Claim of Tahrif of the Holy Qur’àn

By: Tijani Samavi
This claim in itself being so horrible that no Muslim, Shi’i or Sunni, believing in the message of Muhammad (S), can ever endure or accept. This is due to the fact that the Lord of Glory has undertaken its preservation, when He said: “Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its preserver.” (15:9) Thus it is immune from any addition and loss even with one letter, being the miracle of our Prophet (S), which will never die or fall into oblivion, and falsehood cannot come at it from before it or from behind it, being a revelation from the Wise, the Owner of Praise.
The Muslims’ practical status quo refuses the tahrif of the Qur’àn, since many Sahàbah were memorizing it by heart, competing in memorizing it and teaching their children to learn it by heart, throughout the course of time till the present day. It is infeasible for any man, group, community or government to mutilate or alter the Qur’àn, at all.
Traversing all Muslim countries, eastwards and westwards, northwards and southwards, all over the world, we will surely find the same Qur’àn with no addition or loss whatsoever. Though Muslims being separated into schools (madhàhib), sects, cults and religions, the Qur’àn remains the sole incentive able to gather them, with no disagreement between even two among them, except regarding exegesis and interpretation (ta’wil), as each group rejoicing in its tenets.
So the tahrif (corruption) attributed to the Shi’ah is no more than a vilification and exaggeration, having no existence in the Shi’ah’s beliefs. When going through the Shi’ah’s view regarding the holy Qur’àn we can notice that they unanimously believe in its being guarded against any mutilation.
Al-Shaykh al-MuZaffar, the author of the book ‘Aqà’id al-’Imàmiyyah, says in this regard:
“We believe that the Qur’àn being the Divine revelation (wahy) sent down from Allah, the Exalted, upon His noble Prophet, containing an exposition of all things. And also it is His everlasting miracle disabling all mankind of keeping pace with it in respect of rhetoric and eloquence, and the realities and sublime knowledge it contains, being guarded against any alteration or changing or mutilation (tahrif). The Qur’àn we have nowadays being surely the same one revealed to the Prophet, and anyone claiming other than this is but a violater, or obstinate errant or mistaken, all being misguided and misled, as it is surely Allah’s word that falsehood can never come at it from before it or from behind it.” (His speech is over).
Besides, all the Shi’ah lands are widely known and their rules in fiqh are commonly recognized by all. Had they possessed any Qur’àn other than that we have nowadays, it would have been discovered by people. I remember that when, for the first time, I visited the Shi’ah land, such gossips were filling my mind, that whenever seeing a bulky volume, I would pick it up hoping to put my hand on that alleged Qur’àn. But very soon, such fancy has vanished away, recognizing later on that it was only one of the fabricated vilifications aimed at causing people to have aversion to the Shi’ah. Nonetheless, there is, ever and anon, someone vilifying and arguing the Shi’ah with a book named: Fasl al khitàb fi ithbàt tahrif Kitàb Rabb al-’Arbàb, whose author is Muhammad Taqi al-Nuri al-Tabrasi (d. 1320 H.), who was a Shi’i. In this way those transgressors intend to overburden the Shi’ah the responsibility for this book! The act that is far from equity.
So many books were written, that in fact never express but the viewpoints of their writers and authors, containing the lean and strong, truth and falsehood, and implying wrong and correct. This fact includes all the Islamic sects, and is not confined to the Shi’ah alone. Are we permitted to hold Ahl al-Sunnah responsible for what was written by the Egyptian Culture Minister and dean of Arabic literature Dr. Tàhà Husayn regarding the Qur’àn and pre-Islamic (Jàhili) poetry? Or what al-Bukhàri reported, which is considered veracious near them, about the presence of loss and addition in the Qur’àn, and so also is Sahih Muslim, and other sources?256
Let’s turn aside from this and return good for evil. What an excellent words uttered in this regard, those said by the Professor Muhammad al-Midyani, Dean of al-Shari‘ah College in al-’Azhar University, when writing:
“And as regards the claims that the Imàmiyyah believe in presence of loss in the Qur’àn, I seek God’s protection... they are no more than narrations reported in their books, the like of which are reported in our books. The investigators from among both the sects have refuted them, proving their falsehood and fabrication. No one among the Imàmi Shi’ah or Zaydiyyah is ever believing in this, neither is there anyone among the Sunnis.
Anyone desiring to have more information can refer to al-Suyuti’s book al-’Itqàn, in which he can see the likes of such narrations, of which we turned aside.
“In 1498, an Egyptian compiled a book calling it al-Furqàn, interpolating it with such poor, exotic and rejected narrations, reporting quotations (in their confirmation) from the Sunni books and references. Al-’Azhar then asked the Government to stop publication of (confiscate) the book, after demonstrating with scientific proof and argument the aspects of falsehood and deviation in it.The Government responded to this request and confiscated the book. Its author then filed a case demanding an indemnity, but the Administrative Judiciary in the State Cabinet dismissed the case.
“Should we say then that Ahl al-Sunnah deny the sanctity of the Qur’àn? Or believe in presence of loss in the Qur’àn due to a narration reported by so and so? Or due to a book compiled by so and so?
The same is true concerning the Imàmi Shi’ah, that reports can be found in their books similar to those recorded in some of our books (the speech to al-Midyani). Al-’Imàm al-‘Allàmah Abu al-Fadl ibn al-Hasan al-Tabrasi, an eminent Imàmi scholar in the 6th Hijrah Century, in his book Majma’ al-bayàn li ‘ulum al-Qur’àn, says in this respect:
“There is consensus and unanimity among the Muslims that there is not any ‘excess’ in the holy Qur’àn. But with regard to the deficiency of the text of the holy Qur’àn, a group of Imàmiyyah and a group of Hashwiyyah who are Sunnis have claimed presence of atterations and deficiencies in the holy Qur’àn, but the true belief accepted by the Imàmiyyah holds otherwise. This is supported by al-Sayyid al-Murtada (may God sanctify his soul), giving it its full due in reply to the questions of al-Taràbulusiyyàt, saying in some places: Knowledge and certainty of the validity of the narration of the holy Qur’àn are like the knowledge and certainty on the existence of countries, cities, famous historical events, popular books, and the poems compiled by the Arabs. This is because the specific regard and attention and the strong motive for the narration of the text of the holy Qur’àn and its upkeeping had been much stronger than the precision and attention given to the above-cited items, since the Qur’àn being the miracle of Prophethood, source of legal sciences and religious rules. And Muslim ‘ulamà’ paid so great attention in preserving and safeguarding it, to the extent that they came to recognize all controversial things regading which disagreement was there, including its syntax (i‘ràb), readings, letters and verses. So how is it permissible to believe in its being altered, or decreased, with the presence of this sincere attention and strict precision.”257
To elucidate for you, dear reader, the fact that this accusation (decreasing and increasing the Qur’àn), should verily be attributed to Ahl al-Sunnah rather than being ascribed to the Shi’ah. This was one of the motives urged me to reconsider all of my beliefs, as whenever I tried to criticize the Shi’ah and negate or disapprove them regarding anything, they would prove their acquittal from it, with attributing it to me. Then, with passage of days, and through investigation, I recognized the truth of their claims, of which I was convinced, for which I praise God. Hereunder I shall present the evidences proving my claim in this topic:
Al-Tabarràni and al-Bayhaqi are reported to have said: There are two surahs (dropped) in the Qur’àn, one being:

بِسْمِ الله الرَّحمنِ الرَّحيم
( اِنّا نَستعينُكَ وَنَستغفِركَ وَنُثني عَليك الخير كُلَّهُ ولا نَكفُركَ وَنَخلَعُ ونَتركُ مَن يفجُرُكَ )

( بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ـ اللهم اياك نعبد ولك نصلي ونسجد واليك نسعى ونحفد نرجو رحمتك ونخشى عذابك الجدّ انّ عذابك بالكافرين ملحق ) .

( لو أنّ ابن آدم سأل وادياً من مال فاعطيه لسأل ثانيا فلوو سأل ثانيا فاعطيه لسأل ثالثا لا يملأ جوف ابن آدم الاّ التّراب ، يتوب الله على من تاب ، وانّ ذلك الدين القيّم عند الله الحنيفة غير المشركة لا اليهوديّة ولا النّصرانية من يفعل خيراً فلن يكفره ) .

( اذ جعل الّذين كفروا في قلوبهم الحميّة حميّة الجاهلية ولو حميتم كما حموا لفسد المسجد الحرام ) .

( ولو حميتم كما حموا لفسد المسجد الحرام ) .

( النّبيّ أولى بالمؤمنين من أنفسهم وأزواجه أمّهاتهم وهو أب لهم ) .

( واللّيل إذا يغشى والنّهار اذا تجلّى والذّكر والانثى ) .

( وما خلق الذّكر والأنثى ) .

( واللّيل اذا يغشى والنّهار اذا تجلّى والذكر والأنثى ) .

( ان لا ترغبوا عن آبائكم فإنّه كفر بكم ان ترغبوا عن آبائكم ، أو ان كفرا بكم إن ترغبوا عن آبائكم ) .

( لو كان لابن آدم واديان من مال لا بتغى واديا ثالثا ولا يملأ جوف ابن آدم الا التّراب ) .

( يا أيها الّذين آمنوا لم تقولون ما لا تفعلون فتكتب شهادة في أعناقكم فتسألون عنها يوم القيامة ) .