Perfect Preservation of the Quran Doesn’t Hold Up

“I asked Ubai bin Ka’b, ‘O Abu Al-Mundhir! Your brother, Ibn Mas’ud said so-and-so (i.e., the two Mu’awwidh-at [Surah 113 and 114] do not belong to the Qur’an).’ Ubai said, ‘I asked Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) about them, and he said, They have been revealed to me, and I have recited them (as a part of the Qur’an),’ So Ubai added, ‘So we say as Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) has said.’” Sahih Bukhari 4977

“Once Abdullah bin Mas’ud delivered a sermon before us and said, ‘By Allah, I learnt over seventy Suras direct from Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). By Allah, the companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) came to know that I am one of those who know Allah’s Book best of all of them, yet I am not the best of them.’ Shaqiq added: I sat in his religious gathering and I did not hear anybody opposing him (in his speech).” Sahih Bukhari 5000

“‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud disliked Zaid bin Thabit [copier of Uthman’s codex] copying the Musahif, and he said: ‘O you Muslim people! I am removed from recording the transcription of the Mushaf and it is overseen by a man, by Allah, when I accepted Islam he was but in the loins of a disbelieving man’ - meaning Zaid bin Thabit - and it was regarding this that ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud said: ‘O people of Al-’Iraq! Keep the Musahif that are with you, and conceal them. For indeed Allah said: And whoever conceals something, he shall come with what he concealed on the Day of Judgement (3:161). So meet Allah with the Musahif.’” Az-Zuhri said: “It was conveyed to me that some men amongst the most virtuous of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) disliked that view of Ibn Mas’ud.” Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3104

Quran 92:3 reads in today’s Quran:

“And [by] He who created the male and female,” Quran 92:3

But Ibn Mas’ud (Muhammad's trusted reciter) recited Quran 92:3 as:

“By the male and the female.” Sahih Bukhari 4944

And Abu Ad-Darda (one of the four collectors of the Quran) heard Muhammad recite it the same way as Ibn Mas’ud and refused to switch:

“The companions of `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud) came to Abu Darda’, (and before they arrived at his home), he looked for them and found them. Then he asked them,: ‘Who among you can recite (Qur’an) as `Abdullah recites it?” They replied, “All of us.” He asked, “Who among you knows it by heart?” They pointed at ‘Alqama. Then he asked Alqama. “How did you hear `Abdullah bin Mas`ud reciting Surat Al-Lail (The Night)?” Alqama recited: ‘By the male and the female.’ Abu Ad-Darda said, “I testify that I heard me Prophet reciting it likewise, but these people want me to recite it:-- ‘And by Him Who created male and female.’ but by Allah, I will not follow them.” Sahih Bukhari 4944Sahih Muslim 824a

Marwan destroyed the original, Hafsa’s manuscript, because he was afraid of us checking it, eliminating verification of preservation:

“So Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, ‘Send us the manuscripts of the Qur’an so that we may compile the Qur’anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you.’ Hafsa sent it to Uthman.” Sahih Bukhari 4987

“Marwan used to send to Hafsa asking her about the scrolls from which the Qur’an was written, but Hafsa refused to give them to him. Salim said: When Hafsa died and we returned from burying her, Marwan sent a firm message to Abdullah bin Umar, ordering him to send those scrolls to him. Abdullah bin Umar sent them to him, and Marwan ordered them to be torn up. Marwan said: I only did this because what was in them had already been written down and preserved in the Quran, and I feared that if time passed, someone might doubt the authenticity of these scrolls, or say that some of them were not written down. Its chain of narration is authentic.” Ibn Kathir, The Virtues of the Qur’an, p. 85

The Hafsa codex audit: If Hafsa’s manuscript perfectly matched Uthman’s standardized version, why destroy the source material? You don’t burn the audit trail unless the audit trail can become a problem.

The original Harvard/Stanford study cites Sanaa 1 as a parallel textual tradition and as evidence for the rival Companion codices of Ubayy and Ibn Mas’ud reported by Islamic sources:

“The lower text of Ṣan‘ā’ 1 is at present the most important document for the history of the Qur’ān. As the only known extant copy from a textual tradition beside the standard ‘Uthmānic one, it has the greatest potential of any known manuscript to shed light on the early history of the scripture. Comparing it with parallel textual traditions provides a unique window onto the initial state of the text from which the different traditions emerged.” p. 1

“Ṣan‘ā’ 1 constitutes direct documentary evidence for the reality of the non-‘Uthmānic text types that are usually referred to as ‘Companion codices.’” p. 19

“the ordering is closer to those of Ibn Mas‘ūd and Ubayy b. Ka‘b than to that of ‘Uthmān.” p. 24

Sadeghi et al. “Ṣan’ā’ 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān.” (Harvard/Stanford)

“It seems, then, that the lower layer of the palimpsest, whether or not it included the full text of the Quran as presently known, contained a run of entire suras arranged in a way that was commonly applied in quranic codices. Such a sequential succession of verses and suras is not what one would expect of a disparate selection of quranic material copied out as a scribal exercise, but is entirely consonant with the process of producing a complete scriptural codex (muṣḥaf). ... It seems preponderantly likely, hence, that the scribe or scribes who produced both layers of the palimpsest were engaged in the project of copying out an entire Quran.” Nicolai Sinai, “Beyond the Cairo Edition,” p. 204

“The analysis conducted here demonstrates that the fragments did indeed form a complete codex, and one which when reconstructed reveals an early non-ʿUṯmānic text, sharing some similarities with the so-called ‘Companions’ codices’” Cellard, “The Ṣanʿāʾ Palimpsest: Materializing the Codices”, p. 1

“Ibn Masʿūd’s dissent had echoes in the fourth/tenth century, with copies derived from his codex still circulating. Similar information is transmitted by Ibn Qutayba who reports in the third/ninth century that Qurʾanic copies diverging from the canonical text were still found. The Codex Ṣanʿāʾ I, based on a textual tradition which was not altogether eliminated in Umayyad times, confirms the reports of the tradition. Although their historicity can be questioned at some points, their concern with literacy underlines its importance for the first generations of Muslims. All these facts point to a plural written transmission during the first century of Islam—one which survived well into the fourth/tenth century.” Déroche, “Qurʾans of the Umayyads: A First Overview”, p. 137

Two mass-printed Qurans, Hafs (most of the Muslim world) and Warsh (North and West Africa), still differ in many verses.51 Hafs vs Warsh differences (Muslim source)

1. Hafs: “many a prophet fought” (qātala).
2. Warsh: “many a prophet were killed” (qutila).

Quran 3:146

1. Hafs: “He [the Prophet] said, ‘My Lord knows whatever is said throughout the heaven and earth, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.’” (qāla).
2. Warsh: “Say [O Muhammad], ‘My Lord knows whatever is said throughout the heaven and earth, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.’” (qul).

Quran 21:4

1. Hafs: “Indeed, We have sent you, [O Muhammad], with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner, and you will not be asked about the companions of Hellfire.” (tus’alu).
2. Warsh: “Indeed, We have sent you, [O Muhammad], with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner, and do not ask about the companions of Hellfire.” (tas’al).

Quran 2:119

1. Hafs: “And take [O believers], from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer.”
2. Warsh: “And they [O believers] have taken, from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer.”

Quran 2:125