:salam2:
The Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in sections throughout the twenty-three years of his prophethood. The Era of the Prophet (PBUH) 609-632 CE
The Qur’an was the main miracle given to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to prove that he was a true prophet of Allah and not an imposter. So, the Qur’an had to be saved to prove to the later generations that Muhammad (PBUH) was really the last prophet of Allah. All of the false prophets who came after Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) brought books which they claimed to be revealed from Allah, but none of them have the miraculous ability to be memorized by thousands, nor have they improved on the message of the Qur’an.
One of the leading orientalists, Kenneth Cragg, said the following regarding the memorization and preservation of the Qur’anic text, “This phenomenon of Qur’anic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past.”[1] Another orientalist scholar, William Graham, wrote: “For countless millions of Muslims over more than fourteen centuries of Islamic history, ‘scripture’, al-kitab, has been a book learned, read and passed on by vocal repetition and memorisation. The written Qur’an may ‘fix’ visibly the authoritative text of the Divine Word in a way unknown in history, but the authoritativeness of the Qur’anic book is only realized in its fullness and perfection when it is correctly recited.”[2] Yet another, John Burton, stated: “The method of transmitting the Qur’an from one generation to the next by having the young memorize the oral tradition of their elders had mitigated somewhat from the beginning the worst perils of relying solely on written records...”[3] At the end of a voluminous work on the Qur’an’s collection, Burton stated that the text of the Qur’an available today is “the text which has come down to us in the form in which it was organised and approved by the Prophet....What we have today in our hands is the mus-haf[4] of Muhammad.”[5]
With every succeeding generation of Muslims, the numbers of those who memorized all of the Qur’an has increased. Today there are literally hundreds of thousands of Muslims throughout the world who have done so.
There is no other book, religious or otherwise, which has been memorized on this scale in recorded history. The Qur’an is about four-fifths the length of the New Testament of the Christians, yet not a single person in recorded history is known to have memorized the New Testament completely. In fact, if all of the books in the world were somehow destroyed, the only book which could be rewritten, word for word, without a single mistake is the Glorious Qur’an.
The Qur’an has been preserved in both the oral as well as written form in a way no other religious book in history has.
A 700 YEARS OLD COPY OF THE HOLY QURA'N IN BRITISH MUSEUM
Why did Allah preserve the Qur’an and allow His earlier books of divine revelation to be changed or lost? The answer to that question lies in the following facts:
1. The earlier prophets and their books were sent to a particular people in particular periods of history. Once the period ended, a new prophet was sent with a new book to replace the previous book. So, it was not necessary that these books be preserved by Allah. The preservation of the earlier books was left up to the people as a test for them. Thus, when the people went astray, they changed what was written in the books which their prophets brought in order to make allowable the things which were forbidden to them. In that way, all of the earlier books of revelation became either changed or lost.
2. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the last prophet whom Allah sent, and he was not sent to a particular people or a particular time. He was sent to all of mankind until the end of the world. Allah said in the Qur’an,
Thus, his book of revelation, the Qur’an, had to be specially preserved from any form of change or loss so that it would be available to all the generations of man until the last day of the world.
The significance of the Qur’an’s preservation is that Islam has been kept in its original purity because of it. Humanity can always return to the sources of Islam no matter what people may have added or forgotten in time. All of the essential principles of Islam are to be found in the Qur’an. Consequently, the preservation of the Qur’an meant the preservation of Islam in its final form. The loss of the Gospel of Jesus means that Christians can never return to the true teachings of Prophet Jesus except by accepting Islam.[7] Similarly, the original Torah was lost when Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians.[8] Thus, the Jews cannot return to the pure teachings of Prophet Moses except by following Islam.
It is only in Islam that the pure teachings of the prophets have been preserved without any change. That is why Allah said in the Qur’an,
By: Dr. Bilal Philips
[1] The Mind of the Qur’an, p. 26.
[2] Beyond the Written Word, p. 80.
[3] An Introduction to the Hadith, p. 27.
[4] The Arabic term used to refer to the text of the Qur’an.
[5] The Collection of the Qur’an, p. 239-40.
[6] Soorah Saba’ (34):28.
[7] See The Five Gospels, pp. 2-16.
[8] See The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 14, p. 757.
The Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in sections throughout the twenty-three years of his prophethood. The Era of the Prophet (PBUH) 609-632 CE
The Qur’an was the main miracle given to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to prove that he was a true prophet of Allah and not an imposter. So, the Qur’an had to be saved to prove to the later generations that Muhammad (PBUH) was really the last prophet of Allah. All of the false prophets who came after Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) brought books which they claimed to be revealed from Allah, but none of them have the miraculous ability to be memorized by thousands, nor have they improved on the message of the Qur’an.
One of the leading orientalists, Kenneth Cragg, said the following regarding the memorization and preservation of the Qur’anic text, “This phenomenon of Qur’anic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past.”[1] Another orientalist scholar, William Graham, wrote: “For countless millions of Muslims over more than fourteen centuries of Islamic history, ‘scripture’, al-kitab, has been a book learned, read and passed on by vocal repetition and memorisation. The written Qur’an may ‘fix’ visibly the authoritative text of the Divine Word in a way unknown in history, but the authoritativeness of the Qur’anic book is only realized in its fullness and perfection when it is correctly recited.”[2] Yet another, John Burton, stated: “The method of transmitting the Qur’an from one generation to the next by having the young memorize the oral tradition of their elders had mitigated somewhat from the beginning the worst perils of relying solely on written records...”[3] At the end of a voluminous work on the Qur’an’s collection, Burton stated that the text of the Qur’an available today is “the text which has come down to us in the form in which it was organised and approved by the Prophet....What we have today in our hands is the mus-haf[4] of Muhammad.”[5]
With every succeeding generation of Muslims, the numbers of those who memorized all of the Qur’an has increased. Today there are literally hundreds of thousands of Muslims throughout the world who have done so.
There is no other book, religious or otherwise, which has been memorized on this scale in recorded history. The Qur’an is about four-fifths the length of the New Testament of the Christians, yet not a single person in recorded history is known to have memorized the New Testament completely. In fact, if all of the books in the world were somehow destroyed, the only book which could be rewritten, word for word, without a single mistake is the Glorious Qur’an.
The Qur’an has been preserved in both the oral as well as written form in a way no other religious book in history has.
Tashkent, This is one of the oldest Quran in the world about1400 years old , it was compiled in Medina during Othman time , the third caliph (ruler) of islam , and one of the companion of the prophet Muhammad .
A 700 YEARS OLD COPY OF THE HOLY QURA'N IN BRITISH MUSEUM
Why did Allah preserve the Qur’an and allow His earlier books of divine revelation to be changed or lost? The answer to that question lies in the following facts:
1. The earlier prophets and their books were sent to a particular people in particular periods of history. Once the period ended, a new prophet was sent with a new book to replace the previous book. So, it was not necessary that these books be preserved by Allah. The preservation of the earlier books was left up to the people as a test for them. Thus, when the people went astray, they changed what was written in the books which their prophets brought in order to make allowable the things which were forbidden to them. In that way, all of the earlier books of revelation became either changed or lost.
2. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the last prophet whom Allah sent, and he was not sent to a particular people or a particular time. He was sent to all of mankind until the end of the world. Allah said in the Qur’an,
{ وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلاَّ كَافَّةً لِلنَّاسِ بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ }
“I have only sent you (Muhammad) as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most men do not understand.”[6]
“I have only sent you (Muhammad) as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most men do not understand.”[6]
Thus, his book of revelation, the Qur’an, had to be specially preserved from any form of change or loss so that it would be available to all the generations of man until the last day of the world.
The significance of the Qur’an’s preservation is that Islam has been kept in its original purity because of it. Humanity can always return to the sources of Islam no matter what people may have added or forgotten in time. All of the essential principles of Islam are to be found in the Qur’an. Consequently, the preservation of the Qur’an meant the preservation of Islam in its final form. The loss of the Gospel of Jesus means that Christians can never return to the true teachings of Prophet Jesus except by accepting Islam.[7] Similarly, the original Torah was lost when Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians.[8] Thus, the Jews cannot return to the pure teachings of Prophet Moses except by following Islam.
It is only in Islam that the pure teachings of the prophets have been preserved without any change. That is why Allah said in the Qur’an,
“Verily, the only acceptable religion to Allah is Islam.”
By: Dr. Bilal Philips
[1] The Mind of the Qur’an, p. 26.
[2] Beyond the Written Word, p. 80.
[3] An Introduction to the Hadith, p. 27.
[4] The Arabic term used to refer to the text of the Qur’an.
[5] The Collection of the Qur’an, p. 239-40.
[6] Soorah Saba’ (34):28.
[7] See The Five Gospels, pp. 2-16.
[8] See The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 14, p. 757.
May Allah reward you...........