返回总目录
Textual Variants of the Qur'an
Textual Variants of the Qur'an
Most Muslims claim that the text of the Qur'an is identical to
that received by Muhammad. This is a convenient thing to believe,
but is it the truth?
There is overwhelming evidence that it is not:
1. Evidence of Change Before 'Uthman
Why did 'Uthman feel the need to destroy other copies of the Qur'an,
unless they contained variants?
Why did Ibn Ma'sud refuse to hand over his copy for destruction?
How do we know that 'Uthman's copy was better than any of the others?
2. Evidence of Change After 'Uthman
There is evidence that changes to the Qur'an continued after
the time of 'Uthman:
3. Hadiths which say the Qur'an is incomplete
Both the Qur'an and the Sunna give evidence that some of the Qur'an
was lost, forgotten, or abrogated:
Some Muslims are of the conviction spurious verses have been added:
4. Hadiths which refer to lost suras
There are Hadiths which refer to suras which are not in the modern Qur'an.
Surely this indicates that the Qur'an has changed since the time of
these Hadiths.
5. Variants which exist in present-day manuscripts
By simply comparing existing manuscripts, it can be shown that not all
Qur'an manuscripts are the same. Therefore, the Qur'an has not been
perfectly preserved.
6. What is there to hide?
If the Qur'an truly is uncorrupted, why does the Muslim world not
publish the oldest Qur'an manuscripts? What is there to hide?
7. Objections
8. Other
9. Articles or books which cover the whole topic
10. Implications for our dialogue
Some newsgroup postings by a Muslim on the Topkapi and Tashkent
manuscripts, confirming the existence of textual variants
[*,
*,
*]
and spelling differences in Qur'an editions in India
[*,
*]
The Muslim A. Meherally wrote a response
to some of the above.
The Qur'an: Claims & Evaluation
Answering Islam Home Page