Has the Qur`an been altered?
The popular opinion amongst the Shi’ite and Sunni scholars is that no alteration has taken place in the Qur`an, and the Qur`an that is in our hands today is the very same Qur`an that had been revealed to the Noble Prophet (s.a.w) – to the extent that not even a single letter or a word has been added to it or deleted from it.
Some distinguished Shi’ite scholars – ancient and recent – who have explicitly attested to this reality, are:
1. Sheikh Tusi, renowned as Sheikh al-Taifah, who has presented a lucid, explicit and conclusive discussion on this matter at the beginning of his famed commentary, al-Tibyan.
2. Sayyid Murtaza, one of the most celebrated 4th century (Hijri) scholars of the Twelve-Imam sect.
3. The Chief of the Traditionists, Muhammad b. ‘Ali b. Babwaih al-saduq, while mentioning the beliefs of the Twelve-Imam sect, states: “Our belief is that no alteration has taken place in the Noble Qur`an.”
4. The distinguished commentator al-Tabrisi too, in the introduction of his commentary, has presented a vocal discussion in connection with this issue.
5. Kashif al-Ghita, one of the eminent later-generation scholars.
6. Muhaqqiq Yazdi, in his book al-‘Urwatul Wuthqa, has reported the opinions of a great number of Shi’ite jurists regarding non-alteration of the Qur`an.
7. It has been reported that numerous other great scholars like Sheikh Mufid, Sheikh Baha`i, Qadhi Nurullah and other Shi’ite scholars also harboured this belief and opinion.
Preponderantly, great and celebrated Sunni scholars too hold this belief.
It should be pointed out that some Shi’ite and Sunni scholars of Hadith, whose knowledge with respect to the Noble Qur`an was deficient, have reported the occurrence of alteration in the Qur`an. Nevertheless, by means of explanations on the part of great scholars of both the sects, this false belief has been discarded.
Sayyid Murtazha, replying to the book al-Masail al-Tarablasiyat, says: “The veracity of the Qur`an is so evident that (the certainty of) it is similar to (the certainty of) the knowledge that we possess with respect to the well-known cities of the world, great historical events and popular books.”
In the aforesaid example, can a person ever harbour doubts about the existence of cities like Makkah, Madinah, London or Paris, even though he may have never travelled to these cities? Can one ever deny the Mongol invasion of Iran, or the French Revolution, or for that matter World Wars I and II?
Why can one not deny the above? It is because all these have reached us as a result of successive transmissions and narrations. Similarly the case is similar with the verses of the Noble Qur`an and we shall discuss this topic further a little later.
If biased individuals have attributed this belief to the Shi’ites with the intention of sowing discord amongst the Shi’ites and Ahlus Sunnah, the books of great and celebrated Shi’ite scholars are sufficient to prove false their claims.
It is not strange that a person like Fakhr Razi, who is known to us as a person displaying a particular bias and partiality with issues relating to the Shi’ites, under the discussion pertaining to verse 9 of Suratul Hijr, says:
اِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْناَ الذِّكْرَ وَ اِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُوْن
“Surely, We have sent down the Reminder (the Qur`an) and surely, We (Ourselves) shall be its Guardian”
is evidence to prove false the claims of the Shi’ites that there has occurred alteration and addition and deletion in the Noble Qur`an!
It ought to be expressly stated that if his allusion is towards the great and renowned Shi’ite scholars and researchers, then it should be known that none of them have ever possessed such a belief and opinion; and if his allusion is towards a weak and an unauthentic view existing amongst the Shi’ites, a similar view is prevalent amongst the Ahlus Sunnah too – one, which is neither recognized by them nor by us.
The renowned researcher Kashif al-Ghita in his book Kashf al-Ghita declares:
لاَ رَيْبَ اَنَّهُ (اَيِ الْقُرْآن) مَحْفُوْظٌ مِنَ النُّقْصَانِ بِحِفْظِ الْمَلِكِ الدَّيَّانِ كَماَ دَلَّ عَلَيْهِ صَرِيْحُ الْقُرْآنِ وَ إِجْماَعُ الْعُلَماَءِ فِي كُلِّ زَماَنٍ وَ لاَ عِبْرَةَ بِناَدِرٍ.
“There is no doubt that the Qur`an has been protected from any reduction (and alteration) as a result of Allah’s protection – as is indicated by the explicit statements of the Qur`an and the consensus of the scholars in every era; and any opposition (to this belief) by a handful of individuals carried no significance and authenticity.”1
The history of Islam has seen numerous such inappropriate attributions, which only originate as a result of prejudice. We do know that the cause of some of these misunderstandings have been due to the enemies, who used to create such issues in an effort to ensure that no unity is established within the ranks of the Muslims.
The state of affairs reached such a stage that the renowned author from the Hijaz, ‘Abdullah ‘Ali al-Qasimi, in his book al-Sira’, while criticizing the Shi’ites, says:
الشيعة هم أبدا أعداء المساجد و لـهذا يقل أن يشاهد الضارب في طول بلادهم و غرضها مسجدا.
“The Shi’ites have always been the enemies of mosques and for that reason if a person were to travel the length and breadth of Shi’ite cities, he would come across very few mosques!”
Reflect hard! For here in the Shi’ite inhabited cities we tire ourselves counting the mosques which are found in the streets, bazaars, lanes and even by-lanes and at times there are so many mosques in one place that some people clamour out: Enough! Let us focus on other things too. Despite this we find this renowned author asserting things, which, for those of us residing in these regions, only serve to evoke laughter, and so what Fakhr Razi has ascribed to us should not cause too great an astonishment.
