance for the vast majority through the centuries has been in its oral form, the form in which it first appeared, as the “recitation” chanted by Muhammad to his followers over a period of about twenty years… The revelations were memorized by some of Muhammad’s followers during his lifetime, and the oral tradition that was thus established has had a continuous history ever since, in some ways independent of, and superior to, the written Qur’an… Through the centuries the oral tradition of the entire Qur’an has been maintained by the professional reciters (Qurraa). Until recently, the significance of the recited Qur’an has seldom been fully appreciated in the West.” [26]

Leading Orientalist Kenneth Cragg reflects that:

“…this phenomenon of Qur’anic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past. The fact of hifdh (Qur’anic memorization) has made the Qur’an a present possession through all the lapse of Muslim time and given it a human currency in every generation, never allowing its relegation to a bare authority for reference alone.” [27]

Quotes taken from Many Prophets, One Message

Learn about Islam:http://www.thedeenshow.com
Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Rebuking Nabeel Qureshi's Misinformation at Biola University (Quran Preservation)

Taking Dr Nabeel Qureshi to Account for Misinformation

One of the frustrating things about apologetics is the sheer misinformation that gets banded about on the internet by apologists and speakers who really should know better. Folk who just present anything that they feel suits their position without trying to check the veracity of the claims. Dr Nabeel Qureshi has a history of this. Nabeel is no expert in Islamic or Quranic studies. As far as I know, he's a medical doctor who does not even know Arabic.

 

Here's a video in which Nabeel Qureshi is claiming (ignorantly) that Ibn Masud (Ibn Masood) did not believe Surah al-Fatiha was part of the Quran despite having been corrected on this issue in past. Watch this video to see Nabeel Qureshi corrected and rebuked for his misinformation at Biola University.

Muslim Refutes Nabeel Qureshi (Nabeel Qureshi: A Look at the Quran - Apologetics to Islam)

If the video does not play, please see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQTLj8XEydY

A point which seems to impugn Nabeel Qureshi's academic integrity and sincerity (again) is that he has already been advised on this argument previously in a debate with Bassam Zawadi.

For some reason Nabeel continues to expose his ignorance, unreliability and insincerity. However, it seems to be getting worse as he just attributes words to Ibn Masud without any references at all - is he making this up or does he have a reference for this?

If Nabeel had checked the Islamic Center for Research and Academics site he would have realised that there is a narration where Ibn Masud confirms that Al Fatiha is part of the Quran!

It is narrated from Ibn Mas‘ood, regarding the word of Allah, ‘We have given you the seven oft-repeated verses;’ he said, “[It is] Fatihah al-Kitab.”[3]

This plainly confirms that the al-Fatihah was indeed a part of the Qur’an in the view of Ibn Mas‘ood just like the rest of Muslims. [See ICRAA.org]

Nabeel has already been told why Ibn Masud did not include Surah Al Fatiha in his manuscript. So why is Nabeel continuing with this line of disingenuous argumentation? Why won't Nabeel not actually take the explanation of Ibn Masud rather than attributing an opposing narrative to Ibn Masud?

It's clear from Ibn Masud himself that Surah Al Fatiha was not written in his manuscript for reasons of brevity:

‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ood was asked as to why he did not write al-Fatihah in his mushaf. He replied, ‘If I were to write I would write it before every surah.’” Abu Bakr al-Anbari explains this saying every raka’ah (in prayers) starts with al-Fatihah and then another surah is recited. It is as if Ibn Mas‘ood said, ‘I have dropped it for the sake of brevity and I have trusted its preservation by Muslims (collectively).’[4]

Thus we learn, if he did not write a certain thing in his mushaf it does not mean it was not part of the Qur’an to his understanding. This is a vital point I will ask the readers to bear in mind. [See ICRAA.org]

On top of this, Nabeel has already been told that the Qiraat (reading)of Ibn Masud contains Al Fatiha:

Ibn Mas‘ood did recite al-Fatihah and al-mu’awwazatayn in Qur’an as proved from rigorous evidence of four established qira’ats whose chains of authorities (isnad) are the strongest chains unanimously accepted by the ummah. [See ICRAA.org]

For a full refutation of the Christian missionary arguments based on Ibn Masud's Codex see:

No. of Surahs in the Mushaf of Ibn Masud

Summary

In summary Nabeel Qureshi really does embarrass himself here in effort to evangelize and attempt to bring the Quran down to the level of the Bible vis-à-vis preservation. In the process Nabeel is showing himself to be unscholarly, unreliable and insincere.

Nabeel may well be trying to evangelize to Muslims in order to attract Muslims towards Christianity but surely he must recognise that presentations and claims such as he made at Biola University are only going to repel Muslims away from  Biola University, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) and  Nabeel Qureshi's personal mission.

Nabeel, surely recognises this type of disregard for intellectual honesty and accuracy harms relationships between Muslims and Christians.

Related:

Bassam Zawadi Rebukes Nabeel Qureshi (Again)

Nabeel Qureshi section

Muslims give the most charity and have least sex outside of marriage!

Islamophobes attempt to demonize Muslims as rapists

Russell Brand: Haters of Islam Encourage Muslims towards Extremism

Learn about Islam:
http://www.thedeenshow.com
Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Nabeel Qureshi: A Look at the Quran - Apologetics to Islam, biola university, answering islam, answering muslims, rzim, ravi Zacharias, oxford, michelle qureshi, james white, bassam zawadi, Waqar Akbar Cheema, adnan Rashid, zakir naik, debate, acts 17 apologetics, jay smith, shabir ally, quran preservations, manuscripts,

Shk Haitham Al Haddad The Qu'ran A Concise History and the Compilation of the Quran

If you want to learn more about the history of the Quran and its compilation feel free to view the presentations by Sheikh Haitham Al Haddad.

 

History of Compilation of The Qur'an - Sheikh Haitham Al Haddad - Sabeel Study Retreat

Western Scholarship and Quranic Preservation and Gospel Preservation

Here is a clip which I pulled of Bloggingtheology.org's Paul Williams who is succinct in mentioning that modern Western scholarship recognises the Quran to have been preserved. Aside from this, Paul Williams touches on the preservation (or lack of) around the Gospels




NON MUSLIM SCHOLARSHIP’S TESTAMENT TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE QUR’AN

Here are just a few examples of non-Muslim religious and textual scholars who testify to the preservation of the Qur’an:
A.T. Welch, a non-Muslim Orientalist, writes:

“For Muslims the Qur’an is much more than scripture or sacred literature in the usual Western sense. Its primary significance for the vast majority through the centuries has been in its oral form, the form in which it first appeared, as the “recitation” chanted by Muhammad to his followers over a period of about twenty years… The revelations were memorized by some of Muhammad’s followers during his lifetime, and the oral tradition that was thus established has had a continuous history ever since, in some ways independent of, and superior to, the written Qur’an… Through the centuries the oral tradition of the entire Qur’an has been maintained by the professional reciters (Qurraa). Until recently, the significance of the recited Qur’an has seldom been fully appreciated in the West.” [26]

Leading Orientalist Kenneth Cragg reflects that:

“…this phenomenon of Qur’anic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past. The fact of hifdh (Qur’anic memorization) has made the Qur’an a present possession through all the lapse of Muslim time and given it a human currency in every generation, never allowing its relegation to a bare authority for reference alone.” [27]

Quotes taken from Many Prophets, One Message
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Pause for thought

Have you ever stopped to think about all those Christians prior to the 19th century discovery of Codex Sinaticus who used to believe the last 12 verses of Mark were inspired by God and part of the Bible (they had similar beliefs about John 7:53-8:11 and that version of Luke 23:34). NOW you and other modern day Christians will claim those Christians of the past believed in forgeries/errors.

You have no guaranty that this will not happen to you in your life time (i.e. a new MSS discovery is made and a passage is denounced as an unauthorised addition).

Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (according to Mark 3:35) in order to become his brothers, mothers or sisters. A Muslim means one who submits to the Will of God. Do you want to become a brother of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. 

Learn about Islam:
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yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

James White's Desperation and Poor Scholarship on the Compilation of the Quran

James White has a couple of problems, pride and ignorance (a lack of knowledge) when it comes to speaking about Islam - this precludes him from speaking on the subject in an authoritative and scholarly capacity.

In this video we see James bragging (he does a lot of that) about his 'scholarship' whilst presenting a complete fabrication about Ibn Masud being beaten up for not handing his mushaf over. He even fails to understand why Ibn Masud refused to hand over his mushaf despite it being explained to him as well as it being in the actual source material. Shoddy. Shamoun-esque!

What makes this video expose even more telling is that this man even claimed to be able to narrate ahadith like imams as well as having read more than most imams (oh let's not forget his claim to have 'translated' portions of the Quran). If you think that's just ridiculous and I'm making this up, here's the video:
http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/james-whites-pride-keeps-bound-to.html

OK, let's get on topic and view this video compilation highlighting James White's pride, ignorance and absolute inability/unwillingness to present the facts in an accurate fashion despite these facts staring him right in the face concerning Ibn Masud.

Correcting James White Again and Again

James White really needs to drop this charade. James is not the only victim of his pride, shoddy scholarship and ignorance. Do you know who else is a victim? Those who follow him - Christians.

This is one of the biggest problems that affects Christian apologetics today - the churning out of inaccurate information. You can bet someone somewhere just took James at face value and has presented these arguments elsewhere. Does James even care. Making a hoo-ha over Ergun Caner is one thing but this is something totally different - both of which further dents the credibility of Christian evangelists.

It's also quite telling that we see Christians going to such an extent of source-fudging just to attempt to make the Quran appear to be similar to the New Testament in reliability. It speaks volumes. Absolute volumes.

Related: Switch James White's Lamp on

Jesus taught people to do the Will of God (according to Mark 3:35) in order to become his brothers, mothers or sisters. A Muslim means one who submits to the Will of God. Do you want to become a brother of Jesus? If yes, become a Muslim. Now is the time.

Learn about Islam:
http://www.whyislam.org/

Email: yahyasnow@yahoo.co.uk

Why did the Third Caliph Uthman Burn the Copies of Quran?

Orientalists often question the historical authenticity of the Qur'an by accusing Uthman ibn Affan (ra) - The 3rd Caliph of Islam, of burning copies of the Qur'an in his reign. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi answers - The historical compilation of the Qur'an by the 3rd Caliph Uthman (ra).

A False Claim About the Preservation of the Quran by Christian Missionaries

I recently came across another outlandishly false claim against the Quran on a Christian satellite show (ABN). Some unlearned Christian claimed Surah 15:90-91 teaches that the Quran has been corrupted. Here is the English translation of Surah 15: 90-91  by Dr Mohsin:

As We have sent down on the dividers, (Quraish pagans or Jews and Christians). (90) Who have made the Qur'ân into parts. (i.e. believed in one part and disbelieved in the other). (91)

If this Christian had any desire for scholarship and truth he would have consulted Quranic commentaries – none of which agree with this Assyrian Christian. The Verses (15: 90-91) are not referring to the preservation of the Quran.

In fact according to the commentaries that I have consulted, Surah 15:90-91 is either referring to the Polytheists or the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). The polytheists were ‘dividers’ and made ‘into parts’ as they made various false allegations against the origin of the Quran. As for the People of the Book; these people were ‘divders’ and ‘made into parts’ by believing in parts of the Scriptures revealed to them and disbelieving in other parts.

Christian Missionary Dishonesty and/or Idiocy

Only DISHONESTY and/or complete IDIOCY leads a Christian to claim surah 15:90-91 means the Quran teaches it has been corrupted. This Assyrian Christian only needed to engage his brain for a few seconds and read any commentary to realize the falsehood of his claim.

A Clearly False Claim from a Christian Missionary

To highlight the rank dishonesty of this Christian critic even further; his own colleagues and co-religionists do not use such obviously false argumentation – this speaks volumes in indicating the obvious falsehood in this Christian critic’s claim.

In fact if the Christian wanted to understand what the Quran teaches about Its Preservation he should have read the beginning of the chapter and he would have realized Allah is guarding the Quran from corruption:

Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur'ân) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)(15:9 Dr Mohsin Translation)

I will include  Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi’s commentary and an excerpt from an article by Bassam Zawadi (citing three classical commentaries on the Quranic passage being discussed) for people to gain further insight.

 

Maududi on Surah 15: 90-91

The schismatics were the Jews for they had split their religion into many parts and caused division in it. They believed in certain parts and rejected the other parts, and detracted some things from it and added others to it. Thus they had been divided into many sectarian groups, which were opposed to one another.

"They have cut their Qur'an (Torah) into pieces" = "They believe in certain parts of it and reject other parts. " The same thing has been stated in II: 85 like this: ".... Do you then believe in one part of the Scriptures and disbelieve in the other parts .... "

" .... this warning is like the warning We sent to the schismatics (Jews)." This is meant to warn the disbelievers that they should learn a lesson from the plight of the Jews who neglected the warning that was given to than by God, and persisted in their wrong ways, as if to say, "You are beholding the degradation of the Jews. Do you like to meet with the same end by neglecting this warning?"   http://www.searchtruth.com/tafsir/tafsir.php?chapter=15

Excerpt from Bassam Zawadi’s article rebuking the Christian critic’s absurdly false claim:

There are various potential meanings for this verse. I will share only a couple...

(Those who break the Qur’an into parts) they said many different things about the Qur’an; some said it was magic, others said it was poetry, others said it was a form of divination; some said it was fables of the people of old while others said that it was mere lies invented by the Prophet. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs, Source)

Another potential meaning is...

those who have reduced the Recitation, namely, those scriptures revealed to them, to parts, believing in some and disbelieving in others. It is [alternatively] said that the individuals meant here were those who 'divided up' among themselves the roads to Mecca, barring people from Islam. Some of them said that the Qur'an was sorcery, some that it was soothsaying, and others that it was poetry. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Source)

Another commentary says...

Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) meaning, they have split up the Books that were revealed to them, believing in parts of them and rejecting parts of them. Al-Bukhari reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

(Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) "They are the People of the Book, who divided the Book into parts, believing in some of it, and rejecting some of it.'' Some have said that Al-Mutaqasimin refers to the Quraysh, that the Qur'an means this Qur'an [as opposed to the Scriptures of the People of the Book], and that "made it into parts'' referred to what `Ata' said that some of them said that he (the Prophet ) was a sorcerer, some said he was crazy, or a soothsayer. These various allegations were the parts. This opinion was also reported from Ad-Dahhak and others. Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Ibn `Abbas that Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah - holding a noble position among the people - rallied a group of Quraysh behind him when Al-Mawsim (the time for pilgrims to meet in Makkah for Hajj) had come. He said to them, "O people of Quraysh! The time of Al-Mawsim has come, and delegations of Arabs will come to you during this time. They will have heard some things about this companion of yours (meaning the Prophet ), so agree on one opinion, let there be no contradicting or denials of each other's sayings''. They said, "And you, O Abu `Abd Shams, give us an opinion and we will say that.'' He said, "No, you make the suggestions and I will listen.'' They said, "We say he is a soothsayer.'' He said, "He is not a soothsayer.'' They said, "We say he is crazy.'' He said, "He is not crazy.'' They said, "We say he is a poet.'' He said, "He is not a poet.'' They said, "We say he is a sorcerer.'' He said, "He is not a sorcerer.'' They said, "So what should we say'' He said, "By Allah, what he says is as palatable [to the average person] as something sweet, so you cannot say anything against it without it being obviously false. Therefore the most appropriate thing you can say is that he is a sorcerer.'' So they left having agreed upon that, and Allah revealed concerning them:

(Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) meaning, of different types, (Tafsir of Ibn Kathir, Source)

So in no way does the Quran claim or ever will claim that it is corrupted.

Excerpt from Bassam Zawadi’s article taken from: http://www.answering-christianity.com/bassam_zawadi/bible_status_in_quran.htm

A Lecture by Abdur Raheem Green on the Preservation of the Quran:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt7UqJBLhW4

Become a Muslim

5 Facts about Islam

Discussed: Variant Readings within the Bible and the Quran

Some internet Christian apologists have been shifting the goal posts in their conspiratorial attempts to attack Caliph Uthman’s control of the Quranic text as well as the variant readings of the Quran.

As usual, our Christian counterparts operate an unwitting double standard due to their ignorance of Old Testament (as well as New Testament) textual criticism as well as Quranic preservation

Variant readings in the Gospels

Previously, we have seen the New Testament (Gospel) variants arose due to dishonest scribes or incompetent scribes – so much so that our Christian friends, now, do not know which variants represent the original wording of the Gospel writers and which were due to scribal errors/forgeries.Christian apologists are now beginning to admit this difficult situation [1]

Christians misrepresent the Dead Sea Scrolls

At times, our Christian friends do misrepresent the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a wholesale confirmation of the Old Testament text – it is not!

Geza Vermes writes:

The Dead Sea finds partly confirm and partly question the reliability of the wording of the Bible handed down by Jewish tradition. On the one hand, as was shown in chapter VI, the Qumran Scripture is substantially identical with that passed on by the synagogue from the time of Jesus to the present age. [2]

Note: Vermes is not confirming the Dead Sea finds corroborate entirely with the present day OT (substantially). More importantly, he is not denying any OT corruptions prior to the first/second century CE either. Jeremiah 8:8 gives us an indication of the depth of corruption in the earlier days of the OT:

"'How can you say, "We are wise, for we have the law of the LORD," when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? [NIV, Jeremiah 8:]

Variant Readings in the Old Testament

Geza Vermes confirms “the Dead Sea Scrolls furnish documentary proof of what has been surmised before, namely that, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, unity was not achieved and different forms of the Hebrew text coexisted, showing verbal and stylistic variations, additions, omissions and changes in the order of the textual arrangement.” [2]

Vermes does suggest the OT variants may not be due to corruptions:

Before the Qumran discoveries, we presumed the Samaritan Bible (restricted to the five books of the Law of Moses), the form of the Hebrew Bible from which the ancient Greek version, known as the Septuagint, was translated, and the type of the text that was to evolve into the traditional (Masoretic) Hebrew Old Testament, existed side by side in different social groups.


Qumran has corroborated this theory and has demonstrated the diversity could obtain in one and the same groups. This phenomenon implies that the variant readings in the biblical text do not necessarily represent corruptions or deliberate alterations, but can just as well, if not better, echo earlier discrete written traditions. [2]

Of course, this theory is more than a little sketchy – partly due to there being no tradition informing us of such being the case as well as to the limitations of Vermes’ conjecture-based argument.

Nevertheless, it is food for thought for our Christian and Jewish friends. Do they want to faith-shatteringly admit the Old Testament variants are proof of corruptions or will they run with the idea of the variants echoing “earlier discrete written traditions”?

I would imagine they would prefer the latter – otherwise they will have to admit the Old Testament’s unreliability is on par with the New Testament.

Variant Readings in the Quran

The variant readings of the Quran are not due to scribal errors or forgeries – unlike the New Testament. The variants of the Quran are meant to exist as supporting tradition teaches us this – unlike the Old Testament.

The hadith reports tell us that the Quran was actually revealed in seven modes (al-ahruf al sab’a). This has been narrated by more than ten of the Prophet’s companions, among them Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and others [3].

Dr M.M. Al Azami counts the companions who have narrated hadiths confirming the Quran was revealed in seven dialects as over twenty [4] So, these variants were known to exist during the lifetime of the Prophet and did not arise due to scribal errors.

In fact, the very nature of the variant Quranic readings being sanctioned by the Prophet [see Bukhari VI, No. 513] has led the renowned authority, Dr M. M. Al-Azami, to favour the word “multiple” reading rather than “variant” reading:

…the Quran’s case differs distinctly because the Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s sole vicegerent for the wahy’s reception and transmission, himself taught certain verses in multiple ways. There is no principle of doubt here, no fog or confusion, and the word ‘variant’ fails to convey this. Multiple is a far more accurate description….” [4]

As you can notice, the Quranic variants (multiple readings) are indeed sanctioned and meant to have existed whilst the variants of the NT and OT are unsanctioned and should not exist. We urge our Christian apologist friends to understand these points of difference and teach them to their respective Christian congregations – let the truth prevail.

Unification

Our Christian apologist friends attempt to make a big conspiratorial deal out Uthman’s control and preparation of a standard copy of the Quranic text but they fail to recognise the inconsistency (as well as the holes in their knowledge) they are operating from as the rabbis controlled the OT text and even unified it.

Unity, produced by Jewish religious authority, was usually sought in times of crisis, and was achieved by the selection of one of the existing text forms and the simultaneous rejection of all other competing versions. Such a deliberate unification is assumed to have been part of the general restructuring of Judaism by the rabbis during the years following the catastrophe of 70 CE, which entailed the loss of the temple and the supreme council of the Sanhedrin as well as the replacement of the aristocratic high priestly leadership of Jewry by rabbis largely of plebeian origin. [2]

Sadly our Christian apologist friends are either unaware of the unification of the OT text and of the strict control the rabbis had over the text or are knowingly operating an inconsistent standard in their attempts to throw conspiratorial mud at the Uthmanic control of the Quranic text – a control which was agreed upon by all the companions of the Prophet.

Conclusion

Simply put, the New Testament variants are the most problematic; not only due to them being borne out of scribal dishonesty and negligence but because the Christian is unable to recognise the forgeries/scribal errors within the text. The text was not controlled and those who were tasked with the preservation of the Gospel accounts never met Jesus.

In addition there could well be future Dr Tischendorf style (Codex Sinaiticus) finds, where whole passages within the Gospels were discovered to be forgeries. Prior to this 19th century find our Christian friends believed those passages to be inspired – now we know they were forgeries [5]. It says something about the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit dwelling within Christians; did the Christians before the 19th century not have the Holy Spirit as they believed what we now know as forgeries to be words inspired by God. Food for thought…

The Old Testament was strictly controlled by the Jewish authorities and does contain variants. The accusations of these variants arising from scribal forgeries/errors are indeed somewhat tempered by Geza Vermes’ theorising so the criticism is less vocal.

Those who “preserved” and “selected” OT texts never met Moses or any of the Prophets. “what constitutes the bible is nowhere strictly defined in the ancient literary sources of Judaism. It was the privilege of the successive religious authorities (Sadducee chief priests, Pharisee leaders and rabbis) to determine the list of books” [6]

The Quran has variants – Muslims have known this whilst the Quran was being revealed as the Prophet taught this. The Quran was strictly controlled by authorities, like the Old Testament. However, unlike the OT and NT, the controlling authorities of the Quran were indeed the companions of the Prophet. The statement of the fourth Caliph, Ali (ra), confirms all were in agreement with Uthman’s actions to control the transmission of the Text. [7]

Sadly, Christian apologists overlook these points and inconsistently attempt to present conspiracy theories as to the Uthmanic control of the Quran. The inconsistency comes into play as the OT was “preserved” in a “controlled” environment too. The irony comes into play as the nature of the variants (proven forgeries and errors) within the NT suggests the uncontrolled mode of its “preservation” was disastrous and a controlled mode (which they desperately criticise via conspiracy theories) is superior!

The written text of the Quran was used as an aid for the memory and teaching purposes, thus the Quran was preserved via two modes in a controlled fashion – oral and written – by numerous people who met the Prophet.

May God send his peace and blessings upon all the Prophets referred to above. Ameen

Further reading:

Sexism: A reason to change the Bible?

Feedback: yahyasnow@hotmail.com

[1] Debate Review – Does the bible Misquote Jesus (James White – Bart Ehrman)

[2] The Story of the Scrolls, Geza Vermes, Penguin Books, 2010, p214

[3] Ulum Al Quran, Ahmad Von Denffer, The Islamic Foundation, 2003, p112

[4] The History of The Quranic Text from Revelation to Compilation - A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments, M.M.Al-Azami, UK Islamic Academy, 2003, p154

[5] Dr Von Tischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus (from Saint Catherine’s monastery), this codex does NOT contain the last 12 verses in the gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-20) as well as John 7:53-8:11 amongst other discrepancies. These are believed to be forgeries. Sadder still, Christians, prior to this find believed those words to be faithful to the New Testament.

[6] The Story of the Scrolls, Geza Vermes, Penguin Books, 2010, p99

[7] Ibn Abi Dawud, al Masahif, p22; see also pp 12, 23 (sourced from Sheikh Al Azami, The History of the Quranic Text, UK Islamic Academy, 2003, p94

More Deception from Nabeel Qureshi and his friend!

Arrrgh. these two really are deceptive pieces of work!

Dr Nabeel Qureshi allows his pal to state something which he KNOWS is UNTRUE  - deceptive stuff from Nabeel Qureshi (nothing new here)

His pal (David Wood) asserted "a ton of the quran was lost after the battle of Yamama". This is obvioulsy untrue - Nabeel Qureshi CONFIRMS it and spills the beans. In the process Nabeel Qureshi incriminates himself. These two "Chrstian missionaries" clearly did not check to see what they had said earlier on public record. Caught red faced and red handed. how long will Christians continue to give their Acts 17 ministry cash? I guess the honest and informed ones stopped a loooong time ago!

Islamophobes: a puzzling bunch!

Why are Islamophobes always getting caught in scams? Surely, they would have mastered the art of covering their tracks? Oh well, these two have not...

Dishonest Nabeel Qureshi Slams David Wood of Acts 17 Apologetics



It is late here, God willing I shall add to this post tomorrow or over the weekend.

InshaAllah links will appear here shortly. For those who want more information on such subjects please refer to the work of Sheikh Yasir Qadhi (online plus offline), brother Bassam Zawadi's presentation on this topic, Dr Mohammed Mamdou's online lecture and imam Shabir Ally's online presentation. Don't be fooled by deceivers such as the two "Christians" in this video.

Discover Islam Today:
http://www.ediscoverislam.com/
FEEDBACK: yahyasnow@hotmail.com

Responding to Acts 17 Apologetics' Dramatic Claims on Quranic Preservation

Well, David Wood and Nabeel Qureshi opted for a double act in trying to attack the Quran and its Preservation - fortunately people don't fall for such a charade so easily. Here is our rebuke of their attacks on Quranic Preservation





The narrations critics are using to attack the Preservation of the Quran

Here is a forged narration critics are using:

“The people have been guilty of deceit in the reading of the Quran. I like it better to read according to the recitation of him [ie Muhammad] whom I love more than that of Zaid ibn Thabit”
(Ibn Sa’d, Kitab al Tabaqat al Kabir, Vol2, p444)

This narration does NOT even exist! This fact is confirmed by Muslim apologist, Bassam Zawadi [1]

The statement; “The people have been guilty of deceit in the reading of the Quran” does not exist in the actual source material. It appears somebody just fabricated this.

Honest people should not use this narration.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VdI0o4SmY0



Here is Dr GF Hadad adding some helpful insight regarding the narrations critics are using:

John Burton quotes plenty of additional evidence explaining the workings of the abrogation of that particular verses in part 5 of his book The Collection of the Qur'an (1977) which was posted in full three years ago in SRI and from which Katz et al. cull their insinuations then rechew them before us every year.

`A'isa explains how the wording came to be omitted from the mushaf: The stoning verse and another verse were revealed and recorded on a sheet (sahifa) which was placed for safe-keeping under her bedding. When the Prophet fell ill and the household were preoccupied with nursing him, a domestic animal got in from the yard and gobbled up the sheet. (Burhan al Din al Baji, "Jawab", MS Dar al Kutub, Taimur "majami`", no. 207, f. 15)

The above report is also taken from Burton. I consider it a forgery and add that its content is absurd, since the Companions did not rely on this missing piece to ascertain the existence of the wording or its abrogated status. At any rate, such a report stands out for not being cited in any of the recognized sources in the technical literature.

---

Many of (the passages) of the Qur'an that were sent down were known by those who died on the day of Yamama... but they were not known (by those who) survived them, nor were they written down, nor had Abu Bakr, Umar or Uthman (by that time) collected the Qur'an, nor were they found even with (one person) after them. (Kitab al-Masahif, p.23)

Kitab al-Masahif was compiled by `Abd Allah ibn Sulayman ibn al-Ash`ath al-Sijistani, known as Ibn Abi Dawud, the son of the major early hadith master Abu Dawud. This is what the authorities said about Ibn Abi Dawud:

Ibn `Adi narrated in al-Kamil fi al-Du`afa' with his chain from `Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd: I heard Abu Dawud say: "My son, `Abd Allah, is a liar."

Ibn Sa`id said: "Suffice it for us, what Ibn Abi Dawud's father said about him."

Ibrahim ibn Awrama al-Asbahani said: "Ibn Abi Dawud is a liar."

Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi received a paper from Ibn Abi Dawud in which the latter asked him about the wording of a hadith related from his grandfather. Al-Baghawi read the paper then said: "I swear by Allah that in my view you have brought yourself out of hadith science."

Sources: Ibn `Adi, al-Kamil fi al-Du`afa' (4:226); al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I`tidal (2:433) and Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' (10:582).

It follows that anything that comes only from Kitab al-Masahif must be held in suspension until corroborated by an independent, reliable source or declared authentic by one of the competent authorities, or adduced by them.
---

Full article by Dr G F Haddad can be found here:
http://www.sunnah.org/history/memorizers.htm


IslamResponses weighs in and shatters the "Ate by a Goat" nonsense and clarification concerning "the Quranic verse on stoning" issue.

IslamResponses also focusses on the tired and refuted argument of 2Surah al-Walayah & Surah al-Nurayn" - don't be surprised it is a response video to the most shoddy Christian missionary I have ever come across (Christian Prince). Christian Prince is reliant on lies and tired plus refuted arguments:



Video description:
Christian missionaries fail to prove the readability of the bible so they try desperately to prove the Quran has been altered and changed as the bible .

Note this post is still under construction and constant addition, inshaAllah