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Refutations

The Doubt About Ibn Umar's Statement: 'A Great Deal of the Quran Has Been Lost

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Ibn Umar’s statement that “a great deal of the Quran has been lost” refers to verses whose recitation was abrogated during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ — not to any loss or corruption of the preserved Quran. This is the unanimous position of the scholars of hadith science and Quranic studies, and the chapter heading under which Abu Ubaid himself placed this narration makes the meaning unmistakable.

The Narration

Sunan Sa’id ibn Mansur 140 — On the Authority of Ibn Umar Sa’id told us, he said: Ismail ibn Ibrahim told us, on the authority of Ayoub, on the authority of Nafi’, on the authority of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:

“Let none of you say: ‘I have taken the entire Quran.’ How does he know what all of it is? A great deal of the Quran has been lost. Rather, let him say: ‘I have taken from it what has become apparent.’”

Grade: Sahih — its chain of transmission is authentic and continuous between Sa’id ibn Mansur and Ibn Umar.

First: The Narration Is Authentic — and That Is Not the Issue

The narration is authentic. There is no problem whatsoever with its chain of transmission or text. The chain is authentic and continuous. What is in dispute is not the authenticity of the narration but its meaning — and the scholars of this religion have explained that meaning with complete clarity and unanimity.

Second: Abu Ubaid Himself Placed This Narration Under the Chapter of Abrogation

The narration is cited by opponents as evidence of Quranic corruption. But Abu Ubaid himself, the transmitter of this narration, placed it under the following chapter heading:

Chapter: What was removed from the Quran after its revelation and was not proven in the copies of the Quran

This chapter heading refers exclusively to verses that were revealed to the Prophet ﷺ and were then lifted and abrogated by Allah, the Most High, during his lifetime. This is a matter of complete agreement among all Muslims without any opposition.

An ignorant person should not cite this narration as evidence that something from the Holy Quran has been lost when the imam who transmitted it explicitly placed it under the chapter of abrogation.

Third: The Unanimous Position of the Scholars

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani — Fath al-Bari “Ibn al-Durais narrated from the hadith of Ibn Umar that he disliked a man saying ‘I have read the entire Quran,’ and saying ‘Some of it has been lifted up.’ There is nothing in that which contradicts the hadith of the chapter, because all of that is from the things .”
Imam al-Suyuti — Al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran (3/81–82) “The third type: what its recitation was abrogated but not its ruling.” He then proceeds to cite this very narration of Ibn Umar directly under this category.
Al-Alusi — Ruh al-Ma’ani “They agreed that there was no deficiency in what was transmitted in the Quran as it exists between the two covers today. Yes, the friend omitted what was not transmitted in the Quran and what its recitation was abrogated. Upon this is based what Abu Ubaid narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar who said: ‘No one among you should say I took the entire Quran — how does he know what all of it is? A great deal of the Quran has been lost from it. Rather let him say: I took from it what appeared.’ The narrations in this chapter are more than can be counted, but they are all based upon what we mentioned.”
Researcher of Sunan Sa’id ibn Mansur — Edited by Dr. Sa’d ibn Abdullah Al Hamid (Vol. 2, pp. 432–433) “‘I took the entire Quran’ — meaning: everything that was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, of which the recitation was abrogated and what was recited in the original. ‘Much of the Quran was lost’ — meaning: it was omitted from it during the life of the Prophet ﷺ, or was omitted in the two collections agreed upon after him because it did not meet the conditions for its being proven to be Quranic according to the final presentation and other conditions besides it.”

The meaning is unanimous across all the scholars: Ibn Umar’s statement refers to abrogated recitations — verses that were revealed and then lifted by Allah during the Prophet’s lifetime — not to any loss or corruption of the preserved Quran.

Fourth: The Prophet ﷺ Left Only What Is Between the Two Covers — And God Promised to Preserve It

Sahih al-Bukhari — On the Authority of Ibn Abbas Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Rufai’ said: Shaddad ibn Maqil and I entered upon Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). Shaddad ibn Maqil said to him: “Did the Prophet ﷺ leave anything behind?” He said: “He left nothing behind except what is between the two covers.” He said: We went to Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and asked him. He said: “He left nothing but what is between the two covers.”

Grade: Sahih · Bukhari

Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani said: “This chapter heading is in response to those who claimed that much of the Quran was lost because its bearers were lost.”

Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni said: “This chapter was written to respond to the Rafidis who claimed that much of the Quran was lost because its bearers were lost, and that the explicit mention of the Imamate of Ali ibn Abi Talib was established in the Quran but concealed by the Companions. This is a false and rejected claim, and God forbid that the Companions would do so. His statement ‘except what is between the two covers’ means: the Quran.”

As for the divine promise of preservation:

Fussilat 41:41–42 وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ ۝ لَّا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ ۖ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ

“And indeed, it is a noble Book. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it. It is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Worthy of Praise.”

The Book of our Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, remains as it is — not distorted, not changed — in fulfilment of the promise of Allah to preserve it. Our Book is not like the book of others.

On the Narration About the Verse of Stoning

A further narration is sometimes cited: “O people, do not be alarmed by the verse of stoning, for it is a verse that was revealed in the Book of God and we read it, but it was lost in much of the Quran that went with Muhammad.” No chain of transmission for this narration was found. Al-Suyuti mentioned it in Al-Itqan (2/33) and Al-Durr al-Manthur within the chapter on what was abrogated in recitation but whose ruling remained.

Even assuming the hadith is authentic, there is no problem with it — his statement is interpreted as referring to abrogation, and abrogation has detailed rulings in the principles of jurisprudence of the people of the Sunnah and the Community, who have explained its divisions at length.

The author of Al-Funun answered the question of why recitation would be abrogated while the ruling remains: “That is to show the extent of this nation’s obedience in hastening to sacrifice their lives based on conjecture, without seeking a definite path — just as the friend hastened to slaughter his son in a dream, and a dream is the lowest path of revelation.”

As for the Alleged Shia Additions

As for the claim that the Quran originally contained verses such as “Convey what has been revealed to you concerning Ali” or “There is no rebuttal for the disbelievers in the guardianship of Ali” or “And those who have wronged the family of Muhammad will come to know” — these are fabrications. The question to direct to those who raise this claim is: are these alleged verses abrogated, or do you claim they were deliberately deleted by the Companions? The latter claim is the one refuted by the unanimous testimony of the Companions, the tabi’in, and every imam of Islam — as established above.

A Note on the Bible’s Transmission History

Riad Youssef Daoud writes regarding the Bible’s transmission history:

Riad Youssef Daoud “The book was copied by hand at the beginning of the Christian era, with primitive writing tools, from copied copies. The copyists introduced many changes and modifications to the texts, and some of them piled on top of each other, so the text that arrived in the end was burdened with the types of changes that appeared in a large number of readings. As soon as a new book was issued, copies of it were published that were full of errors.”

Is it possible for those whose book is in this state of transmission to attack the most honourable, wisest, and most accurate of Books — without evidence, proof, or chain?

The statement of Ibn Umar — “a great deal of the Quran has been lost” — refers to Quranic verses whose recitation was abrogated by Allah during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. This is the meaning placed upon it by Abu Ubaid himself in the chapter heading of his own book, confirmed by Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, al-Suyuti, al-Alusi, and the researcher of Sunan Sa’id ibn Mansur without any disagreement. The preserved Quran — what is between the two covers — is exactly what the Prophet ﷺ left behind, as established in Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn Abbas and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. Allah promised to preserve it: “Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it.” This promise has been kept.
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