Also, please see Appendix 24
of the
Authorized
English translation of the Quran by
Dr.
Rashad Khalifa
The last two verses of Sura 9 which are labeled in the traditional Quran
printings as "Meccan" were always suspect.
Any one may ask how could a Medinan Sura contain Meccan verses, when the
universal convention has been to label as Medinan all revelations after the
Prophet’s hegira from Mecca?
The hadith says that those two verses were found only with Khuzeimah Ibn
Thaabet Al-Ansaary.
How could Meccan verses be found with a Medinan Muslim?
It is known that every single verse in the Quran was verified by a multiplicity
of witnesses except for those two verses.
Why the scribes who were in charge to make copies of the Quran accepted this
exception?
Let us examin the story related by al-Bukhari about the collection of the
Quran during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr.
Zaid ibn Thabit says: "So I pursued collecting the
Quran from bare palm branches, thin, flat, white stones, and the hearts of
men until I found the end of Surat al-Tawba with Abu Khuzaima al-Ansari.
I did not find it with anyone other than him: Indeed a messenger has come
to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on him... to the conclusion
of Baraa" (al-Bukhari, Matn vol. 3, 225).
In the Itqan, Al-Suyuti discussed the number of witnesses and quoted the
following from Ibn Ashta's Kitab al-Masahif:
"The people would come to Zaid ibn Thabit and he
would only write a verse from two upright witnesses. Even though the end
of Sura al-Baraa was not found except with Khuzaima ibn Thabit, he said:
Write it, for God's messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, made his
testimony as the testimony of two men. So it was written, even though Umar
brought the verse of stoning and it was not written because he was alone.
(Ibn Ashta in Al-Suyuti vol. 1,58)."
Now a new question arises:
The verses (9:128-129) were accepted with only
two witnesses but that was not the case for the stoning verse that was brought
by Umar. Why was it so? For what reason the prophet made Khuzaima's testimony
worth the testimony of two men? Was Khuzaima more righteous than Umar?
No need to have a high IQ to understand that those two verses do not belong
to the Quran. As a matter of fact, 19 years after the death of Muhammed,
the scribes wanted to honor the prophet by adding two fake verses at the
end of Sura 9. Ali was outraged and vehemently maintained that the word of
God, written down by the hand of His final prophet, must never be altered.
When he was installed as the fourth Khalifa, a 50-year war erupted between
the new Khalifa and his supporters on one side, and the distorters of the
Quran on the other side. The distorters of the Quran finally won the war,
and the "official" history that came to us represented the victors' point
of view.
The first peacetime ruler after this lengthy and disastrous war was Marwan
Ibn Al Hakam (died 65 AH/684 AD). One of the first duties he performed was
to destroy the original Quran, the one that was so scrupulously written by
the Prophet's own hand, "fearing it might become the cause of new disputes".
The question an intelligent person must ask is: "If the original Quran were
identical to the Quran in circulation at that time, why did Marwan Ibn Al-Hakam
have to destroy it?"
The mathematical
discoveries proved beyond any doubt that the verses [9:128-129], as always
suspected, are an addition and not from God. The documented history of the
writing of the Quran always doubted these two verses and there was no solid
proof until the mathematical miracle of the Quran brought one.
1400 years ago God told His true believers to follow only the Quran or else
they will lose. Then God, the knower of the future, refused to post His name
in the Basmallah on top of Sura 9. Then it was God's will that the Islamic
history books reflect the tampering story. God told us in the Quran that
the people will try to tamper with the scripture so people think it is from
Him [3:78]. He forced several historical mistakes on the fabricators that
made these two verses specifically suspicious. Then it was the destiny of
the mathematical proof to present the final evidence of the tampering. The
law says that the Quran will be preserved. And a law cannot be proven to
exist unless someone breaks it.
The Quran is preserved by God in master tablet [85:22], the Mos-haf is the
human written book. Anyone can try to tamper with the Mos-haf but no one
can change the Quran. Its preservation has been proved to us but the hypocrites
could not understand it. Since the revelation of the Quran until today there
have been several attempts to tamper with the Mos-haf.
We always had the authentic Quran. Those who chose to believe God in His
own book and accept the Quran alone and refuse the innovation of the books
of Hadiths and sunna know the original Quran and doubted these two verses.
Falsehood never entered the Quran and never will. The two verses were marked
by God from the first day they were added. Before the advent of the mathematical
proof and for 1400 years God gave the believers enough evidence of the falsehood
of these two verses. It is written all over the history books. It was up
to the believers to choose between the Quran or the fabricated hadith that
added these two verses to the written Quran.
God is in control of His book. He has placed a veil on the mind of many
traditional Muslims who could not see the truth in the Quran. They were too
busy with the fabricated books of Hadiths and Sunna.
As it turns out, the injection of the two false Verses [9:128-129] resulted
in:
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demonstrating the major function of the Quran's mathematical system,
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producing an awesome miracle in its own right,
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distinguishing the true believers from the hypocrites (they uphold traditions).
Here is the answer to the following question that was formulated by a group
of Traditional Muslims:
"The verse (33:21) was found only with Khuzaima
al-Ansari, why did not you remove it from the Quran as you did to the verses
(9:128-129)?"
About the verse (33:21) Al-Bukhari reported that Zaid ibn Thabit said:
"When we copied the pages into volumes, I failed
to find a verse from Sura al-Azhab, that I used to hear God's messenger,
peace and blessings be upon him, reciting. I did not find it with anyone
except Khuzaima al-Ansari, whose testimony God's messenger, peace and blessings
be upon him, had made as the testimony of two men..." (Al-Bukhari,
Matn vol. 3, 175).
This case differs significantly from the one about verses (9:128-129) in
that here Zaid says that he used to hear the messenger recite the verse
in question. But when in the report regarding the end of Sura 9, he says
he found it with no one else.
The story about the verse in Sura 33 (al-Ahzab) is the only case in al-Bukhari
that accords a special status to Khuzaima's testimony. But this is odd, because
Zaid himself says he heard the verse from Muhammed, making him a second
witness.
More about the same issue.
Ibn Abu Dawud includes quite a different story about Sura 9:
On the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaab, they were collecting
the Quran from the volume of Ubayy. Men were writing, while Ubayy ibn Kaab
was dictating to them. When they reached the end of the verse in Sura Baraa
(9:127): Thus, God has diverted their hearts, for they are people who do
not comprehend, they asserted that this verse was the last of what God, the
Exalted, revealed of the Quran. Then, Ubayy said, "God's messenger, peace
and blessings be upon him, had me recite two verses after this: Indeed, a
messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on
him. He is anxious over you, compassionate and merciful to the believers..."
to the end of the Sura. He said, "So this is the last of what was revealed
of the Quran" (Ibn Abu Dawud vol.2, 30).
Here is Al-Suyuti's version of the story:
On the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaab, they were collecting
the Quran and when they reached the end of the verse in surat Baraa: Thus,
God has diverted their hearts, for they are people who do not comprehend,
they thought that this was the last of what had been revealed. Then, Ubayy
said, "God's messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, had me recite two
verses after this: Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among
yourselves..."to the end of the Sura, (and he said) "Meccan."
(Al-Suyuti vol. 1, 61).
This story raises some important issues. First, it mentions neither Zaid,
nor Khuzaima. Instead, we see Ubayy ibn Kaab as the only person who knew
the verses in question. The others believed that (9:127) was the end of the
Sura and of the revelation. It also says that Ubayy was dictating to them
from his volume (mashaf). This indicates that Ubayy not only knew the verses,
but also had them in writing. If Ubayy knew them and had them in his mashaf,
how could Zaid find them with only Khuzaima?
It is important to remember that Zaid and Ubayy were Muhammad's chief secretaries
and close companions. They were primarily responsible for recording the verses
of the Quran, as they were revealed. It is unreasonable to think that one
of them did not know what the other had recorded.
It could be argued that the dictation mentioned took place based on what
Zaid had already collected. But if that were the case, Zaid would have already
established the authenticity and placement of (9:128-129). Why then, would
the writers who were taking dictation think that (9:127) was the end of the
revelation?
Ibn Zubair said, "Al-Harith ibn Khuzaima brought
two verses from the end of surat Baraa: Indeed, a messenger has come to you
from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on him. He is anxious over
you, compassionate and merciful to the believers, until His saying, the Lord
of the glorious throne, to Umar. So he [Umar] said, 'Who is with you in this?'
He [Al-Harith] said, 'I only know that I bear witness that I heard them from
God's messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.' Then, Umar said, 'And
I bear witness that I heard them from God's messenger, peace and blessings
be upon him.' Then he said, 'If it was three verses, I would make them a
separate Sura. Then, they looked for a Sura from the Quran and attached them
to it. Thus, it was attached at the end of Baraa" (Ibn Abu Dawud
Vol. 2, 30).
From this story we can conclude that when the two fake verses were made up
the scribes did not know where to put them. Then Umar suggested putting them
at the end of Sura 9. If they were three verses they would create a new Sura.
Uthman ibn Affan stood up and said, 'Whoever has
something from the Book of God, let him bring it to us.' And nothing would
be accepted until two witnesses testified to it. Then, Khuzaima ibn Thabit
came and said, "I see that you left out two verse that you did not write."
They said, "What are they?" He said, "I learned from God's messenger, peace
and blessings be upon him, (9:128-129): Indeed, a messenger has come to you
from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on him. He is anxious over
you, compassionate and merciful to the believers...," to the end of the Sura.
Uthman said, "I bear witness that they are from God. So, where do you think
you should put them?" He said, "Conclude the last of what was revealed of
the Quran with them." So Baraa was concluded with them. (Ibn Abu
Dawud vol. 2, 31).
Here we are faced with several important issues. First, Khuzaima informs
Uthman that the two verses had been left out of the Quran. This is implies
that the collecting and writing had already taken place. Why would Khuzaima
go to Uthman with the verses if Zaid had already collected them from him?
Moreover, if Zaid had collected them already, why would Uthman ask Khuzaima
to decide where they should go in the text?
Second, there is no question here of Khuzaima as the sole witness, nor any
mention of his testimony being equal to that of two men. In fact, here Uthman
serves as the second witness to their authenticity. If Uthman knew the verses
and could witness their authenticity, how could Zaid have found them only
with Khuzaima?
On the authority of Muhammad ibn Sirin, on the authority
of Ikrima, who said, "After Abu Bakr's inauguration, Ali ibn Abu Talib stayed
in his house. So it was said to Abu Bakr, 'He is averse to swearing allegiance
to you.' Then Abu Bakr sent for him and said, 'Are you averse to swearing
allegiance to me?' He said, 'No. By God.' He [Abu Bakr] said, 'What makes
you upset with me?' He said, 'I think something has been added to the Book
of God. So I said to myself that I will not put on my street clothes except
for the Friday prayer until it has been resolved.'" (Al-Suyuti
Vol. 1, 57-58).
Here Ali does not specify what he thinks was added, but this is a very serious
charge. No verses in the Quran other than (9:128-129) are the subjects of
so many diverse reports regarding their collection and placement in the text.
Could they be what had made Ali so upset that he would not leave his house
except for prayer?
References:
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Ibn Abu Dawud. Kitab Al-Masahif. ed. Arthur Jeffery. Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1937.
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Al-Bukhari, Abu Abdullah Muhammad b. Ismail. Matn Al-Bukhari. vol. 3 - 4.
N.P. Isa Al-Halabi and Company. 1981.
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Nolin, Kenneth E. The 'Itqan' and Its Sources: A Study of 'Al-Itqan fi Ulum
Al-Quran' by Jalal al-Din Al-Suyuti with reference to 'Al-Burhan fi Ulum
Al-Quran' by Badr al-Din Al-Zarkashi. Ann Arbor: University Microfilm.
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Al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Din. Al-Itqan fi Ulumil-Quran. Lahore: Suhail Academy,
1980.
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