The Book That Wasn't Written Down
Muslims claim the Quran has been perfectly preserved since it was revealed to Muhammad, unchanged and uncorrupted. However, Islamic sources themselves reveal a very different story. The Quran was not compiled into a complete book during Muhammad's lifetime, and the process of collecting it was chaotic, contentious, and resulted in the destruction of variant readings.
Understanding how the Quran was actually compiled raises serious questions about whether Muslims today are reading the same text that Muhammad recited in the 7th century.
No Written Quran During Muhammad's Life
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad did not compile the Quran into a single book. Verses were written on various materials including palm leaves, stones, animal bones, and leather scraps. Many verses were only memorized by individual companions and never written down at all.
"The Prophet did not leave anything behind except what is between these two bindings (the Quran)." — Sahih al-Bukhari 4986
This admission is significant because it means there was no authoritative written text during Muhammad's lifetime that could serve as a reference point. Everything depended on the memories of his companions.
The First Compilation Under Abu Bakr
After Muhammad's death in 632 CE, many Quran reciters (huffaz) were killed in the Battle of Yamama. Umar ibn al-Khattab became concerned that the Quran would be lost if more reciters died, so he convinced Abu Bakr (the first caliph) to compile a written version.
Zayd ibn Thabit was assigned to collect the Quran. According to Sahih al-Bukhari 4986, Zayd said:
"So I started compiling the Quran by collecting it from parchments, scapula, leaf-stalks of date palms and from the memories of men."
This reveals several problems:
- No single authoritative source: Zayd had to collect from multiple sources, suggesting there was no complete written text.
- Reliance on memory: Some verses existed only in people's memories, which are fallible.
- Selective process: Zayd decided what to include based on finding witnesses, meaning verses known by fewer people may have been excluded.
The Second Compilation Under Uthman
The situation worsened when different regions of the Islamic empire began using different versions of the Quran. According to Sahih al-Bukhari 4987, Hudhaifa ibn al-Yaman reported to Uthman (the third caliph):
"O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book as Jews and Christians did before."
Uthman ordered that a standardized version be created. He commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit and others to prepare an official text. Then came the most controversial part:
"Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Quranic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt." — Sahih al-Bukhari 4987
This mass burning of Quranic manuscripts is devastating to claims of perfect preservation. Why would Uthman need to burn all variant readings if the Quran had been perfectly preserved? What differences existed in those burned texts?
What Was Burned?
Islamic sources acknowledge that the burned manuscripts contained real differences:
- Different word choices: Alternative Arabic words with different meanings
- Different verse orders: Some companions organized surahs differently
- Additional verses: Some companions had verses others didn't have
- Missing verses: Some companions' collections lacked verses others had
The personal codices of companions like Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari all differed from each other and from Uthman's final version. Ibn Mas'ud, one of Muhammad's closest companions, reportedly refused to accept Uthman's standardization and would not destroy his own codex.
The Ahruf Controversy
Muhammad himself reportedly said the Quran was revealed in "seven ahruf" (seven modes or dialects). Sahih al-Bukhari contains multiple hadith about this:
"This Quran has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever is easier for you." — Sahih al-Bukhari 2287
But Uthman's standardization eliminated these variant readings, keeping only one. If Allah revealed the Quran in seven modes, by what authority did Uthman remove six of them? Did he destroy part of Allah's revelation?
Lost and Forgotten Verses
Multiple hadith document that some Quranic verses were lost, forgotten, or eaten by animals. Aisha, Muhammad's wife, reported:
"The verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it." — Ibn Majah 1944
If verses could be lost because a sheep ate the paper, how can Muslims claim perfect preservation?
Biblical Contrast: Manuscript Evidence
In contrast, the New Testament has overwhelming manuscript evidence. There are over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and thousands more in other languages, dating from the 2nd century onward. While there are minor variations (mostly spelling), the text has been preserved through multiple independent manuscript traditions.
No biblical authority ever burned variant manuscripts to enforce standardization. Instead, Christians preserved all manuscripts, allowing scholars to compare and verify the original text. The transparency of biblical manuscript transmission contrasts sharply with Islam's destruction of evidence.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." — Isaiah 40:8
Questions to Consider
- If the Quran was perfectly preserved, why did Uthman need to burn all variant manuscripts?
- What did those burned manuscripts contain that made them different from Uthman's version?
- Why should we trust Zayd ibn Thabit's compilation over the personal codices of companions who knew Muhammad better?
- If Allah revealed the Quran in seven modes, did Uthman destroy six-sevenths of divine revelation?
- How can verses eaten by a sheep be called "perfectly preserved"?
- Why is there no pre-Uthmanic Quran manuscript to verify what the original actually said?
Conclusion
The compilation history of the Quran reveals a text that was collected from scattered sources, standardized by human decision-making, and imposed through the destruction of variant readings. This is not the story of perfect divine preservation that Muslims claim.
The fact that Uthman felt compelled to burn all competing manuscripts demonstrates that significant variations existed in the early Quranic text. What exactly was different in those burned copies? Muslims today will never know, because the evidence was systematically destroyed.
The claim that the Quran has been perfectly preserved "letter for letter" from Muhammad's time is contradicted by Islam's own sources. The text Muslims read today is the result of a human compilation process that involved selection, standardization, and the deliberate destruction of alternative versions.
Related articles: Variant Quran Manuscripts, The Missing Verses