Preservation of the Qur’an

Q: Other Holy Books have been altered over time; is this the case for the Qur’an?

God Almighty sent down all the Scriptures with His Messengers. Though the basic message of all the Prophets, and thus the basic message of all the Books they brought, is one and the same message from God to humankind, it is quite natural that new and different principles and laws would be needed, depending on the social and intellectual level of the people and in answer to new and different problems and needs.

During the time of Prophet Adam, for instance, there were not many people and the means of meeting their needs were rather limited. Hence, God sent them a Scroll of ten pages which contained principles that were sufficient to meet their needs. In keeping with the developments in human communities and societies, the increase in human population and the diversification of their needs, the message of each and every Prophet contained changes and diversifications to a certain extent. In the same way that there is an inclination towards perfection in the universe and everything in it is subject to laws of change, divine Revelations correspond to man’s position on earth and in history and the level they have reached in their development. There is a correlation between the ultimate perfection of the Holy Books and amendments made to constitutions in the sense that when constitutions are amended, partly or wholly, over time and in accordance to social need, the Holy Books were also gradually modified and improved according to the material, spiritual and intellectual developments that the human race had achieved at a particular time; this was done not because the Holy Books were trying to keep up with human development but rather so that the Books addressed the intellectual and spiritual level of the people at that time. The Qur’an, as the culmination of a series of divine messages, is the last of the Holy Scriptures. It applies for all times, those in the past and those to come and has been preserved by Divine authority. It is impossible for any falsehood or alteration of any part of the Qur’an to be made and not noticed.

When we think of God’s promise that the Qur’an will be preserved, we see a miracle which bears witness that it came from God; it is impossible for any book that has been exposed to such a number of circumstances and influences throughout the ages to preserve its authenticity, remaining unchanged. So, it would not have been possible for the Qur’an to have stayed the same if the Supreme Being had not protected it against all circumstances and conditions. Throughout history hostile and opposing groups have had no opportunity to add to or delete any verses from the Qur’an due to its divine guardianship. Its verses have remained exactly as they were at the time of revelation. There have been many difficult and calamitous periods in the history of Islam, times which have left Muslims unable to safeguard their lands, social order, or values. At times their enemies have maintained absolute control over them. Nevertheless, the enemies of Islam have been unable to do one thing; they have not been able to cause any harm to this divinely preserved Book. This too proves the divine Authorship of the Qur’an.

The promise of: “Indeed it is We, We Who send down the Reminder (i.e. the Qur’an), and it is indeed We Who are its Guardian” (Hijr 15:9) is not valid only for the time of the Prophet, it is an eternal divine promise. After all these great calamities and many centuries this promise today has remained intact, miraculously proving that it comes from God. With this promise God has undertaken to preserve the Qur’an from all forms of alterations. This preservation can be understood in a number ways.

God’s preservation of the Qur’an is, first of all, seen in the form of His making it a particular miracle that has been set aside from the human word and which renders all humanity unable to make any addition to or deletion from the Qur’an. Should someone add or delete something from the Qur’an, the harmony of the wording changes and such an attempt would promptly be noticed by all. God has also ensured that a group of people have been raised in every age to guard the Qur’an; people read it, memorize it and spread it among the public. No other book has been preserved as the Qur’an has been. The reason for this is that all the other heavenly books were sent as temporary sources of guidance, not as eternal ones. The Qur’an was sent in order to complete the previous books, to correct the verses that had been altered by human beings and to be a criterion for them. God willed that the Qur’an be a proof of authenticity that will remain with us until the Doomsday; whenever He wills something to be He facilitates its causes for being, for He is absolutely the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.

 

Akgul, Muhittin (2009). The Quran in 99 Questions (Abdullah Erdemli Trans.). New Jersey: Tughra Books. (Originally published in Turkish as Kur’an İklimine Seyahat)