Preservation of the Glorious Qur’aan &
Sunnah!
Testimony of Glorious Qur’aan itself.
By:
Shahid Bin Waheed شاهد
بن وحيد
بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم
الحمدلله
رب العالمين والصلوة
والسلام على اشرف
الانبياء وسيدالمرسلين
نبينا محمد صل
ا لله عليه وعلى
آله واصحابه وازواجه
اجمعين - امابعد
All the praises and thanks be to Allaah, Sustainer of the Universe, and blessing and salutation to be the most distinguish of the Messengers and foremost among the Prophets, our Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allaah be on him and on his wives, children and Companions.
In this treatise I will
discuss the compilation and/or preservation of Glorious Qur’aan including the
issue of preservation of Sunnah by Allaah (SWT). I will inSha Allaah use the
testimony of the Glorious Qur’aan itself to prove the preservation of both i.e.
Glorious Qur’aan & Sunnah.
Putting into Writing:
The first and the most important point, which assisted in the preservation of the text of Glorious Qur’aan, is that its every verse was put into writing in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي), BEFORE HIS OWN EYES. The Glorious Qur’aan itself furnishes abundant evidence that it existed in a written form. Again and again the Divine Writ calls itself a Kitab (Book), which means a Book or writing, which is complete in itself. The application of the word Book to the Glorious Qur’aan was destined, from the very beginning, to be a complete Book. The Glorious Qur’aan is also designated as "Suhuf."
(It is) in Records held (greatly) in honour (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfűz),
* Also means written
pages. There are many other references in the Glorious Qur’aan showing that it
will exist in a written form. It is said:
And by a Book Inscribed
In parchment unrolled.
* There are also testimonies of the enemies of the Qur’aan that Qur’aan was reduced to writing such as:
وَقَالُوا
أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
اكْتَتَبَهَا
فَهِيَ تُمْلَى
عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةً
وَأَصِيلًا
And they say:
"Tales of the ancients, which he has written down: and they are dictated
to him morning and afternoon."
* There is a lot of historical
evidence concerning the documentation of the Glorious Qur’aan. There are
numerous anecdotes showing that when the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى
الله علي) received a revelation it was immediately put into writing. The
general practice is described by Osmaan (RA), he says: "It was customary
with the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) that when any verse of the Glorious
Qur’aan was revealed he called one of those persons who used to write Glorious
Qur’aan and said, "Write these verses in the chapter where such and such
verse occur".' [Abu Dawud 2:123]. Zaid bin Thabit (RA) who was a scribe of
the Prophet (وسلم صلى الله علي) and was especially appointed for writing
down the revelation said, 'Whenever a
revelation descended the Prophet (وسلم صلى الله علي) called me and I went to him holding my
pen and paper. He dictated to me first and then heard it from me and in case
something was left, or some mistake was found, it was set right there and then,
and afterwards it was published' {Mujam al-Zawaid}. This shows that the
Glorious Qur’aan was presented to the public after it was duly written down.
فِي صُحُفٍ
مُكَرَّمَةٍ (13) مَرْفُوعَةٍ
مُطَهَّرَةٍ (14) بِأَيْدِي
سَفَرَةٍ (15) كِرَامٍ
بَرَرَةٍ (16)
(It is) in Records held (greatly) in honour (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfűz), Exalted (in dignity), purified, in the hands of scribes. Honourable and obedient.
*
(2) Memorizing of the Glorious Qur’aan
The
memorizing of the Glorious Qur’aan has also assisted in the preservation of its
text. Whenever any portion of the
Glorious Qur’aan was revealed to the Prophet (SAW), he committed it to memory
and continuously recited it from one end to the other. Thus, he always carried
the whole of the revealed Qur’aan in his memory. The Prophet (وسلم صلى
الله علي) used to stress the merit of committing the Glorious Qur’aan to
memory so much that he said that if a person committed the Qur’aan to memory he
would be saved from the torment of Hell. When he made this announcement, a
large number of his Companions began to commit the Glorious Qur’aan to memory.
The Prophet (وسلم صلى الله علي) also took pains to supervise the
recitation of the Glorious Qur’aan and was anxious to see that no errors crept
into the process.
Since the time of Umar (RA) 2nd
Caliph, it has become customary to recite the whole text during
"TARAWIH" (late night) Prayer in the month of Ramadaan. Memorizing
the Glorious Qur’aan is still considered highly noble, and the memorizing of
Surahs and small texts is still the first stage of informal education among
Muslim families. No human-written book of this volume can ever be memorized
wholly by any human being, not even by its author. It is only the Glorious
Qur’aan that, today, stands as the singular Book
memorized and recited wholly by millions of men, women, and even children. It
is the fulfillment of God's promise that the Glorious Qur’aan is easily
memorized.
The enemies of Islaam, especially Christian Missionaries, have spread a lot of lies and false stories about the Glorious Qur’aan. Following are the UNDENIABLE facts from the Glorious Qur’aan itself refuting the lies.
إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا
جَمْعَهُ
وَقُرْآنَهُ
It is for Us
to collect it and to
give you (O Muhammad SAW) the ability to recite it (the Qur'an), [Glorious
Qur’aan 75:17]
The
word جَمْعَهُ in the above verse implies both
collection and arrangement, which is a process quite different from the revelation.
It is not true that the verses and chapters of Glorious Qur’aan were arranged
after the death of Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) by someone
else, or that they were arranged in the order of their lengths; the longest
coming first and shortest last. It is also wrong to say that within the
chapters the passages are joined together without any regard to either
chronology of revelation or similarity of subject, and that most heterogeneous
materials are put together without any regard to logical sequence.
The
whole Glorious Qur’aan, complete in every aspect, was available in the lifetime
of Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) [Katani 2:384].
The Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) say, ‘We used
to write down the Glorious Qur’aan in the time of the Rasool Allaah (وسلم صلى الله علي)' [Hakim:
Al-Mustarded, 2:611]. The arrangement of
chapters and verses in the copies of the Glorious Qur’aan at present in our
hands does not follow the chronological order of revelation and their arrangement
is TAUQIF i.e. affected by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) under the GUIDANCE of
Divine revelation (Qur’aan 75:17-18].
إِنَّ
عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُ وَقُرْآنَهُ
(17) فَإِذَا
قَرَأْنَاهُ فَاتَّبِعْ
قُرْآنَهُ (18)
It is for Us to collect it and to give you (O Muhammad SAW) the ability to recite it (the Qur'an)...And when We have recited it to you [O Muhammad SAW through Jibrael (Gabriel)], then follow you its (the Qur'an's) recital. [Glorious Quraan 75:17-18]
There
was an arrangement followed by the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى
الله علي) and we know that many Companions of
the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) committed the
Glorious Qur’aan to memory and could recite it in the recognized orders as
followed by the Prophet (وسلم صلى الله علي). This shows
that there was a connection of its verses and chapters, and there was a
recognized division of the Book and a fixed form and sequence. The chapters
were distinctly marked out and their number was determined. Without a known
order and sequence of verses, the Glorious Qur’aan could not have been
committed to the memory.
The
present arrangement of the Glorious Qur’aan does not differ from that followed
by the Prophet Muhammed (وسلم صلى الله علي). There are several sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) from which this can be inferred. The
Prophet of Allaah (وسلم صلى الله علي) said,
"Whoever reads the last verses of
the chapters entitles BAQARAAH on any night, they are sufficient for him"
[Bukhari 64:12].
This
shows that the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) followed an
arrangement, which he made known to his Companions. If such had not been the
case he could not have referred to two verses as the "last" two
verses of a certain chapter.
According
to another saying of the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) he told his
Companions to recite the first ten and last ten verses of the chapter entitled
*AL-KAHF* at a particular occasion. Had there been no sequence of verses, 'the
first ten and last ten verses' would have been a meaningless phrase. Not
only the verses of Glorious Qur’aan but even its chapters were arranged by the
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself under Divine Guidance. This is afforded by
the following saying of Anas (RA): 'At the time when Banu Thaqif accepted
Islaam I was in that delegation. The Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى
الله علي) said to us, "When you people
came to meet me, I was reciting my portion of the Glorious Qur’aan which I used
to recite daily, so I decided not to go out until I had finished it." Thereupon we questioned the Companions of the Prophet
Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) as to how they
divided the Glorious Qur’aan into portions for reading. They said, "We
observe the following, 3 chapters, 5 chapters, 7 chapters, 9 chapters, 11 chapters
and 13 chapters, and all the remaining chapters beginning with chapter entitled
"QAF"' [Fath Al-Bari 9:39]. This form of reading divided the Glorious
Qur’aan into seven portions or Ahzab, each portion to be recited in one day
and, thus, the recital of the whole Glorious Qur’aan (114 chapters) was
finished in seven days. This report of Anas (RA) shows an arrangement of
chapters, which is observed to this day by the whole Muslim Ummah. This and
many other reports by the Companions of the Prophet (وسلم صلى
الله علي) give conclusive testimony to the
fact that the form and arrangement of the chapters of the Glorious Qur’aan was
brought about by the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي) himself, and
that the present arrangement does not differ in the least from the original of
the time of the Prophet Muhammad (وسلم صلى الله علي).
Allaah’s Preservation of the Sunnah!
The Proof that Allaah (SWT) preserved the Sunnah are both i.e. textual and logical. The textual argument is based on the Ayah:
إِنَّا
نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا
الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا
لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down
the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’ân) and surely, We will
guard it (from corruption) {1} .
{1} (V.15: 9) This Verse
is a challenge to mankind and everyone is obliged to believe in the miracles of
this Qur’ân. It is a clear fact that more than 1400 years have elapsed and not
a single word of this Qur’ân has been changed, although the disbelievers tried
their utmost to change it in every way, but they failed miserably in their
efforts. As it is mentioned in this holy Verse: "We will guard it."
By Allâh! He has guarded it. On the contrary, all the other holy Books (the
Taurât (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel).) have been corrupted in the form of
additions or subtractions or alterations in the original text.
The word al-dhikr الذِّكْر and it derivatives have
numerous meanings in the Glorious Qur’aan. It is sometimes used for Qur’aan, as
in,
Surah Al-Anbiyaa 50
وَهَذَا
ذِكْرٌ مُبَارَكٌ
أَنْزَلْنَاهُ أَفَأَنْتُمْ
لَهُ مُنْكِرُونَ
And this is a blessed Reminder (the
Qur’ân), which We have sent down: will you then (dare to) deny it? {1}
{1} (V.21: 50). a) See (V.10: 37). b) See (V.3: 85).
And sometimes it is used for Sunnah, as in,
Surah An-Nahl 44
بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ
وَالزُّبُرِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا
إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ
لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ
مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ
وَلَعَلَّهُمْ
يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
With
clear signs and Books (We sent the Messengers). And We have also sent down unto
you (O Muhammad الله عليه
و سلم صلى) the Dhikr (reminder
and the advice (i.e. the Qur’ân)), that you may explain clearly to men what
is sent down to them, and that they may give thought.
Readers must know
that in addition, the word “Dhikr” may be used to be in reference to
Allaah’s Deen and law as a whole. This is its purport in the Ayah
(verse),
Surah An-Nahl 43
وَمَا
أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ
قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا
رِجَالًا نُوحِي
إِلَيْهِمْ فَاسْأَلُوا
أَهْلَ
الذِّكْرِ إِنْ
كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
And We sent not (as Our Messengers) before you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه
و سلم)
any but men, whom We sent revelation, (to preach and invite mankind to believe
in the Oneness of Allâh). So
ask (you, O pagans of Makkah) of those who know the Scripture (learned men of the Taurât (Torah) and the
Injeel (Gospel)), if you know not.
The word “Dhikr” in the above Ayah (verse) means Allaah’s religion, or everything that
Allaah has revealed as the guidance of mankind. Therefore, a priori, it
cannot be stated that that al-dhikr الذِّكْر in,₪
Surah Al-Hijr 9
إِنَّا
نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا
الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا
لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’ân) and surely, We will guard it
(from corruption) {1}
.
₪is referring only to Glorious Qur’aan. It is rather referring to Glorious Qur’aan and Sunnah both. On this point ibn Hazm noted,
“There is no difference of opinion from anyone
among the specialists in language or of the Shariah that all of what Allaah has
revealed is [referred to as] the sent down al-dhikr الذِّكْر. And all of the inspiration is
preserved with certainty by its preservation by Allaah. Anything that Allaah
preserves with His preservation will not have anything lost from it. Nor will
anything ever by distorted of it except that there would appear clear proof showing
the falsehood [of that distortion]” {Ali ibn Hazm, Al-Ihkaam fi Usool al-Ihkaam vol. 1, p. 109.}
Allaah (SWT) through humans used many means by which He preserved the Sunnah. Some of these aspects are unique to Muslim Ummaah. This is a great blessing and bounty from Allaah (SWT) for which every Muslim should be sincerely grateful to Allaah (SWT) and grateful to those individuals who sacrificed their time, wealth in order to preserve the teachings of the best of the creations and last and final Prophet Muhammad (الله عليه و سلم صلى). Obviously, the means of preservation had to be followed from the earliest times in order to truly preserve the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), few are briefly mentioned here.
□ First,
there was the understanding of the Companions about their responsibility for
conveying the hadith of Prophet Muhammad (الله
عليه و سلم صلى); they must have understood that they must
convey the words of the Prophet (SAW) with the utmost accuracy.
□ In the early
years, there began the work of Hadith criticism and criticism of the narrators.
This developed into a science known as al-jarh wa al-tadeel.
□ There
was also the recording or writing down of the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (الله عليه و
سلم صلى). Obviously, in general, one of the ways of preserving
something is to record it. There have been many claim and misconceptions
surrounding the recording of Hadith. But the proof has been cited above that
shows that the misconceptions are not true.
□ A
very important and unique aspect that worked to preserve the Sunnah was
of the use of Isnaad or chain of narrators, tracing one’s source all the
way back to the Prophet Muhammad (الله
عليه و سلم صلى).
□ Another unique phenomena that appeared and assisted in preservation of Sunnah was the traveling in search of Hadith, in order to check the sources and gather more Hadith together.
Surah An-Nisaa 113
وَلَوْلَا
فَضْلُ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْكَ وَرَحْمَتُهُ
لَهَمَّتْ طَائِفَةٌ
مِنْهُمْ أَنْ
يُضِلُّوكَ وَمَا
يُضِلُّونَ إِلَّا
أَنْفُسَهُمْ
وَمَا يَضُرُّونَكَ
مِنْ شَيْءٍ وَأَنْزَلَ
اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ
الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ
وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا
لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْلَمُ وَكَانَ
فَضْلُ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْكَ عَظِيمًا
Had not the Grace of Allâh and His Mercy been upon you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), a party of them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but (in fact) they mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the least. Allâh has sent down to you the Book (The Qur’ân), and Al-Hikmah (Islâmic laws, knowledge of legal and illegal things i.e. the Prophet’s Sunnah - legal ways), and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allâh unto you (O Muhammad وسلم .صلى الله عليه)
In the Above Ayaah by pairing al-Kitaab (the Book) and al-Hikmah
(the Wisdom) it has been pointed out that Hikmah which is the name of Sunnah
and/or teachings of Prophet Muhammad وسلم صلى
الله علي was also sent down by none but
Allaah (SWT). The difference is that its words are not from Allaah and that is
why they are not part of Glorious Qur’aan. But, its meanings and that of the
Qur’aan are certainly from Allaah, therefore, it is obligatory to act in
accordance with both.
This
again, explains about the Wahy being of two kinds: Matluww- That, which is recited, and Ghayr-Matluww- that which is not recited. Wahy Matluww or the
revelation that is recited is the name of the Glorious Qur’aan and/or is the
Glorious Qur’aan. Its words and meanings are both from Allaah. And Wahy Ghayr-Matluww or that is not recited is the name of Hadeeth of the Rasul
Allaah (the word of which are from Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the meanings of
which is from Allaah.
Another point that we see gets resolved is found in the words: وَعَلَّمَكَ
مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ
تَعْلَمُ (and taught you that which you knew not.) pointing to the fact that Prophet Muhammad (الله عليه
و سلم صلى)
did not have all the comprehending knowledge of the entire universe equal to Allaah,
as some ignorant people do insist. The truth is that the measure of his
knowledge was corresponding to what Allaah bestowed upon him. However, there is
no doubt that the knowledge bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad (الله عليه
و سلم صلى)
exceeds the combined knowledge of all created beings.
Evidence of this {Wahy
Ghayr Matluww} is found at many places in Glorious Qur’aan, that there were
many other things that were taught to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by Allaah (SWT)
through Wahy (Ghayr Matluww).
I will only cite here one Ayaah i.e. 2:143 as proof (Also
see 66:3 beside many others).
وَكَذَلِكَ
جَعَلْنَاكُمْ
أُمَّةً وَسَطًا
لِتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاءَ
عَلَى النَّاسِ
وَيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ
عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا
وَمَا جَعَلْنَا
الْقِبْلَةَ الَّتِي
كُنْتَ عَلَيْهَا
إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ
مَنْ يَتَّبِعُ
الرَّسُولَ مِمَّنْ
يَنْقَلِبُ عَلَى
عَقِبَيْهِ وَإِنْ
كَانَتْ لَكَبِيرَةً
إِلَّا عَلَى الَّذِينَ
هَدَى اللَّهُ
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ
لِيُضِيعَ إِيمَانَكُمْ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ
بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ
رَحِيمٌ
Thus We have made you (true Muslims - real believers of Islâmic Monotheism, true followers of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Sunnah (legal ways)), a just (and the best) nation, that you be witnesses over mankind {1} and the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) be a witness over you. And We made the Qiblah (prayer direction towards Jerusalem), which you used to face, only to test those who followed the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) from those who would turn on their heels (i.e. disobey the Messenger). Indeed it was great (heavy) except for those whom Allâh guided. And Allâh would never make your faith (prayers) to be lost (i.e. your prayers offered towards Jerusalem). Truly, Allâh is full of Kindness, the Most Merciful towards mankind.
{1} (V.2: 143) Narrated Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudrî رضي الله عنه: Allâh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه
وسلم
said "Nűh will be called on the Day of Resurrection and he will say, ‘ Labbaik and Sa’daik, (I respond to Your Call and I am obedient to Your Orders) O
my Lord! Allâh will say, ‘Did you convey Our Message of Islâmic Monotheism?’
Nűh will say, ‘Yes’. His nation will then be asked, ‘Did he convey Our Message
of Islâmic Monotheism to you?’ They will say, ‘No warner came to us.’ Then
Allâh will say (to Nűh), ‘Who will bear witness in your favor?’ He will say,
‘Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم and his followers.’ So they (i.e., Muslims) will testify that
he conveyed the Message - and the Messenger (Muhammad صلى
الله عليه وسلم) will be a witness over you, and that is
what is meant by the Statement of Allâh عز
وجل: We made
you (true Muslims - real believers of Islâmic Monotheism, true followers of
Prophet Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم and his Sunnah (legal ways)) a just (and the best) nation that you be
witnesses over mankind and the Messenger (Muhammad صلى
الله عليه وسلم) will be a witness over you." (Sahih Al-Bukhâri, Vol.6, Hadîth No.14).
Muslims
were facing the Baytal-Maqqadis (Jerusalem) while performing Salaat in the
early day of Islaam. The above Ayaah was revealed when it was ordained to face
Ka’abah again. This Ayaah states that previous order
of Allaah to face “Baytal-Maqqadis” was test to know who obey the order
and who reject it. Readers must note that the order to face
Baytal-Maqqadis during worship has been attributed by Allaah to Himself.
That means that He was the One Who had commanded His Messenger Muhammad (SAW)
to the direction of Baytal-Maqqadis. But
the command itself is not found anywhere in the Glorious Qur’aan. It
is obviously clear that this order was given by Allaah through a Wahy (Ghayr
Matluww){revelation beside Glorious Qur’aan}, which is not a part of the
Glorious Qur’aan. At this point we must point out
that people of the Book were foretold about
the new Qibla i.e. Ka’bah and its superiority over Jerusalem in their
Scripture.
Suggested readings by the
same author:
[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]
Bible Foretold
Muhammad’s Miracle!
Bible Foretold The
Revelation of Qur’aan!
Ka’abah and its
superiority was foretold in the Bible!
Who is quoted &
who is quoting?
When were the
Ahadeeth recorded?
Khayr Al-Usool Fi Hadith Al-Rasool
What you should know about Tabarî?
The Myth of Hundreds of thousands of Ahadeeth!
Rejection of Ahadeeth is really rejection of Qur’aan
Protection of
Qur’aan
includes protection of Ahadeeth
Prophesies of Muhammad صلى الله عليه
وسلم
That Came to PASS!
The Promise to Protect the Glorious Qur’aan Includes the
Protection of Hadeeth!