Critiquing Islam 2.0

The Qur’an’s Convenient Amnesia

Ibn Mas‘ud, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, and the Forgotten Qur’ans

Introduction: Islam’s Preservation Myth Cracks Open

For 1,400 years, Muslims have been told a simple slogan: “The Qur’an has never been changed.” It’s repeated in sermons, da‘wah brochures, debates, and YouTube shorts like a hypnotic mantra. According to this narrative, from Muhammad’s lips to today’s printed mushafs, not a single word has shifted. The Qur’an is claimed to be the most perfectly preserved book in human history—untouched, unedited, flawless.

That is the marketing line.

But behind the carefully polished façade of “perfect preservation” lies a messy, very human story of rival Qur’ans—plural. Two names shatter the illusion more than any others: Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b. Both were companions of Muhammad, both memorized the Qur’an directly from him, and both were recognized by Muhammad himself as authoritative reciters. And yet, both preserved Qur’ans that do not match the standard version Muslims read today.

This is not an obscure footnote of Islamic history—it is a foundational crack in the very claim that sustains Islam’s authority. If the Qur’an was truly “sent down, guarded by God” (Q.15:9), then why do we have entire competing Qur’ans from the Prophet’s inner circle? Why were their readings erased, rewritten, and buried under political pressure? And most importantly: what does this do to Islam’s truth claim that the Qur’an is unaltered and eternal?

Let’s dig in.

1. Who Were Ibn Mas‘ud and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b?

Ibn Mas‘ud: Muhammad’s “First Qur’an Teacher”

Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud was one of the earliest converts to Islam. Tradition paints him as a frail shepherd who became one of Muhammad’s closest disciples. Unlike most companions, Ibn Mas‘ud was literate, and he was among the very first to recite the Qur’an publicly in Mecca.

Most significantly, multiple hadiths report that Muhammad himself endorsed Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’anic knowledge. In one narration (Sahih Bukhari 4999), Muhammad said:

“Learn the Qur’an from four: from Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, Salim the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifa, Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b.”

Notice: Muhammad himself puts Ibn Mas‘ud and Ubayy at the top of the Qur’an preservation chain. If anyone should have carried the “authentic Qur’an,” it would be them.

Ubayy ibn Ka‘b: The “Master of the Qur’an”

Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, another Ansari companion, was considered the best reciter of the Qur’an in Medina. He was Muhammad’s personal scribe and was nicknamed Sayyid al-Qurra (“the Master of the Reciters”). If the Qur’an were preserved with precision, Ubayy’s copy should have been the benchmark.

So, two men—one from Mecca, one from Medina—both personally endorsed by Muhammad. Both had their own Qur’ans. Both didn’t match the “official Qur’an” compiled later under Caliph Uthman. And that is the problem.

2. Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’an: Shorter, Sharper, and Defiant

The Missing Surahs

Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’an did not contain Surah al-Fatihah (1) or the two “prayers for refuge” (113 and 114). That’s three surahs missing from the modern Qur’an of 114 chapters.

Muslim apologists try to spin this away: “Oh, Ibn Mas‘ud didn’t deny they were Qur’an, he just didn’t include them in his mushaf because they were for prayer, not recitation.”

That excuse collapses under scrutiny:

If a surah is not included in a Qur’an, it means it was not part of the Qur’an for that reader. Ibn Mas‘ud didn’t merely forget them—he rejected them as Qur’anic revelation.
His omission was well known, and later scholars had to scramble to “harmonize” it.

In other words: the first “authorized Qur’an teacher” endorsed by Muhammad didn’t recognize today’s Qur’an in full.

The Defiance Against Uthman

When Caliph Uthman (644–656 CE) ordered a single standardized Qur’an to be distributed across the empire, Ibn Mas‘ud resisted. He openly refused to give up his mushaf and accused Uthman of tampering with God’s word.

A narration in al-Suyuti’s al-Itqan records Ibn Mas‘ud’s blunt protest:

“Conceal the Qur’ans, and destroy the mushafs, for he who conceals something will meet Allah with it on the Day of Judgment.”

Translation: Ibn Mas‘ud accused Uthman’s “standard Qur’an project” of being political sabotage. He saw his own mushaf as authentic, not the official one.

This is devastating. The Qur’an we have today exists because Uthman ordered rival Qur’ans destroyed. Ibn Mas‘ud—Muhammad’s personal student—saw that act as corruption.

3. Ubayy ibn Ka‘b’s Qur’an: Longer, with Extra Surahs

If Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’an was shorter, Ubayy’s Qur’an was longer. His codex contained two additional surahs not found in today’s Qur’an: Surat al-Khal‘ and Surat al-Hafd.

These weren’t random poetic insertions. They were widely known and recited in early Islam. Some reports say they were used in communal prayer in Medina, long after Muhammad’s death. Their content reads like liturgical supplications—similar in style to Qur’anic du‘as.

Yet today, Muslims are told there are only 114 surahs, fixed and eternal since time immemorial. If that’s true, why did Muhammad’s personal scribe preserve 116?

4. The Uthmanic Purge: Erasing Competing Qur’ans

The Problem of Multiple Qur’ans

By the time of Uthman’s caliphate, Islam had expanded into Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. Regional Muslims were reciting the Qur’an differently. Some followed Ibn Mas‘ud’s readings, others followed Ubayy’s, still others had fragments from different companions. The contradictions were spilling into public disputes.

Uthman’s solution was brutal and political: create one standardized Qur’an, enforce it by state authority, and burn everything else.

The Political Motive

Let’s be blunt: this was not about “preserving God’s word.” It was about preventing sectarian division in an expanding empire. Uthman couldn’t afford different Qur’ans floating around undermining central control.

So, he imposed Zayd ibn Thabit’s version as the official text—ironically, Zayd was never singled out by Muhammad as a top reciter, unlike Ibn Mas‘ud or Ubayy.

The result:

Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’an was suppressed.
Ubayy’s Qur’an was suppressed.
Other codices (like those of Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and others) were suppressed.
The empire enforced one Qur’an through state violence and manuscript burning.

The myth of “perfect preservation” is built not on divine protection, but on political censorship.

5. The Forgotten Qur’ans: What This Means

Multiple Versions Means No Single Qur’an

If Ibn Mas‘ud omits surahs and Ubayy adds surahs, then by definition, the Qur’an was not a single, fixed text in Muhammad’s generation. It was fluid, contested, and unstable.

The Claim of Divine Preservation Collapses

Muslims quote Qur’an 15:9:

“Indeed, We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will guard it.”

But history shows God did not guard it. Humans fought over it, altered it, and burned rival versions. Preservation was not divine—it was enforced by a caliph’s decree.

Modern Muslim Apologetics: Band-Aids on a Bullet Wound

To salvage the narrative, modern scholars and preachers play word games:

“Those surahs were just supplications, not Qur’an.”
“Ibn Mas‘ud still believed in al-Fatihah, he just didn’t write it.”
“Uthman didn’t change anything, he just standardized pronunciation.”

But none of these excuses erase the glaring fact: the earliest Qur’ans didn’t agree with today’s Qur’an.

6. Why This Still Matters Today

Islam’s Core Claim

Islam doesn’t just claim the Qur’an is preserved—it claims preservation is the very proof of its divine origin. Muslim apologists contrast the Qur’an with the Bible, saying Christians and Jews corrupted their scriptures while Muslims alone preserved theirs.

But once you lift the veil, the reality is the opposite: the Qur’an is built on suppression, erasure, and revision. The Qur’an’s own champions—Muhammad’s companions—preserved versions that contradict today’s mushaf.

The Cult of Uniformity

The standardization of the Qur’an was less about theology and more about empire-building. By destroying rival Qur’ans, Uthman guaranteed uniformity at the cost of authenticity. Islam could only project an image of “perfect preservation” by silencing its own history.

Today’s Muslim Dilemma

For the thinking Muslim, this is a nightmare scenario:

If Ibn Mas‘ud’s Qur’an was correct, today’s Qur’an is corrupted.
If Ubayy’s Qur’an was correct, today’s Qur’an is missing divine revelation.
If Zayd’s Qur’an (the Uthmanic version) is correct, then Muhammad’s personally endorsed reciters got it wrong.

No matter which way you turn, the Qur’an’s preservation myth collapses.

7. Conclusion: The Revelation That Never Was

The stories of Ibn Mas‘ud and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b demolish the carefully packaged myth of a pristine, untouched Qur’an. The reality is far more human, far more political, and far more devastating for Islam’s truth claims.

Muhammad’s own disciples could not agree on what was Qur’an and what was not. The text only became “fixed” when a caliph wielding imperial power forced one version and burned the rest. That is not divine preservation—it is historical censorship.

So next time a Muslim proudly declares, “The Qur’an has never changed,” remember the forgotten Qur’ans of Ibn Mas‘ud and Ubayy ibn Ka‘b. They testify, from the very heart of early Islam, that the Qur’an was never one, never eternal, and never preserved.

It was always contested. It was always political.
And ultimately—it was never what Islam claims it to be.