How Do We Respond to Claims That the Quran Has Been Altered?

Answered by Shaykh Anas al-Musa

Question

How do we respond to claims that the Quran has been altered?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger sent as a mercy to the worlds, our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, and his Family and Companions.

The stages of preserving and compiling the Quran, from its revelation upon the heart of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to its final compilation, serve as undeniable proof against any claims of alteration.

Preservation by Memorization

A significant number of Companions memorized the entire Quran during the Prophet’s lifetime, known as the huffadh (memorizers). The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) instructed people to take the Quran from specific Companions, saying,

“Take the Quran from four: ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, Salim (the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfa), Mu‘adh Ibn Jabal, and Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b.” [Bukhari]

Other prominent memorizers included seven key figures: ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan, ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b, Zayd Ibn Thabit, ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, Abu Darda, and Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari. [‘Itr, ‘Ulum al-Quran]

Thus, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not pass away until the entire Quran was preserved in the hearts of the Companions. Preservation through memorization is significantly more reliable than written records.

Written Compilation During the Prophet’s Lifetime

In addition to memorizing the Quran, the Companions also recorded it in writing. Whenever a portion of the Quran was revealed, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would summon the scribes and have them write it down using available materials such as parchment, stones, bones, and palm stalks.

Many Companions, including Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b, ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, Mu‘adh Ibn Jabal, and ‘Aisha (Allah be pleased with them), kept written copies of the Quran. A strong indication of the importance of writing down the Quran is the Prophet’s instruction,

“Do not travel with the Quran, for I cannot guarantee it will not fall into the hands of the enemy.” [Muslim]

Compilation During Abu Bakr’s Caliphate

After the Prophet’s passing, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (Allah be pleased with him), a large number of Quran memorizers were martyred in the Battle of Yamama. ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab approached Abu Bakr and expressed concern about losing portions of the Quran due to the deaths of its memorizers, suggesting that the Quran should be compiled. Abu Bakr assigned this task to Zayd Ibn Thabit, who was both a memorizer of the Quran and one of the Prophet’s scribes. Abu Bakr said to him,

“You are a young, intelligent man, and we do not doubt you. You used to write the Revelation for the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), so gather the Quran.” Zaid reported, “I gathered the Quran from palm stalks, flat stones, and from the hearts of men.” [Bukhari]

And so, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, the Quran was compiled between two covers. This compilation was similar to finding loose pages in the house of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) that contained the dispersed parts of the Quran, which were then gathered and bound together to prevent any part from being lost. [Zarkashi, al-Burhan; ‘Itr, ‘Ulum al-Quran]

Further Compilation Under ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan

After the deaths of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and ‘Umar lbn al-Khattab, a new situation arose during ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan’s caliphate, prompting the formal publication of the Quranic compilation completed during Abu Bakr’s time. The aim was to distribute a unified version to prevent confusion.

Hudhayfa Ibn al-Yaman, who had been on campaigns with the people of Iraq and Syria during the conquest of Armenia and Azerbaijan, was alarmed by the differences he noticed in the recitation of the Quran among the Companions. Hudhayfa approached ‘Uthman and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, protect this nation before they differ over the Book as the Jews and Christians did.”

In response, ‘Uthman sent a request to Hafsa, the Mother of the Believers, who had preserved the original manuscript from Abu Bakr’s collection, asking her to send it for copying, with a promise to return it afterward. Hafsa sent the pages to ‘Uthman, who then appointed Zayd Ibn Thabit, ‘Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr, Sa‘id Ibn al-‘As, and ‘Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Harith Ibn Hisham to copy them into codices. After completing their task, ‘Uthman returned the original pages to Hafsa and sent a standardized copy of the new manuscripts to each region. He retained one copy, known as the “al-Mushaf al-Imam,” in Madina and ordered that any other private copies be burned to prevent division. All of this was done with the knowledge and agreement of the Companions at the time.

Conclusion

Thus, the Quran was compiled in the form we have today, with subsequent enhancements, such as adding diacritical marks and decorative elements, aimed at facilitating accurate reading and eliminating ambiguity.

In conclusion, this Quran has, by Allah’s grace, become widely available to all. Our responsibility is to approach its recitation and apply its teachings, fully confident that it remains unaltered, in accordance with Allah’s promise:

“It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.” [Quran, 15:9]

For those interested in further reading, I recommend consulting books on the sciences of the Quran, such as “al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran” by Imam Suyuti and “al-Burhan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran” by Imam Zarkashi.

May Allah bless the Prophet Muhammad and give him peace, and his Family and Companions.

[Shaykh] Anas al-Musa