Modern Qur'anic scholars disagree with older scholars!

This first episode look at what Muslims believe concerning their Qur’an, and there are four primary beliefs, which all Muslims would hold to (outside of the liberals), and they are that: 1) The Qur’an is un-created and exists eternally on clay tablets in heaven (S.85:22) 2) The Qur’an was sent down to Muhammad between 610 – 632 AD 3) The Qur’an was completed by Uthman in 652 AD 4) The Qur’an is unchanged in the last 1400 years What Christians claim about the Bible: 1) The Bible was created, as it was written by man 2) The Bible was not sent down to anyone, but inspired by God 3) The Bible was complete in its original form, but we don't have them today 4) The Bible has been changed in the last 2000 years, and we know where, and say so Our remit: • We can’t critique ‘uncreated’ or ‘sent down’ • But we can critique ‘complete’ and ‘unchanged’ Thus, we would want to find: • 1 Qur’anic manuscript • Dated from the mid 7th century (652 AD) • Complete (i.e. all 114 Surahs) • Unchanged (exactly like the 1924 ‘Hafs’ Qur’an used today) [1] What Do Modern Muslim Leaders Claim? Fethullah Gulen (Influential Turkish ‘cult’ leader): “One Qur’an, unaltered, unedited & untampered” Suzanne Haneef (An prominent convert to Islam): “Preserved today…in its exact original form” Abdullah Yusuf Ali (A popular translator of the Qur’an): “Not a single letter has changed…” Maulvi Muhammad Ali (An influential Pakistani theologian): “Not even a diacritical point has changed” Dr. Shabir Ally (Muslim academic, debater, and influential Canadian Scholar): “The Qur'an has been exactly identical for over 1300 years…and we find no difference from the first copy to what we’re reading today” Conclusion - What do they all agree upon? • That the Qur’an we have today has not changed ‘one iota’ since its inception 1,400 years ago! • That the Qur’an we have today is exactly the same as that which is on the ‘preserved tablets’ in heaven • That our Qur’an parallels in every detail that which was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, and was written down completely by Uthman in 652 AD But is that what the earliest Muslim scholars believed? Let’s look at what they said concerning the Qur’an [2] What did Early Muslim Scholars Say? Some Verses were LOST (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.23) Some Verses DISAPPEARED (as-Suyuti, [d. 1500sAD] Al-Itqan fii Ulum al-Qur’an, p.524). Some Verses were FORGOTTEN (Sahih Muslim, [d. 875 AD] Vol. 2:2286, p.501) Some Verses were CANCELLED (Sahih al-Bukhari, [d. 870AD] Vol. 5:416, pg.288) Some Verses went MISSING (Sahih al-Bukhari, [d. 870AD] Vol. 8:817, pg.539) Some Verses were OVERLOOKED (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.11) Some Verses were CHANGED (Muwatta Imam Malik, [d.795 AD] p.64) Some Verses were MODIFIED (Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif p.117) Some Verses were SUBSTITUTED (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 61, Number 527) Some Verses were EATEN BY SHEEP (Sunan ibn Majah, d. 1277) SUMMARY: Lost, Disappeared, Forgotten, Cancelled, Missing, Overlooked, Changed, Modified, Substituted, Eaten by Sheep… Does this sound like a book which was COMPILED Perfectly and Completely? Does this not imply intentional human intervention right through its initial compilation? © Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, 2020 (32,190) (Music: "small adventure", by Rafael Krux (from filmmusic-io - License CC BY)