Myth 3: “The Qur’an Has Been Perfectly Preserved”
📉 The Reality: Textual Corruption, Human Editing, and Missing Verses
Muslims are taught that the Qur’an is:
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Identical to what was revealed to Muhammad
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Preserved word-for-word, letter-for-letter
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Untouched by human error, omission, or change
This is not just a theological belief—it is a foundational claim. And yet, historical records—including Islamic ones—show that the Qur’an we have today was compiled, edited, standardized, and censored.
📜 I. Internal Contradiction: Uthman’s Standardization
A. The Official Islamic Narrative:
According to Sahih al-Bukhari (6:61:510–511), during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, significant disagreement arose among Muslims over how the Qur’an was being recited and written.
So what did Uthman do?
He collected the Qur’an into one version, then burned all the others.
Let that sink in.
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If the Qur’an was already perfectly preserved, why were there multiple competing versions?
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Why would it be necessary to burn other manuscripts?
This isn’t preservation. It’s textual standardization through censorship.
📂 II. Historical Manuscripts: Variation, Corrections, and Edits
A. Sanaa Manuscript (discovered in Yemen, 1972)
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Radiocarbon-dated to the 7th–8th centuries.
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Features palimpsest layers: older erased text underneath a newer version.
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The two layers don’t always match—indicating revision.
B. Topkapi and Samarkand Manuscripts
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Often claimed by Muslims to be “Uthmanic originals.”
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But textual critics note minor variations, spelling differences, and missing or extra words.
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None of them perfectly match the modern 1924 Cairo edition (used today).
In short: There was no single, unaltered Qur’an in early Islamic history.
📖 III. Hadith: Loss and Omission Acknowledged by Islamic Sources
Islamic hadith literature openly admits that verses were:
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Forgotten
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Lost
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Eaten by animals
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Abrogated without replacement
A. Verses Forgotten or Lost
Sahih Muslim 2286 —
“We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to Surah Bara’ah (chapter 9), but I have forgotten it.”
Sahih Bukhari 503 —
Refers to companions forgetting verses after the Prophet’s death.
B. Verses Abrogated or Missing
Sunan Ibn Majah 1944 —
“The Verse of Stoning and of Breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and was in the paper under my bed. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied… and a tame animal came in and ate it.” — narrated by Aisha
So:
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Verses existed that were never included in the final Qur’an.
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Revelation was vulnerable to loss and damage.
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Human memory and animal accidents affected “Allah’s perfect book.”
C. Verse of Stoning
Umar ibn al-Khattab (Sahih Bukhari 6830):
“If I were not afraid that people would say ‘Umar has added to the Qur’an,’ I would write the verse of stoning into it.”
He admitted a revealed verse was excluded for political reasons.
🗃️ IV. Canonical Variants: The Qira’at Problem
Muslims today often point to the 10 (or 7 or 14) canonical Qira’at (recitations), claiming they are “divinely revealed variants.”
But reality says otherwise:
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They include different wordings, grammatical structures, and even meanings.
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Some affect legal rulings (e.g., inheritance laws).
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They are the result of dialectal differences and human transmission, not a single, preserved text.
Example:
Qur’an 2:125
In Hafs: “Take the station of Abraham as a place of prayer.”
In Warsh: “Take the station of Abraham as places of prayer.”
One is singular, one is plural. That’s not just pronunciation. That’s a different meaning.
⚖️ V. Logical Breakdown: “Perfect Preservation” Is Impossible
You cannot claim “perfect preservation” when:
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Multiple early manuscripts don’t match
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Your own caliph burned competing versions
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Verses were eaten, forgotten, or never recorded
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You have conflicting recitations in accepted use
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Even Umar, a rightly-guided caliph, wanted to reinsert verses that were left out
🚨 Final Verdict:
The Qur’an has not been “perfectly preserved.”
It has been collected, compiled, edited, standardized, and selectively transmitted.
Even Islamic texts admit verses were lost, forgotten, or omitted.
So when Muslims say the Qur’an today is “exactly the same as what was revealed to Muhammad,” they’re not repeating historical fact—they’re parroting a modern myth.
