Description

The History of the Qur’anic Text – From Revelation to Compilation

(A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments)

by M.M. Al-Azami

The Qur’an reigns supreme in Muslim hearts as the most sacred of texts: a profusion of exalted ideas to rouse the mind, noble histories to stir the soul, universal truths to awaken the conscience and precise injunctions for the deliverance of humanity, all distilled into the melodious essence that is the Word of Allah. Through fourteen centuries Muslims have championed the text against corruption and enthusiastically committed each letter to heart.

This expansive book provides unique insights into the holy text’s immaculate preservation as well as exploring many of the accusations leveled against it. The reception of divine revelations, Prophet Muhammad’s role in disseminating and compiling these verses, and the setting of the text’s final external shape, are scientifically examined alongside such topics as the origins of Arabic, the so-called Mushaf of Ibn Mas’ud, and the strict methodology employed in assembling textual fragments.

By way of comparison the author investigates the histories of the Old and New Testaments, relying entirely on Judaeo-Christian sources and uncovers a startling range of alterations in the Biblical Scriptures. Using this as a springboard, he illustrates convincingly that Western research into Islam’s Holy Book is motivated by more than mere curiosity, and has no scientific bearing on the Qur’an’s integrity.

This monumental effort, a scholarly work composed in an impassioned tone, provides a welcome foundation for sincere study at a time when assailing the Qur’an has become all too common.