DISTORTION IN THE KORAN

The stage of collecting the Koran into a book was one of the

most serious stages the Koranic text ever was subjected to.

The Koran was revealed in seven ways (or dialects). Muslims

sanctioned reciting it by the meaning and not necessarily

verbatim.

"Companions" at first were opposed to the idea of collecting

the Koran in one book, which they regarded as a heresy, which

the Messenger did not do while he was still alive. But as soon

as the idea was brought into existence, many copies were in

circulation and each Companion had his own Mus-haf (copy of

the Koran), for which he would not accept a substitute!

Ikrima reported that Ali Ibn Abi Taalib stayed at his home

after the election of Abu Bakr, and it was told Abu Bakr that

he resented his election! Therefore he sent for Ali saying,

As for the copy of Ubayy Ibn Ka'b, it was widespread in Syria.

It differs from the copy of Othman in that it has two more

Suras - Al-hafd and Al-Khal'. Al-Baihaqi reported that Omar

Ibn Al-Khattaab prayed them, that Ali taught them to the people,

and that people used to recite them before king Al-Malik Ibn

Marwaan!! (That is till the Ommiad era.)

Also Ubayy's copy differs from other copies in that it combines

Sura 105 and Sura 104, as well as Sura 93 and Sura 94, in one

Sura. While in Othman's copy they are two separate Suras.

There is another copy named after Ibn Mas'uud, who was one of

the leading reciters of the Koran recommended by Muhammad

himself. Al-Suyuti reported, on the strength of Jaabir, that

the prophet said,

The difference between Ibn Mas'uud's copy and the others' is

that it does not contain Suras 1, 113, 114. It was also reported

that he said,

Zaid's copy, however, was collected and written down by an order

from caliph Abu Bakr, after Omar Ibn Al-Khattaab's advice to him.

Zaid collected it from what the Companions memorized, and from

bones, tree-leaves, tree-bark, and palm-leaves!!

Othman between unification and distortion!

The stage of collecting the Koran had evident effects on the

history of the written Koran. Many different and variant

texts of the Koran were in evidence. Muslims were divided

among themselves and each group held to a certain text. The

disagreement came to the crunch when they started killing one

another and claiming one another to be infidel. They exchanged

different accusations, on top of which came the accusation of

distortion.

Seeing what befell the Muslims, caliph Othman Ibn Affaan resolved

to unify the dialects of the Koran into one dialect. Anas Ibn

Maalik reported that the people disagreed concerning the Koran

at the time of Othman, so that disciples and teachers killed one

another. Othman heard about it and said,

After forming a committee to supervise the writing of the Koran,

Othman commanded oil to be boiled and had the other copies that

differed from his cast into it. This should arouse suspicion

among the researchers about the creditability of the text, which

we have in our hands. For Ali Ibn Abi Taalib bears witness that

the Koran was added to! They say that Ali wrote in his copy of

the Koran the abrogating and the abrogated verses, while Othman

omitted the abrogated ones from his. Yet the copy we now have

still has several abrogating and abrogated verses!

One of the historical facts, which will continue to arouse

suspicion about the history of the written copy of the Koran,

is the difference of Ibn Mas'uud's copy from those of the other

Companions. He denies Sura 1, Sura 113, and Sura 114, and even

declared anyone who considers them as belonging to the Book of

God as infidels!! It's noteworthy that Ibn Mas'uud was one of

the four people Muhammad recommended as trustworthy reciters of

the Koran. It was reported that he claimed to know everything

in the Koran, whether big or small. When Zaid was assigned to

collect the Koran, and he was left out, he was so sullen and

angry at the assignment of someone less than twenty years of

age to such a mission, for which he was more qualified than

anyone else. He repudiated the assignment of Zaid to collect

the Koran and said,

As for Ubayy's copy,

it contains verses and Suras that are not in Othman's copy.

Why was there difference and disagreement, even though the people

were still closely related to their leader's life?! We again

wonder, why did those responsible for the collection of the

Koran ignore the significant Companions, such as Ali Ibn Abi

Taalib, Ubayy Ibn Abi Ka'b, Ibn Mas'uud, and Ibn Abbaas? We

also have the right to ask, "why did Othman form a committee

to collect and arrange the Koran, and removed the abrogated

verses from it? Why didn't he or those with him accept the

copy of Zaid, although Abu Bakr, Omar, Ali, and the senior

Companions accepted it under Abu Bakr and Omar?

What Othman did to the Koran will always be under suspicion

and accusation, since he burnt all the other copies that were

existent at the time. Why were the copies prior to Othman's

copy, which included Zaid's copy, destroyed, if they were

consistent with the unified text of Othman? And if it was

at variance with it and ought to be burnt, how can we trust

Othman's copy, while he himself did not trust the work of

Abu Bakr, Omar, and Ali?

The Shiites and the distortion of the Koran

All that we said previously represent the sayings and opinions

of the reliable Sunni scholars, which call the impeccability

of the Koran in question and accuse it, explicitly and

implicitely, of being added to, taken from, changed, and

substituted. The Shiite scholars, likewise, hold that the Koran

has been added to and taken from. Their scholars of the Tradition

and exposition, such as Ali Ibn Ibrahim, his disciple Al-Kalleeni,

Al-Ayyaashi, and Al-Tubrusi, are of one opinion that the Koran

circulated now between the hands of the Muslims is not the whole

Koran!

Imam Muhammad Ibn Ja'far emphasized in his book "Al-Imamah"

that God never said in the Koran,

(Sura 9:40)!

There are many books written by the most significant leaders

of the Shiite sect that confirm the fact that the Koranic texts

were distorted. The most famous among them is "THE ABRIDGMENT

ON THE DISTORTION OF THE BOOK OF THE LORD OF LORDS" by Imam

Al-Nuri. The writer said in the preface,

The book consists of three introductions and

two parts.

In his first introduction, the writer emphasizes the need to

discard all that took place during the collection of the Koran,

its collector, and the reason for collecting it. He touched upon

the incompleteness and the differences in the Koran in relation

to the way it was collected, supporting his argument by the

reports of many Imams, among whom were Al-Saduuq, Al-Tubrusi,

Al-Sighaar, Al-Kalleeni, Ibn Shahr Ashuub, Al-Ayyaashi, Al-Majlisi,

and Al-Nu'maani. Here is a synopsis of these reports: Ali collected

the Koran with neither adding a letter to it nor taking a letter

from it, but he was refused and spurned. The three caliphs assigned

the compilation and the composition of the Koran to whomever was

in agreement with them against the holy men of God. So they omitted

everything that implied eulogy to the Imams, as well as the manifest

text concerning the office of the prince of the believers. Hence

none, except the prince of the believers Ali Ibn Abi Taalib, can

claim he collected the whole Koran. Imam Al-Nuri adds that "There

were different collectors; the prince of the believers was the

first among them, whose collection was at variance with all

the other collectors. There are other three copies of the Koran

collected by the caliphs, beside the copies of Ibn Ka'b,

Ibn Mas'uud, which are four copies by themselves."

He then sums up what said by the following:

As for the second introduction of Imam Al-Nuri's book, it's

written for the purpose of pointing out the groups of differences

and changes that may have happened to the Koran. The examples of

addition and reduction are numerous; the addition has been pointed

out previously, and the reduction includes the Suras of Al-Hafd

and Al-Khal'. As for the substitution, it includes that of words,

letters, and vowels."

Imam Al-Nuri confirmed his argument by quotations from sayings

of the Shiite scholars proving that the Koran was distorted

and changed. He reported the sayings of more than twelve

fundamentalist scholars who admit the distortion of the Koran,

such as Al-Kalleeni and Al-Majlisi, in his book "THE MIRROR OF

MINDS", Muhammad Ibn Hasan Al-Sairafi in his book "DISTORTION

AND SUBSTITUTION", and Ahmad Ibn Muhammad in his book "THE

DISTORTION".

In the first part of his book, Al-Nuri furnishes evidences

indicating the occurrence of such changing and reduction in the

Koran, supporting his evidences by reports and accounts:

1. There are accounts that denote the omission of many verses,

   such as the verse of Al-Rajm (stoning), as well as many Suras.

   For Sura 33 was as long as Sura 2, and Sura 98 once listed seventy

   persons from Kuraish, by their names and their fathers' names.

   It was also as long as Sura 2!

2. Ali Ibn Abi Taalib had a copy of the Koran, which he himself

   collected. This copy differs from that of Othman. It has verses

   not in Othman's copy, and vice versa. Among the verses it has,

   which are not in Othman's copy:

   "Am I not your Lord, and Muhammad is My Messenger, and Ali the

   prince of the believers?"

   "... and his parents were believers, while he was an unbeliever."

   "... and We have sent before thee, neither a Messenger, nor a

   Prophet, nor a speech-carrier."

   "... and their mothers' husbands, and he is a father unto them ..."

   "Surely man is in a loss, and in it he shall remain till the

   end of the age ..."

3. There is a copy of the Koran named after Abdullaah Ibn Mas'uud

   that does not agree with the present copy. It is at variance also

   with the copy of Ali. Al-Nuri listed some of the verses that were

   found in Ibn Mas'uud's copy only:

   "For surely God chose Adam, Noah, the house of Abraham, and the

   house of Muhammad above all beings."

   "Did We not expand thy breast for thee and lifted from thee

   thy burden? Did We not exalt thy fame by Ali thy son-in-law?"

Here are some of the sixty places the Shiites believe have been

distorted, according to the studies of Professor Muhammad

Mallallaah. The phrases they consider as authentic, though not

existent in the copies we have now, are enclosed between two

parentheses.

Abi Baseer reported, on the strength of Ubayy Abdillaah:

Sura 33:71. The Shiites believes

that Muhammad's Companions omitted "in the rule of the Imams."

Abu Baseer reported, on the strength of Ubayy Ibn Abdillaah:

41:27.

Al-Husain Ibn Mubaah reported that a man recited in the presence

of Ubayy Ibn Abdillaah "Say: 'Work; and God will surely see your

work, and His Messenger, and the believers.'"

9:105. For

which Ubayy answered,

Abi Hamza reported, on the strength of Abi Ja'far:

Gabriel, peace be upon him, revealed this verse after

this manner -

Sura 4:168.

Abu Hamza also reported:

Sura 17:89.

They also reported that Sura 2:106: "And for whatever verse We

abrogate or cast into oblivion, We bring a better or the like

of it" did not originally have "or the like of it."

What does the reader think about all what we have presented here?

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