The History Of The Qur’anic Text: From Revelation To Compilation

The History OfThe Qur’anic Text: From Revelation To Compilation

Author: Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami

Publisher: IslamicBook Trust

ISBN: 9789675062636

Pages: 448pp

Weight: 0.650kg

Price: RM69

The Qur’anreigns supreme in Muslim hearts as the most sacred of texts: a profusion ofexalted ideas to rouse the mind, noble histories to stir the soul, universaltruths to awaken the conscience and precise injunctions directing humanity toits own deliverance, all distilled into the melodious essence that is the Wordof Allah. Through fourteen centuries Muslims have persevered in championing thetext against corruption, memorising its every word and contemplating its everyphrase, so that in our own times untold millions have enthusiastially committedeach letter to heart. Beginning with a catalogue of ancient and contemporaryattacks on the Qur’an, this expansive book provides unique insights into theholy text’s immaculate preservation throughout its history, as well asexploring many of the accusations levelled against it. The reception of divinerevelations, Prophet Muhammad’s role in teaching and disseminating theseverses, the text’s compilation under his guidance and the setting of its finalexternal shape shortly after his death, are meticulously and scientificallyexaminded alongside such topics as the origins of Arabic, its palaeography andorthography, the so-called Mushaf of Ibn Mas’ud, and the strict methodologyemployed in assembling textual fragments. By way of comparison the authorinvestigates the histories of the Old and New Testaments, relying entirely onJudaeo-Christian sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls and uncovers astartling range of alterations that touch almost every fact of the BiblicalScriptures. Using this as a springboard for assessing Western theoriesregarding the Qur’an, he makes a sophisticated yet passionate case forquestioning the aims of Western scholarship in continuously undermining Islam’sholy book, and illustrates convincingly that such research, motivated by morethan mere curiousity, has no scientific bearing on the Qur’an’s integrity. Thismonumental effort, a scholarly work composed in an impassioned tone, provides awelcome foundation for sincere study at a time when assailing the Qur’an hasbecome all too common.