Skip to main content
Refutations

Do Anomalous Tabi'in Readings Disprove the Qur'an's Preservation? — Chain Analysis, Birmingham Manuscript & Orientalist Testimony

26 min read 5794 words

Do Anomalous Readings from the Tabi’in Disprove the Preservation of the Qur’an? — Complete Response

Table of Contents

The Claim — What the Christian Presented

The Nature of the Claim The fugitive Christian continues to raise his flimsy doubts in challenging the preservation of the Holy Qur’an. The truth is that his last episode made me laugh a lot because he relies on some of the deviant readings narrated by some of the followers. The followers — in the sense that you find a reading from the deviant readings that goes back to a follower with a single chain of transmission, meaning that the reading is, at best, a single narration with an interrupted chain of transmission. The Christian went bankrupt and proved to others that he was merely a copyist and paster of everything in the Book of the Mushafs of Ibn Abi Dawud al-Sijistani without understanding or being aware.

The Anomalous Readings Cited

1 — Anomalous Reading of Ubayd ibn Umayr al-Laythi “Abdullah told us, Harun ibn Ishaq told us, Waki’ told us, on the authority of Shu’bah, on the authority of Amr ibn Dinar, who said: I heard Ubayd ibn Umayr say: ‘The first thing that was revealed of the Qur’an was: Glorify the name of your Lord who created you.’”
2 — Anomalous Reading of Ikrimah (First) “Abdullah told us, Shadhan Ishaq ibn Ibrahim told us, Hajjaj told us, Hammad told us, on the authority of Imran ibn Hudayr, on the authority of Ikrimah, that he used to recite it: ‘And upon those who are able to do so.’”
3 — Anomalous Reading of Ikrimah (Second) “Abdullah told us, Muhammad ibn Ismail and Ali ibn Harb told us, they said: Ibn al-Fadl told us, on the authority of Asim al-Ahwal, on the authority of Ikrimah, that he used to recite this letter: ‘He was killed in it.’”
4 — Anomalous Reading of Mujahid “Abdullah told us, Yusuf bin Abdul Malik narrated to us, Muammar narrated to us, Abdul Warith narrated to us, on the authority of Hamid, on the authority of Mujahid, that he used to recite: ‘There is no blame upon him if he does not go around them.’”
5 — Anomalous Reading of Saeed bin Jubair “Abdullah narrated to us, Muhammad bin Bashar narrated to us, Muhammad narrated to us, Shu’bah narrated to us, on the authority of Abu Bishr, on the authority of Saeed bin Jubair, that he recited: ‘And upon those who are able to do so.’”
6 — Anomalous Reading of Alqamah and Al-Aswad Al-Nakha’i “Abdullah narrated to us, Abu Bakr Abdullah bin Abi Dawud narrated to us, Ya’qub bin Sufyan narrated to us, Ubaidullah narrated to us, on the authority of Shaiban, on the authority of Al-A’mash, on the authority of Ibrahim, who said: Alqamah and Al-Aswad used to recite it: ‘The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.’”
7 — Anomalous Reading of Hattan bin Abdullah “Abdullah narrated to us, Abdullah bin Saeed narrated to us, Ibn Ulayyah narrated to us, on the authority of Abu Harun Al-Ghanawi, who said: Hattan bin Abdullah used to swear on it: ‘And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; messengers have passed away before him.’”
8 — Anomalous Reading of Al-A’mash “Abdullah, Abdullah bin Saeed and Muhammad bin Al-Rabi’ told us: Abu Na’eem told us: I heard Al-A’mash recite: ‘Alif, La ilaha illa Huwa, Al-Hayy, Al-Qiyam,’ and Ibn Al-Rabi’ only mentioned ‘Al-Qiyam.’”

First — Weakness of All Eight Chains of Transmission

Preliminary Note Before beginning the response — many of these anomalous readings go back to a group of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, as was explained previously. Therefore, the response will be shortened to show the great ignorance that was relied upon to attack the Holy Qur’an.

The Christian thinks that the confirmation of an anomalous reading from a companion or a follower means its confirmation from the rest of the companions — and this is the height of ignorance, since the anomalous reading transmitted from a companion or a follower is not shared by the rest of the nation’s copies of the Qur’an.

It is sufficient that the chain of transmission is attributed to the Follower — and this in itself is considered a break in the chain of transmission.

Chain 1 — Ubayd ibn Umayr — Weak Reason: The break between Ubayd ibn Umayr and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
Chain 2 — Ikrimah (And upon those who encompass him) — Weak Two reasons:
  1. The break between Ikrimah and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
  2. Hammad ibn Salamah got confused at the end of it.

From Taqrib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar: “(1499) Hammad ibn Salamah ibn Dinar al-Basri Abu Salamah, trustworthy, pious, most reliable of people in Thabit, but his memory changed towards the end. He was one of the great eighth generation. He died in the year sixty-seven, AH 4.”

From Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar: “Al-Bayhaqi said: He is one of the imams of the Muslims, but when he grew old his memory worsened, so al-Bukhari left him. As for Muslim, he exerted himself and included from his hadith on the authority of Thabit what he heard from him before his change, and other than his hadith on the authority of Thabit, it does not amount to twelve hadiths that he included in the evidence.”

Chain 3 — Ikrimah (He was killed therein) — Weak Reason: The break between Ikrimah and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
Chain 4 — Mujahid — Weak Two reasons:
  1. The break between Mujahid and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
  2. Yusuf bin Abdul Malik is unknown and has no criticism or approval.

This chain of transmission was weakened by the researcher of the book Al-Masahif by Ibn Abi Dawud Al-Sijistani, Dr. Muhibb Al-Din Wa’iz, who said in the margin of page 382: “It contains Yusuf bin Abdul Malik and I did not find any criticism or approval in him.”

Chain 5 — Saeed bin Jubair — Weak Reason: The break between Saeed bin Jubair and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
Chain 6 — Alqamah and Ibrahim Al-Nakha’i — Weak Reason: The break between Alqamah and Ibrahim and the Prophet ﷺ, as they did not meet him.
Chain 7 — Hattan bin Abdullah Al-Raqashi — Weak Reason: The break between Hattan bin Abdullah and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.
Chain 8 — Al-A’mash — Weak Reason: The break between Al-A’mash and the Prophet ﷺ, as he did not meet him.

Second — These Readings Contradict the Authentic Sunnah

Most of These Anomalous Readings Contradict the Authentic Sunnah — Which Is Consistent with Our Copies Today

”Glorify the Name of Your Lord the Most High” — Authentic Sunnah

Sahih Al-Bukhari — Book of Etiquette — Hadith 5755 Muhammad bin Ubadah narrated to us, Yazid narrated to us, Salim narrated to us, Amr bin Dinar narrated to us, Jabir bin Abdullah narrated to us that Muadh bin Jabal used to pray with the Prophet ﷺ, then he would come to his people and lead them in prayer. The Prophet ﷺ said: “O Muadh, you are a temptation, three times: Recite ‘By the sun and its brightness’ and ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ and similar to it.”
Sahih Muslim — Book of Prayer — Hadith 398 Sa’id bin Mansur and Qutaybah bin Sa’id narrated to us on the authority of Abu ‘Awanah on the authority of Qatada on the authority of Zurarah bin Awfa on the authority of Imran bin Husayn, who said: “The Messenger of God ﷺ led us in the noon or afternoon prayer and said: Which of you recited after me, ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High?’ A man said: I did, and I intended nothing but good by it. He said: I know that some of you have opposed me in reciting it, and there is fighting in it."

"There Is No Blame for Circumambulating” — Authentic Sunnah

Sahih Al-Bukhari — Book of Hajj — Hadith 1561 Abu Al-Yaman narrated to us, Shuaib narrated to us from Al-Zuhri that Urwah said: I asked Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: “What do you think of the statement of Allah, the Most High: Indeed, Safa and Marwa are among the symbols of Allah, so whoever performs Hajj to the House or Umrah, there is no blame upon him for circumambulating them?”

She said: “What you said is bad, O son of my sister. If this were as the first of them was, that there was no blame on him not to circumambulate between them — but it was revealed about the Ansar who used to enter ihram for the tyrant Manat and were reluctant to circumambulate between Safa and Marwa. When they converted to Islam, they asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about that. Then Allah revealed: ‘Indeed, Safa and Marwa are among the symbols of Allah.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prescribed circumambulation between them, so no one should neglect circumambulating between them."

"Not of Those Who Have Incurred Wrath” — Authentic Sunnah

Sahih Al-Bukhari — Book of the Description of Prayer — Hadith 749 Abdullah bin Muslimah told us, on the authority of Malik, on the authority of Sumay, on the authority of Abu Salih al-Samman, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of God ﷺ said: “When the imam says ‘Not of those who have incurred wrath nor of those who have gone astray,’ so say Amen, for whoever’s words coincide with the words of the angels, his previous sins will be forgiven.”

Muhammad ibn Amr followed him on the authority of Abu Salamah on the authority of Abu Hurairah on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, and Na’im al-Mujmir on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may God be pleased with him.

”And Muhammad Is No More Than a Messenger” — Authentic Sunnah

Sahih Al-Bukhari — Book of Military Expeditions — Hadith 4187 Yahya ibn Bakir narrated to us, al-Layth narrated to us on the authority of Aqeel on the authority of Ibn Shihab: Abu Salamah informed me that Aisha informed him that Abu Bakr came on a horse from his dwelling in al-Sunh. Then Abu Bakr went out while Umar ibn al-Khattab was speaking to the people, so he came forward and said:

“As for what follows, whoever among you worships Muhammad ﷺ, then Muhammad has died, and whoever among you worships God, then God is alive and will not die. God said: ‘And Muhammad is no more than a messenger; messengers have passed away before him, until His saying: The grateful.’"

"The Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining” — Authentic Sunnah

Sahih Muslim — Book of the Prayer of Travelers — Hadith 1343/810 Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah narrated to us: Abd al-A’la bin Abd al-A’la narrated to us from al-Jariri from Abi al-Salil from Abdullah bin Rabah al-Ansari from Abi bin Ka’b who said: “The Messenger of God said: O Abu al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of the Book of God with you is the greatest? I said: God and His Messenger know best. He said: O Abu al-Mundhir, do you know which verse of the Book of God with you is the greatest? I said: God, there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining. He struck my chest and said: By God, may knowledge be pleasant for you, Abu al-Mundhir.”

Third — The Tabi’in Themselves Transmitted the Standard Qur’an

The Reading Today Is Transmitted by a Group of the Tabi’in from a Group of the Companions The reading today that is in our copies of the Qur’an is a reading transmitted by a group of the Tabi’in from a group of the Companions, may God be pleased with them, and all of them recited the verses as we know them today — including Mujahid, Sa’id bin Jubayr, Ikrimah, Alqamah, Al-Aswad, and Hattan bin Abdullah Al-Raqashi, may God have mercy on them.

The Mushaf that is in our hands is proven and transmitted by many narrators from Mujahid, Saeed bin Jubayr, Hattan bin Abdullah, Alqamah, Al-Aswad, and Ikrimah.

Chain of Ibn Kathir’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 120 “Al-Qist also recited, as did Ma’ruf and Shibl, on the authority of the Sheikh of Mecca and its Imam in recitation, Abu Ma’bad Abdullah ibn Kathir ibn Amr ibn Abdullah ibn Zadhan ibn Fayrouzan ibn Hurmuz al-Dari al-Makki. This is the completion of seventy-three paths on the authority of Ibn Kathir.

Ibn Kathir recited on the authority of Abu As-Sa’ib Abdullah ibn As-Sa’ib ibn Abi As-Sa’ib Al-Makhzumi, and on Abu Al-Hajjaj Mujahid ibn Jabr Al-Makki, and on Dirbas, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas. Abdullah ibn As-Sa’ib read on Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Umar ibn Al-Khattab — may Allah be pleased with them — and Mujahid read on Abdullah ibn As-Sa’ib, and Dirbas read on his freed slave Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Abbas read to Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zayd ibn Thabit, and Ubayy, Zayd, and Umar — may God be pleased with them — read to the Messenger of God ﷺ.”

Chain of Abu Amr’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 133 “And Al-Susi and Al-Duri read on Abu Muhammad Yahya bin Al-Mubarak bin Al-Mughirah Al-Yazidi, and Al-Yazidi read on the Imam of Basra and its reciter, Abu Amr Ziyad bin Al-Ala bin Ammar Al-Urayyan… so that is one hundred and fifty-four paths on the authority of Abu Amr, and Abu Amr read on the authority of Abu Jaafar Yazid bin Al-Qaqa’, Yazid bin Ruman, Shaiba bin Nasah, Abdullah bin Katheer, Mujahid bin Jabr, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Abu Al-Aliyah Rafi’ bin Mihran Al-Riyahi, Humayd bin Qais Al-A’raj Al-Makki, and Abdullah bin Abi Ishaq al-Hadrami, Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah, Ikrimah ibn Khalid, Ikrimah the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhaysin, Asim ibn Abi al-Najud, Nasr ibn Asim, and Yahya ibn Ya’mur.

Al-Hasan read on Hittan bin Abdullah Al-Raqashi and Abu Al-Aaliyah Al-Riyahi, and Hittan read on Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari, and Abu Al-Aaliyah read on Omar bin Al-Khattab, Ubayy bin Ka’b, Zaid bin Thabit and Ibn Abbas, and Ata’ read on Abu Hurayrah, and Ikrimah, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, read on Ibn Abbas — and Uthman and Ali — may Allah be pleased with them — read on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Chain of Hamza al-Zayyat’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 165 “And Hamzah read to Abu Muhammad Sulayman ibn Mihran al-A’mash in a recital… and al-A’mash and Talhah read on Abu Muhammad Yahya ibn Waththab al-Asadi, and Yahya read on Abu Shibl Alqamah ibn Qays, and on his nephew al-Aswad ibn Yazid ibn Qays, and on Zirr ibn Hubaysh, and on Zayd ibn Wahb, and on Ubaydah ibn Amr al-Salmani, and on Masruq ibn al-Ajda’… and Alqamah, Al-Aswad, Ibn Wahb, Masruq, and Asim ibn Damrah and Al-Harith also read on Abdullah bin Masoud, and Ali and Ibn Masoud — may God be pleased with them — read on the Messenger of God ﷺ.”

Chain of Asim’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 155 “Hafs and Abu Bakr read on the Imam of Kufa and its reciter Abu Bakr Asim bin Abi Al-Najoud bin Bahdalah Al-Asadi… Asim read on Abu Abd Al-Rahman Abdullah bin Habib bin Rabi’ah Al-Sulami Al-Dareer and on Abu Maryam Zirr bin Hubaysh and Abu Amr Sa’d ibn Ilyas al-Shaybani. These three read on Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him. As-Sulami and Zirr also read on Uthman ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abi Talib. As-Sulami also read on Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zayd ibn Thabit — and Ibn Mas’ud, Uthman, Ali, Ubayy and Zayd recited to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Chain of Ibn Amir’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 144 “And Ad-Dhimari recited to the Imam of the people of Ash-Sham, Abu Imran Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Yazid ibn Tamim ibn Rabi’ah Al-Yahsabi, so that is one hundred and thirty paths for Ibn Amir. Ibn Amir read to Abu Hashim al-Mughirah ibn Abi Shihab, and to Abu al-Darda’ Uwaimir ibn Zayd ibn Qays. Al-Mughirah read to Uthman ibn Affan — may God be pleased with him. And Uthman and Abu Darda’ read to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Chain of Nafi’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One “And Nafi’ read to seventy of the Tabi’een, among them Abu Ja’far, Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A’raj, Muslim ibn Jundub, Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Salih ibn Khawwat, Shaybah ibn Nasah, and Yazid ibn Roman… Al-A’raj read on the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, Abu Hurairah, and Abdullah bin Ayyash. Shaybah heard the reading from Umar bin Al-Khattab. Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah and Ibn Ayyash read on Ubayy bin Ka’b, and Ibn Abbas also read on Zaid bin Thabit, and Ubayy, Zaid and Umar — may Allah be pleased with them — read on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”

Chain of Ya’qub al-Hadrami’s Recitation

An-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One — Page 186 “And Ya’qub read on the authority of Abu al-Mundhir Sallam ibn Sulayman al-Muzani, and on the authority of Shihab ibn Sharifah, and on the authority of Abu Yahya Mahdi ibn Maymun al-Ma’wali, and on the authority of Abu al-Ashhab Ja’far ibn Hayyan al-‘Attaridi… Sallam read on Asim Al-Kufi, and on Abu Amr, and Sallam also read on Abu Al-Mujshir Asim bin Al-Ajaj Al-Jahdari Al-Basri, and on Abu Abdullah Yunus bin Ubaid bin Dinar Al-Abqasi, and they read on Al-Hasan bin Abi Al-Hasan Al-Basri… Abu Al-Ashhab read on Abu Raja Imran bin Milhan Al-Attaridi, and Abu Raja read on Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari, and Abu Musa read on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — and this is a chain of transmission that is extremely sound and high.”

Fourth — These Anomalous Readings Were Already Narrated from Companions and Refuted

Addressed Previously Most of these anomalous readings — except for the reading of Ubayd ibn Umair — were narrated from some of the Companions, and have been refuted in the response to previous episodes of this ignorant person.

Fifth — The Companions Agreed on the Uthmanic Mushaf

The Book of Mushafs — Ibn Abi Dawud Al-Sijistani — Sound Chain Abdullah told us, he said, Ahmad ibn Sinan said: Abd al-Rahman told us: Shu’bah told us, on the authority of Abu Ishaq, on the authority of Mus’ab ibn Sa’d, who said:

“I found the people gathered together when Uthman burned the copies of the Qur’an, and they were amazed by that, and he said: None of them denied that.”

Ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, commented on this narration in the introduction to his interpretation: “And this is a sound chain of transmission.”

The Book of the Qur’an — Ibn Abi Dawud Al-Sijistani — Authenticated by Ibn Kathir Abdullah told us: My uncle told me, he said: Abu Raja’ told us, he said: Israel told us, on the authority of Abu Ishaq, on the authority of Mus’ab ibn Sa’d. He said: Uthman stood up and addressed the people and said:

“O people, your covenant with your Prophet has been thirteen years and you are still doubting the Qur’an and saying the recitation of Ubayy and the recitation of Abdullah. A man would say: By God, your recitation is not correct. So I order every man among you to bring whatever he had of the Book of God with him…”

When Uthman finished that, he said: “Who is the most scribe of the people? They said: The scribe of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Zayd ibn Thabit. He said: Who is the most Arab of the people? They said: Saeed bin Al-Aas. Uthman said: Let Saeed dictate and Zaid write. So Zaid wrote, and he wrote copies of the Qur’an and distributed them among the people. I heard some of Muhammad’s companions say: He has done well.”

Also — From the Book of Mushafs — Ibn Abi Dawud Al-Sijistani — Hadith No. 34 He told us, Sahl ibn Salih told us, he said: Abu Dawud and Ya’qub told us, they said: Shu’bah told us, on the authority of Alqamah ibn Murthad, on the authority of Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, he said: Ali said about the Mushafs:

“If Uthman had not made it, I would have made it.”

The Logical Conclusion If such readings are rejected by consensus of the Companions, then it is unreasonable to give precedence to a few anomalous readings from the Followers over the consensus of the Companions.

Sixth — Conditions for a Valid Reading and Why These Fail

The Four Conditions for Accepting a Reading
  1. The validity of the chain of transmission
  2. The chain of transmission is continuous
  3. It agrees with the Arabic language even in one way
  4. It agrees with the Uthmanic copies of the Qur’an even in probability
Imam Al-Jazari — Al-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Part One “Every reading that agrees with the Arabic language even in one way, and agrees with one of the Uthmanic copies of the Qur’an even in probability, and its chain of transmission is sound, then it is the correct reading that it is not permissible to reject or deny. Rather, it is one of the seven letters in which the Qur’an was revealed, and it is obligatory for people to accept it, whether it was from the seven imams or from the ten or from other accepted Imams.

And whenever one of these three pillars is missing, it is called weak, anomalous, or invalid, whether it is from the seven or from someone greater than them. This is what is correct according to the Imams of investigation from the Salaf and Khalaf. Imam Al-Hafiz Abu Amr Uthman bin Saeed Al-Dani stated this, and Imam Abu Muhammad Makki bin Abi Talib stated it in more than one place, as did Imam Abu Al-Abbas Ahmad bin Ammar Al-Mahdawi, and Imam Al-Hafiz Abu Al-Qasim Abd Al-Rahman bin Ismail, known as Abu Shama, verified it. It is the doctrine of the Salaf, and no one is known to have disagreed with it.”

The Christian’s Error in Full The Christian used a few anomalous readings from some of the Followers, and in their chains of transmission there is both weakness and interruption. He has combined the cause of anomaly AND the cause of weakness in the chain of transmission.

The Claim About Manuscripts — Response

The Christian’s Claim The Christian fraud claimed in his clip that there is no manuscript of the Qur’an that matches what we have today. By God, this is a complete lie.

The Birmingham Manuscript

History of the Birmingham Manuscript The manuscript dates back, according to carbon analysis, to between the years 568 AD and 645 AD — a very old period because the Prophet ﷺ lived approximately between the years 570 AD and 632 AD.

So its writer must have been a contemporary of the Prophet ﷺ and wrote this manuscript either:

  • During the life of the Prophet ﷺ, or
  • During the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, or
  • During the caliphate of Omar, at most — because Omar died twelve years after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, and at most, the writer wrote it in the first year of the caliphate of Uthman, because the difference between 645 and 632 is thirteen years.
Content of the Birmingham Manuscript The Birmingham Manuscript contains parts of:
  • Surah Maryam — verses 91–98
  • Surah Taha — verses 1–40
  • Surah Al-Kahf — verses 17–31
Complete Conformity with the Uthmanic Copies The verses of the Qur’an are completely identical to the Uthmanic copies of the Qur’an that we have today, and there is no difference between them and what we have today. They are living proof that the Qur’an has not been distorted, nor has it been added or omitted.
Professor David Thomas — University of Birmingham (Islamic and Christian Studies) “Muslims believe that the Qur’an they read today is the same text that was standardized under Uthman and regard it as the exact record of the revelations that were delivered to Muhammad.

The tests carried out on the parchment of the Birmingham folios yield the strong probability that the animal from which it was taken was alive during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad or shortly afterwards. This means that the parts of the Qur’an that are written on this parchment can, with a degree of confidence, be dated to less than two decades after Muhammad’s death. These portions must have been in a form that is very close to the form of the Qur’an read today, supporting the view that the text has undergone little or no alteration and that it can be dated to a point very close to the time it is was believed to be revealed.”

— https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2015/07/quran-manuscript-22-07-15.aspx

Orientalist Scholars on the Authenticity of the Qur’anic Text

1 — William Muir “The recension of Othman has been handed down to us unaltered. So carefully, indeed, has it been preserved, that there are no variations of importance, we might almost say no variations at all, among the innumerable copies of the Coran scattered throughout the vast bounds of the empire of Islam. Contending and embittered facts, taking their rise in the murder of Othman himself within a quarter of a century from the death of Mahomet, have ever since rent the Mahometan world. Yet but ONE CORAN has been current among them; and the consentaneous use by them all in every age up to the present day of the same Scripture, is an irrefragable proof that we have now before us the very text prepared by command of the unfortunate Caliph. There is probably in the world no other work which has remained twelve centuries with so pure a text.”

— William Muir, Life of Mohamet: from original sources, London: Smith, 1878, appendix, pp. 557–58 https://books.google.com.sa/books?id…served&f=false

2 — Arthur Jeffery “Practically all the early Codices and fragments that have so far been carefully examined, show the same type of text, such variants as occur being almost always explainable as scribal errors.”

— Arthur Jeffery’s review of “The Rise of the North Arabic Script and Its Kur’anic Development, by Nabia Abbott,” in The Moslem World, vol. 30 (1940), p. 191

3 — François Déroche Renso Deroche stated that the variations in the manuscripts are due to the method of writing and not reading, then he stated that some of the other variations are in agreement with those in the ʿUthmanic rasm:

“In addition to what I said about the Codex Parisino-petropolitanus, a few further examples found in the copies and fragments examined above were added in support of this observation… These variants are typologically close to some of those, which are said by the tradition to be characteristic of the maṣāḥif al-amṣār, for instance law instead of wa-law or alladhīna instead of wa-alladhīna.”

— Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview, By François Déroche, chapter 2, pg. 69 https://books.google.com.sa/books?id…dition&f=false

4 — Encyclopedia “Oriental Manuscripts, Comparative Study” “As the diagram on important manuscripts and their numbers of folia (table 3.3.16.2), material evidence for the early history of the Qur’an can be considered substantial in terms of quantity especially if we were to compare it with material evidence for the New Testament where the important larger codices with the exception of fragments on papyri are usually dated to the centuries after the year 200.”

— Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction, Edited by Alessandro Bausi et al., COMSt (2015), chapter 3, pg. 431 http://www.academia.edu/16477653

The Challenge to the Christian And we ask here: Do you have a single manuscript or papyrus dating back to the first century AD? Do you have a single manuscript of the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament that is consistent with what you have today? The oldest complete manuscript is the Sinaiticus, dating back to the fourth century AD, and it contains fundamental differences from what exists now, such as the end of the Gospel of Mark and the story of the adulterous woman.

As the saying goes: She threw her disease at me and slipped away!

The Priority of Oral Transmission Over Manuscripts

Imam Ibn al-Jazari — Al-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr — Introduction “Then, the reliance in transmitting the Qur’an is on memorization of hearts and chests, not on memorization of Qur’ans and books, and this is more honorable — a characteristic from God Almighty to this nation. In the authentic hadith narrated by Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ said: My Lord said to me… ‘I am sending down upon you a book that cannot be washed away by water, you read it while asleep and awake’… God Almighty informed us that the Qur’an does not need a page to be washed with water to be memorized, rather they read it in every situation as it came in the description of his nation: ‘Their Gospels are in their chests.’ This is in contrast to the People of the Book who do not memorize it in books nor do they read it all except by sight, not by heart.”
Mana’ al-Qattan — Discussions in the Sciences of the Qur’an — Part One “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was fond of revelation, eagerly awaiting its revelation, so he would memorize it and understand it… Thus, he was the first of the memorizers, and his companions were a good example in it, passionate about the origin of the religion and the source of the message. The Qur’an was revealed over twenty-some years, so perhaps a single verse was revealed, and perhaps several verses up to ten were revealed, and whenever a verse was revealed, it was memorized in the chests, and the hearts retained it. The Arab nation was by nature strong in memory, replacing its illiteracy in writing its news, poetry, and genealogies with a record of its revelations… Ibn al-Jazari, the Sheikh of the reciters of his time, said: ‘Relying in transmitting the Qur’an on the memorization of hearts and chests, not on the writing of the Qur’ans and books, is the most honorable characteristic from Allah Almighty for this nation.’”
Manahil Al-Irfan — Al-Zarqani — Part One “We said: The concern of the Messenger and his companions was initially directed towards collecting the Qur’an in the hearts by memorizing it and reciting it out of necessity, since he was an illiterate prophet whom God sent to the illiterate. Add to that the fact that writing tools were not readily available to them at that time, and from here the reliance on memorization in the hearts was greater than the reliance on memorization between the lines.”

Conclusion — Six Points

The Six Conclusions 1. The anomalous readings mentioned by the ignorant Christian about the followers are not authentic from some of the followers he mentioned.

2. The anomalous readings mentioned about the followers cannot be considered evidence due to the defect, anomaly, and interruption in the chain of transmission, as all of them did not meet the Prophet ﷺ.

3. The Qur’an that we have in our hands has been read by a group of the followers from a group of the Companions — and among these very followers the Christian cited as evidence are Saeed bin Jubayr, Ikrimah, Alqamah, Al-Aswad, and Hattan bin Abdullah — who transmitted the standard Qur’an.

4. The Companions agreed on the Qur’an that was compiled by Uthman — so how can a few anomalous readings with an interrupted chain of transmission from the followers be presented over the consensus of the Companions?

5. Most of the deviant readings mentioned contradict what is stated in the authentic Sunnah, which is in agreement with what is in our Qur’ans.

6. The manuscripts of the Qur’an, according to the testimony of the Orientalists, are in agreement with what we have today and what was copied by Uthman — this refutes the patchworks of the lying Christian in his reliance on the deviant readings of the followers.