This is the Book about which there is no doubt, guidance for
those conscious of Allah.
[AL-BAQARAH Ch.2:V.2]
It is good to have another chance to
write another entry. It is Allah permission and He is the one who gives the
knowledge to the person He wanted. In the earlier pages in the Quran, Allah
mentions that the Book has no doubt for people who believe. Because of this
verse, Islam scholars very confident with Quran and always have the answer for
the misunderstanding questions.
I wanted to write this entry because I
think that not very Muslim knows about this. This is my responsibility to share
the knowledge that I have. This misconception was brought out by Christian scholars,
Jimmy Swaggart when he had debate with Syeikh Ahmad Deedat. The debate was long
ago held, about 30 years ago. The answer that I will write I quoted from Syeikh
Ahmad Deedat. Thanks to him and may Allah bless him.
1. Muslims had changed the Quran and the original Quran has been
burned.
Jimmy Swaggart said that Sayyidina Usman changed
the original Quran and the original one was burned up. Before I give the answer
from Syeikh Ahmad Deedat, I want us to refresh on the history of our prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) and the history of Quran.
Our prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was illiterate and it
leads him to do not know to write. When the revelations come down to him by Gabriel,
he will pass the messages to his companion. There are a few of his friends know
to write and to read, so they will write the revelation on papers or hide or
other things. But in his life, he never asks his companion to compile the
revelation into a book.
When our prophet died, his closest friend
Sayyidina Abu Bakar became the Muslims leader. One day, come Sayyidina Umar
al-Khattab to Sayyidina Abu Bakar asking him to compile the revelation into a
book called Quran. But Sayyidina Abu Bakar said to Sayyidina Umar, he will not
do the things that prophet never did. Day by day gone and Sayyidina Umar did
not give up persuaded to compile the revelation. At last, Sayyidina Umar quoted
one verse from the Quran that leads Sayyidina Abu Bakar to compile the
revelation.
… And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he
has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in
penalty.
[AL-HADID Ch.59:V.7]
But at the era of Sayyidina Abu Bakar and Umar,
they just collecting the pieces that containing ayah from Quran. When come
Sayyidina Usman, he decided to write the revelation in the book. This is
because so that people that do not memorizing the Quran also can read it. At this
time, Islam already spread all over places in the world. Now come to the answer
to the questions above. To write the revelation into a book, Sayyidina Usman
needs Quran specialist. When I say Quran specialist meaning that the person
memorizing the whole content of the Quran and also understand the messages in
the Quran.
The Quran specialist did change the spelling
errors. The spelling errors come from the person who write the revelation when
was told to him. This is human errors. For example, when someone mention his or
her name and asked us to write the name. Probably we are going to spell wrong
the name. With the help of specialist they can remove all the errors.
They also add in something to the Quran that is
the vowels. Before this, the Arabic words do not contain the line or mark or
sign. For the Arab that understands they own language there will be no problem.
But for the non-Arab people, they will find the difficulty to read and to
understand the Quran. So the vowels were to make other people also can read the
Quran.
Then why did Sayyidina Usman burn the pieces such
as paper or hide that containing the verses and the revelation? This is because
he does not want other people that have lack of knowledge about Quran to write
another book. He afraid that they will make a mistake and the Quran will have
many versions. So he wants to avoid it and just use the one he compile as the
authentic and the main source.
Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will
be its guardian.
[AL-HIJR Ch.15:V.9]
2. Version and translation.
Firstly, I will talk about version. Quran only has
one version, but has many translations. Let we take all the Quran that have on
the earth and check each of them. All of them will contain only 114 chapters. If
the book contains more of less than 114 chapters, we as Muslim will not accept
it as Quran. Now check words by words, comparing two Quran that were produced
by two different printers. It is also the same.
But maybe there are different in terms of the
signs used. Because in the modern days the Quran was printed to make the reader
easier to read it.
Or add to it (night), and recite the Qur'an with measured
recitation.
Ataupun lebihkan (sedikit) daripadanya; dan bacalah Al-Quran
dengan "Tartil".
[AL-MUZZAMMIL Ch.73:V.4]
Now take a look on the number of
verse. Yes, there will be a different total number of verses in some Quran. Maybe
not too many Quran that have difference in total number of verses. Why there is
different in total number of verses? For Arabic words there are no capital
letter or small letter. We can start with AND in the beginning of the verse, it
is not wrong. The position of the full stops slightly different according to
different scholars. This makes the total number of verses different.
How about translation? Translation is
the matter of choosing words. The words that were chosen to be used to give the
same meaning as in the Arabic words. Different people will choose different
words. So the Quran has many translations including in many other languages. All
of the translators have the same purpose and wanted to lead to the same
meaning.
And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth
while you know [it].
[AL-BAQARAH Ch.2:V.42]
Hope that with this simple entry, my
messages can be delivered to the readers. I also hope that we gain some
knowledge in this entry and can share with others. Lastly, hope with this entry
we can reduce the misconception and misunderstandings about Islam.
[Moses] said, "My Lord, expand for me my breast [with
assurance]. And ease for me my task. And untie the knot from my tongue, that
they may understand my speech.
[TAHA Ch.20:V.25-28]
~Wallahua’lam~
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