Aslam

Praise be to Allah.This is a false and incorrectstatement made by those who try to find faults with

Islam so as to put people off this religion. It is sufficient to know that

Allaah has guaranteed to preserve the Qur’aan, as He says

(interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily,

We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’aan) and surely,

We will guard it (from corruption).” [al-Hijr 15:9]

Moreover, the fact that the transmission

of the Qur’aan by memory and in writing was mutawaatir – narrated by

groups to groups [to such anextent

that so many people could not conceivably have agreed upon a lie] – is

well known to anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with Islamic

knowledge, especially knowledge of recitations and reciters.

There are still many people nowadays who

have learned the Qur’aan orally, with isnaads directly going back to the

Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

One of the miracles of Allaah’s

protection of the Qur’aan is the fact that those who try to tamper with

it are always found out.

The point is, everything that was

revealed to the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)

was written down in front of him straight away, and some of the Sahaabah

had masaahif (written copies

of the Qur’aan). After the death of the Prophet

(peace and

blessings of Allaah be upon him), thefirst khaleefah, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allaah be pleased with

him) gathered the Qur’aan inwritten

and kept it. Then the third khaleefah, ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may

Allaah be pleased with him) compiled it in mus-hafs that were based on the

mus-haf compiled by Abu Bakr, in addition to what had been memorized.

When

we realize that the Qur’aan was written down and compiled by the

Sahaabah, and ‘Uthmaan sent copies of the Mus-haf during his reign to

all the main centres of Islam, so that it would be a reference for them,

and there were no disputes concerning them, then how can we say that there

is no written trace of the Qur’aan in the seventh century? Moreover,

there are several ancient manuscripts of the Qur’aan in libraries and

museums which bear visible testimony to the fact that nothing has been

changed in the Book of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the

meaning):

“And

verily, it is an honourable well‑fortified respected Book (because

it is Allaah’s Speech, and He has protected it from corruption).

Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it, (it is) sent down

by the All‑Wise, Worthy of all

praise (Allaah).” [Fussilat 41:41-42]

And Allaah knows best.