Posted by Amir on 6/22/2009, 12:38 pm, in reply to "Uthman's Recension"
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""""If we apply the same standards to the Koran, there is no way to prove any of your claims. Since there are no autographs of the Koran it is impossible to know exactly what Mohammad actually said. If we are willing to accuse Jesus' disciples of dishonesty, then it is just as reasonable to accuse the early Muslims of dishonesty. There is plenty of ammunition available to those who wish to take that approach. We have no record that Christians set out to standardize the Bible or to destroy any variant readings. That is exactly what the early Muslims did.""""
Apart from being documented ,the Quran was also memorised by the companions of the prophet.The least discrepancy would be revealed as long as there are people who have memorised the entire Quran.Several of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) were appointed as scribes to record the words of the revelation DIRECTLY from the Prophet himself on parchment,leather,or whatever else was available. The most famous of these scribes was Zayd ibn Thabit,who also memorized the entire Qur’an,and he formed with the others a community of huffaadh that can be compared to academic societies of our present time.
The Bible on the other hand wasn t dictated by Jesus(peace be upon him).
Unlike the Bible and Old Testament that have been subject to innumerable translations, doubtful and spurious transmissions, and corruptions at the hands of clerics up till now (with the "gender sensitive" versions coming out these days), the Qur'an was transmitted to us in an unprecedented and unique manner according to rigorous rules of transmission.
""""Sorry, Amir, it is you who are wrong. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that the Koran which Uthman produced is the original Koran. According to tradition, Uthman tried to standardize the Koran. Apparently, the early Muslims needed to standardize it because there were already variations in circulation. So, who is to say that Uthman's recension is the best possible one?""""
The reason why they were able to find these discrepancies is because they knew the Quran by heart.This example proves that it would be impossible to introduce,may it be on letter in the QUran because everyone memorised the same verses,words by words.
Coming to the second part of the question.How do we know that the caliph Uthman recension was the right one?
We know the Qur’an was recorded in totality during the lifetime of the Prophet(pbuh) and the different surahs(chapters) personally arranged by him.Many copies of the text were used for study and teaching,even in Mecca before the Hijrah, the migration to Medina.The entire Qur’an was written down during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, and trusting the fact that many scholars knew it by heart, it was not collected in one volume. It was personally arranged by him, and the Muslims memorized it in the same order.The companion Uthman reported that whenever a new verse was revealed, the Prophet would immediately call a scribe to record it.He would instruct the person to put the specific verse or verses in a particular chapter.
Furthermore,every year during the month of Ramadan, the Prophet would recite the WHOLE QURAN from beginning to end in its present-day arrangement, and everyday people could hear it from his own lips in the mosque. Its sequence is no mystery.Many of the Companions not only memorized it completely, they also wrote it down and even added commentary (tafseer) on their own personal copies.When the Prophet passed away, the whole Qur’an was already written down, but it was not yet compiled in book form.
If the Qur’an had been changed, there would be huge discrepancies between these two today, as the Qur’an has reached isolated (and sometimes illiterate) communities through the memorized form of transmission without the written form to correct it. No such discrepancies have ever been recorded or reported.In other words, isolated village A in African Mali and isolated village B in Afghanistan will both produce contemporary huffaadh reciting the same words of the Qur’an, though they did not learn from a similar printing of the scripture nor has there ever been a concerted international effort to rectify would-be discrepancies.
Allah has said in the Qur’an that He alone will protect His book,and indeed He has kept His promise.
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