11-16-2004, 07:24 PM
Hi Ronniv,
I would like to comment this
''How can there be 2 originals? Do you know what that word means? And it is NOT true that either one of them is an “original”. There is no known Quranic manuscript that is dated to the time of your prophet. If you look here: http://www.islam101.com/quran/source_quran.html, you will see that the manuscript at Istanbul is a COPY. Specifically, a COPY that was made under Uthman; not an original.''
To make it very short:
To my knowledge there was one original copy of the Qur'an that the Prophet Muhammad's wife Hafsah had in her house. And then seven copies of it was done of that and they were then sent to Makkah, Syria, Basrah, Kufah, Yemen, Bahrain and one remained in al-Madeenah. Caliph Uthman sent one official reciter of the Qur'an with each copy in order to clear up any problems which might later arise. He also ordered that all other copies of the Qur'an be destroyed, as people had made notes in their personal copies and some copies were incomplete. (A very wise decision according to me). All new copies were then made from the official copy called Mush-haf Uthmaan, and in that way the Qur'an was saved from any kind of change or loss.
One VERY IMPORTANT thing to have in mind is that the Qur'an has not undergone any changes before or after Uthman. The letters are exactly the same before and after. No additions no withdrawels. That you can also read on the web site you recommend. So the preserved Qur'an that can be looked upon today are very old and handwritten examples. Today we don't have handwritten copies, they are printed. But not matter handwritten or printed the letters are the same today as they were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, SAAWS. He read and recited the Qur'an in the exact same wording as I do.
If you truly want to understand Islam and the Qur'an and learn about Islam from Islamic sources from the bottom of your heart, and my sisters and brothers have given you several opportunities and directed you to reading about it, this is surely a good starting point. But this takes time and engagement and it is grounded on a deep genuine wish to know the truth. It is only you that can make and take that decision.
Or you can take the easy way out and listen to second hand opinions of Islam. Unfortunately they are many out on the internet, in particular. But as I said, this is between you and Allah, SWT if you want to know His truth or not. It takes a lot of work and effort and time and sweat to do it. It is up to you what is most important for you - to know the truth or hang on to what you have. The choice that we all have to take. It is a choice of the heart and soul for the future. And in the end that choice is what you will bring with you and show before Allah, SWT on the day that we are going to meet Him and tell Him 'our story'.
Wish you good luck,
Regards Umm Zachariah