Trusting the preservation & authorship of the Qur’an and the Prophetic tradition
Qur’an
The Qur’an linguistically means “recitation” and is regarded as revelation, and it is the direct verbatim, uncreated speech of God SWT that was recited to angel Jibreel, which angel Jibreel brought down to Prophet Muhammad S.A.W, which the Prophet Muhammad PBUH recited to the people, which was then memorized by the companions, written down, and acted upon and further taught it to others.
We understand the Qur’an to be an eternal speech of God. The issues that comes into play is what do we mean by eternal. When we say the Qur’an is eternal, we are referring to the fact that the Qur’an as in the speech of Allah SWT is uncreated and eternal just like all speech of God SWT in its entirety, is eternal. We do not refer to the physical nature of the compilation of the Qur’an known as “mus-haf” as “eternal”. .
For Muslims, who believe in the Qur’an, the best proof of the Qur’an’s preservation is that the Quran claims that it will be preserved by Allah SWT. Indeed, it is We who brought down the ‘Zhikr’ and We will surely preserve it. 15:9.
The above verse says “dhikr” which consists of the Qur’an and the Sunnah since both are revelation. For this essay we are discussing the authenticity in authorship of the Qur’an first, although there is a huge overlap in the principles of preservation of the Qur’an and the sunnah.
Brief history of the Qur’an.
During the time of the Prophet PBUH, there were scribes who were companions of the Prophet who wrote down the Qur’an. These scribes were approximately 40–50 in numbers however they grew in numbers. Most of the companions simply memorized the Qur’an since writing was not widespread among the tribal Arabs.
After the death of the Prophet PBUH, during a battle, around 70 memorizers of the Qur’an died. This prompted Omar Ibn Khattab R.A to recommend that the Qur’an should be compiled in manuscript format. To this, Abu Bakr R.A, although initially disagreed, was later convinced that this was a good idea. Abu Bakr formed a delegation under the leadership of Zaid ibn Thabit, one of the leading scribes.
This delegation of 12 people, including famous figures such as Uthman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Abdullah ibn Masood, Ubayy ibn Kab, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Hudhaifah and Saleem, came together in Umar’s house and collected all the materials on which verses from the Quran were written. Saeed ibn al-Aas, who was renowned for the beauty of his handwriting, wrote them down on gazelle skin. The writing used was the Arabic script of the time, which was already old and used commonly at that time in Hejaz. Thousands of companions had a consensus and agreed to this Qur’an to the letter.
During the time of Uthman R.A, differences in recitation styles came about which caused division and confusion while the Muslims were at the borders of armenia. This prompted Uthman R.A to compile the Qur’an in an official format. This Qur’an would be in the dialect of the Quraysh. 5 Mus-hafs were compiled and each were sent to a major city within the caliphate. During this time, official schools were also set up that focused on the sciences of reciting the Qur’an. There on, thousands of people learned the Qur’an. During the time of Ali Ibn Abi Talib R.A, diacritical marks were also added.
Sunnah
The sunnah of the Prophet PBUH in English would be translated as “the prophetic tradition”. This tradition is what is also known as “hadith”. Hadith literally means “narration”, and the hadith literature is where the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH can be found. The hadith that we are to abide by are hadith that are authentic, and this authenticity is decided based on their historical analysis done by scholars of the past. To make things easy, we will use “hadith” and “sunnah” interchangeably.
The evidence from the Qur’an that we must adhere to the sunnah is in the numerous verses that order us to obey God and obey the messenger. Rather in some instances, The Qur’an only says obey the messengers. The most clear-cut verse is “[We sent them] with clear proofs and written ordinances. And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them and that they might give thought.” (Chapter 16 verse 44). We see from this verse that the Prophet’s job was not to just deliver the Qur’an but also explain it and teach it, hence the verse states that the dhikr (revelation) was revealed so the Prophet may explain it to us.
As a general understanding, the prophetic tradition are divided into Prophets actions, sayings and what he approved/disapproved of. This sunnah is what explains the Qur’an and this “sunnah” is also considered revelation from God, except it is not in the form of direct speech. It is simply information transmitted to the Prophet from God.
Sunnah is what goes into the details of things in explaining what may or may not be as clear in the Qur’an directly.
The six books of hadith and the two authentic books of hadith
The six books of Hadith are known as Sahih Al Bukhari, Sahih Al Muslim, Muwatta al Malik, Sunan Abu Dawood, Sunan An Nisai & Jami At Tirmidhi.
The two most authentic books in the world after the Qur’an are Sahih Al Bukhari and Sahih Al Muslim. If an authentic hadith is found in either of the two books, from a lay person point of view, the hadith can be accepted as authentic.
How can we trust the authorship of the Qur’an?
The Qur’an was compiled officially during the time of the Prophets. The nature of the Qur’an is vastly different from other scriptures because of the fact that it’s compilation was done by the very companions that existed at the time of the Prophet which can be proven through historical analysis and within the own Islamic canon that is used to determine what is from the Prophet PBUH or not.
There is something called a “chain of transmissions” within the Islamic tradition and sciences. Without going into too much detail, these chains is what ensures that what we are getting is in fact from the Prophet PBUH (as explained before), whether it is the Qur’an or the Hadith. The Quran as we know today and in the various forms of recitation was approved by the Prophet PBUH himself and was officially compiled into one book by the same companions that who wrote down the Qur’an, after the Prophet’s death. These were compiled without a single chapter, paragraph, line, or word being added or subtracted from the book since the time of the Prophet PBUH.
The way the Qur’an was preserved was through memorization. To this day, the Qur’an is being recited, 5 times a day (during prayer), around the world, from memory, everyday, 365 days a year whether someone is praying at home or in the mosque, for 1400 years, word for word as it was from the time of the Prophet PBUH. In the book known as “history of the Quranic text” by M.M Al-Azami, he states that “A span of fourteen centuries has not been able to corrupt or dent the skeletal of his Mus-haf” (Azami, 2003).
The Qur’an was not just preserved through memorization but was also written down. The evidence that the preservation of the Qur’an also lies in it’s textual form is the hadith of the Prophet PBUH where he instructed his companions to write down the Qur’an.
A comprehensive study done on the Quranic manuscripts concluded “There are many trends and theories in determining the origin of the Hijazi Arabic calligraphy with which the Quran was written. A researcher of early dated Arabic inscriptions can easily identify a well-established writing system that writers followed, no matter how well that system resulted in conformity between what is written and what is pronounced. The study concluded with a set of findings and recommendations, the most important of which are:-The study proved that the early Quran copies received (samples of study) were copied and written in soft Hijazi calligraphy.-The study and the models of Quran manuscripts used proved the authenticity of the Holy Quran, despite the claims of Orientalists and skeptics.-The study revealed that most of the tithing marks were later on added in the early Quran manuscripts after their copying.-The study proved that among the main criteria that assist in dating the Quran manuscripts, especially the early ones, are their technical standards, as well as the linguistic standards in comparison with the cultural heritage, and then the radioactive carbon (C14) examination” (Al Shareef, Abdul-Salam, 2020). The full study will be available in the citations section at the end.
That being said, this is not the primary way of preserving the Qur’an. The primary way is memorization of the Qur’an which was done so by thousands of companions and early generations. These companions then teach the Qur’an to hundreds or thousands of their students, and from then on you can think of spread of the Qur’an as the “snowball effect”. This then forms something called a “chain of transmitters”. For the sake of this write up we will refer to chain of transmitters as “chains”.
The Qur’an’s chains are what we deem as “mutawaatir”. What this means is, in every generation, the Qur’an was recited and taught by multiple companions into hundreds and up to thousands. Each “layer” (here, layer refers to generation) in the chains has many people.
For example, the most famous and most popular style of recitation (which we will get into later) is known as “Hafs and Aasim” recitation. The chain of this recitation looks like the graph below.
(The picture was retrieved from the link in the picture).
The above chain shows that the Qur’an the average Muslim reads today was transmitted to us by a scholar known as “hafs” whose full name was Abū ‘Amr Ḥafs ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Abi Dawud al-Asadī al-Kūfī. He learned the Qur’an from a scholar known as “Aasim” whose full name was Abu Bakr ‘Aasim Ibn Abi al-Najud al-’Asadi. Aasim learned the Qur’an from Zirr Ibn Hubaysh and Abu Abd Ar- Rahman who got it from the companions, who learned the Qur’an directly from the Prophet PBUH.
Below is another image of chains of transmission of the Qur’an:
The critics of such methods often like to spew suspicion against this methodology. The issue is that if one rejects this method of transmission, they would have to reject most of history since witness testimony and stories being passed down by generation is how our history is passed down.
That being said, the concept of a usool ul hadith, which studies the method of transmitting the Qur’an and focuses on studying such chains, is actually stronger than any other canonization available which transmits hadith. What this means that any historical account that is passed down orally, is not as strong as a single authentic hadith since every individual that narrates a hadith is rigorously scrutinized and goes through historical analysis and is identified before their “narration” or their authority in transmitting anything from Islam is established. This is not something known in other fields of transmissions ro testimony throughout history. This study of individuals in a chain of transmission is known as “ilm ul rijaal”.
The issue of manuscripts
There has been controversy surrounding the manuscripts such as the Sa’na manuscripts that were found in Yemen and some critics claim that these manuscripts are the earliest manuscripts we have and we don’t have them from the time of the Prophet or the companions. First and foremost, the test that is often used to date such documents is known as “the carbon test”. While these can be accurate, it is often difficult to conclude accurate dates using this method and this is evident because many different dates have been concluded in attempting to date the San’a manuscript.
That being said, a study was done on these early manuscripts which can be found below. The study concluded that the the manuscripts, contrary to orientalist claims proved the authenticity of the Qur’an, the manuscript errors are no reason to doubt the authenticity either since it is consistent with other Qur’an manuscripts and the fact that it has been passed down through memorization (Al Shareef, Abdul Salam, 2020)
Another study known as STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BIRMINGHAM QURAN FOLIOS AND COMPARISON WITH THE SANAA MANUSCRIPTS Also concludes the preservation of the Qur’an completely while taking into account differences in writing styles, and more. The study states that overall, the similarities between present Qurans and the old manuscripts are actually 100% in terms of similarity if we don’t take into account writing styles (such as the silent alif letters) (Sayoud 2018). Remember, difference in writing style of calligraphy does not affect the preservation of the text.
The issue of manuscripts is that while it is not the primary way of preservation, there has been some research done regarding these manuscripts.
Some orientalists and critics of the Qur’an have also claimed that there are scribal errors in the manuscripts of the Qur’an. While we say the primary method of transmitting is memorization, the simple response to this is that the Arabic script itself varied from region to region and developed over time. These aren’t errors or spelling mistakes.
The example of this is accurately presented in the pictures below (picture used from Islamic-awareness.org , citations available at the end):
and
The script below is Arabic, and both pictures have the exact same passage from the Quran. Besides the obvious different in font, there are subtle differences in letter formations. If we look at the letter “Qaf” in the second word in the second verse where we see a little “9” like symbol (Arabic is to be read from right to left), we see that the letter “Qaf” has one dot in the picture below while the above picture has two dots. This isn’t a spelling error, rather it is the way early arabic script used to write the letter. It simply changed as time went on.
The above examples is just scratching the surface. There are other examples of similar kind. These differences do not arise due to tampering with the divine Qur’an, it is simply evolution of the physical, scriptural nature of fonts and writing.
Transmission of the hadith and the assurance of it’s reliability
The hadith literature also relies primarily on transmission via a chain of transmitters similar to the Qur’an, however the scrutiny of the chains are just as thorough. The first book of hadith was compiled officially by Imam Malik known as “Muwatta of Al Malik”. This is the book which Imam Bukhari relied upon when compiling his book of hadith known as “Sahih al Bukhari” considered the second most authentic book after the Qur’an, followed by “Sahih Muslim”. There are other books of hadith with authentic collections.
Hadith was not literature that came about later. Hadith literature existed at the time of the Prophet PBUH. The companions would often write down explanations of the verses and would ask the Prophet PBUH about clarifications about certain verses. These sayings and actions of the Prophet PBUH were heard and witnessed by his companions who were Muslims, who learned the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and then taught it to their next generation students, who then taught their next generation to their student. This “chain” referred to as “chain of transmissions”.
Hadith literature and it’s transmission along with it’s chains and the individuals that make up the chain are examined through historical analysis which includes the biography of the individual who narrated the hadith and all the people in the chain (refer to the example below). There are requirements that have to be met before each narration can be deemed authentic. This narration includes the examination of the text and hadith itself and the biography of the individual who is narrating the hadith as well as the timeline of the hadith. There is also a sub category for “biographical requirement” which also has 5 conditions or so which also need to be met before a hadith can be deemed authentic. If any of these conditions are not met, the hadith may not be deemed as “sahih” which is the highest form of authenticity.
For example:
Yahya related to me from Ibn Shihab from Abu Idris al-Khawlani from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “The person doing wudu should snuff water up his nose and blow it out again.”
We see that this hadith that shows us how to do Wudhu starts off with “Yahya related to me from Ibn Shihab from Abu Idris al-Khawlani from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said…” These names is what connects the chain that goes back to the Prophet PBUH. Each person in the chain is heavily examined and goes through rigorous historical analysis of their biographies to assure their reliability.
The importance of the companions who transmitted and that spread Islam
The companions of the Prophet PBUH are described by many scholars. The most well known definition is by a Islamic hadith scholar and jurist from the early generation known as “Ahmed Ibn Hanbal” states in the book Tabaqat al Hanabilah that “Anyone who accompanied him for a year, a month, a day or even an hour, or merely saw him is from his Companions. Each one has attained his companionship proportionate to the time he accompanied him”. A hadith scholar known by the name of “Imam Bukhari” states in his book Sahih al Bukhari which we mentioned earlier as the author of the most authentic book of hadith states “Any Muslim who accompanied Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam or saw him is from his Companions.” Those are generally the views accepted regarding the definition of companions.
people who accompanied the Prophet PBUH for a certain period and died as Muslims. They can vary in their ranks. These companions are who transmitted the religion to us. These are also individuals who the Qur’an speaks highly. For example “Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest [of Makkah] and fought [and those who did so after it]. Those are greater in degree than they who spent afterwards and fought. But to all God has promised the best [reward]. And God, with what you do, is acquainted.” (Qur’an chapter 57 verse 10). There are numerous other examples. Of such verses such as in Chapter 9 verse 100. As far as the authentic sunnah, goes, the Prophet PBUH himself stated “Do not revile my Companions, for if one of you were to spend gold equivalent to the mount of Uhud it would not reach the Mudd[8] of any of them, nay not even half of it.” (Bukhari 3470). (Uhud was the name of a battle that Muslims fought and defended themselves).
The compilers of the Qur’an and the Sunnah were companions who learned the religion directly from him and passed it down to their students. It is important for us to honor these companions and give their due respect as it was done by the Prophet PBUH, although it is not a “Creedal” requirement, intentional abusive words and negligence of these companions can result in sin, just like the intentional abuse negligence of one’s parents or any human being can result in sin.
The well known companions who transmitted and contributed to the compilation and transmission of the Qur’an are Abu Bakr, Umar Ibn Khattab, Uthman Ibn Affan, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas’ud, Zayd Ibn Thabit, Muwawiyah Ibn Sufyan, Ubay Ibn Ka’b, Bilal, Mu’ad Ibn Jabal, and many other companions. However, we listed some major ones so far.
Response to the critics of the Sunnah/hadith literature
Some modern movements arrived which called for the abandonment of the sunnah and only follow the Qur’an. The issue they brought up is that if the Qur’an is the world of God then it should suffice us to only follow that. They also doubt the authenticity of the Sunnah in the way it was transmitted.
The response to these arguments is that Qur’an is the revelation from God, and so is the Sunnah. The very Qur’an that tells us to follow the Qur’an also tells us to follow the messenger. The verse which orders us to follow the Sunnah, has already been stated.
Doubting the authenticity of the Sunnah because of the way it was transmitted to us can lead us to doubting the Qur’an. The Sunnah was transmitted to us through the same people, and the same chains of narrations, with the same method of transmission (through chains of transmitters) as those that transmitted us the Qur’an. If you doubt the method by which the authentic hadith were transmitted to us, then the same method was used to transmit us the Qur’an.
This isn’t to say that the level of authenticity of every hadith is that of the Qur’an. However, that is a discussion within the principles of hadith authentication. The Qur’an reaches the level of authenticity known as “mutawaatir” which is the highest level of authenticity. The point of the previous argument was, the issue of doubting the transmission method of hadith can lead to doubting the transmission of the Qur’an due to the similarity in the way in which both were transmitted to us. After all, the same companions that compiled the Qur’an are the same people that are transmitting the hadith to us.
One of the contentions the opponents of the Sunnah have is with Imam Bukhari. Their claim is that Imam Bukhari came 300 years after the Prophet PBUH and therefore is unreliable. They fail to realize that Imam Bukhari did not introduce something new. The compilation of hadith is something that existed from the time of the Prophet PBUH. They also fail to realize how hadith sciences work (which I briefly explained above). Each hadith has an individual narrating, who narrating from an individual, and the chain goes until it is linked back to Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. As we stated before, each individual in the chain is rigorously scrutinized to ensure their reliability. Imam Bukhari did not “invent” hadith, rather he took the hadith that already existed from the time of the Prophet PBUH and compiled it in an official book.
The other question is, how do they know which way to pronounce the words in the Qur’an since we know that the diacritical marks were not originally used by early Arabs. How do they trust the authenticity of these marks? How do they know and how did the Qur’an reach them?
As far as philosophical grounds of rejecting the Sunnah goes, the question that is posed to rejectors of the Sunnah is that there are several styles of reciting the Qur’an. For example, in Surah Fatiha, in the third verse, one style of recitation states “Malik” while other is recited as “Maalik”. The former means king and the latter means owner. Both words have different root words.
However, the question to rejectors of Sunnah is that which of these would they deem to be “correct”? And what method do they use to conclude which one is correct? If they deem both to be correct, then where in the Qur’an has Allah SWT stated that there has been revealed more than one way of reciting the same verse?
The Qur’an states “With clear proofs and writings; and We have revealed unto thee the Remembrance that thou mayst explain to mankind that which hath been revealed for them, and that haply they may reflect.” (16:44)
The question that needs to be posed to rejectors of Sunnah is where can this explanation be found? Since Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet so that the Prophet may explain it to the people.
To Conclude
It is safe to conclude that the Qur’an, as Muslims believe it to be the uncreated word of Allah which is eternal, revealed to Muhammad S.A.W by angel Gabriel and recited by the Prophet, compiled by the very companions that the Qur’an and the Sunnah endorse, and then preserved by the will of Allah through memorization of thousands and compilation of the scholars, is preserved in it’s original form as it was at the time of revelation, to the letter, without any addition or subractions along with the Prophetic tradition.
Sources:
Muhammad Taqi Uthmani, Dr Muhammad Swaleh Siddiqui, Rafiq Abdur Rehman, 2000, “Approach to Qur’anic sciences”.
Al-Suyooti, unknown, Uloom Ul Qur’an
Ekinci, E. (2017, June 02). History of the compilation of Quran. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2017/06/02/history-of-the-compilation-of-quran
Sayoud, H.. (2018). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BIRMINGHAM QURAN FOLIOS AND COMPARISON WITH THE SANAA MANUSCRIPTS. 4. 101–126.
Al-shareef, Adnan Mohammed and Abdul Salam, Yasser Ismail (2020) “Early Manuscripts of Quran Through Data of Hijazi Calligraphy and Archaeological Evidence,” Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1 , Article 1. Available at: https://digitalcommons.aaru.edu.jo/jguaa/vol5/iss1/1
(unable to find author name), (n.d.). Retrieved December 03, 2020, from https://www.islamic-awareness.org/quran/text/scribal/scribal
Bahraini, F. (2020). Isnad Tree — seven ahruf https://www.academia.edu/44605638/Isnad_Tree_Seven_Ahruf
Forouzani, A. (n.d) https://unsplash.com/photos/sfmsMZ7ezXw
