Introduction

The manner in which the Qur’an was collected is among the issues that have been used by those who maintain the belief in tahrif (alteration) to prove that there has been tahrif [in the sense of the corruption of the text] as well as taghyir (change) in the Qur’an, and that the very manner of the Qur’an’s collection would, in the normal course of events, involve this corruption and change in it. Hence, it is imperative that the discussion [in this chapter] should be undertaken in order to complete the treatment of the subject regarding the protection of the Qur’an from corruption and its freedom from omission or any alteration.

The source of this error [about tahrif] is the claim that the Qur’an was collected under Abu Bakr’s order, following the slaying of seventy reciters of the Qur’an at the battle of Bi’r Mauna, and of four hundred persons at the battle of Yamama. Fearing that the Qur’an would be lost and would disappear from the people, ‘Umar and Zayd b. Thabit undertook to collect it from fragments written on palm branches, flat stones, and pieces of wood, and from the breasts of the people [who had memorized it], provided that two witnesses would testify that what they [reported] was part of the Qur’ an. All this has been suggested in a number of accounts. Ordinarily, it is expected that some of it would be lost to those who assumed the responsibility for this task; except if they were infallible [and divinely protected from forgetting]. This can be witnessed among those who undertake to collect the poetry of one or more poets, when this poetry is scattered. This rule is inevitable and arises from habit. The least that we can expect is that alteration has occurred, for it is possible to fail in the effort to find two witnesses on some [revelation] that was heard from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny). Hence, there can be no certainty that omission did not occur.

The response [to this is as follows]. This erroneous view is based on [accepting] the soundness of the traditions that report the manner of collecting the Qur’an. So, the first task is to relate these traditions and follow them up with a critical evaluation.

(Chapter VIII from his Tafsir Al-Bayan)