“And we did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that when he spoke [or recited], Satan threw into it [some misunderstanding]. But Allah abolishes that which Satan throws in, then Allah makes precise His verses. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.”
(Ch: 22, V: 52, The Qur’an)
Ibn Omar
When Ibn Omar said, “much of the Quran has been lost”, he was speaking about the deaths of the people who used to memorize Quran and teach it. (Remember this!) The Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, foretold that the Quran would be taken away. Then heedlessness of religion and God would prevail and the earth would contain only evil people. The Muslims would be touched by a cool wind which would afflict them and they would die, leaving only non-believers. That the Muslim scholars, as well as memorizers would die, and less of them would remain is one of the minor signs of the Day of Judgment - which may happen any time after the Prophet and has already happened in the past and will continue to happen until the Quran is forgotten. We don’t know when the major signs of the Hour will all come to pass, but when the sun rises from the West and not from the East, such as could happen if the Earth were jolted with great force or whatever might happen to cause that, that will be one of the final signs of the Day of Judgment. (When there was a great Tsunami in Indonesia in 2010, the earth was jolted from its axis 1 cm.) Indeed Allah causes the sun to rise in the East, as Abraham in the Quran told Pharaoh, Allah makes the sun rise in the East therefore can you (Pharaoh) make it rise in the West? Or he said something similar to that, which is in the story of Abraham’s message to the Pharaoh of his time. The point is that the Quran has not been lost, nor any part of it has been lost; the hadith in which Ibn Omar says “much of the Quran has been lost” is speaking to the fact that scholars will die; without the scholars and only ignorant people to interpret the verses, the vast majority of the interpretation will disappear. He was not suggesting at the time however that the vast majority of Muslims in his day were ignorant, they were not, but some of the important scholars or memorizers of his day had passed on. Ibn Omar’s time was characterized by a lot of learning, not ignorance, so the hadith only highlights the fact that Muslims in all eras and times, even until today, took to heart the words of the Prophet Muhammad and also feared that ignorant people would outnumber the educated ones and that the preeminent scholars would die. Muslims feared also that Islam would decline in good people and power which stems from Godliness, which later happened with the decline of the Islamic Empire.
The Prophet foretold that the Qur’an would be taken away by the death of scholars and also that people would recite the Qur’an but the recitation wouldn’t reach their throats, meaning they would not be rewarded for their recitation( because they were insincere to Allah or they don’t practice Islam like Muslims who read Qur’an should).
Another hadith tells that in the future there will be Muslims who will recite the Qur’an but they will do it for show; this is a supporting proof that “much of the Quran has been lost” doesn’t mean whole verses or chapters were lost or that the Community of Muslims had forgotten parts of the Quran. This supporting evidence rather suggests insincerity or arrogance will arise. Despite the gloom, there have always been reliable people who memorized and taught the Quran, as well as scholars of tafsir and hadiths, and scholars of all other important areas of study (Usool Fiqh, Islamic Jurisprudence, and also Arabic studies). There are 100,000s of Hafadh Quran today. Just one family, can have several members who are Hafadh; we see this often in the Middle East and Africa alone.
The Quran itself states that it cannot be attacked from in front or from behind; it is protected by the Almighty, it is complete and free from errors. The Mother of the Book contains the Quran; the Quran is with Allah, in the “preserved tablet” (al–laugh al-Mahfudh). From the Mother of the Book, the Quran was revealed piecemeal to Muhammad, pbuh. Knowledge of the Quran on earth is also protected by Allah until such time as He will take it away. There has been no death of scholars en-masse – the final days, this may include also the removal of all books which have Quran and the tafsir; whether the Prophet foretold the “removal” of scholars, students of Islam, and the actual books of tafsir (explanation and interpretation) or any other present-day sources of knowledge, Allah knows best.
“But the ones who strove against Our verses, [seeking] to cause failure – those are the companions of Hellfire.
(Ch: 22, V: 51, The Quran)
Book burning
To compare what Muslims do with the Qur’an, even to burn some loose pages of the Quran, or to bury it in the ground to prevent anything evil happening to the excess copies or old torn copies of the Quran which believers must take care to keep from defilement, therefore Muslims sometimes have to bury or otherwise protect these copies, or worn out books or pieces of Quran and other books containing Quranic verses, or also Arabic writing which should not be thrown in the garbage, which may contain the names of Prophets, or any Arabic writing, which according to scholars should not be thrown in the trash, is not similar to what the non-Muslims intend when they decide to have “Burn a Quran Day”. Even Arabic newspapers are preferably burned or buried in clean ground free of filth. For the non-Muslim to laughingly say that the Muslims had burned their Qur’ans is stupidity. Muslims do not burn copies of the Qur’an; they bury excess numbers of unused Qurans. Muslims don’t burn the Holy Book, they do sometimes burn loose pages of the Quran so those will not be lost or defiled. This is what I have understood on the subject.
It seems, the non-Muslim David Wood and his cohorts prefer time-wasting activities in front of the camera, such as “randomly” picking up Islamic texts and misinterpreting them in a charade for their equally idiotic audiences (the people who enjoy such fare) instead of studying them, and others (like I) can use their material and videos to put their false interpretations under fire in blog posts. David Wood is like a misbehaving little boy - he behaves childishly and is predictably easy to counter yet equally annoying. I would like in all honesty for him to have that grin wiped off his face, maybe if he reads this - that might do it. But often evangelical Christians are blind to their own follies. They cannot see Truth even if it hits them in the face.
Deeds are judged by the intention
The Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, said, “inna al aamalu bi niyaat, wa inna li kulli imri in ma nawa, fa man kana hijra atuhu lillahi wa rasooli, fa hijra atuhu lillahi wa rasooli, wa man kana hijra atuhu li dunya li yusibuha, aw li imra atin, li yan kihuha, fa hijra atuhu li ma hajaru ilay” which translated means,
“Verily, the deeds are by the intention, and each one shall have that which he intended. He whose migration was for Allah and His Messenger, his migration was for Allah and His Messenger, and he whose migration was for some worldly benefit, or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he intended.”
Similarly, Muslims intend no evil by burying copies of the Quran, or burning pieces of writing which contain Quranic verses, or similar actions. It is the non-believers intention to defile the words of Allah, or to cause pain to Muslims by their actions, which they claim are freedom of expression or freedom of speech, therefore they are responsible for their actions and do not the least harm to Islam or Muslims. Allah is not in need of their worship and His Kingdom is not any less because of their refusal of Islam, or because of their evil actions. Glory to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Let the early Muslims speak
David Wood and also his Arab friend do not “Read to understand” and often they seem incapable of understanding plain English (a translation of the original, which suffices for this example will follow).
“Let no one of you say that he has acquired the entire Qur’an, for how does he know that it is all?
Much of the Quran has been lost. Thus let him say, I have acquired what is available.”
David Wood misrepresents what Ibn Omar says (above) as recorded by As-Suyuti. Next, is the source which he used to “show” that the Quran is missing two chapters - a claim which is not supported by the source he cites, yet he believes that it is?
We have to wonder, when did this happen (what was the context)? Was it before or after the collection of all the pieces of the Quran into a Book? Many of the grand reciters of Quran had died prior to and during Caliph Omar’s time therefore Uthman, RA during his Caliphate, ordered the holders of Qur’anic copies (chapters or verses) or fragments, and the best reciters to come and he made an official copy of the Qur’an. Then, Uthman ordered that the other copies or fragments (verses on palm leaf, bone, etc.) be burned, (this was done) so that there would be no original sources “floating” about which could later be changed or lost. He ordered that five copies of the first Quran (mushaf) be made and distributed them to parts of the Islamic Kingdom. Since then, the Qur’an (in book form) has been preserved and other copies were always made from the original and the five copies until they numbered in the thousands and today Quran numbers in the millions. The Quran has been checked every time it is printed for accuracy, there are no typos, printing errors in the Arabic Quran. This might not be the case for copies of Tafseer (Arabic with English or other language explanation) which do not face the same stringent process as the printing of Qurans (in Saudi Arabia), but are very reliable, nonetheless.
Because many reciters died during battles or due to illness or old age, also, the younger generation of Muslims who followed didn’t have their teachers to acquire more knowledge of the Quran from, specifically the exegesis; explanation of the verses. Therefore, when Ibn Umar tells the Muslim, “for how does he know that it is all?” means that, if his memory fails or if he had already forgotten, (which happens to everyone at some time, except very exceptional people). But that would mean maybe (he had lost) a verse here or there, or even a chapter, here or there (I will explain more about the “two chapters” David Wood says are “missing” from the Qur’an), not “much of the Qur’an”. In actuality, what the hadith tells us is that the younger generation of Muslims could no longer ask their scholars what the explanation of the verses (or hadiths, and other areas of knowledge, also) were, because they had died and taken that knowledge with them. The knowledge which some students had was often less than what their scholars had to teach of knowledge (“Thus, let him say I have acquired what is available.”) But that was not always the case. Find out why, next paragraph.
Why Qur’an is not lost
It happened in early Islamic history that some of the students of Islam excelled their teachers and even became more learned and prominent than their scholars. So there is no danger that what brother David and others suggest e.g. that the Quran is missing verses or even one word. Nor is it true that the knowledge of tafsir, the correct meaning of the Qur’an was lost.
E.g. Imam Ahmed excelled his teachers, he memorized 1,000,000 hadiths and compiled in his “Musnad Ibn Hanbal”, 28,000 – 29,000 Prophetic hadiths.
Imam Malik (born 93 or 94 AH) studied under 900 professors and taught Imam Ash-Shafi’i (150 AH – 204 AH)
Abu Da’ud (born 202 AH) studied under Imam Ahmed along with Al-Bukhari and taught many of the later hadiths scholars, e.g. At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa’i.
All of the Islamic scholars also had to be memorizers of the Quran. Studies in Islamic law, or Hadith methodology had prerequisites; much like studying at Princeton has a tough application process and/or stringent academic requirements and prerequisites today.
Al-Bukhari the most famous Hadiths scholar of all time, said about ‘Ali bin Al-Madini (whom most ordinary Muslims have never heard of), “I never belittled myself before anyone else except before ‘Ali Al-Madini” (died 234 AH). He was the Hafiz of his time and the exemplary of Ahl Al-Ahadith (the scholars of the hadith), according to the biography of him found in the book compiled by Al Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, from which I often quote (Bulugh Al-Marram is a textbook; said to be written by Muhammad bin Ismail As-Sanani). Al-Madini was not the student of Al-Bukhari, but was his teacher! What does this say about the excellence of Al-Bukhari in terms of his learning? And what does it say about his prof?
Definitely, Uthman, RA, made a book form of the Qur’an which was checked against the best reciters, and there is no doubt that it was in complete form. The Qur’an we have today is the same as the first Qur’an. (God knows best, and I will explain further on about why some Qurans may have fewer chapters but still the same wording). The fact that Muslims have always been eager to study the Quran, the tafsir, and hadiths and to pass on the knowledge as it originated is enough for us to trust in the accuracy of what is in the Quran, and in most of what are the major hadiths collections; as far as accuracy, the second most reliable and authentic book after the Quran being Saheeh Al – Bukhari.
Hadiths
The Saheeh Al-Bukhari is the most accurate hadiths collection; Sahih Muslim follows it in correctness, and so on. The major hadiths scholars or some of them, developed a system by which the traditions could be graded, so that each hadith has a chain or narrators, and each hadith is recorded in the same wording, or different wordings, (slight variations in wording or meanings are usually one of the complaints of some critics) depending on who narrated from who in a chain to the Prophet himself. The chain, the reliability of the narrators, and the wording all reflect the level of accuracy, the source and the general trustworthiness, or if the opposite, the unworthiness of what was said or transmitted. What non-Muslims sometimes fail to understand is that when we say that Sahih Bukhari is the most accurate and authentic book after the Holy Quran, we are not saying that there are definitely no errors, or that it is divinely inspired. Firstly, one should examine the text itself. Imam Bukhari heard many hadiths and included them in his books (collection), while he rejected other hadiths; his hadiths collection may therefore be smaller than some others, or doesn’t include many of the hadiths which other collections included, e.g. Al Muwatta or Al Musnad. Secondly, the Sahih traditions are accurate as to the details about their source, the chain of narrators and what was said, but that doesn’t suggest in any way that a hadith graded “weak” or “unreliable” is something which is truthful as to the (intended) meaning e.g. what the hadith (or narrator) suggests might never have happened or is misleading or wrong. That should be self-evident, but apparently many people do not know what the purpose of a “grading system” is. E.g. it’s not enough to say that a hadith is from Sahih Bukhari, it could be Sahih (strong), or it could be Mursal (missing a person in the chain) or Daif (weak). One should also keep in mind that many narrations which we mistakenly call Hadiths are actually referred to in Arabic as “Athar” (were not inspired as the words of the Prophet would be - which are often part of a longer narration or the Prophet’s explanation of a verse in the Qur’an (a hadith being his own story or a description of what he had said or done which recalls his (exact) words. Some people therefore deceive their audience by saying a narration is a (Prophetic) hadith; or that a hadith is “Sahih”, but rather it is only found in a Sahih collection and can even be mursal/daif/wahin.
There are hadiths which are “mansukh”, which means abrogated; similar to verses which are abrogated, these hadiths are known, but there is no validity of using such for any verdicts. When slavery was disallowed (it was not the practice of the Prophet, pbuh, to take free men as slaves) especially after the Islamic government was established in Medina, therefore hadiths about slavery insisted on good treatment of slaves, and moreover freeing of slaves was highly encouraged.
There are hadiths which are (commonly) known to be false, or weak. These hadiths may be included in the major collections, but the reader knows that they are false or weak and are not hadiths which were/are used by scholars in the early generations/ or today, to make fatawas. No Islamic judgment contains wisdom based on a false or weak hadith. Judgments or fatawas may cite a “weak” hadith if there is no other hadith on the subject, but Quran must first be consulted; if the weak hadith contradicts anything in the Quran it is not used as supporting evidence. An example is the hadith about the menstrual blood which remains on clothing. Because there is nothing in the hadiths on the subject except one hadith (which is daif - a weak hadith) this may be cited in the judgment that women can dress and pray in clothing which has been properly washed according to what we know from the hadith which mentions the method of washing and also, that one may then pray in it and there is no harm.
What does the Quran mention about the subject?
This is because the Quran says, “There is no difficulty in religion” and Muslims take this to mean that anything which would make the religion difficult to practice would not be an important consideration; one should do what is easier for him/her. Thus, people who are sick are exempt from fasting and may make up days later, or if they cannot, may feed a poor for every day missed, for example. As well, when there is a choice between two permissible actions, one may take the easier road, is what is meant, as Aisha, RA, told us, when there were two options, and they were both permissible, the Prophet liked to take the easier option or he encouraged others also to take the easier option. He also warned the Muslims not to make the prayers too long, because that might cause some people to dislike the prayer. There are many examples which could be given, but I will let these suffice for lack of time.
- Fasting can be cut short if one is travelling, or beginning a journey and wishes to break his fast, as it was a practice of the Prophet, although he didn’t always take this option.
- One shortens the prayers, and it is considered preferable during journeys. One may also join the prayers, but it is not required. Aisha, RA, used to not join her prayers during travels because she said, “it is not difficult for me” (it was easy for her to do her prayers in the fixed times for prayers as one who is not travelling).
- The sick or invalid person may pray sitting, or lying or by gesticulating if not able to perform the proper movements at all. Even paralyzed people who have their faculties (they understand) perform the prayers, although someone should make wudhu for them (purification for prayer with water), or if they are partially paralyzed they can make tayammum, if that is easier (purification by using some clean earth).
- Muslims living in a land of the non-Muslims can eat from their utensils, but it is better if they can eat from their own utensils; it is allowed “…do not eat in theirs, but if you cannot get other than theirs, wash them and eat in them.” (Agreed Upon)
Second Argument is also flawed
“Ubayy was the best of us in the recitation (of the Quran), yet we leave some of what he recites. Ubayy says I have learned it from the mouth of Allah’s Messenger and will not leave it for anything whatever.”
Sahih Bukhari (6.61.527)
(I cite the hadith according to David’s account, which probably is correct as to wording, but I haven’t checked the reference. Notice, it doesn’t mention if the hadith is Sahih, Mursal, Daif, or of another grade).
It means that these people who knew Ubayy were praising him because he recites the Quran best and he also applies what he has learned of Quran and ilm (knowledge). 1) They do not say that he had forgotten the Quran, nor do they say that he doesn’t apply it 2) but they admit that they do not apply what he does of the Quran. What exactly they are referring to is not mentioned here; it could be anything, such as additional acts of worship, etc. Without knowledge of the actual context, we don’t know (about the details) except that he is a praiseworthy person and “practices what he preaches.” We would have to know more to know definitely what is being stressed. But I will tell you what the context really is, probably you can guess if you read back. An alternate (accurate) interpretation might be that people did not recite as Ubay recited, yet his recitation was not disliked or wrong. Likewise, their recitation was not disliked or wrong.
It is possible that many people after the Prophet forgot a large part of what they had learned of the Qur’an (e.g. a chapter); either the recitation or the tafsir or both. That doesn’t support the idea that all the people forgot and didn’t teach the next generation of Muslims. There is no evidence whatsoever for this anywhere.
This “expert” happily admits to the audience that “[Ubayy] was the best reciter of the Quran”.
His friend Nabil asks, “Wasn’t Ubayy the best reciter of the Qur’an?”
David: “He was”, grinning broadly.
(He has done his homework)
Next Nabil asks, “Wasn’t he the fourth best teacher of the Quran?”
David: “He was”, pumping his arm and exalting.
(He has done his homework)
He brings us the authentic sources, so that we can check them later. Unfortunately, for him and his listeners, he doesn’t seem able to understand his own mother tongue! But don’t believe me, judge for yourself. Visit David Wood’s own channel, see for yourself. I also have his and many similar videos and much more for viewers on my YouTube TM channel, either in the playlists or in uploads (only six uploads).
David reads
“We used to recite a sura which resembled in length and severity to sura Bara’at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: ‘If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of Adam but dust.’ And we used to recite a sura which resembled Musabbihat, but I have forgotten it.”
(Sahih Muslim 2286)
Yes, as Allah, SWT, says, the son of Adam forgets, and that is why the root of the word Insan (humankind) means, forgetful. Allah created humans “forgetful”; that is a characteristic of all humans. The Arabic word, Ins means forgetful and describes humankind.
“So this is saying that two chapters of the Qur’an are missing!” exalts David.
Nabil says, “Your right…!”
But when I read it, as you can do - just look above in the block writing below “David reads”, I didn’t understand that at all. How does he get the idea that two chapters of the Quran are missing from the hadith above? He didn’t, it is just that he is LYING = DAVID IS A LIAR. If you know David like I think I know him, you would not be surprised.
LYING = DAVID IS A LIAR (Or a moron)
One person says he has forgotten ‘this and this’ from the Qur’an and David deduces from this that the Quran is missing two chapters??
Why not half of the Quran??
Oh because, the speaker says “I have... forgotten [two suras or almost two suras]”. This means that they were ‘removed’ from the Quran?? We know that is not what was said, nor what is written above. David, is your mother tongue English? Or maybe it isn’t? What IS your mother tongue then?
I have to explain something here, which is that the Quran is “an Arabic Quran” - as one verse of the Quran reads, “Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an that you might understand” (Chapter 12, Verse 2) I don’t judge the Christian for trying to learn more about the history of the Quran and Islamic history, but I do judge him for trying to teach Muslims their own religion; The Quran is in Arabic, so we ask the Arab-speakers for explanation of the verses, etc. The hadiths also are in Arabic but we study them, oftentimes, in English. There is no harm studying in English or another language as long as we ask those who know. But I do take great offence at David Wood’s method of preaching. He is not only dishonest, or illiterate or both, but his attitude is reprehensible. Muslims have a great religion, which they have a right to be proud of - he expresses his hatred of that which he has not the least idea about. Then he makes a jackass of himself by misrepresenting the meaning of verses or hadiths, and on top of that doesn’t even understand the English! (Nabil is a parrot and doesn’t give off a vibe that says “trust me”, but no doubt many people will believe anything he says because he is an Arab and a Christian, which distracts the readers from what is really happening.)
What does this mean?
“Let no one of you say that he has acquired the entire Qur’an, for how does he know that it is all?
Much of the Quran has been lost. Thus let him say, I have acquired what is available.”
I explained most of this hadith earlier, but would like to add one comment.
It is well known to Muslims that the early Muslims were devout Muslims and the best people of the Ummah, generally. Their piety exceeded our piety, and their knowledge exceeded the knowledge of the most knowledgeable among us today, generally.
Thus we believe that the majority of the early first three generations of Muslims were exceptional Muslims and deserve our praises, may Allah be pleased with them all. That being said, and on the subject of piety, I ask, wouldn’t such people be modest and good? Wouldn’t they speak the truth, and wouldn’t they fear to exaggerate or praise themselves for fear of committing sin? Yes, I think so. But they carried the religion and were adept at acquiring knowledge. Some praised others and others praised the ones who praised them.
Today, we might say,
“I have acquired what I was capable of”, for example. One can still find a few individuals whose knowledge (and memorization) in hadiths, for example, is remarkable, but they are fewer than in the past.
It is possible, that when a Muslim is hafadh (has committed the Quran to memory) that he might sometimes forget some of it, and needs to revise in order not to forget. The Prophet, Muhammad, pbuh, explained that “The Quran slips away like a horse when it is not securely tied” or as was said by him, pbuh. It means that it is easily forgotten if not revised. This is why it is a recommended act to continually revise the verses and chapters of Quran one has memorized on a daily basis. We also believe that it is a sin to forget what one has memorized of the Quran.
As with his previous statements about Aisha, that she called someone a liar (a person which Omar had warned about how he speaks), David attempts to throw a bad light on Zayd ibn Thabit and also the ones who are the subject of the hadith.
“The people have been guilty of deceit in the reading of the Qur’an. I like it better to read according to the way of him whom I love (I.e. Muhammad) more than that of Zayd ibn Thabit”
Ibn Sa’d, Kitab al Tabaqat al-Kabir, vol.2, p.444.
The fact that immediately the narrator (I’m led to believe it is Ibn Masud) as recorded by Ibn Sa’d, says, “I like it better”, as opposed to a stronger condemnation following the previous word “deceit” suggests that the word “deceit” itself is out of place in the context of the hadith. We should therefore understand that he preferred his reading to the others’ reading because that was how he had learned it from the Prophet, pbuh. He calls the Prophet, “him whom I love”, which is natural, and that doesn’t mean that he didn’t also love the companion of the Prophet, Zayd ibn Thabit, because he did. The prophet Muhammad loved Zayd and also had told others to love the ones whom he loves.
As with the wording of Aisha, there is some question as to what was the intention of the word “deceit” in this hadith, and what was the intention of Aisha when she called a person a “liar”. In either case, we can take the hadith ‘with a grain of salt’; we can say that maybe we don’t know exactly what was intended in each case.
What we do understand is that there are slight variations only between some of the qiraat and the others. Some qiraat only differ from others in one or two words (pronunciation is meant), some in one phrase only, such as the above example. The reason for this is easier explained in looking at the Arabic. Qirras also means “dialects”. (I will show what David actually reveals about the authenticity of the Qur’an, so don’t miss the end of this post and Part Two (“hang in there”).
Clarification needed
Sometimes during recitation, one has to repeat part of a verse, because it will not be grammatically correct if one doesn’t do that. One has the choice to stop in a certain place, or to keep reading as well. So there are different ways of reading which do not change the meaning, but actually preserve the meaning. Either way is correct (to stop or to keep reading) and this also demonstrates why Muslims should study Tajweed (recitation). If one stops in the wrong place, or forgets to read part of the verse again the way was done by the Prophet, pbuh, then it is not correct in its meaning. Some verses, if read without proper Tajweed (rules for recitation) may be the opposite in meaning to what is intended when read properly.
Ten different Qiraat – 7 major ones
There are seven main styles (qiraat) and in total 10 styles (qiraat); which were demonstrated by the Prophet, these have only slight differences including the dialects of the different tribes at the time of the early Muslims.
One easy example is of the word in Sura Yusuf (Chapter 12, The Quran),
The phrase, “Yusuf ignore this” is a good example because it is more common to find words that are very different sounding (comparing) pronunciation in Qiraat “warsh” (than from one Qiraat to another of the other dialects). In Qiraat “warsh” this happens with the alif, and other letters, e.g. ya, it is pronounced very differently than in any other (or in few others) of the Arabic dialects. (“Soosi” is another dialect, but I don’t have much knowledge of it, except that it is obviously Arabic, and one can easily follow the recitation with any (Arabic) Qur’an. I have one video of “Sura Yusuf” recited in Soosi on my channel.
Sura: 12, Verse: 29, “Yusuf ignore this”.
As well, an example in the same Sura to demonstrate what is meant about the Tajweed, rules of recitation, follows,
“Akrimi mathwa” is read twice, but appears only once in the verse. It means “Make his residence comfortable”.
“And the one from Egypt who bought him said to his wife, “Make his residence comfortable. Perhaps he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son.” (Chapter 12, Verse 21)
It can be understood therefore, that the King (e.g. “the one from Egypt who bought him”) told his wife to “Make his [Yusuf’s] residence comfortable.” And then his first statement is repeated in the actual conversation to his wife which continues, e.g. “Make his residence comfortable [(because) perhaps] he will benefit us, or we will adopt him as a son.” But the verse always appears as in the (direct quote) above.
There are many similar instances in the Quran and it is due to the rules of Tajweed that we know how to read them properly, or also by learning by ear and memorizing. To a person who doesn’t know Arabic and who doesn’t read Quran this might seem like a difficult issue but it really isn’t. It takes time to learn how to read properly, however, if one is interested in learning Tajweed.
I just would add that unfortunately, I lack many resources which some other people with websites have, and also many of the resources which non-Muslims have which they use to fight Islam. But I hope my blog can grow and also help dispel myths about Islam and the Quran, God willing.
(I asked readers to remember what I said about the Qur’an being “lost”)
David Wood concludes that when Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, sent many reciters of Qur’an into the battle and they died, “much of the Qur’an was lost”. In his own words, he admits that the death of the reciters equals the loss of the Qur’an. He is not able to prove that verses are lost or missing (from the “books of Qur’an”) in fact he says the opposite of that and his ‘proofs’ show that the Qur’an today is the same as the original.
You can look forward to Part Two for more, next.
