Muslims are convinced that the Quran we have today is the same – letter for letter, word for word, verse for verse, chapter for chapter – with the Quran that Muhammad recited.
This article will seek to prove that this is a myth. We will show that Muslims have lied to Muslims about their book being allegedly perfectly preserved for 1400 years. We will use the authentic Islamic sources themselves to expose the massive fraud that has been perpetrated.
Let’s start with this. Is the following verse in your Quran?
“If there were for the son of Adam a valley full of riches, he would long to possess another one like it. and Ibn Adam does not feel satiated but with dust. And Allah returns to him who returns (to Him).”
If your answer is, “I don’t know”, don’t feel too bad because Ibn Abbas didn’t know either. Remember that Ibn Abbas was the cousin of Muhammad and was considered as one of the greatest mufassir of the Quran. And he didn’t know if this is Quran or not! If you had said, “No, it is not in the Quran,” congratulations, you know better than Ibn Abbas!
Ibn Abbas reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
If there were for the son of Adam a valley full of riches, he would long to possess another one like it. and Ibn Adam does not feel satiated but with dust. And Allah returns to him who returns (to Him). Ibn Abbas said: I do not know whether it is from the Qur’an or not; and in the narration transmitted by Zuhair it was said: I do not know whether it is from the Qur’an, and he made no mention of Ibn Abbas.
(Sahih Muslim 1049)
The fact is this verse is NOT found anywhere in the Quran today. What happened to it?
Muslims today claim that the entire Quran was perfectly memorised from the time of the Muhammad and his companions. Apparently not. The best of the mufassir was unsure if this verse was in the Quran. How can it be if there was one standard, unchanged Quran that had been perfectly memorized? Did the greatest Mufassir fail to memorize it correctly?
Let’s look further into this shocking and embarassing story to see if we can learn more.
According to Sahih Muslim 1050…
Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash’ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur’an and he said:
You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara’at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it:” If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust.” And we used so recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it, but remember (this much) out of it: “Oh people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise” (lxi. 2.) and” that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection” (xvii. 13).
According to this hadith, the Muslims, including the best reciters, used to recite a chapter that was about the length of Sura Bara’at (at-Taubah), i.e. sura 9. This chapter is 129 verses long. In other words they used to recite a chapter that was around 129 verses long but they had FORGOTTEN ALL OF IT except for one verse in it, which was – “If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust.”
This verse is not in the Quran today. They used to recite it. It was part of a sura that was 129 verses in length but had been completely forgotten. This sura is no longer in the Quran today. So it isn’t just a verse that was missing, the entire chapter of 129 verses was lost! No wonder, even Ibn Abbas was clueless.
The hadith above also opens up a second can of worms.
Note that it adds, “we used so recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it…”
The al-Musabbihat is a collection of 5 surahs, namely 57, 59, 61, 62 and 64. These chapters contain around 10 to 29 verses each. They used to recite a surah like this but it had been forgotten. So, this means another sura, containing approximately 10 to 30 verses, is missing from the Quran today.
The hadith goes on to reveal, “…but remember (this much) out of it:” Oh people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise” (61:2.) and” that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection” (17:13).
The entire chapter is lost except for these 2 verses which are found slotted in other chapters. The rest of the verses in tha chapter are lost.
As-Suyuti, one of the most famous and revered commentators of the Quran, quotes ‘Umar al Khattab, the second Caliph , as saying:
“Let no one of you say that he has acquired the entire Quran, for how does he know that it is all? Much of the Quran has been lost, thus let him say, ‘I have acquired of it what is available’”
(As-Suyuti, Itqan, part 3, page 72)
Can you find any verse in the Quran that mentions sucklings i.e. adult breastfeeding?
‘Amra reported that she heard ‘A’isha (Allah he pleased with her) discussing fosterage which (makes marriage) unlawful; and she (‘A’isha) said:
There was revealed in the Holy Qur’an ten clear sucklings, and then five clear (sucklings).
(Sahih Muslim 1452b)
The hadith affirms that the verses on breastfeeding were in the Quran? Where is it?
‘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 (ﷺ) died and it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur’an (and recited by the Muslims).
(Sahih Muslim 1452a)
The hadith claims that the verses regarding breasfeeding had been revealed in the Quran! First, it was 10 times breastfeeding. Then, apparently, Allah changed his mind and decided on 5 breastfeedings. Where is the 10x breastfeeding verse? It’s not in the Quran. Even if it had been replaced by the 5x breastfeeding verse, where is this verse? That’s not found in the Quran either! In fact, there is absolutely nothing with regard to adult breastfeeding! What happened? How many times has the Quran changed? From 10 breastfeedings to 5 breastfeedings to none! Where are these verses?
Notice the hadith clearly says, “it was before that time (found) in the Holy Qur’an (and recited by the Muslims).” Do you Muslims recite verses about breastfeeding today? No, you don’t. Well, the early Muslims did apparently during the time of Muhammad. Then Muhammad died, and for some reason the breastfeeding verses disappeared! What happened to it?
The answer is found here…
It was narrated that ‘Aishah said:
“The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah 1944)
What happened to the verses about adult breastfeeding? Why isn’t it found in the Quran today? Why isn’t it recited today? A tame sheep ate the paper that the verses were written on! The mystery is solved!
The early Muslims used to recite these verses but no Muslim recite them anymore. When Muhammad died, a sheep ate the verse and it was forever lost in the digestive system of that sheep and the sheep must have a left a little “nugget” of it somewhere behind Muhammad’s house.
Said Abu ‘Ubaid:
Isma’il b. Ibrahim related to us from Ayyub from Nafi‘ from Ibn ‘Umar who said – Let none of you say, “I have learned the whole of the Koran,” for how does he know what the whole of it is, WHEN MUCH OF IT HAS DISAPPEARED? Let him rather say, “I have learned what is extant thereof.”
Ibn Warraq, Origins of the Koran – Classic Essays on Islam’s Holy Book [Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY 1998], Part Two: The Collections and the Variants of the Koran, 9. Abu ‘Ubaid on the Verses Missing from the Koran, by Arthur Jeffery, p. 151
Sunan Ibn Majah 1944 which I quoted earier reveals that, besides the lost verse about breastfeeding, there was yet another verse of the Quran that was lost – the Verse of stoning.
It was narrated that ‘Aishah said:
“The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah 1944)
What Verse of Stoning? Exactly! There is no such verse in the Quran today! Aisha’s tame sheep made a meal of the verse. The Verse of stoning, together with the Verse on adult breastfeeding, were digested by a sheep. Imagine that. Muslims claim that Allah has protected and preserved the Quran but in reality, he couldn’t protect it from a sheep.
‘Umar bin al-Khattab (RAA) narrated that he addressed the people and said, ‘Verily Allah has sent Muhammad with the Truth and sent down the Book to him, and the verse of stoning was included in what Allah sent down. We recited, memorized and comprehended it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) accordingly (to what was in the verse) stoned to death (whoever committed adultery while being married), and we stoned after his death. But I am afraid that after a long time passes, someone may say, ‘We do not find the Verses of stoning in Allah’s Book, and thus they may go astray by abandoning an obligation that Allah has sent down. Verily, stoning is an obligation in the Book of Allah to be inflicted on married men and women who commit adultery, when their crime is proven, evident by pregnancy, or through the confession (of the adulterer).’ Agreed upon.
(Sunnah.com reference : Book 10, Hadith 5)
In the hadith above, Umar, the second caliph, expressed concern that in future, Muslims will stop punishing adulterers by stoning because the Verse on stoning is no longer found in the Quran. Umar affirmed that the verse WAS indeed revealed in the Quran and they had “recited, memorized and comprehended it“ and stoning must be carried out. Umar claims that “stoning is an obligation in the Book of Allah.”
Yet the verse is not in the Quran! Now we know why. A sheep ate it up! And therefore, this verse is no longer recited nor memorized nor read as part of the Quran anymore.
This destroys the often heard claim that the Quran has been perfectly preserved from the time of Muhammad. This decimates the argument that Muslims like to use – that even if all the Quran in the world were destroyed, Muslims can still instantly piece together the entire Quran perfectly because it has always been perfectly memorized by believers. What a farce! Even during the time of Umar, Muslims couldn’t piece together again the verses that a sheep had eaten even though they had recited, memorised and comprehended it!
`Abdullah b. `Umar reportedly said, ‘Let none of you say, “I have got the whole of the Qur’an.” How does he know what all of it is? MUCH OF THE QUR’AN HAS GONE. Let him say instead, “I have got what has survived.”‘
(Jalal al Din `Abdul Rahman b. Abi Bakr al Suyuti, al-Itqan fi `ulum al-Qur’an, Halabi, Cairo, 1935/1354, Volume 2, p. 25)
All this is undeniable evidence that the Quran you have today is different from the Quran from the time of Muhammad and different from the time of Umar. They recited, memorized and comprehended something different from what Muslims today recite, and memorize and comprehend. Remember also that by the time Uthman became the caliph, there were so many Qurans around that he ordered that all the Quranic manuscripts be burned except for his personal copy. If every Muslim had memorized the Quran perfectly as Muslims have been brainwashed into believing, how could there be numerous variant Quranic manuscripts just a few years after Muhamamd had died, that it called for Uthman’s drastic fiery intervention?
This also raises the question of the alleged eternal preserved tablet that is supposedly with Allah in heaven (see 85:22). This tablet is said to contain the Quran. Which Quran does it contain? The Quran Muslims have today? Or the Quran that Umar had? Or the Quran that Muhammad had? Does the eternal tablet with Allah mention the 10 breasfteedings? Or the revised 5 breastfeedings? Or no breastfeedings at all like today’s Quran?
Does Allah’s eternal tablet contain the Verse on stoning or not? If it does not contain the Verse on stoning, why did the early Muslims like Umar and Aishah explicitly state that it was revealed in the Quran? And why did they recite and memorize it and practise it?
If the eternal tablet does indeed contain the Verse on stoning, why is the verse not found in the Quran today?
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If the Qur’an is indeed changed, then how do you explain the copy in the University of Birmingham? That was performed tests on it by non-Muslim scientists and researchers, who have no reason to defend Islam. You will find it is 1400 years old. Compared to today’s Qur’an, they are exactly the same, except for the written script which has adapted over time to make it easier to read.
Abdul-Haqq,
The Birmingham quran manuscript is just one single sheet that contains parts of sura 18, 19 and 20. That’s all. It’s not even the whole surahs. Just parts. It’s not the whole quran.