The 20 Versions of the Qur'an today. (7 are recorded in the Hadith.)
Qur'an of today is different than what Muhammad revealed!
Islam: Truth or Myth? start page |
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The Muslim Claim that the Qur'an is unchanged:
No other book in the world can match the Qur'an
... The astonishing fact about this book of ALLAH is that it has remained unchanged, even to a dot, over the last fourteen hundred years. ... No variation of text can be found in it. You can check this for yourself by listening to the recitation of Muslims from different parts of the world. (Basic Principles of Islam, Abu Dhabi, UAE: The Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable & Humanitarian Foundation, 1996, p 4)The proof the Muslim claim is false, is in this book:
Translation of front cover: Making Easy the Readings of What Has Been Sent Down Author Revised by Daar Beirut Click photos for enlargement |
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As you can see, the boxed text is the text of the Qur'an and the margins at the left and the bottom are variant readings. There are more known variants than this book includes. Even worse, there are more than readers in existence, but this book limits the variants to only these 10 readers. Click photos for enlargement |
What Muslim and non-Muslim scholars say about the known variations/versions within the Qur'an being used in the world today:
(C)ertain variant readings existed and, indeed, persisted and increased as the Companions who had memorised the text died, and because the inchoate (basic) Arabic script, lacking vowel signs and even necessary diacriticals to distinguish between certain consonants, was inadequate. ... In the 4th Islamic century, it was decided to have recourse (to return) to "readings" (qira'at) handed down from seven authoritative "readers" (qurra'); in order, moreover, to ensure accuracy of transmission, two "transmitters" (rawi, pl. ruwah) were accorded to each. There resulted from this seven basic texts (al-qira'at as-sab', "the seven readings"), each having two transmitted versions (riwayatan) with only minor variations in phrasing, but all containing meticulous vowel-points and other necessary diacritical marks. ... The authoritative "readers" are: Nafi (from Medina; d.169/785) The predominant reading today, spread by Egyptian Koran readers, is that of `Asim in the transmission (riwayah) of Hafs (d. 190/805). In Morocco, however, the reading is that of Nafi` in the riwayah of Warsh (d. 197/812) and Maghrebin Korans are written accordingly. (Cyril Glassé, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989, p 324) |
20 versions of the Qur'an!
Here is a list of the ten readers, each of which have two versions
The Readers and their Transmitted Versions |
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The Reader |
The Transmitter |
"The Seven" readers |
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Nafi` |
Warsh |
Qalun |
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Ibn Kathir |
al-Bazzi |
Qunbul |
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Abu `Amr al-'Ala' |
Al-Duri |
al-Suri |
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Ibn `Amir |
Hisham |
Ibn Dhakwan |
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Hamzah |
Khalaf |
Khallad |
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al-Qisa'i |
al-Duri |
Abu'l-Harith |
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Abu Bakr `Asim |
Hafs |
Ibn `Ayyash |
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"The Three" readers |
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Abu Ja`far |
Ibn Wardan |
Ibn Jamaz |
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Ya`qub al-Hashimi |
Ruways |
Rawh |
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Khalaf al-Bazzar |
Ishaq |
Idris al-Haddad |
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There are even more Readers than these but these are considered the most authoritative. |
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Seven different version of the Koran: