Shalom Aleikhem (Peace be upon you),
I really do not want to get into a debate here, alright. I have a few points though that I must point out because you are resting on a few assumptions that I must disagree with. (1) The fact that the Quran has stood the ‘test of time’ is irrelevant because books from Shakespeare have stood a huge amounts of time and other texts from such religions as the Sikh would argue that their books have stood and equal amount of time. The amount of time a book stands uncorrupted does not make it legitimate.
That's a totally different issue, and no - Sikhism began around 700 years after the message revealed to Allaah's final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him.) [
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak who was born in (1469–1538 CE)]
Shakespeare? He was born on 1616 CE. Which is around a similar time period as the Sikhi's, except maybe around 100years after.
The message revealed to Allaah's final Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him) was around 700/800years before the above mentioned characters.
So them examples aren't really good examples. Nor were the whole plays or religious texts memorised by these people. Word by word, letter by letter.
Quoting brother Ansar:
I'll try to give you a comprehensive answer as to why the Qur'an is regarded the way it is by so many people.
1. The Power of the Qur'anic Message:-it is universal, unrestricted by time and applicable to any nation/culture. The Qur'an is by far the most widely followed and acted-upon book in the world. As for the Bible, most Christians follow the Church over the Bible, and each denomination has its own bible anyway. The fact that there is no other book in the world that forms the constitution of the lives of billions of followers is itself a sign.
-it is practical and logical, it can be established practically in society and is logically able to address the fundamental questions relating to all aspects of our universe.
-it is comprehensive, addressing all fundamental sectors of human life, be it spritual, physical, mental, social/societal, politcal, environmental, economic, etc.
-it is natural, in concordance with a person's nature and what they feel deep inside to be the truth.
-it is clear and consistent, free of the changes in worldview and understanding that dominate the works of human beings.
-it is deep, having provoked thousands upon thousands of volumes of exegesis, expounding upon its meaning and revealing fascinating details that many people otherwise miss in their reading of the Qur'an.
2. The Power of the Qur'anic Style:-it is
Interactive, the text seems alive as it responds to the very questions that arise in one's mind at that moment. It speaks to the reader and delivers specific yet universal advice.
-it is
Inerrant, free from contradictons and discrepancies, or other errors that would normally be found in the works of human beings.
-it is
Memorizable; the Qur'an is the only book in the world which is continuously being memorized by millions of people and recited daily. No other book has been committed to memory by so many followers, as though it fits in one's mind as a key in a lock.
-its
Language, the Qur'anic arabic is a stunning miracle in itself, its style is powerful and its recitation is melodious. More info:
Here,
Here,
Here.
-it is
Preserved, even after fourteen and a half centuries, the Qur'an is recited today exactly as it was first revealed. Thus it was free of the tampering that befell other religious scriptures.
-its
other Remarkable features; many Muslims find a striking concordance between many Qur'anic statements and established scientific truths, which could not have been known by any normal human being 14 centuries ago. (see
here). Many Muslims have also found the Qur'anic perfection extends even to various
mathematical miracles within the text. As well, there are the
Qur'anic Prophecies.
-its
Authorship; the context in which the Qur'an was revealed leaves the reader with no other conclusion than the fact that it could only be the word of God.
This is just my summary of the miraculous features Muslims find in the Qur'an. For more information, please see section 3c of
The First and Final Commandment.
(2) Uthman made a verdict that if any verse differed, then the Quraishiite version was to take priority. Clearly, this showed that there were already differences.
This isn't the case at all. Did you know the Qur'an was revealed in 7 different dialects for the different arab tribes?
THE AHRUF
First there is the issue nof Ahruf (dialects/modes). The Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf, as is proved in many mutawaatir ahadith. This was because different tribes pronounced and spelled words differently. The forms matched the dialects of following seven tribes:
1.Quraysh
2.Hudhayl
3.Thaqîf
4.Hawâzin
5.Kinânah
6.Tamîm
7.Yemen
The revelation of the Qur'an in seven different ahruf made its recitation and memorization much easier for the various tribes. At the same time the Qur'an challenged them to produce a surah like it in their own dialect so that they would not complain about the incomprehensibility.
Regarding whether or not these ahruf have been preserved, there are three opinions, the strongest being that of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ash-Shatibee, Ar-Raazi, Ibn Katheer and Ibn Al-Jazaree and many others. They say that when Uthman rd was compiling the Qur'an, he had Zaib ibn Thabit record it without the vowelation and consonants to accomodate the different Ahruf. At some points where the ahruf differed greatly, they recorded it according to the Quraysh dialect. There are 4 benefits which show the Wisdom of Allah revealing the Qur'an in seven ahruf:
1. To facilitate the memorization of the Qur'an. The arabs did not all speak arabic in the same way. The ahruf eased the memorization and was significant in the preservation of the Qur'an.
2. To prove the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. For despite all the differences, the meaning of the Ahruf did not contradict one another, but rather were complimentary.
3. To prove the truthfulness of the Prophet Muhammad saws, for despite the fact that he was illiterate, the revelation of the Qur'an occured in different tribal dialects and different words, all of which consisted of the most fluent and eloquent speech of his time.
4. To honour the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad saws and show its superiority over all other nations.
http://www.islamicboard.com/islamic-sources/1202-uloom-al-quran-qiraat-ahruf.html
Therefore, when Uthman did burn the copies - he preserved it in the Quraysh dialect since that was the dialect of Allaah's Messenger (peace be upon him) i.e. Quraysh, a descendant of Abraham (peace be upon him.)
more info about the preservation of Qur'an by the companions can be seen here:
http://www.islamicboard.com/738055-post2.html
Uthman also had all other versions committed to flame. There would be no necessity to do so if there weren't already differences. Here is some information from an Islamic site:
There were other personal collections of the portions of the Qur’an that people had with them. These might have been incomplete and with mistakes. Uthman (R.A.) only appealed to the people to destroy all these copies, which did not match the original manuscript of the Qur’an in order to preserve the original text of the Qur’an. Two such copies of the copied text of the original Qur’an authenticated by the Prophet are present to this day, one at the museum in Tashkent in erstwhile Soviet Union and the other at the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.
http://islamicvoice.com/July2006/QuestionHour-DrZakirNaik/index.php
How could there be a conflict or any sort in regards to the text of the Quran if it was memorized by so many? Why did some get it wrong, and why were there differing opinions which led Uthman to the conclusion that he should burn every copy of the Quran that did not meet the Quraishiite version?
From what we see above, there were 7 dialects the Qur'an was revealed in.
The Qur'an continued to be read according to the sevenahruf until midway through Caliph 'Uthman's rule when some confusion arose in the outlying provinces concerning the Qur'an's recitation. Some Arab tribes had began to boast about the superiority of their ahruf and a rivalry began to develop. At the same time, some new Muslims also began mixing the various forms of recitation out of ignorance. Caliph 'Uthman decided to make official copies of the Qur'an according to the dialect of the Quraysh and send them along with the Qur'anic reciters to the major centres of Islam. This decision was approved by Sahaabah [companions] and all unofficial copies of the Qur'an were destroyed. Following the distribution of the official copies, all the other ahruf were dropped and the Qur'an began to be read in only one harf. Thus, the Qur'an which is available through out the world today is written and recited only according to theharf of Quraysh.
[8] Ibid., pp. 28-29.
From there, we see that the Qur'an was revealed in 7 dialects as the Messenger of Allaah stated;
From Abû Hurairah:The Messenger of God(P) said: "An All-knowing, Wise, Forgiving, Merciful sent down the Qur'an in seven ahruf."[2]
[2] Ibid.
And not just that, the famous companions who had memorised the 7 dialects were still alive to know the original way of recitation, so even if confusion was to come up from new muslims,
the companions were still alive to know the difference between what is the correct recitation, and what isn't the correct recitation.
Some of the personal copies which were burnt may have had notes on i.e. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (a famous companion of Allaah's Messenger) had a personal copy which he writ himself, but he had also written the Prophetic sayings which he had heard also on the copy for his own personal notes, yet if someone was to read these in the future - then they may have mistaken it for Qur'an. Therefore this also was burnt. Which proves that it wasn't the Qur'an which was in error, rather it was the people who may have misunderstood.
Now a few words on Qirâ'ât:A Qirâ'ât is for the most part a method of pronunciation used in the recitations of the Qur'an. These methods are different from the seven forms or modes (ahruf) in which the Qur'an was revealed. The seven modes were reduced to one, that of the Quraysh, during the era of Caliph 'Uthman, and all of the methods of recitation are based on this mode. The various methods have all been traced back to the Prophet(P) through a number of Sahaabah [companions] who were most noted for their Qur'anic recitations. That is, these Sahaabah recited the Qur'an to the Prophet(P) or in his presence and received his approval. Among them were the following: Ubayy Ibn K'ab, 'Alee Ibn Abi Taalib, Zayd Ibn Thaabit, 'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, Abu ad-Dardaa and Abu Musaa al-Ash'aree. Many of the other Sahaabah learned from these masters. For example, Ibn 'Abbaas, the master commentator of the Qur'an among the Sahaabah, learned from both Ubayy and Zayd.[9]
The transmission of the Qur'an is a mutawâtir transmission, that is, there are a large number of narrators on each level of the chain. Dr. Bilaal Philips gives a brief account of the history of recitation in his book:Among the next generation of Muslims referred to as Taabe'oon, there arose many scholars who learned the various methods of recitation from the Sahaabah [companions] and taught them to others. Centres of Qur'anic recitation developed in al-Madeenah, Makkah, Kufa, Basrah and Syria, leading to the evolution of Qur'anic recitation into an independent science. By mid-eighth century CE, there existed a large number of outstanding scholars all of whom were considered specialists in the field of recitation. Most of their methods of recitations were authenticated by chains of reliable narrators ending with the Prophet(P). Those methods which were supported by a large number of reliable narrators on each level of their chain were called Mutawaatir and were considered to be the most accurate. Those methods in which the number of narrators were few or only one on any level of the chain were refered to as shaadhdh. Some of the scholars of the following period began the practice of designating a set number of individual scholars from the pervious period as being the most noteworthy and accurate. By the middle of the tenth century, the number seven became popular since it coincided with the number of dialects in which the Qur'an was revealed.[10]
SOURCE:
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Qiraat/hafs.html#1
Also, during Umars farewell speech, he addressed different issues. The speech is included in Sahih Bukhari, and in it there is a reference to an alleged verse in the Qur'an named the Verse of Rajm. The alleged verse is quoted as:
"O people! Do not claim to be the offspring of other than your fathers, as it is disbelief (unthankfulness) on your part that you claim to be the offspring of other than your real father."
You can read the below point to understand the issue of abrogation insha Allaah (God willing.) Since this issue of rajm is similar to the example below. i.e. in abrogation.
Also from
Sahih Muslim Book 008, Number 3421:
"'A'isha (Allah be pleased with, her) reported that it had been revealed in the Holy Qur'an that ten clear sucklings make the marriage unlawful, then it was abrogated (and substituted) by five sucklings and Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) died and it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur'an (and recited by the Muslims)."
Is their a verse in the Quran concerning this today?
This is explained in your own question in the exact hadith which you quoted;
Here is the hadith that supposedly talks about the "missing verse" from the Quran...
Saheeh Muslim
Book 008, Number 3421:
'A'isha (Allah be pleased with, her) reported that it had been revealed in the Holy Qur'an that ten clear sucklings make the marriage unlawful, then it was abrogated (and substituted) by five sucklings and Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) died and it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur'an (and recited by the Muslims).
Imam Nawawi says in his commentary on Saheeh Muslim...
[FONT="]هو بضم الياء من ( يقرأ ) ومعناه أن النسخ بخمس رضعات تأخر إنزاله جدا حتى أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم توفي وبعض الناس يقرأ خمس رضعات ويجعلها قرآنا متلوا لكونه لم يبلغه النسخ لقرب عهده فلما بلغهم النسخ بعد ذلك رجعوا عن ذلك وأجمعوا على أن هذا لا يتلى [/FONT]
There is a dumma on the letter ya'a and it means that the abrogation of the five sucklings came very late until the time that the Prophet peace be upon him died and a few people were reciting the five sucklings verse making it part of the Qur'an for he (Muhammad PBUH) did not inform them of its abrogation. So when he did inform them afterwards they stopped reciting it and formed a consensus that this verse should not be recited anymore (Imam Nawawi, Sharh Saheeh Muslim, Commentary on Hadith no. 2634, Source)
Al Sindi says in his commentary on Sunan Al Nisaa'i..
فقيل إن الخمس أيضا منسوخة تلاوة إلا أن نسخها كان في قرب وفاته صلى الله تعالى عليه وسلم فلم يبلغ بعض الناس فكانوا يقرءونه حين توفي صلى الله تعالى عليه وسلم ثم تركوا تلاوته It is said that the five's (verse on five sucklings) recitation has been abrogated and its abrogation came near the death of the Prophet peace be upon him so he did not inform some of the people. So they used to recite it as part of the Quran after the Prophet's (peace be upon him) death. Then they left its recitation. (Al Sindi, Sharh Sunan Al Nisaa'i, Commentary on Hadith no. 3255, Source)
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid said...
For breastfeeding to have the effect of transmitting its benefits from the nursing woman to the child suckled, it must meet certain conditions, which are:
-
The breastfeeding must happen within the first two years of the child’s life, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “The mothers shall give suck to their children for two whole years, (that is) for those (parents) who desire to complete the term of suckling…” [al-Baqarah 2:233].
-
The number of breastfeedings must total the known five feeds, in which the child eats his fill as if eating and drinking. If the child leaves the breast for a reason, such as to take a breath or to switch from one breast to the other, this (i.e., each separate time the child latches on) is not counted as one breastfeeding. This is the opinion of al-Shaafa’i, and the opinion favoured by Ibn al-Qayyim. The definition of rad’ah (one breastfeeding) is when the child sucks at the breast and drinks until the milk enters his stomach, then he leaves the breast of his own accord. The evidence for the number five (number of breastfeedings) is the report from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) who said: “There was in the Qur’aan [an aayah which stipulated that] ten [was the number of] breastfeedings which created the relationship of mahram, then this was abrogated [by another aayah which stipulated] five. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died and [the aayah which stipulated five] was still being recited as part of the Qur’aan.” (Reported by Muslim, 1452). In other words, the abrogation came so late that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died, some people had not yet heard that this aayah had been abrogated, but when they heard that it had been abrogated, they stopped reciting it, and agreed that it should not be recited, although the ruling mentioned in the aayah remained in effect. This is an abrogation of the recitation without abrogation of the ruling, which is one type of abrogation. (Source)
We can clearly see that the evidence shows that the consensus amongst the companions of the Prophet was that the verse's recitation was meant to be abrogated and it was commanded by the Prophet. However, the command came just a very short while before the Prophet's death and therefore not everyone was informed about it and some still thought that it was part of the Quran. However, once they have been informed that the Prophet ordered its abrogation they stopped reciting it. However, most scholars today believe that its implementation has not been abrogated, only its recitation (e.g. like the verse on stoning)
http://www.load-islam.com/artical_det.php?artical_id=560§ion=wel_islam&subsection=Misconceptions
If you want info about the issue of abrogation, then refer to this link:
http://www.islamicboard.com/164414-post2.html
And here's a small snippet of info in regard to abrogation as a worldly example;
It is analogous to a Professor who asks his students to perform 30 minutes of studying everyday for the first week. During the second week, he 'abrogates' his initial command and asks his students to perform 1 hour of studying every day. The Professor did not make a mistake initially, nor did he react to an unforeseen event. Rather, he had always planned to give a lighter load the first week to his students, and then increase the workload the next week because he knew they would be ready for it. In fact, he had his plan for the entire course written down and recorded. So when he initially gave the order to perform 30 minutes of homework, he knew that he would later abrogate this command.
And Allaah knows best.
Regards.
