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Maisonneuve & Larose

Early Debates on the Integrity of the Qur'n: A Brief SurveyAuthor(s): Hossein ModarressiSource: Studia Islamica, No. 77 (1993), pp. 5-39Published by: Maisonneuve & LaroseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1595789 .

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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITYOF THE QUR'ANA BRIEF SURVEY*

This shortarticle attemptsto shed some lighton the originsofthe Sunnite-Shi'itecontroversies n the integrity fthe text of theQur'an. The development of these debates in the first slamiccenturiesrepresents n interesting xample of howideas evolved inthe earlyperiodthrough ectariandisputes,as well as contact andcommunication between various Muslim sects and schools ofthought. Despite severemistrust, arious factors xisted to facili-tate thegive and take amongdifferentects. Mostprominentwasa group of hadithtransmitterswho frequenteddifferent ectariancamps and, thereby, ntroduced much of each sect's literaturetothe others. Often confusionon the part ofthese "bipolar" narra-tors ofhadithhelped "naturalize" segmentsofone sect's literatureinto that of another sect.This was particularlytrue in Shi'ism, many of its transmittersheard hadith from both Shi'ite and Sunnite sources, and latermisattributedmuch of what theyhad heard. 1) The earlyShi'ite

* I would like to thankProfessorsMichael Cook, AvromUdovitch and JeanetteWakin fortheirvaluable comments on an earlierdraft of this article.(1) See, for nstance, Kashshi, Ma 'rifat l-ndqilfn Kildb al-Rijdl, abridged byMuhammad b. al-IHasan al-Tfisi as IkhtiydrMa'rifat al-rijdl, ed. H. Mus.tafawi(Mashhad, 1970), pp. 590-91, whereShadhan b. Khalil al-Naysbifiriasks the cele-brated Shi'ite hadithtransmitterAbfiAhmad Muhammad b. Abi 'Umayr al-Azdi(d. 217/832),who heardhadithfrombothSunnite and Shi'ite sources,whyhe neverquoted any Sunnite hadithto his students and in his works. Ibn Abi 'Umayranswered that he deliberatelyavoided that since he "found many of the Shi'itesstudied both Shi'ites and Sunnite traditions' but later confused and ascribed Sun-nite material to Shi'ites sources and vice versa."

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6 HOSSEIN MODARRESSImulakallimun lso quoted statements fromthe Sunnite sources intheir polemics against the Sunnites as argumentum d homi-nem. But from he mid 3rd/9th enturyonward,it was commonfor some ShV'iteauthors and traditioniststo attribute a Shi'iteorigin to this material, since it was thought that whatever thecompanions of the Imfms and early ShV'itemulakallimiin aid orwrote,even what theyused in theirpolemics,necessarilyrepresen-ted the views and statementsof the Imims.(2) This assumptionled to the introduction fmuch alien material ntoShi'ite thought.Many of these early interchangeswere forgottenover time.Hence it was not known that many of the ideas that were laterlabeled as Sunnite, ShV'ite,or the like were originallyheld by adifferentroupor,at least in the earlyperiodbefore he sects tookon their finalshape, were shared by various mainstream elementsof Islamic society. The questionofthe integrity fthe 'Uthminictext of the Qur'an and the controversies urroundingt are a primeexample of that phenomenon. The central ssue in these debateswas whether he 'Uthminic text comprehended he entirebody ofmaterial that was revealed to the Prophet, or whether there hadbeen furthermaterial that was missing from the 'Uthmanictext. In the following ages,we shall examine the Sunnite-Sh'iteinterchangeson this question.

The evidence in the text ofthe Qur'5n itself s well as in hadithindicates that the Prophet compiled a written cripturefor slamduring his own life-time,most likely in his first years inMedina. 3) He reportedlycontinued until the end of his life to

(2) See Kulayni, al-Kdff, d. 'A. A. GhafffriTehran, 1377-79/1957-59),, p. 99,footnote 1. See also Etan Kohlberg, "Imam and Community n the Pre-GhaybaPeriod", in Said Amir Arjomand (ed.) Authoritynd Political Culture in Sh'ism(New York, 1988), p. 38. Comparethiswith the attitude of some Sunnite scholarswho maintain that the statements of the companions of the Prophet on religiousmatters houldnormallybe taken as reflectinghe statementsof theProphet,sinceit was thought unlikelythat the Companions would decide on matters of sharf'aindependently see Subhi al-Salih, Mabdhithf 'uldm al-Qur'dn [Beirut, 1977],p. 134 and the sources mentionedtherein).(3) See anonymous, l-Mabdniffnazmal-ma dni,ed. A. Jefferyin the collectionofMuqaddamaldnff ulm al-Qur'dn Cairo, 1954],pp. 26-38; Zarkashi,al-Burhdnff'uldm al-Qur'dn, ed. M. A. Ibrahim (Cairo, 1957), I, pp. 235, 237-38, 256, 258;



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 7personally nstruct he scribeswhereto insert new passages oftherevelation in the scripture.4) There are also indications thatparts of earlier revelations were not included in the scrip-ture. One versein the Qur'an acknowledgesthe absence of a partofrevelationwhich was abrogated or "caused to be forgotten,"5)anotherspoke ofverses that God substitutedforothers. 6) EarlyMuslimsreportedly sed to recall versesofthe revelationtheydidnot find n the new scripture. They were, however, aware thatthose passages were deliberatelyexcluded by the Prophet, sincethe Muslimsfrequently eferred o themas what was "abrogated"(nusikha), "lifted" (rufifa),"caused to be forgotten" unsiya), or"dropped" (usqita).(7) The concept of abrogation of the revela-tion (naskh al-Qur'in) apparentlyreferred riginally o thosepartsthat were not included by the Prophet in the scripture.8) Later,however,the concept was developed in the Sunnite tradition toinclude several hypothetical categories, most of them withexamples preserved in the present text of the Qur'in. With aSuyfti, al-Itqdnft 'uldmal-Qur'dn,ed. M. A. Ibrfhim Cairo, 1967), I, pp. 212-13,216; Bell's Introduction o theQuran, revisedbyW. MontgomeryWatt (Edinburgh,1970), p. 143; A.T. Welch, al-Kur'dn (in The Encyclopaediaof Islam, 2nd ed. IV,pp. 400-29), p. 403 and the sources quoted therein.(4) Ahmad b. IHanbal,al-Musnad (Cairo, 1313/ 1895-6), , p. 57; Tirmidhi, unan(Medina, 1964), IV, pp. 336-37; al-IHIkimal-Naysibfri, al-Mustadrak Hyderabad,1340/1922), I , p. 229.(5) Qur'5n, II: 106: Md nansakhmindyatin w nunsihdna'ti bi-khairinminhd wmithlihd "For whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgottenWe bringabetteror a similar one."(6) Qur'an, XVI: 101: Wa idhd baddalnd dyatanmakdna dya .. = "When Wesubstitute one verse foranother."(7) See, for nstance,Abu 'Ubayd, al-Ndsikhwa'l-mansdkhf( l-Qurdnal-kartm,ed. JohnBurton Cambridge,1987),p. 6; Muhisibi,Fahm al-Qur'dnwa ma'dnfh, d..H. Quwwatli (in the collectionof al-'Aql wa fahm al-Qur'dn [n.p., 1971], pp. 261-502), pp. 399 (quoting Anas b. M5lik),400 and 408 (quoting 'Amr b. Dinar), 403(quoting Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf),405 (quotingAbi Mfis al-Ash'ari),406; Tabari,Jdmi"al-baydn,ed. M. M. Sh kir (Cairo, 1955), III, pp. 472-74, 476, 479-80; IbnSalama, al-Ndsikh wa 'l-mansdkh Beirut, 1984), p. 21 (quoting 'Abd Allah b.Mas'id); Suyfti, al-Durr al-manthdrCairo, 1314/1897), V, p. 179 (quoting Ubayyb. Ka'b); Idem, Itqn, III, pp. 83-84 (quoting 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf and 'AbdAllih b. 'Umar).(8) See Abu 'Ubayd, p. 6; Bayhaqi, Dald'il al-nubuwwa, d. A. M. Qal'aji (Bei-rut,1985), VII, p. 154 (where t is argued that the Prophetdid not put the Qur'5ntogether ince therewas always the expectationthat some versesmightbe abroga-ted and that some later modificationwas thus inevitable in any collection of theQur'5n put togetherduringhis lifetime. Underlying his argument s the assump-tion that the abrogated verses had to be physicallyremoved fromthe Scripture).See also Zarkashi, II, p. 30 (the first nterpretation f the concept of naskh).



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8 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIsinglepossible exception, 9)however, t is highlydoubtfulthat theQur'an includes any abrogated verse.

The Sunnite account of the collectionof the Qur'5n is comple-tely different romthe above. It contends that the Qur'an wasnot compiledin a singlevolume until after he Prophetdied in theyear 11/632.10) The "recorders of the revelation" (kultlb al-wahy) used to jot down the verses immediatelyafter the Prophetreceivedand recited them. Othersamong the faithfulmemorizedportionsof the revelation or occasionally recorded them on whate-ver primitive writingmaterial was available. Accordingto thesupporters fthisaccount, the factthat theQur'5n was notcompi-led as a book until the death of the Prophet is perfectly ogi-cal. As long as he was alive there was always the expectation offurther evelationas well as occasional abrogations. Any formalcollection of the material already revealed could not properlybeconsidered a complete text.(11) Many people had memorizedlarge parts of the revelation,whichthey repeated in theirprayersand recited to others. As long as the Prophetwas living amongthe faithful s the sole authoritythere was no need fora formalreference ook ofreligionor a code of aw. All ofthese considera-tions would change after his death and the new circumstanceswould necessitate the collection of the Qur'5n. The story asreportedby the Sunnite sources is as follows:Two yearsafter heProphetdied,the Muslimswereengaged in abloodybattlewith a rival community t Yamama in thedeserts ofArabia. Many ofthememorizersqurra') of the Qur'5n lost theirlives at this time. 12) Fearing that a great portionof the Qur'an

(9) See Abu 'l-Qasim al-Khu'i, al-Baydn (Najaf, 1966), pp. 305-403.(10) See ibn Sa'd, Kildb al-Tabaqdl al-kabfr, d. E. Sachau el al. (Leiden, 1904-15), III, pp. 211, 281; Ibn Abi Dawfid,Kildb al-MasdhIif, d. A. JefferyLeiden,1937),p. 10; Ibn Babawayh, Kamdl al-dfn, d., 'A. A. GhaffariTehran, 1390/1970),pp. 31-32; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, pp. 147-8, 152; Zarkashi, I, p. 262; Ibn Abi'l-IHadid,SharhNahj al-baldgha,ed. M. A. Ibrahim (Cairo, 1959-64), I, p. 27; IbnJuzayy,al-Tashil li- uldmal-lanzil (Cairo, 1355/1936), , p. 4; Ilqdn, I, p. 202. Seealso Ibrahim al-Harbi, Gharfb l-hadifh, d. S. I. 'Ayid (Mecca, 1985), I, p. 270.(11) Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, p. 154; Zarkashi, I, pp. 235, 262; Itqdn, I, p. 202;Ahmad al-Naraqi, Mandhij al-ahkdm Tehran, n.d.), p. 152, 1. 33.(12) Accordingto Ya'qfibi, Kildb al-Ta'rfkh Beirut, 1960), II, p. 15, "most" ofthe "bearers" (hamala) of the Qur'an werekilledduringthat battle. All together,some 360 persons among the distinguished companions of the Prophet lost theirlives on that occasion (Tabari, Ta'rfkh, d. M. A. Ibrahim Cairo, 1960], III, p. 296).Larger figures,up to 500 (Ibn al-Jazari, al-Nashr [Cairo, n.d.] p. 7; Ibn Kathir,Tafsfr l-Qur'dn [Beirut, 1966], VII, p. 439), 700 (Qurtubi, al-Jdmi' li-ahkdmal-



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 9would be lost should a similarsituationarise and morememorizersof the Qur'dn die, AbfiBakr, the first uccessor to the Prophet,orderedthat the Qur'5n be collected. To this end, the Prophet'scompanionsand the memorizers f the Qur'an were asked to comeforwardwith any parts of the revelationthey had memorizedorwrittendown in any form. AbfiBakr ordered Umar, his succes-sor to be, and Zayd b. Thabit, a young recorderof revelationduringthe Prophet's lifetime, o sit at the entranceto themosqueof Medina and recordany verse or part of the revelation that atleast twowitnessestestified heyhad heard from he Prophet. Inone particularcase, though,the testimonyof a singlewitnesswasaccepted.(13) All of the material gathered in this manner wasrecorded on sheets of paper, 14) or parchment,but was not yetcompiled as a volume. Furthermore,these materials were notmade available to theMuslimcommunity,which continued to pos-sess the Qur'5n only in its primitive cattered form. The sheetsremained in the keeping of Abfi Bakr and 'Umar, and after'Umar's death theypassed to his daughterHafsa. 'Uthman tookthe sheets fromHafsa duringhis caliphate and had themput toge-therin the formof a volume. He had several copies sent to dif-ferentparts of the Muslim world and he then ordered that anyother collectionor portionof the Qur'an foundanywhereelse beburned. 15)

Qur'dn [Cairo, 1967], I, p. 50) and 1200 ('Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdidi, Usdl al-din[Beirut,1981],p. 283) are also given. The last figures, however, henumber ofallMuslimswho were killed in that battle, Companions and others see Tabari, III,p. 300).(13) The case in questionwas the last two versesof sdra 9 in the presentQur'5n,which was added on the authorityof Khuzayma b. Thibit al-Ansfri or Abfikhu-zayma according to some reports). See Bukhari, ISahih Leiden, 1862-1908), III,pp. 392-393, IV, pp. 398-99; Tirmidhi, V, pp. 346-47; AbfiBakr al-Marwazi,Mus-nadAb Bakr al-Siddfq, d. Sh. Arna'ut (Damascus, 1970),pp. 97-99, 102-4; Ibn AbiDfwuid,pp. 6-7, 9, 20; Ibn al-Nadim, p. 27; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Madih awhdmal-jam' wa 'l-tafrIgHyderabad, 1959), I, p. 276; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, pp. 149-50;Zarkashi, I, p. 238. For variations of this report see al-Khatib al-Baghdadi,Talkhfs l-Mutashdbih i l-rasm, d. S. Shihabi (Damascus, 1985), I, p. 403 and IbnAbi Dfwfid,p. 9 in both of which thewitness s Ubayy b. Ka'b, ratherthan Khu-zayma or AbfiKhuzayma.(14) Ya'qfibT, II, p. 135; Itqdn, I, pp. 185, 207, 208.(15) Bukhari, III, pp. 393-94; Tirmidhi, IV, pp. 347-8; AbfiBakr al-Marwazi,pp. 99-101; Ibn Abi Dfwfid,pp. 18-21; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, pp. 150-151; AbfiHilal al-'Askari, Kildb al-Awd'il,ed. W. Qassab and M. Misri Riyadh, 1980), I,p. 218.



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10 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIThis whole story bout the collectionoftheQur'5n was acceptedby the Sunnite scholars as trustworthynd served,as we shall seebelow, as the basis for he idea that lateremergedof the incomple-teness of the text of the Qur'an.

Sunnite literature ontainsmany reports hat suggestthat someofthe revelation had already been lost beforethe collectionoftheQur'an initiated by AbfiBakr. It is reported,forexample, that'Umar was once looking for the text of a specificverse of theQur'an he vaguely remembered. To his deep sorrow,he discove-red that theonlypersonwho had any recordof thatversehad beenkilled in the battle ofYamama and that the verse was consequen-tly ost. 16) 'Umar allegedlyhad a recollection f a Qur'anic verseon stoning as a punishmentforadultery. 17) But he could notconvince his colleagues to insert t in the Qur'an because nobodyelse came forwardto support him,(18)and the requirementthatthere be twowitnesses for ny text to be accepted as a part oftheQur'5n was thereforenot met. Later, however, some otherCompanions recalled that same verse, 19) including 'A'isha, theProphet's youngestwife. She is alleged to have said that a sheeton which two verses, ncludingthat on stoning,were recordedwasunder her bedding and that after the Prophet died, a domesticanimal 20)got into the room and gobbled up the sheet while the

(16) Ibn Abi Dwufid,p. 10; Itqdn, I, p. 204.(17) Malik b. Anas, al-Muwatta',ed. M. F. 'Abd al-Baqi (Cairo, 1951), II, p. 824;Ahmad, I, pp. 47, 55; MuhIsibi, pp. 398, 455; Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Musannaf (Bei-rut,1989),VII, p. 431; Bukhari, IV, p. 305; Muslim,Sahi.h,ed. M. F. 'Abd al-Baqi,II, p. 1317; Ibn Maja, Sunan, ed. M. F. 'Abd al-Bfqi (Cairo, 1954), II, p. 853;Tirmidhi, II, pp. 442-3; Abfi Dwuid, Sunan, ed. M. M. 'Abd al-IHamid (Cairo,1935), IV, p. 145; Ibn Qutayba, Ta'wil mukhtalif l-hadith (Cairo, 1386/1966),p. 313; Ibn Salama, p. 22; Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-kubrdHyderabad, 1354-56/1935-37), VIII, pp. 211, 213.(18) Ilqdn, I, p. 206.(19) Ahmad, V, p. 183, quoting Zayd b. Thibit and Sa'id b. al-'As; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf,ed. H. A'zami (Johannesburg,1970-72), VII, p. 330; Ilqdn,III, pp. 82, 86; Idem,Durr, V, p. 180, quoting Ubayy b. Ka'b and 'Ikrima.(20) Ddjin can mean any kind of domestic animal, includingfowl,sheep, orgoat. A narrative in Ibrahim b. Ishiq al-IHarbi's (d. 285/898) Gharib al-hiadfthmakes it morespecific, s it uses the wordshal, that is, sheep or goat (see Zamakh-shari,al-Kashshdf Cairo, 1947], III, p. 518, footnote). The same is Ibn Qutayba'sunderstandingfrom he wordddjin (Ta'wfl mukhtalifl-hadfth, . 310), apparentlybecause of the context,since it is said that the animal ate a sheet of paper. See



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 11household was preoccupied with his funeral.(21) 'Umar alsoremembered other verses he thought dropped out (saqata) fromthe Qur'5n 22) or were lost, including one on being dutiful toparents 23) nd another on ihad. (24) His claim regarding he firstof the two was supported by three otherearly authoritieson theQur'dn: Zayd b. Thibit, 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbis, and Ubayy b.Ka'b. (25) Anas b. Mdlik remembered versewhichwas revealedin the occasion of some Muslimswho were killed in a battle, butwas later "lifted."(26) 'Umar's learned son, 'Abd Allih,(27) aswell as some laterscholars, 28)maintainedthatmuchof the Qur'Anhad perishedbeforethe collectionwas made.Similarreports pecifically ddressed the officialUthminic res-cension of the Qur'an. They reported that many prominentCompanionscould not find nthat official extportionsof thereve-lation theyhad themselvesheard from he Prophet,or foundthemin a different orm. Ubayy b. Ka'b, for nstance,recitedsilra 98(al-Bayyina) in a formhe claimed to have heard fromthe Pro-phet. It included two verses unrecorded in the 'Uthminictext. 29) He also thoughtthat the originalversion ofsira 33 (al-also Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilali, Kildb Sulaymb.Qays (Najaf, n.d.), p. 108; al-Fadl b.Shadhan, al-Iddh, ed. J. M. Urmawi (Tehran, 1972), p. 211; 'Abd al-Jalil al-Qaz-wini, al-Naqd.,ed. J. M. Urmawl (Tehran, 1980), p. 133.(21) Ahmad, VI, p. 269; Ibn Maja, I, p. 626; Ibn Qutayba, Ta'wfl,p. 310. Seealso Shafi'i, Kildb al-Umm (Cairo, 1321-26/1903-8), , p. 23, VII, p. 208.(22) Mabdnf,p. 99; Ilqdn, III, p. 84. (See also 'Abd al-Razziq, VII, pp. 379-80;Ibn Abi Shayba, XIV, p. 564, where the expression Faqadndh, "we lost it," isused.) The expressionsaqata is also used by 'A'isha in the case of anotherphrasethat allegedly "droped out" fromthe Qur'5n. See Ibn M~ja, I, p. 625 (see alsoIlqdn, III, p. 70). It is also used by Malik (Zarkashi, I, p. 263). Consider thesetwo variations, too: (1) The Companion 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf and the Idbi'Amr b. Dinir said that certain sentencesusqita (were dropped) fromthe Qur'5n(Muhasibi,pp. 403, 408); (2) In a public sermon,Umar allegedlysaid thatwhentheProphetdied, a part of the Qur'5n was "taken up" and anotherpart remained,sowe held onto a part and lost (fdland) the other Ibn Abi Shayba, VII, p. 431).(23) 'Abd al-Razziq, IX, p. 50; Ahmad, I, pp. 47, 55; Ibn Abi Shayba, VII,p. 431; Bukh5ri, IV, p. 306; Ibn Salama, p. 22; Itqdn, III, p. 84. See also Zar-kashi, I, p. 39, where it is quoted fromAbfiBakr.(24) MuhIsibi, p. 403; Mabdnf,p. 99; liqdn, III, p. 84.(25) 'Abd al-Razziq, IX, p. 52; MuhIsibi, p. 400; Itqdn, III, p. 84.(26) MuhIsibi, p. 399; Tabari, Jdmi', II, p. 479.(27) Itqdn, III, pp. 81-82.(28) Ibn Abi Diwfid, p. 23, quoting Ibn Shihib (al-Zuhri); liqdn, V, p. 179,quoting Sufyanal-Thawri; Ibn Qutayba, Ta'wfl, p. 313. See also Ibn Lubb, Fathal-bdb Beirut, 1981, in Wansharisi's al-Mi'ydr, XII, pp. 76-147), p. 92.(29) Ahmad, V, p. 132; Tirmidhi,V, p. 370; IHakim, I, p. 224; Ilqdn, III, p. 83.



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12 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIAhzab) had been much longer,fromwhichhe specifically emem-bered the stoning verse that is missing from the 'Uthmanictext.(30) His claim was supported by Zayd b. Thabit,(31) by'A'isha (who reportedthat duringthe Prophet's lifetime he suirawas about three times as long, althoughwhen 'Uthman collectedthe Qur'dn he foundonlywhat was made available in his text), 32)and by IHudhayfab. al-Yaman (who foundsome seventy versesmissing in the new officialtext, verses that he himselfused torecite during the lifetimeof the Prophet).(33) HIudhayfa alsocontendedthat sara 9 (al-Bara'a) in its 'Uthmanic formwas per-haps one-fourth 34) or one-third (35) of what it had been during thetime of the Prophet, an idea later supported by the prominent2nd/8th entury urist and traditionistMalik b. Anas, founderofthe Maliki school of Islamic law. (36) There are also reportsthatsuras 15 (al-Hijr) and 24 (al-Nir) had once been of a differentlength. 37) And AbfiMfisa l-Ash'ari recalled theexistenceof twolongsfiras one verse ofeach he stillremembered) hat he could notfind n the presenttext. 38) One ofthe twoverseshe recalled ("Ifthe son of Adam had two fields of gold he would seek a thirdone ...") is also quoted fromotherCompanionssuch as Ubayy, 39)Ibn Mas'ufd,(40) and Ibn 'Abbas.(41) Maslama b. Mukhallad al-

(30) Ahmad, V, p. 132; Muhasibi, p. 405; Bayhaqi, VIII, p. 211; Hajkim, II,p. 415; Ilqdn, III, p. 82 (the same claim about the size of the sdra and that itincluded the stoningverse is quoted from Umar and 'Ikrima in Suyfiti,Durr, V,p. 180). ComparewithZarkashi, II, p. 35 where the verse is said to have been insdra 25 (al-Ndr), and with Mabdni, p. 82 where sdra 7 (al-A "rdf) s mentionedinstead. This latter s, however,a slip ofpen or mis-spelling,s evidenced by theauthor's later mentionof the sdra of al-Ahzdb n pp. 83 and 86.(31) Bayhaqi, VIII, p. 211.(32) Al-RFghib al-Isfahani, Muhddardl al-udabd' (Beirut, 1961), IV, p. 434;Suyfti, Durr, V, p. 180; Idem, Ilqdn, III, p. 82.(33) Suyfiiti,urr, V, p. 180, quoting fromBukhari's Kildb al-Ta'rfkh.(34) Hikim, II, p. 331; Haytami, Majma' al-zawd'id (Cairo, 1352-53/1933-34),VII, pp. 28-29; Ilqdn, III, p. 84.(35) Suyiti, Durr, III, p. 208.(36) Zarkshi, I, p. 263; Ilqdn, I, p. 226.(37) Sulaym,p. 108; AbfiMansfir l-Tabrisi,al-Ihlijdj, ed. M. B. Kharsan (Najf,1966), I, pp. 222, 286, quoting the common beliefamong earlySunnites. See alsoZarkashi, II, p. 35.(38) Muslim, I, p. 726; Muhasibi,p. 405; AbfiNu'aym, Hilyal al-awliyd' Cairo,1932-38), I, p. 257; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, p. 156; ltqdn, III, p. 83.(39) Ahmad,V, pp. 131-132;Muhasibi,pp. 400-401; Tirmidhi,V, p. 370; IjHkim,II, p. 224.(40) Righib, IV, p. 433.(41) Ilqdn, I, p. 227.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 13Ansari offered wo further erses that are not in the 'Uthmanictext,(42)and 'A'isha came forwardwith a third.(43) Two shortchaptersknownas Siiral al-Hafd and Sfiralal-Khal' were recordedin the collections of Ubayy, 44) Ibn 'Abbas, and AbfiMilsj. (45) Theywereallegedlyalso known to 'Umar(46) and otherCompanions, 47) lthoughno trace ofeitherchapter s found n theofficial ext. Ibn Mas'fid did not have sfiras1, 113, and 114 in hiscollection,48)but he had some extra words and phrases that weremissingfrom he Uthmanic text. 49) He and manyotherCompa-nions also preserved some verses that differedfrom the officialtext. 50) There were also widely transmittedreportsthat afterthe death of the Prophet, 'Ali put all the parts of the Qur'antogether(51) nd presented t to the Companions; but they rejectedit,and he had to take it back home. 52) These reports lso sugges-ted that there were substantial differences etween the variousversions of the Qur'an.

It is universallyacknowledged in the Islamic tradition-basedon the collective memory of the early generations of Muslims(42) Ibid., III, p. 84.(43) 'Abd al-Razzaq, VII, p. 470; Ibn Mfja, I, pp. 625, 626.(44) Muhisibi, p. 400-1; Ibn al-Nadim, p. 30; Raghib, IV, p. 433; Zarkashi, II,p. 37; Haytami, VII, p. 157; Ilqdn, I, pp. 226, 227.(45) Ilqdn, I, p. 227.(46) Ibid., I, pp. 226-227.(47) Ibid., I, p. 227 (see also III, p. 85).(48) Ibn Abi Shayba, VI, pp. 146-47; Ahmad, V, pp. 129-30; Ibn Qutayba,

Ta'wfl mushkilal-Qur'dn, ed. S. A. Saqr (Cairo, 1954), pp. 33-34; Ibn al-Nadim,p. 29; Bdqillini, al-Intisdr Frankfurt,1986), p. 184; Righib, IV, p. 434; Zarkashi,I, p. 251, II, p. 128; Haytami, VII, pp. 149-50; Itqdn, I, pp. 224, 226, 270-73.(49) See ArthurJeffery, aterialsfor heHistory ftheTextoftheQur dn,theOldCodices Leiden, 1937), pp. 20-113.(50) See the lists ibid., pp. 114-238.(51) Ibn Sa'd, II, p. 338; Ibn Abi Shayba, VI, p. 148; Ya'qfibi, II, p. 135; IbnAbi DAwfid,p. 10; Ibn al-Nadim, p. 30; Abi HilAl al-'Askari, I, pp. 219-20; AbfiNu'aym, I, p. 67; Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Istr'db (Hyderabad, 1336-37/1918-19),pp. 333-34; Ibn Juzayy, I, p. 4; Ibn Abi 'l-Hadid, I, p. 27; Iltqdn, , p. 204,248. The Shi'ite version of thisreport ssertsthat he completedthis within sevendays after the death of the Prophet. See Kulayni, al-Kdff,ed. 'A. A. Ghaffdiri(Tehran, 1377-79/1957-59), III, p. 18.(52) Sulaym, pp. 72, 108; Saffir,Basd'ir al-darajdt Tabriz, 1381/1962),p. 193;Kulayni, II, p. 633; AbfiMansfir l-Tabrisi, I, pp. 107, 225-28; Ibn Shahrashfib,MandqibAl AbfTdlib Qum, 1378/1959), I, p. 42. See also Ya'qflbi, II, pp. 135-6.



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14 HOSSEINMODARRESSIrather han simplyon a numberof solated reports-that 'Uthmanpromulgated an officialrescensionof the Qur'an and banned allother versions. There were certainly differencesbetween thatofficialQur'an and other early codices as there were differencesamong the variant codices themselves. It was, after all, thosedifferences hat necessitated the establishmentof a standard anduniversallyaccepted text.It is conceivable that close associates of the Prophet, especiallythose whohad joined himduringhisyears inMecca, still remembe-red parts ofthe revelation that had not been includedby the Pro-phet in the Qur'5n. It is also plausible to speculate that 'All-whose version of the Scripturemighthave been one of the mostcomplete and authentic-had offered t to 'Uthman to be conse-crated as the official ext, but that his offerwas rejected by thecaliph who preferred o select and combine elements of all thecompeting early codices. This in turnmay have caused 'All towithdrawhis manuscriptas a basis forcompilingof the officialrescension. Another Companion, 'Abd Allah b. Mas'tid, is alsoreportedto have stood aloof from heprocessand to have declinedto offerhis own text. 53)The foregoing ccount of the first ompilationof the Qur'an is,otherwise, xtremelyproblematic. 54) Despite the significance fthis report, t does not appear in any work writtenby scholars ofthe 2nd/8th nd early 3rd/9th enturies.55) Some details of thestoryreportedly ookplace later at the time that Uthman orderedthe creation of a standard Qur'an. (56) Several reports categori-cally denythat any official ttemptto collect theQur'an was madebefore Uthman's time,(57)an assertion reportedly upported by

(53) See, for nstance, Ibn Abi Diwfid, pp. 15-17; Ibn 'Asikir, Ta'rikh madinalDimashq, XXXIX, ed. S. Shihibi (Damascus, 1986), pp. 87-91.(54) See A. T. Welch, pp. 404-5 and the sourcesquoted therein.(55) Thus, the storydoes not appear for nstance in Ibn Sa'd's Tabaqdt in sec-tionsabout AbfiBakr, 'Umar and Zayd b. Thibit, nor in Ibn .Hanbal's Musnad orFada 'il al-Sah/dbawhere he gatheredso many reports bout theirvirtues and goodservicesto Islam.(56) Cf. forinstance, Bukhfri, III, pp. 392-93, IV, pp. 398-99; Tirmidhi, IV,p. 347; Ibn Abi DIwfid,pp. 7, 8, 9, 20, 29, withBukhari, III, pp. 393-94; Tirmidhi,IV, p. 348; Ibn Abi Diwfid, pp. 17, 19, 24-26,31; Ibn 'Asikir, Ta'rfkh, he biogra-phy of 'Uthmin b. 'Uffin, ed. S. al-Shihibi (Damascus, 1984), p. 236.(57) See, forexample, Ibn 'Asakir, biographyof 'Uthman, p. 170; Zarkashi, I,p. 241; Ilqdn, I, p. 248. Other reports suggest that the collection of the Qur'anhad already been started duringthe time of 'Umar but that he died before theproject was completed duringthe caliphate of 'Uthman (Abfi Hilil al-'Askari, I,



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 15the collective recollection of the Muslim community.58) Dif-ferent ersions of the storyreveal major contradictions n regardsto some of its main particulars. The name of the Companionwhose testimonyalone was accepted (59)and the precise verses inquestion(6?) vary. Contradictory ccounts are also given of therole of Zayd b. Thabit in the compilation process. 61) The inclu-sion of the clause related to the acceptance ofthe testimony foneman alone is an obvious attempt to make the storymore accep-table throughreference o the familiar nd widely quoted storyofKhuzayma Dhu 'l-Shahadatayn, a man whose single testimonywas said to have been accepted bythe Prophetas equivalent to thetestimonyof two witnesses. 62) In a variation of this story,inp. 219). Anotherreportasserts that 'Uthman was the personwho carriedout theproject but he did it duringthe reignof Umar (Ibn Sa'd, II (2): 113; Ibn 'Asikir,biographyof 'Uthman, p. 171.)(58) Zarkashi, I, p. 235; Ilqdn, I, p. 211 (see also Ibn 'Ashkir,op. cit.,pp. 243-46).(59) He is (a) Khuzayma b. Thibit al-Ansdri n BukhAri, II, p. 310, 394; Tir-midhi, V, p. 347; AbfiBakr al-Marwasi,p. 103; Ibn Abi DAwfid, p. 7, 8, 9, 20, 29,31; Bayhaqi, Dala'il, VII, p. 150, but (b) AbfiKhuzayma (Aws b. Yazid) in Buk-h 1ri, II, pp. 392-93, (c) al-Harith b. Khuzayma in Ibn Abi Dwfid, p. 30, (d)Khuzayma or AbfiKhuzayma in Bukhiri, VI, p. 399; Tirmidhi, V, p. 348; AbfiBakr al-Marwazi,p. 99; Ibn Abi Dwfid, p. 19; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, p. 149, e) anunidentifiedman ofAnsArn Ibn Abi DAwfid, . 8; Tabari, Jami', XIV, p. 588, and(f) Ubayy in Ibn Abi DAwfid,pp. 9, 30; Khatib, Talkhis al-Mulashabih, I,p. 403. There are also other reportswhich indicate that Ubayy not only knewthese verses he knew that theywerethe last to have been revealed to the Prophet,too (Tabari, JZmi', XIV, pp. 588-89; Khatib, loc. cit.).(60) It is the last twoversesof si~ra 9 in Bukhari, III, pp. 392-93; Tirmidhi, V,p. 347; AbfiBakr al-Marwazi,pp. 99, 103; Ibn Abi Dawfid,pp. 7, 9, 11, 20, 29, 30,31; Tabari, Jdmi', XIV, p. 588; Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, p. 149, but verse 23 of sdra33 in Bukhari, III, pp. 310, 393-94; Tirmidhi, V, p. 348; Ibn Abi DAwfid, p. 8, 19;Bayhaqi, Dald'il, VII, p. 150; Khatib, Mdd.ih,I, p. 276.(61) In the above-cited account of the collection of theQur'an he is the one whoundertookthe task ofputtingtheQur'5n together n two stages during he timesofAbfiBakr and 'Uthman. Some otherreports scribe the collection of theQur'an,including Zayd's participation in it, to the Period of 'Uthman (Bukhdri, III,pp. 393-94; Tirmidhi, IV, p. 348; Ibn Abi Dtwfid, p. 31. See also Ibn 'Asakir,biographyof Uthman, pp. 234-36). Otherreportsdo not mentionhis name at all(Ibn Abi Dawfid,pp. 10-11). Yet others assert that he had already collected theQur'dn duringthe time of the Prophet,putting togetherall fragments f it whichwere already recorded on various sortsofprimitivewritingmaterial (Tirmidhi,V,p. 390; HIjkim, II, pp. 229, 611). In another report,however, he is quoted asstatingthat by the time the Prophet died, the Qur'an had not yet been collected(Ilqdn, I, p. 202).(62) See BukharT, II, p. 310; Ibn Abi Dawfid,p. 29; Khatib, Mddih.,I, p. 276;Ilqdn, I, p. 206.



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16 HOSSEINMODARRESSIwhich the witness is an unidentifiedman fromAnsar, 'Umar isreportedto have accepted the testimonyof this singlewitnessonthe grounds that the message of the verse he offeredwas, in'Umar's judgement, true since the verse described the Prophetwith qualities that he had really possessed. 63) In other varia-tions,the verse or verses were said to have been accepted because'Umar, (64) Uthman, 65)or Zayd (66) hemselvestestified hat they,too, had heard those verses from the Prophet; or, alternatively,because the caliph had generallyorderedthat anybody's testimonybe accepted providedthat he took an oath that he had personallyheard from he Prophetthe verse or part that he offered or nclu-sion. 67) Moreover,the story contradictsnumerous and widelytransmitted eports68)which assert that a number of the Compa-nions,notably All, 'Abd Allah b. Mas'uidand Ubayy b. Ka'b, had

(63) Tabari, Jdmi', XVI, p. 588.(64) Ibn Abi Dawfid,p. 30.(65) Ibid., p. 31.(66) Ibid., pp. 8, 19, 29.(67) Ibn 'Ashkir,op. cit.,p. 236 where the episode is ascribed to the period of'Uthmin who asked the Muslimsto come forwardwith whateverpartoftheQur'anthey had in hand. The Muslims came forwardwith whatever primitivewritingmaterial on which theyhad recordedparts of the Qur'an. Then 'Uthman askedevery singleone to swearthathe had personallyheardwhat he had offered s a partofthe Qur'-5nfrom he Prophet. He then orderedthe collected material to be puttogetheras the Scripture.In an obvious attemptto purgethe storyof some of these terrible ontradictionsa variation of it was authored by some later transmitters hat suggestedthat (a)the collection ofthe Qur'an startedduringthe reignofAbfiBakr but could not becompleted before his death and was put togetherduringthe reignof Umar, that(b) Zayd was the one who wrotethe Qur'an first uringthe time ofAbfiBakr onprimitivewritingmaterial and then duringthe time of 'Umar on paper, that (c)there was no question of testimonyand witness, but rather Zayd himselfaftercompleting he text once went over it and could not find he verse 33:23. He thenlooked around for t until he foundthe record ofit withKhuzayma b. Thabit. Hethenwent over the text once more and thistimenoticed that the verses 9: 128-129weremissing, o he looked aroundagain until he found he recordwith anothermanwho was incidentlycalled Khuzayma as well (sic. = Abf Khuzayma?). When hewent over the text for the third time he found no problemand so the text wascompleted (Tabari, Jdmi', 1: 59-61).(68) The list of the early collectors of the Qur'an is different n differentsources. Cf., for nstance, Ibn Sa'd, II (2), pp. 112-114; Ibn al-Nadim, Kildb al-Fihrist,ed. R. Tajaddud (Tehran, 1971), p. 30; Tabarani, al-Mu jam al-kabir,ed.H. A. Salafi (Baghdad, 1978), II, p. 292; Baqillani, pp. 88-90; Dhahabi, Ma'rifatal-qurrd' al-kibdr,ed. B. 'A. Ma'rfifet al. (Beirut, 1984), I, p. 27; Zarkashi, Ipp. 242-43; Qurtubi, , p. 57; Ilqdn, 1,pp. 248-49, quotingAbfi Ubayd in his Kildbal-Qirddt.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 17collectedthe Qur'an duringthe timeofthe Prophet. 69) Further-more,a clear and suspicious attemptseems to have been made tosomehowcredit the first hreecaliphs withachievingthe compila-tionof the sacred scripture f Islam to the exclusionof the fourth,'Ali.

This latter point,when compared with the reportscited aboveon 'All's collection of the Qur'an afterthe death of the Prophet,may shed some light on the origins of the story. Taking intoaccount some of the early political, and later polemical, disputeswithin the Muslimcommunity, ne may suggestthe existenceof amulti-stageprocess in the formation f that account. There wasapparently a widely circulatingrumor n the first enturyof theHijra to the effect hat 'Ali did not attend the public meetingatwhichAbfiBakr was declared ruler after he death of the Prophet,and that it also took some time before he swore his allegiance toAbfi Bakr. From early times the partisans of 'Ali have inter-pretedthis as a reflection f his dissatisfactionwith the choice ofAbfiBakr and used thisconclusion as a basis fromwhich to attackthe allege consensusof the Companionswhich was put forwardbythe supportersof the caliphs as the legal basis for the validity ofAbfiBakr's successionto caliphate. This line of argumentseemsto have appeared quite early; possibly even beforethe decline oftheUmayyads in theearly2nd/8th enturywhen sectariandebatesbegan to flare n the Muslimcommunity.70) With the decline ofthe Umayyads, Ali could no longerbe ignoredand a responsehadto be found. Manyof thereportswhichalleged that 'Ali retreatedfrompublic life after the death ofthe Prophet in order to put theQur'an togethermention this as the explanation forhis failureto

(69) In orderto remove the obvious contradictionbetweenthese reports nd thestory n question,thesupporters f the storyhave offered wo suggestions. Accor-dingto one, thosewho are said to have collected the Qur'an duringthe timeoftheProphethad each made a collectionofonlya part of the revelation,not a completeversion. Accordingto the other,the word "collected" had to be understoodtomean that thoseCompanionsmemorized heQur'an during he timeofthe Prophet,not that they put a completerecordof it together Ibn Abi Dawuid,p. 10; Ilqdn, I,p. 204).(70) See, for nstance, the poem attributedto 'Ali in the Sharifal-Radi, Nahjal-baldgha, d. S. Silih (Beirut, 1967-68),p. 503: "If you (claimthatyou) have cometo poweron the basis ofconsultation,how did thenit happen while those who hadto be consultedwere absent?"



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18 HOSSEIN MODARRESSItender an early allegiance to the caliph. 71) It seems verylikely,72)therefore, hat these reportswere composed-using asbackground material some pre-existingreports and recollectionsconcerning Ali(73)-for the sectarian purpose of suggestingthat'Ali's delay was not a signof his dissatisfaction. Instead, Ali wasquoted as tellingAbfiBakr (whenthe caliph asked himwhetherhehad failed to swear allegiance because he was unhappy with AbfiBakr's election) that he "had vowed to God not to put on hisoutside garment, xcept for ttendingthe communalprayer,untilsuch a time as he had put the Qur'in together." 74)The episode, however,created otherproblemsfor he supportersof orthodoxyfor t added another tem to the list of Ali's specialprivilegesused by the Shi'ites to argue with for his claim to thecaliphate. In addition to all his otheralleged merits,he was nowthe one who had undertaken the critical task of assembling theIslamic scriptureafter the death of the Prophet. 75) This waspotentiallya dangerous weapon in the hands of his partisans in

(71) Ibn Sa'd, II (2), p. 101; Ibn Abi Shayba, VI, p. 148; Abu Hilal al-'Askari, I,pp. 219-20; Ibn Abi Dawud, p. 10; ltqdn, I, p. 204.(72) Alternatively,there might actually have existed rumorssuggestingthat'Ali, havingnoticed that the seniors ofQurayshhad chosen one among themselvesas the successor to the Prophet and having decided to withdrawfrom he public,kept himselfbusywith the Qur'an and took that as an excuse not to participate nany social activity. The Sunnites, however,put forward hat excuse as the realcause and denied that 'Ali was unhappy with the Quraysh's process of capliphmaking.(73) 'Ali was among the early collectors of the Qur'an, i.e., one of those whocollected t during he lifetime fthe Prophet see also Ibn 'Asakir, XXXIX, p. 80).'All was known forhisvast knowledgeof and special dedication to the Qur'in (see,for nstance, Ibn Sa'd, I(2), p. 101). In his codex ofthe Qur'an he had reportedlyindicatedthe verseswhichwere abrogated and thosewhichabrogated them Ilqdn,I, p. 204). The exact timingof when he had offeredhis codex for the officialconsecrationwas alreadyblurredbytheearly2nd/8th entury. The Shi'ites them-selves werenow attributingt to the timeof Umar (Sulaym, p. 108, also quoted inAbfi Mansfir l-Tabrisi, I, p. 228, II, p. 7), but a vague memory f it was presuma-bly still extant.(74) See above, note 71. The point that these reportshad an anti-Shi'itepole-mic applicationcan be also attested to bythe fact that in some of ts laterversions,thereport s quoted bythe Sunnites on theauthority fJa'faral-SFdiq,who quotedit fromhis forefathersAbiuHilal al-'Askari, I, p. 219). It was a commonpracticein the sectarianreports o put the idea on thetongueofrespectedauthoritiesoftheopponent,a practicewhichcan be also observedin the cases whichshortly ollow nthe discussion above (see also Kashshi, pp. 393-97 foranotherexample).(75) See, as one example,Kilab Mih.nalAmfr l-Mu minfnan earlyShi'ite textpreserved n Pseudo-Mufid,al-Ikhlisds[Najaf, 1971], pp. 157-75), p. 164; Sulaym:113, 220.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR' AN 19sectarian debates. The partisansof Ali mighthave already usedit against the 'Uthminiyya, to counter theirargument n supportof Uthman on the basis that he was the one who established theofficial nd standardQur'an. For the Uthmaniyyathat constitu-ted a real challenge that they met, as in many other cases, byseekingto undermineShi'ite claims forthe special quality of 'AlIor the House of the Prophet. Some examples are as follows:76)1. Many reports uggestthat the Prophetchose 'All as his bro-ther(77) t the timethathe established the "brothering" monghisfollowers.78) A counter report claims this status for AbiBakr, 79)thoughit is widelybelieved that the Prophetmade AbuBakr and 'Umar brothers.so) Many otherreportsquote the Pro-phet as saying that "if I could adopt an intimate friend wouldadopt Abu Bakr, but your colleague (i.e. the Prophet) is alreadytaken by God as His intimate friend."81) These seem to havebeen composed to counter the claim of 'Ali's selection as the Pro-phet's brother.2. The partisans of 'AlI regarded him as the most excellentamong the companions of the Prophet. Indeed, there are manyindications n the historyof the Prophet that 'Ali was in fact oneof the pre-eminentCompanions. An obviously pro-'Uthmaniyyareport,however,emphasized that duringthe time of the Prophetonly Abfi Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman were pre-eminent. Allothers followedwith no distinctionsof status or eminence. 82)3. In an oft-quoted statement ascribed to the Prophet, he isreportedas having called his two grandsonsby F.tima-al-Hasannd al-Husayn-the "two masters of the youth of Para-

(76) For some other interesting xamples see Ibn 'Asdkir, biographyof 'Uth-man, pp. 146-68,290-94.(77) See themany earlysourcesmentioned nNfirAllah al-Tustari, hqdq al-haqq(Tehran, 1957-), IV, pp. 171-217,VI, pp. 461-86, XV, pp. 450-517, XX, pp. 221-55;'Abd al-Husayn al-Amini, III, pp. 113-25.(78) See the article Mu'dkhdi in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., VII,pp. 253-54.(79) Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fadd'il al-sahdba, ed. W. M. 'Abbas (Beirut, 1983),pp. 99, 166-7, 378; Bukhari, II, p. 418; Daylami, I, pp. 529-30.(80) Ibn Sa'd, III (1), p. 123.(81) See Ahmad, Fadd'il, pp. 99, 166-67, 177, 183-84, 378-79, 411 and othersources mentioned n the editor's footnote n p. 99.(82) Ibid., pp. 86-92 and the sources mentioned in the editor's footnote; Ibn'Asakir, biographyof 'Uthman, pp. 153-59 (see also Bukh~rT, I, p. 418).



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20 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIdise." (83) Anotherreportfrom he Prophet applies the same epi-thet to 'Ali. (84) A counterreportcalls AbfiBakr and 'Umar the"two masters of the middle-agedof the Paradise." (85)4. A widely circulating tatement ttributedto theProphetsta-ted that he was the city of knowledge for which 'Ali was thegate. 86) A counter statement describedAbfiBakr as the founda-tion of the city, 'Umar as the wall and 'Uthman as the ceiling(sic.).(87)5. It is reportedthat duringthe early years of the Prophet'sstay at Medina, the Companionswho had theirhouses around themosque of the Prophet had opened exit doors from their housesinto themosque in order to make it easier for hemselves o attendthe communal prayer there with the Prophet. According to awidely quoted report, he Prophet later ordered all those doors tobe closed, excepting onlythe door that led from he house of 'Ali,which was virtuallythe door leading fromthe house of the Pro-phet's daughter. 88) (The exceptionwas not, therefore, o signifya meritor to establish a special status forAll himself.) A counterreport,however,tried to establish that it was the door fromthehouse of Abti Bakr which was the exception.(89)6. It is unanimouslybelieved that duringa ceremonial mpreca-tion that took place between the Prophet and the ChristiansofNajran towards the end of the Prophet's life,90) he broughtwithhimthemembers of his immediatefamily: Ali, Fitima, and theirtwo sons.(91) This clearly followedthe traditional rules fortheArabs' custom of the mutual curse,which requiredeach partyto

(83) See the many sources quoted in Tustari, X, pp. 544-95, XIX, pp. 232-51.(84) Ibn 'Asakir, Ta'rfkhmadfnat imashq, the section on the biographyof Ali,ed. M. B. MahmuidiBeirut, 1975), II, p. 260.(85) Ibn Sa'd, III (1), p. 124; Ahmad, Fada'il, pp. 158-59, 771, 774, 780, 788;Daylami, I, p. 530.(86) See the manysourcesquoted in Tustari,V, pp. 468-515, XVI, pp. 277-309,XXI, pp. 415-28; Amini,VI, pp. 61-81.(87) Daylami, I, p. 76.(88) See the many sources quoted in Ahmad, Fada'il, pp. 581-82, editor's foot-note; Tustari, V, pp. 540-86, XVI, pp. 332-75, XXI, pp. 243-55; Amini, VI,pp. 209-16.(89) Bukhirli, I, p. 418; Ahlmad,Fada'il, pp. 70-71 (and other sources mentio-ned in the editor's footnote), 8, 152, 379.(90) See the article mubdhala in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., VII,pp. 276-77.(91) See themanysourcesquoted inTustari, III, pp. 46-62, IX, pp. 70-91,XIV,pp. 131-47,XX, pp. 84-87.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 21attend in the company of his own household. A counterreport,however,asserts that the Prophet was accompanied to the cere-mony by Abui Bakr and his family, Umar and his familyand'Uthman and his family.(92)7. Accordingto a widelytransmitted eport, he Prophetdescri-bed Fatima, 'Ali and theirtwo sons as constituting is own house-hold. 93) This definition f the Prophet's house is supported byalmost all early Muslim authorities.94) A clearly pro-'Uthmi-niyya report,however, quoted the Prophet as saying that 'Ali,al-Hasan, al-Husayn and Fatima were his own household whileAbui Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'A'isha were the household ofGod. (95)It seems safe to assume that thissame model was followedwithrespectto thereports bout 'Ali's collectionof theQur'an and thatthe story n questionwas composed as part of an anti-Shi'itepole-mic. The process seems to have begunwith assertionsthat,withthe exception of 'Uthman, none of the caliphs or any of theCompanions collected the Qur'an; (96) some made the point moreemphaticallyand stipulated that 'Ali, in particular, passed awaybefore he could collect it. 97) (In reality,of course, not only did'Ali witness the collection of the Qur'an, he did not die untilyearsafter the officialQur'an had been established.) Another reportasserted that the firstperson to collect the Qur'an was Salim, aclient of Abfi Hudhayfa, who after the death of the Prophet"vowed to God not to put on his outside garmentuntil such a timeas he had put the Qur'an together." 98) This is exactly the state-ment attributedto 'All in otherreports. Salim was among thosewho lost their lives in the battle of Yamama.(99) Other reportscame forwardwith the straightforwardssertion that the first o

(92) Ibn 'Asakir,biographyof Uthman, pp. 168-69,quotingon the authority fImam Ja'faral-Sadiq, who accordinglyrelated it fromhis father. As noted above,this was a commonphenomenon n this genreof materialwhichwas authored foranti-Shi'ite polemical purposes.(93) Tustari, II, pp. 501-62, III, pp. 513-31, IX, pp. 1-69, XIV, pp. 40-105,XVIII, pp. 359-83.(94) See Tabari, Jdmi"al-baydn Cairo, 1954), XXII, pp. 6-8.(95) Daylami, I, p. 532. Tabari, Jdmi',XXII, p. 8 quotes that Ikrima, a Idbi'7well-knownforhis anti-'Alidtendencies,was "crying n the market" that the hou-sehold of the Prophet were his wives only.(96) See above, footnote57.(97) Ibn 'Aslkir, biographyof 'Uthman, p. 170.(98) Ilqdn, I, p. 205 quoting Ibn Ashta in his Kildb al-Masidhif.(99) Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, p. 562.



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22 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIcollectthe Qur'an was AbfiBakr. (10o) Employing popular beliefsamong Muslimsconcerning Uthmdn's establishment of the stan-dard Qur'an-including the roleofZayd b. Thabit as theproject'smain coordinator-the role of AbfiBakr in the collection of theQur'an was then developed to what is seen in the above-citedaccount which,at the same time,reservesa major role for Umar,as well, in the process.

The old rumours that some of the Companions had allegedlyrememberedparts ofthe revelation that theycould not find n theScripture had perhaps already been blurred and directed to theofficial 'Uthminic text even before the above-cited story wasauthored. Withthe establishment f the notionthat no completeversion of the Qur'5n existed by the time the Prophet died, theserumors came to be firmly ttached to the 'Uthmgnic text. Sug-gestions that some verses and parts were missingchallenged theauthorityof 'Uthminic text ofthe Qur'dn,which was accepted asthe sacred scriptureof Islam by Muslims of every tendency orsect. Nevertheless, uch stories remainedpopular in the Sunnitetradition 101) nd were quoted by many "reliable" Sunnite trans-mitters fhadith. Overtime,the materialconcerning llegedomis-sions and alterations n the Qur'anic text grew ntomonographs fconsiderable ize in Sunnite iterature.102) Thus, the idea that the'Uthmanic codex was incomplete began as a logical conclusion ofwhat most likely started as a sectarian attempt by the Sunnitesand thus was first purelySunnite concept.(103) Aspects of thisidea, such as the allegation that non-Qur'5nic materials were(100) Ibn Abi Shayba, VI, p. 148; Ibn Abi Dawfd, p. 5, bothquotingthe reporton the authorityof 'Ali.(101) See, for instance, Ahnlmadb. Muhammad al-Sayyfri, Kildb al-Qird'dlt= Kildb al-lanzfl wa 'l-lahirff, S 1455, Mar'ashi Library, Qum, fol. 44b:inna 'I-nds the Sunnites)yaqdldna qad dhahabaminsarati 'l-Ahzdbi hay'un kathir;al-Fadil b. Shidhan, p. 107; qdlali 'Il-Murji'a fa-la'alla baqiyyala 'l-ahkdmifi'I-Qur'dni lladhTdhahab.(102) See Ibn al-Nadim, pp. 38-39; also Labib al-Sa'id, al-Jam' al-sawit al-awwal li 'I-Qurdn (Cairo, 1978), pp. 320-21.(103) See espacially Biqillani, pp. 277-80 where he repeatedly tresses the pointthat all reports bout thealleged omissions nd alterations nthe textoftheQur'inare quoted on the authorityof A'isha, Abfi Mfisi al-Ash'ari and the like,Compa-nions that the Shi'ites do not recognizeas true Muslims and have, therefore,norightto argue with the statementsof those Companions against the Sunnites.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR' AN 23added to thistext as the Sunnite authors ascribe to 'Abd Allh b.Mas'fid, 104) rarely found any support among other Islamicsects. 105) It did,however,providegroundsfor splintergroupofthe Kharijites, the Maymfiniyya,o claim that the sura on Joseph(sira 12) was not part of the Qur'dn. 106)The attempt eventually broughtmoreproblemsfor he Sunnitesthan it solved as theiropponentsnow arguedwiththe alleged alte-ration in the 'Uthmanic text against them in polemicaldebates. This was certainlytrue with the Shiciteswho were pro-bably already suspicious about the circumstances f the promulga-tion of the official ext and thoughtthat some tamperingwiththetext mighthave occurred in the process by those who took thecharge of the preparationof that official escension. Faced withthischallenge,Sunnite scholars later began to distance themselvesfromthe early reportsand, instead, emphasized the incorruptibi-lity of the text of the Qur'5n. They later forbade quotation ofand reference o that genre of early material even when it wastransmittedby theirown reliable chains ofauthority.107) Hencethe whole idea, whichhad its genesiswithinthe Sunnite commu-nity, was gradually transformed nto an anti-Sunnite allega-tion. Since the Sunnites could not dismissall ofthe traditions ofthis category-many of which were quoted by their own widelyaccepted and reliable chains of authority-they formulated newcategories of abrogation, where a verse was physicallyremovedthough people still remembered t, 108)to explain the absence of

(104) See above, note 48.(105) The idea was, however,supported in the Sunnite tradition as late as the7th/13thentury. See, for nstance,Qurt~ubi,, p. 81, who quotes a contemporarywho maintained that 'Uthmin and the Companions zddd f 'l-Qur'dnmd laysaminhu.(106) Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ash'ari, Maqdlat al-Islamiyyrn Cairo, 1950), I, p. 166;Isfari'ini, al-Tabstrfi l-dfnBeirut, 1983), p. 140; Shahrastani,al-Milal wa 'l-nihal(Beirut, 1981), p. 55; Maqdisi, al-Bad' wa 'l-ta'rikh, d. M. C. Huart (Paris, 1899-1919), V, p. 138; Ibn 'Abbad, al-Kashf 'an mandhij asndf al-Khawdrij, ed. M. T.Danish-pazhfih Tabriz, 1968, in Nashriyya-yiDdnishkada-yiAdabiyydt-iTabrfz,XX, pp. 145-50),p. 146; Qalqashandi, Subh al-a'shd (Cairo, 1913-20),XIII, p. 223;AbfiMuhammad al-'Iraqi, al-Firaq al-muflariqa, d. Y. Kutluay (Ankara, 1961),p. 24. This claim has also been attributed to the entire 'Ajfrida subsect of theKhdrijites. See Shahrastani, p. 55.(107) Zarkashi, II, p. 127. See also Ibn Lubb, p. 96.(108) At the timeAbfuUbayd (d. 224/838-9)wrote his work on abrogation,thesecategorieshad not been suggested(see his al-Ndsikhwa 'l-mansdkh, p. 5-6; alsoNahhis, al-Ndsikhwa 'l-mansdkhCairo, 1905], p. 8). A fewdecades later,howe-ver, al-H.irith b. Asad al-Muhisibi (d. 243/857-8) uggestedtwo categoriesof abro-



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24 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIthe alleged missingmaterialsfrom he 'Uthmanic text. That for-mula has remainedvalid up to the present. 109)

The cornerstone of the faith in Shiite thought is allegiance(will~ya) to the Imams ofthehouseholdof the Prophet the Itra orAhl al-Bayt). It is consideredas the most important lement,andsuperior to any other component, of the sharra. (110) Shi'ismbelieved in the exceptional virtue, first, f 'Ali as the most quali-fiedto succeed the Prophet and, afterward, f the Imams descen-ded fromhim as the trueheads ofthe religion n theirtimes. TheQur'dn, however,does not contain a single explicit, unequivocalreference o any ofthese positions. Indeed, earlysectarian deba-tersfrequently osed thequestion: if'Ali and hisdescendants werereally f such centralmportance, hywere heirnamesand reli-gious positionsnot clearlymentioned n the Qur'an? (111)gation, the verse to have been removed from the Scripture in both though thepeople stillremembered t. In one of the two categories md nusikhahukmuhuwatildwatuhu) he law introducedby the abrogated versewas also abrogated (Muha-sibi, Fahm al-Qur'dn, p. 407), but in the other (md nusikhat ildwatuhuwa baqiyahukmuhu) the law continued to exist despite the fact that the verse itselfwasremoved (ibid., p. 398). This unusual situation was suggested to accomodatereportsrelated to thestoningverse,since it was believed that the law ofstoningwasstill valid though the verse was dropped from the Scripture. Ibn al-Munadi(d. 334/745-6) n his book on abrogation quoted in Zarkashi, II, p. 37; Itqdn, III,p. 85) and AbuiJa'far al-Nahhis (d. 338/950) in his al-Ndsikh wa 'l-mansdkh, . 8,both quoted this classificationand pointed out that other scholars rejected it astheyconsideredthe idea to be the same as that whichsuggestedthat the Uthmanicrescensionwas incomplete see also BfqillIni, p. 266; Ibn Zafar, al-Yanba', quotedin ltqdn, II, p. 86). It was, however,graduallyaccepted in the Sunnitetradition(see Ibn Salama, pp. 21-22; Zarkashi, II, p. 37; Ilqdn, III, pp. 85-86. For theadoption of the theory by some Shi'ite scholars,see Sadid al-Din al-.Himmasi,al-Munqidh min al-taqlfdQum, 1411/1991], , p. 480).(109) See Subhi al-Sailih,pp. 259-74.(110) See Barqi, al-Mahidsin,ed. J. M. Urmawi (Tehran, 1370/1951),p. 286;'Ayyishi, Kildb al-Tafsfr, d. H. Rasiili (Qum, 1380-81/1960-61), , pp. 191, 259,293; Kulayni, II, pp. 18-19; Ibn Babawayh, Kitab al-Khisal, ed. 'A. A. Ghaffari(Tehran, 1389/1969),p. 278.(111) See, for instance, 'Ayyashi, I, pp. 249-50 and Kulayni, I, p. 286, bothquoting a conversation between Imim Ja'far al-S.diq and one of his disciples inwhichthedisciplesays: "The people ask us whythenamesof Ali and his family renot mentioned n the Book ofGod"; and Sayyiiri,who quotes a disciple of Imim'All al-Rida writing o the Imam that "some people have asked me wherethename



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR')N 25Some Sunnite reportson the collectionofthe Qur'an suggestedthat earlier versionsof the Scripturehad contained passages men-

tioningthe name of All or the prominentpositionof the House ofthe Prophetwhich are not found n the 'Uthminic codex. Someexamples are as follows:1. Qur'An5:67 reads: "0 Messenger,deliverwhatever has beensent downto you by yourLord. Ifyou do not do so, you willnothave conveyed His message. God will defend you from man-kind." Sunnite(112) nd Shi'ite reports uggestthat the versewasrevealed duringthe Prophet's last pilgrimage o Mecca, in theyear10/632, n reference o 'Ali's special virtues,and that the Prophetsubsequentlydeclared 'Ali the mawla of the Muslims. (There is,ofcourse,a sharp difference fopinionover what the wordmawlameant in that context.) Nevertheless, the name of 'Ali is notmentioned n that verse, or anywereelse in the Qur'5n. A Sun-nite report,however,maintains that 'All's name and the intent ofthe passage were explicitlymentioned n the verse as recordedbyIbn Mas'id, since itread: "0 Messenger, eliverwhatever has beensent down to you by your Lord that 'All is mawla of the faith-ful." 113)2. Qur'an 3:33 reads: "God selected Adam and Noah, Abra-ham's House and 'Imrin's House over [everyone in] the Uni-verse." In Ibn Mas'id's record,this list also included the Houseof Muhammad. 114)3. Qur'5n 56:10-12 read: "And the pioneers will be out thereleading. Those will be the nearest in gardens of bliss." 23:8-11read: "And those who preservetheir trusts and theirpledge, andwho attend to their prayers,will be the heirs who shall inheritParadise to live there forever." The collections of Ibn Mas'fid,Ubayy and al-Rabi' b. Khuthaym contained a different hrasingthat combined elements of the two above verses: "And the pio-neersto believe in the Prophet are 'Ali and his descendantswhomGod selected from monghis [theProphet's]companionsand madeof 'Ali occurs in the Book of God" (fol.35b). Also JAhiz,al-'Uthmdniyya, d.'A. M. Harfin Cairo, 1955),p. 273: "We looked through he Qur'Anfrom eginningto end and could not find a singleverse on the imamate of 'All."(112) See, for instance, 'Abd al-IHusayn al-Amini, I, pp. 214-23, where thataccount is quoted from some thirtySunnite authorities. Also Suyuti, Durr, II,p. 298.(113) Suyiti, Durr, II, p. 298; Jeffery, . 40. See also Baha' al-Din al-Irbili,Kashf al-ghummaTabriz, 1381/1962), , p. 317, quotingthis from unnite sources.(114) Jeffery, . 32.



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26 HOSSEIN MODARRESSImawla over everyoneelse; those will be the triumphantwho shallinherit Paradise to live thereforever." (115)

4. Qur'an 25:1 reads: "Blessed is theOne who has sent downtheStandard [= the Qur'5n] to His servant so he may act as a warnerto everyonein the Universe." In the codex of Ubayy the verseappeared with additions: "Blessed is the One who has sent downthe Standard to His messengerand the House of his descendantwho inheritedthe knowledgeof the Book afterhim,so they mayact as warners foreveryone n the Universe." 116)5. Qur'an 24:35 reads: "god is the Light of Heaven andEarth. His light may be compared to a niche in which there s alamp,the lamp is in a glass,theglass is just as if t were a glitteringstar kindledfrom blessedolive tree..." Ibn Mas'uid'srecordherewas allegedly different,eading: "The lightof those who believedin Him and loved the House ofHis messengermay be comparedtoa niche..." (ll7)Likewise the mention and approbation of 'Ali and the House ofthe Prophet are said to have appeared in other places in earlycodices as, for nstance, n Ibn Mas'fid's codex in 33:25, 118) 6(119)(this latter also in the codex ofMu'Adhb. Jabal)(120) 42:22-23, 121)59:7,(122)61:14 (according to the reading of al-Rabi' b. Khuth-aym), (123) 74:36, 124) and 97:4. 125)Reports such as these provided the early Shi'ite mulakalliminwith a readyweapon to silence theiropponents,arguing hat "wereit not that the text of the Qur'in has been altered, people wouldclearly see in it the proofsof the rightof the House of the Pro-phet." (126) Referencesto those different unnite readingsoftheQur'Anappear frequentlyn early sectariandebates between Sun-nites and Shi'ites. The Sunnitenarratives about the collection of

(115) Ibid., pp. 97, 168, 306.(116) Ibid., p. 150.(117) Ibid., p. 65.(118) bid., .75.(119)bid.,.76.(120) bid., .336.(121) bid., .86.(122) bid., . 100.(123) bid., .308.(124) bid., .353.(125) bid., . 110.(126) Sayyari, fol. 2a; 'Ayyashi, I, p. 13. See also Mufid,al-Masd'il al-Sara-wiyya (Qum [1979], in the collection of 'Iddat rasd'il ii 'l-Shaykh... al-Muffd,pp. 207-32), p. 225.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QURAN 27the Qur'an (including 'Umar's claim that a part of it was lostbecause of the death of the originalmemorizers, he storyof thedomestic animal that ate a sheet ofpaper on whichsome Qur'Anicverses wererecorded, nd Sunnite claims about the original engthof several sfiras)are used in the Kiaiib Sulaym b. Qays, a Shi'itework originallydating fromthe firstdecades of the 2nd/8th en-tury, n a polemical debate against the first aliphs. 127)Two of the most famous Shi'ite debaters of the late 2nd/8thcentury, Hisham b. al-Hakam(128) and Hishim b. Salim, 129)reportedly sed the Sunnite idea ofthe alterationofthe text of theQur'An in their sectarian debates. Abfi Is al-WarrAq d. 247/861-62), a controversial heologianwith Shi'ite tendencies, s saidto have written a book entitled Kilab al-Hukm 'ala suiral Lamyakun. 130) The title of this work indicates that the author hadused against the Sunnites themselves the Sunnite narratives(131)concerningomissions fromsuira98 (which was believed to haveoriginallycontained unfavorablestatementsabout some notablesofQuraysh, 132)possiblyunderstoodby Shi'ite debaters as havingincluded someoftheCompanions). Al-Fadl b. Shidhin al-Naysa-buri d. 260/873)devoted a full ection of hisKilib al-idah to attac-kingthe .Hashwiyya(traditionists) f the Sunnites forthis kind ofreportsthat could discreditthe holy scriptureof Islam. (133) Healso challengedthe basis oftheirargumentswithwhat theybelie-ved to be the Prophet's traditionby asking: "Does it make sensethat you lose the greater part of the Qur'Anbut manage to keepthe Prophet's tradition ntact? Areyou sure thatyou did not failin the collectionand preservation f the Prophet's tradition s youdid inthe case oftheQur'An?" 134) This maybe taken to indicatethat until the firstdecades of the 3rd/9thcentury,views andreports uch as those supportedand cited by Sunnite traditionistshad not yet found theirway into the mainstreamof Shi'ism.

(127) Sulaym, p. 108.(128) Khayy~t, al-Intisdr, d. M. S. Nyberg Cairo, 1925),p. 41; 'Abd al-JabbAr,al-Mughnf,XX (1), ed. 'A. Mahmuid nd S. Dunya (Cairo, 1966), pp. 37-38; Malati,al-Tanbfh Damascus, 1949), p. 32.(129) SayyAri,fol.2b.(130)Najashi, ildb l-Rijdl,d. M.Shubayrianj~niQum, 407/1986),.372.(131) See above,note29.(132) Sayyari, ol.69a: Kulayni, I, p. 631.(133) Al-Fad.l b. ShAdhan,pp. 209-29.(134) Ibid.,p. 108.



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28 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIA similar indication can be concluded fromal-Hdirithb. Asadal-Muhasibi's (d. 243/857-8) ttack on the Shi'ites of his timewho,

he said, blamed 'Uthman for his burningof the copies and frag-ments of the Qur'an other than his own codex. 135) Accordingtoal-Muhasibi, they criticized 'Uthman on legal grounds, namelythat burningthe Qur'Anwas an inappropriateinnovation whichfell short of the respect due to the recordsof the divine revela-tion. 136) This conforms o the long-heldShi'ite legal rulingthatworn fragments fthe Qur'5n that can no longerbe used may beburied or washed in water, but not burnt. The thinkingbehindthisopinion s clearlybased on the connectionbetweenfire nd sin,or on the reference hat mightbe drawn frombook burning o theevil and misguidingnature of the contents of the book concer-ned. Neither n that discussion,nor in the relevantchapterofhiswork on the Qur'an, 137) does al-Muhisibi make referencetoShi'ite supportfor he idea ofomissionand alteration nthe textofthe Qur'an. The juxtapositionof the account ofthe Sufial-Muh,-ibi on thistopic and that of the theologianal-Jghiz,who accusedthe Shi'ites of his timeofsupporting his dea, 138)clearlysuggeststhat, at the beginningof the 3rd/9th entury, t was still a themeused by the Shi'ite mulakallimin of the time, the section of theShi'ite communitywithwhicha theologian ike al-JAhizmusthavebeen in contact, in their interdenominationaldebates with theMu'tazilites as a polemical strategy, nd was not a common beliefamong even a considerable portionof the Shi'ite communityatlarge that al-Muhasibi could take note of.

The Imams and the Shi'ite scholarsofthe2nd/8th enturyrejec-ted the opinion that suggested the alteration of the text of theQur'dn. This point s clearlydemonstratedbythe fact that in thelong list of theircomplaints against the first hreecaliphs there s(135) Muhasibi,Fahm al-sunan (quoted in Zarkashi, I, pp. 238-40), p. 240.(136) The reportswhichquote 'Ali as defending Uthmlin's action in this caseseem,therefore,o address these criticisms. According o one report All said "noone should blame 'Uthman for he burning fthe copies ofthe Qur'in since he didthat with the approval of all of us. If he had not done it I would have done it"(Ibn Abi Diwid, pp. 12, 22; Ibn 'Asakir,the biographyof Uthman, pp. 237, 238,242).(137) Idem, Fahm al-Qur'an, pp. 398-411.(138) See below, note 183.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 29no accusation oftamperingwiththe text ofthe Qur'an. (139) Thecomplaintwas ratherthat the caliphs and their followers preser-ved the text of the Scripture but distorted its mes-sage." (140) There was a clear attempton thepartofthe Imams todefuse problems which could arise by the above-cited Sunnitereports. In some cases, for nstance, they interpreted he narra-tives in a way that protected the integrityof the 'Uthminictext. A quotation fromAli, for nstance,suggeststhat one-quar-ter of the Qur'an spoke of the House of the Prophet and anotherquarter, of their foes. 141) Neither of these two fractions ppliesto the 'Uthmanic text,which could give riseto the suspicionthatparts of the Qur'an mighthave been omitted fromthat text forpolitical reasons. A traditionfrom he Imams, however, eeks tointerpretAll's statementdifferently. It suggeststhat any verseon virtues n the Qur'in refers o the House ofthe Prophet,whileverses on evil referto their foes. 142) Other traditionsfromtheImams rejectthe claim of earlier Sunnitereports hat thenames of'Ali or the House of the Prophet originally appeared in variousverses. These traditions suggest that 'Ali or the House of theProphetwere ratherthe occasion of revelation sabab al-nuzil) ofthose verses. 143)The Imams rejected the reading of Ibn Mas'fid(144)which insome places departed significantly romthe official ext. Coun-tless statementsfrom he Imams leave no doubt about their belief

(139) Kulayni, VIII, pp. 59-62. See also Sadid al-Din al-Himmasi, I, p. 477.(140) Kulayni, VIII, pp. 53, 54: aqdma hurafa 'l-kildbwa hiarrafdh.udddah.141) Ya'qfibi, II, p. 136; Baha' al-Din al-Irbili,I, p. 314; 'Abd Allah b. Hamza,al-Shdfi(San'5, 1986), II, p. 25. Cf. AyyAshi, , pp. 9-10 and Kulayni, II, p. 627,where one third s allocated foreach category.(142) 'AyyashT, , pp. 9-10, 13; Sharaf al-Din al-AstarAbAdi;Ta'wdlal-dydial-zdhira Qum, 1407/1986), , pp. 18-20; Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Bihd.ral-anwdr(Tehran, 1376/1957-),XXIV, p. 303.(143) See, for nstance,the nine quotations fromdifferentmams on Qur'an 5:67 in Furit al-Kfifi,Kitldb l-Tafsir (Najaf, 1354/1935),pp. 36-38 which categori-cally denythe claim that the name of Ali was originallymentioned nthat verseaswas reported by some Sunnite authorities (see, for example, Suyfiti,Durr, II,p. 298); Also a statementfrom he 5th Imim, Muhammad al-Bdqir, to the effectthat the House of the Prophet is implicitly ncluded in the Qur'dn 3:33, as thatHouse is the true remnantof the House of Abraham,which is mentioned n thatverse 'Ayydshi, I, p. 168; Muhammad Bfqir al-Majlisi, XXIII, p. 225). This lat-terstatement s against thereadingof Abd Allah b. Mas'fidas reportedby Sunnitescholars such as Abil Ishiq al-Tha'labi al-Naysabiiriin his al-Kashfwa 'I-tanzil asquoted by 'Abd Alldh b. Hamza, I, p. 95).(144) Kulayni, II, p. 634.



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30 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIin the authenticityof the text of the Qur'5n as preservedin the'Uthmanic codex. They instructedtheir followers o follow theQur'5n as the indisputableword of God 145) nd thehighest utho-rityof religion,146) and as the touchstone fortestingthe truth-fulnessof traditions.147) Falsehood cannot come to it, theysaid,since it is the strongrope of God which was not made foranyspecificperiodoftime,ratheras a permanentproof nd manual oftruthforthe whole ofmankind. 148)The onlypointwherethe ImAmsdisagreedwith the 'Uthminiccodex was on theway that siras 93, 94, 105 and 106 werearrangedin that text. The Imams,(149) and followingthem the Shi'itescholars-up to the present150)-maintained, and always openlydeclared,that siras 105 and 106 are a singlesira as it appeared inthe codex of Ubayy.(151) Likewise, they regarded the twosiiras 93 and 94 as two parts of a singlesfira, position also sup-portedby such earlyMuslimauthorities s 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Azizand the tlbi'i Tawfis b. Kaysin.(152)

&~

(145) See, for nstance,Kulayni, II, pp. 596-634; Ibn Babawayh, Kildb al-Amdl((Tehran, 1404/1984),pp. 545-46; Idem, 'Uydn akhbdral-Ridd (Tehran, 1377-79/1958-59), II, p. 56. Also Hurr al-'Amili, Wasd'il al-Sh('a (Tehran, 1376-89/1957-69), IV, pp. 823-31; Ijusayn al-Nofri,Musladrak al-Wasd'il (Qum, 1407/1987), V,pp. 231-45.(146) See al-Sharifal-Radi, Nahj al-Baldgha,sermons1, 18, 108, 145, 156, 174,181, 196 and letter 69.(147) Kulayni, I, pp. 69-70, 100; Ibn Babawayh, 'Uydn, II, p. 21; Idem, Amdl(,p. 367; Hurr al-'Amill, XVIII, pp. 78-89; Husayn al-Nfri, Musladrak, XVII,pp. 302-6.(148) Ibn Babawayh, 'Uydn, II, p. 130.(149) Sayyari, fol; 70b; Shalmaghfni,Kildb al-Taklff published as al-Fiqh al-mansdb ila 'l-Imdmal-Ridd [Mashhad, 1406/1986]),pp. 112-13; Ibn BAbawayh,Thawdbal-a'mdl, ed. 'A. A. Ghaff5ri Tehran, 1391/1971),p. 154; Idem, Man ldYahduruh al-faqfh,ed. 'A. A. Ghaffari (Tehran, 1392-94/1972-74), I, p. 306;Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-TlsiT, l-Tibydn Najaf, 1957-63),X, pp. 371, 412; Idem,al-Istibsdr, d. H. M. Kharsan (Najaf, 1375-76/1955-57), , p. 317; Tabrisi,Majma'al-Baydn(Sidon, 1956-57),XXX, pp. 140-41, 197; Itqdn, I, p. 228; .Hurr l-'Amili,IV, pp. 743-44; Husayn al-NOri,IV, pp. 163-64.

(150) See Jawad al-'Amill,Mifldhal-Karama (Cairo-Sidon-Tehran,1324/ 1906-),II, pp. 385-86 and the sources mentioned therein.(151) Itqdn, I, p. 228; Jeffery, . 179.(152) Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, al-Tafsfr l-kabhrCairo, 1962), XXXII, p. 2; Itqan,I, p. 228.



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 31Over time,however,manySunnitereadings,narratives, nd opi-nions penetrated Shi'ite hadith nd weremistakenlyattributed to

the Imams. Many of these Shi'ite narratives are simply exactcopies of material already found in Sunnite oral culture andbooks. From Ibn Mas'fid's readingadding the House ofthe Pro-phet to those of Abraham and 'Imrfn in 3:33(153)and the mentionof the House of the Prophet in othercases, 154)to the insertionofthe name of All in some verses, 155) o the claim that the Qur'anicversesin the originaltext weregreater nnumberthan those in thepresentQur'5n, 156) o the assertionthat the originaltext includedthe stoningverse 157) nd the verseon the "two gold fields" 158) spart of sira 33, 159) o the point that suras 33 (al-Ahzab)(160)and98 (al-Bayyina) (161) were- riginallymuch longer than they arenow-all of these opinionshad been circulating n Sunnite circlesfor lmost two centuries. The onlydifferencewas that theywerenow found n Shi'ite works and ascribed to Shi'ite authoritieswith,and sometimeswithout,162)pseudo-Shi'ite chains of authority.Another factorclearly contributed to the introductionof thisgenreofmaterial into Shi'ite literature:the special interestof thefollowers f some extremisthereticmovementsamong the Shi'itesects. 163) They exploited such reports n their nterdenominatio-

(153) Sayyari, fol. 12; 'AyyAshi, I, pp. 169, 170; 'All b. Ibrahim, Tafsfral-Qummf= Kildb al-Tafstr (Najaf, 1386/1966), I, p. 100; Furat al-Kifif, p. 18;Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, XXIII, pp. 222, 225-28.(154) Sayyari, fol. 7b, 9b, 16b, 17, 24b, 33b, 39b, 51b.(155) Sayyari,fols.7b, 10a, 16b, 17a, 18a, 45a, 62b; 'Ayyashi, I, p. 245; Kulayni,I, pp. 344, 345, 461. Compare, for nstance, Sayyari's claim (fol.45) that 33:25originallyread kafa 'lldhu 'I-muminfna l-qildlabi 'All ibnAb( TdlibwithSuyfiti,Durr, V, p. 192 (also Baha' al-Din al-Irbill, I, p. 317, quotingfrom unnitesources),where this is quoted as the readingof Ibn Mas'fid.(156) Sayyari, fol. 2b; Kulayni, II, p. 634. This was originallyclaimed by'Umar as quoted in Itqdn,I, p. 242; Muttaqi,Kanz al-'ummdl Aleppo, 1969-77), I,pp. 517, 541.(157) Sayyari, fol. 44b.(158) Ibid., fol. 45b.(159) Ibid., fol. 44b.(160) Ibid., fols. 44a-b; Ibn Bfbawayh, Thawdbal-a 'mdlp. 100.(161) Sayyari, fol. 69a; Kulayni, II, p. 631; Kashshi, p. 589.(162) See Sayydri,passim, where Sunnite materials are cited as parts of state-mentsofthe Shi'ite scholars,not as Shi'ite hadfthswhichshould normallygo backto the Imams (e.g., fol. 2b fromHisham b. S5lim); also wherethose materials arequoted undergeneralreferencesuch as ffhIadfthe.g.,fol.45b) and ruwiya e.g.,fol.44a), which indicate that thereexisted no Shi'ite source or chain of authorityforthem.(163) See Baqillini, p. 310.



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32 HOSSEINMODARRESSInal debates with their moderateShVite contemporaries. Many ofthe Sunnite narratives on the corruption f the text of the Qur'anwere introduced ntoShi'ite literatureby, and underthe authorityof,hadithtransmitters ike Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Sayyari, 164)who is the ultimate authorityformore than one-thirdof all thematerial on this subject in Sh'ite works,165) and Muhammad b.al-Hasan b. Jumhfirl-'Ammi al-Basri(166)both frommid-3rd/9thcentury) and al-Mufaddal b. 'Umar al-Ju'fi,(167) Yiinus b.Zabyin,(168) and Munakhkhal b. Jamil al-Kfifi(169) (all from thelate 2nd/8thcentury). All of these individuals were known fortheirextremist,hereticaltendencies,and because of these tenden-cies were excluded from the mainstream of Shi'ism in their owntimes as well as later.Due mainly to the persistentefforts f the extremistgroupswithinthe Shi'ite community, he bulk of material on this subjectgrew dramatically during the first half of the 3rd/9thcentury.Buildingon the foundationestablishedby the Sunnite authoritiesand following he patternof this Sunnitematerial,they expendedmuch effort n other,similar cases where the name of 'Ali or areference o the House ofthe Prophet could be inserted n a versein orderto make the claim that one orthe otherhad been delibera-tely omitted. A comprehensive presentation of the results ofthese efforts s available in al-Sayyairi'sKilfb al-Qira'ft (alsoknown as Kilib al-Tanzil wa 'l-tahrif).

Beginning in the middle of the 3rd/9th entury, many Shi'itetraditionists tended to believe in the authenticity of these(164) a 'ff,mulahdfit,hdl,munharifIbn al-Ghada'iri,kildbal-Du 'afd',in Quh-pa'i, Majma' al-rijdl,ed. D. 'Allma [Isfahan, 1384-87/1964-67],, p. 149).(165) Rasil Ja'fariyan, Ukdhdbal lahlrif l-Qur'dn bayn al-Shf'a wa 'l-Sunna(Tehran, 1985), p. 46.(166) Ghdl Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Tjisi, Kildb al-Rijdl, ed. M. S. Al Bahral-'Ulum [Najaf, 1961], p. 387); ghdl fdsidal-hadfth,d yuktabuhadfthuhuIbn al-Ghada'irl, V, p. 184); fdsid al-madhhabwa qfla f/hi ashyd' Alldh a'lam bihdmin'izamihd Najashi, p. 337).(167) Pa 'ff,mulahdfit,murtafi' l-qawl,Khaltdbi...hamala 'I-Ghuldluffhadfthihihamlan 'azfman, d yajdzu an yuktabahaddthuhuIbn al-Ghada'iri, VI, p. 131); fdsidal-madhhab,mudfarib l-riwdya, d yu'ba'u bihi (Najfshi, p. 416).(168) Mullahamghdl Kashshi, p. 363); KadhdhdbmashhdrKashshi, p. 546); ghdlwaddd' li 'l-hadfthIbn al-Ghadi'iri, VI, p. 292).(169) Ld shay', mullaham bi 'l-ghuluwwKashshi, p. 368); da'if, f- madhhabihighuluww Ibn al-GhadA'iri,VI, p. 139).



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EARLY DEBATES ON THE INTEGRITY OF THE QUR'AN 33reports. Like their Sunnite counterparts,they maintained thatthe text of the Qur'an suffered from omissions and altera-tions. Traditionists uch as 'All b. Ibrdhim l-Qummi d. ca. 307/919-20) and Sa'd b. 'Abd Allah al-Ash'ari (d. 299-301/912-14) reclearlyin this camp. Othersquoted reportson the topic withoutcomment but may have believed in their authenticity. TheseincludedMuhammadb. Mas'fid al-'Ayyashi (late 3rd/9th entury),Muhammad b. Ya'qiib al-Kulayni (d. 329/941), Muhammad b.'Umar al-Kashshi (early 4th/10thcentury),and Muhammad b.Ibr~himal-Nu'mani (d. ca. 350/961). 170) Therewas, however,nounanimity on the matter among the Shi'ite traditionists. Forexample, scholars such as Ibn Babawayh (d. 381/991-2),who was arepresentative of the more learned branch of the traditionistschool 171) nd whose opinion normallyrepresents heviewpointofall scholars of that branch,stronglyrejected the idea. His posi-tion also sheds light on the dominant opinion among his main-streamShi'ite contemporaries. His statement reads as follows:

Our belief s that the Qur'in which God revealed to His ProphetMuhammads[identical ith] heonebetween he twoboards, nd that tis thatwhich s inthe handsofthepeople, nd it is notgreaternextentthan it... He who asserts that we say that it is greater n extent than this[present text] is a liar. (172)Referencesto this difference f opinion among the Shi'ite scho-lars ofthat period also appear in a contemporary unnite heresio-graphical work, the Maqdldl al-IsldmiyyUn f Abu 'l-Hasan al-Ash'arl (d. 324/936). It names two 173)Shi'ite groupsofhis time:(170) See Etan Kohlberg,"Some noteson the ImamiteAttitude to the Qur'5n,"in S. M. Stern et al. (eds.), Islamic Philosophyand theClassical Tradition Oxford,1972), pp. 211 ff.(171) See my IntroductionoShr'TLaw (London, 1984), pp. 32-33.(172) Ibn Bfbawayh,Risdla fi l-i'tiqdddlTehran, 1370/1951, ogetherwithMiq-dad al-Suyfiri'sal-Ndfi' yawm al-hashrffsharh al-bdb al-h.df''ashr,pp. 66-115),p. 93. See also the title of a work by another Shi'ite traditionistof the sameperiod,Muhammadb. Ahmadb. al-Junaydal-Iskfif,mentionedbyNajashi, p. 388,as: Id.dhkhata' man shanna a "ala 'l-Shfra famr al-Quran.(173) The textherereads "threegroups" altough nothing s said about the thirdgroup. In H. Ritter's edition of this work (Istanbul, 1929) a footnotedescribesthat missinggroup,on the basis of a marginalnote in one manuscript,as "thosewho maintain that non-Qur'anicmaterialshave been added to the text." This is,however,undoubtedlyfalse,as thereapparentlynever existed a groupwho claimedadditionsto the text of the Qur'an but not omissions. It is, therefore,ppropriateto thinkthateither he number s an error, r thatthe author ntended to say thatathirdgroupbelieved that materialshad been both added to and omittedfrom he

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34 HOSSEIN MODARRESSIone believes parts of the originalQur'dn to be missing, althoughnothingcould have been added oraltered n thetext; and the otherdenies any change at all. (174)Commentingon the disagreementamong the Shi'ites on thisquestion, al-Sharif al-Murtad5 (d. 436-1044) identifies thoseShi'ites who supported the view of theirSunnite counterparts nthis case as "only a group of traditionistswho do not understandwhat they are saying nor know where they are going,those whoalways follow narratives and submit to whatever is quoted, whe-ther true or false,withoutany thoughtor reflection,whose viewsare not worthattention." 175) He continues:"As for he scholars,theologians,and rational debatersofour school such as AbfiJa'faribn Qiba, Abu'l-Ahwas, the Nawbakhtis, 176) and theirpredeces-sors and successors,we have nevercome across any opinion among

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