A facsimile of the mushaf in Tashkent is available at the Columbia University Library in the US.[13] This copy is proof that the text of the Quran we have in circulation today is identical with that of the time of the Prophet and his companions. A copy of the mushaf sent to Syria (duplicated before a fire in 1310AH/1892CE destroyed the Jaami’ Masjid where it was housed) also exists in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul[14], and an early manuscript on gazelle parchment exists in Dar al-Kutub as-Sultaniyyah in Egypt. More ancient manuscripts from all periods of Islamic history found in the Library of Congress in Washington, the Chester Beatty Museum in Dublin (Ireland) and the London Museum have been compared with those in Tashkent, Turkey and Egypt, with results confirming that there have not been any changes in the text from its original time of writing.[15]
The Institute for Koranforschung, for example, in the University of Munich (Germany), collected over 42,000 complete or incomplete ancient copies of the Quran. After around fifty years of research, they reported that there was no variance between the various copies, except the occasional mistakes of the copyist which could easily be ascertained. This Institute was unfortunately destroyed by bombs during WWII.[16]
Thus, due to the efforts of the early companions, with God’s assistance, the Quran as we have it today is recited in the same manner as it was revealed. This makes it the only religious scripture that is still completely retained and understood in its original language. Indeed, as Sir William Muir states, “There is probably no other book in the world which has remained twelve centuries (now fourteen) with so pure a text.”[17]
The evidence above confirms God’s promise in the Quran:
“Verily, We have revealed the Reminder, and verily We shall preserve it.” (Quran 15:9)
The Quran has been preserved in both oral and written form in a way no other book has, and with each form providing a check and balance for the authenticity of the other.
Footnotes:
[1] Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Al-Itqan fee ‘Uloom al-Quran, Beirut: Maktab al-Thiqaafiyya, 1973, Vol.1, p.41 & 99.
[2] Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, Al-Isabah fee Taymeez as-Sahabah, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1978; Bayard Dodge, The Fihrist of al-Nadeem: A Tenth Century Survey of Muslim Culture, NY: Columbia University Press, 1970, p.53-63. Muhammad M. Azami, in Kuttab al-Nabi, Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islami, 1974, in fact mentions 48 persons who used to write for the Prophet (p).
[3] Al-Harith al-Muhasabi, Kitab Fahm al-Sunan, cited in Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi ‘Uloom al-Quran, Vol.1, p.58.
[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith Nos.201 & 509; Vol.9, Hadith No.301.
[5] Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, Vol.9, p.10-11.
[6] Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Vol.6, Hadith No.201.
[7] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.4, Hadith No.709; Vol.6, Hadith No.507
[8] John Burton, The Collection of the Quran, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977, p.239-40.
[9] Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the Quran, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973, p.26.
[10] Schwally, Geschichte des Qorans, Leipzig: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung,1909-38, Vol.2, p.120.
[11] Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.117; Isma’il Makhdum, Tarikh al-Mushaf al-Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent: Al-Idara al-Diniya, 1971, p.22ff.
[12] (http://www.unesco.org.)
I. Mendelsohn, “The Columbia University Copy Of The Samarqand Kufic Quran”, The Moslem World, 1940, p. 357-358.
A. Jeffery & I. Mendelsohn, “The Orthography Of The Samarqand Quran Codex”, Journal Of The American Oriental Society, 1942, Volume 62, pp. 175-195.
[13] The Muslim World, 1940, Vol.30, p.357-358
[14] Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.113
[15] Bilal Philips, Usool at-Tafseer, Sharjah: Dar al-Fatah, 1997, p.157
[16] Mohammed Hamidullah, Muhammad Rasullullah, Lahore: Idara-e-Islamiat, n.d., p.179.
[17] Sir William Muir, Life of Mohamet, London, 1894, Vol.1, Introduction
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