Memorizing the Qur'an
Among the blessings of Allah on mankind is that
He, Himself, has guaranteed to guard this everlasting
Divine Message against any form of distortion, forgery
and disfigurement, in such a way that falsehood cannot
approach it from any direction.
Remarkably, the Qur'an, today, is the same text
which was revealed fourteen centuries ago to the Prophet,
and is free from any additions or deletions.
The religious scholars (ulama) and
researchers, in the school of Ahlul-Bait, certify
this great fact. We mention only what Sheikh Tabarasi
(one of the prominent interpreters and great Shi'ite
scholars of the sixth century A.H.) (may Allah bless him)
said:
"What is known among the Shi'a scholars
and researchers, or what they even positively take
for granted, is the rejection of the idea of any
falsification."(31)
He also said:
"...of such (baseless) talk about
additions and deletions, in the Qur'an, is unbecoming
of any interpretation. As to the additions, it is
unanimously regarded to be a false assumption; and
concerning deletions, a group of our people think of
some alterations and deletions in the Qur'an, while
the true belief of our people is to the contrary.
This has been supported by (Sherif) Murtadha (may
Allah bless his soul), who, extensively discoursed on
it..."(32)
Sheikh al-Balaghi (may Allah glorify his status) said:
The Qur'an continues to enjoy great veneration
among the Muslims, generation after generation.
Everywhere you would encounter thousands of copies of
the Book and thousands of those who learn it by
heart. They studiously copy from one another and the
Muslims recite it to one another for verification.
Thousands of its copies stand as sentinels over the
learners, and thousands of learners stand as sentries
over the copies of the Qur'an, and thousands of them
both stand as guardian over the new copies. We say
thousands, while actually they are hundreds of
thousands. Nay! Thousands of thousands, because no
historical event received such a kind of perpetuity
and unquestionable eternity as the Qur'an did, as
promised by Allah, the Exalted:
"Surely We have revealed the Reminder and
We will most surely be its guardians."
Holy Qur'an (15:9)
"Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of
it and the reciting of it."
Holy Qur'an (75:17)
"Therefore, if you happen to hear dubious
narratives that something of the Qur'an was distorted
and some of it was lost, do not heed such talk, as
scholarly researches have proved how disordered,
shaky and weak their narraters are, and how
contradictory they are to the Muslims..."(33)
In a chapter titled 'The Imamiya's
opinion rejecting deletions in the Qur'an', Balaghi
further states in his 'Tafsir'. "It is no
secret that Saduq (may Allah bless him) who is known for
the great care he took in what he narrated, says in his
book 'Iqtiqad'. Our belief in the Qur'an, which
was sent down by Allah to His Prophet, Muhammad (s.a.w.),
is that it consists of all that is in between its two
covers, and it is what is in circulation among the
people, no more...Whoever ascribes to us that we say it
was more than that, is but a liar."
Another great Shi'iti scholar, Sheikh Mufid,
writes in his book 'Maqalat' that:
"A group of the Imamiya say that nothing
was deleted from it (the Qur'an) not even a single
word, verse, chapter, but what was omitted were the
notes, explanations and interpretations concerning
the meanings and the truth of its revelation, which
had been written by the Commander of the Faithful Ali
(a.s.) on his own compilation of the Book"
In 'Kashf al-Ghita fi kittab al-Qur'an',
chapter eight, concerning the deletion, it is said:
"No doubt that it is protected against any
alteration by the Sovereign, the Almighty, as is
proved by the evidence of the Qur'an and the
scholars' unanimity of opinion."
Sheikh Bahauddin Amili says:
"...they also differed concerning
additions and deletions in it, but the truth is that
the Glorious Qur'an is protected against all that, be
it addition or deletion. This is proved by Allah's
saying: "We surely are its
guardians."
Muqaddas Baghdadi, in 'Sharh al-Wafiya' says:
"...the talk about deletion which is in
circulation among our companions, is in contrast to
the unanimous talk of non-interference in it...it is
said that Sheikh Ali bin Abdul-Aali had written an
exclusive book refuting the deletion theory', quoting
the aforementioned speech of Saduq."(34)
The late contemporary scholar, Sheikh Muhammad
Husein Aal Kashif al-Ghita', in his book 'Asl al-Shi'a
wa Usuliha', says:
"The Book which is (in circulation) among
the Muslims is the Book which Allah had sent down to
His Prophet - a miracle and challenge - and there is
no deletion, distortion, nor additions in it."
Tas his is the position of the Shi'ati
scholars, regarding the Qur'an now in the hands of the
Muslims. It is, it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.), and it will remain pure and unadulterated, as
long as man remains on the face of the earth, guiding
humanity towards virtue and happiness.
Certain dubious narrations which allegedly
speak about deletions in the holy text, and, sometimes,
claim of a Qur'an other than this, have been exploited by
purposeful offenders and have obviously misled some
people. These simple-minded souls cite the following
narration from Imam Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq to
support their misconstrued views:
"...but by Allah (pointing to his chest)
we have the weapon of the Messenger of Allah
(s.a.w.), his sword and his armour. By Allah we have
Fatima's 'Mashaf' (book), wherein are not any of the
verses of Allah's Book. It is a dictation of the
Messenger of Allah, written by Ali with his
hand."(35)
They have misunderstood the Imam, and without
going into the lexical meaning of the word Mashaf
thought that he was indicating a Qur'an other than the
one in circulation. It was a grave mistake on the part of
these people.
However, a careful scrutiny of the narrative,
will help reveal the actual meaning of the word Mashaf:
"By Allah we have Fatima's 'Mashaf'
(book),"
By looking up the word Mashaf in Arabic
lexicons, we discover what Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) actually
meant.
Raghib Isfahani says:
"(Al-Sahifa means any flat thing such a s
the flatness of the check, a leaf a page, or a sheet
which is used for writing. Its plural is Saha'if or
Suhuf as the Almighty says;
"'Suhuf' of Abraham and Moses, and
also...receiving pure 'Suhuf' (pages) wherein are all the
correct books."
Holy Qur'an (87:19)
It is said that it means the Qur'an and that by
using the plural Suhuf in which are 'Books', it is
meant to say that they include more than what is in
Allah's Books. Hence, a Mashaf is a collection of
written Suhuf, and its plural form is Masahif.(36)
Therefore, the word Mashaf means any
book and is not a special term for "the Book of
Allah". It can mean any collection of Suhuf
(leaves of paper or skin), and only in this context can
the Qur'an also be called Mashaf because it is a
collection of Suhuf.
The exclusive names for the Book of Allah are: Al-Qur'an,
al-Dhikr, al-Furqan and al-Kitab(37), as mentioned in
the holy text, itself. Allah did not call it "Mashaf",
but, it were the later Muslims who named it so, after
having compiled it on leaves or sheets.
Thus, it is clear that the mistake arose from
the linguistic use of the word during the early days of
Islam, when people did not take 'Mashaf' to mean Qur'an,
as it may imply in present day usage.
A closer look at Imam al-Sadiq's narration,
itself, will help clarify the misconception. He says
that:
"In Fatima's Mashaf there are none of the
verses of Allah's Book"
It obviously means that it is neither the
Qur'an nor any part of it. Nor is it a divine revelation,
but it is a dictation of the Messenger of Allah written
in Imam Ali's handwriting.
According to some scholars 'the Mashaf
Fatima' was a collection of supplications and
instructions which Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) dictated for
the benefit of his beloved daughter Fatima (ass.).