Muslims had to write a 2nd Qur'an after only 20 years!?

We now come to the first two compilations of the Qur'an, which we read about in Al Bukhari, volume 6:509-510, written between 850-870 AD.

Bukhari, in volume 6, hadith 509 tells us that when Muhammad died, there was no Qur'anic codex written down. Abu Bakr & Umar, the caliphs who followed Muhammad, call Zaid Ibn Thabit (Muhammad’s secretary) to collect the Qur’an, because of all those killed at Yamama who had memorized it

He at first refuses, saying the prophet hadn’t even done this (i.e. written down the Qur’an), but after they insist, he then relents.

He collects what was known from palm leaves, white stones, and from men’s memories.

One verse (S. 9:128-129) he found with only one man (Abi Khuzaima Al Ansari).

This first recension is given to Hafsah, Muhammad’s wife, and the daughter of Umar, and she put it under her bed, and left it there for 20 years.

In Al Bukhari volume 6, hadith number 510 we are told that Uthman calls Zaid ibn Thabit (Muhammad’s secretary) to re-write the Qur’an, given to Hafsah. So, we are now talking about a 2nd Qur’anic recension.

According to Al Bukhari, Zaid ibn Thabit is given three others to help him: Az-Zubair, Al-As, and ibn Hisham. They are to write it only in the ‘Quraishi’ dialect.

They then send copies of this final canonized text to every province (9 of them, including the cities of Basra, Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Aden, Herat, and Nishapur).

All of the other manuscripts, including those which were partial and full, and which disagreed, were then burned!

One verse (S.33:23) was found with one man (Khuzaima bin Thabit al-Ansari)

There are 11 problems we have with this story...

1) Why didn’t God choose a language which could accommodate the Qur’an? (i.e. there are no diacritical marks, nor vowellization in the Arabic script until the 8th – 9th centuries). Hebrew & Greek already existed, and were previously used by those who received the previous revelations…so, why not use either of them?

2) Why didn’t God choose a man who could ‘read and write’? Writing down the Qur’an and preserving it was Muhammad's primary remit. So, why didn’t he do either before he died?

3) Why didn’t Muhammad learn to read and write (Arabic only has 28 letters)? He had 22 years to do so (Note: Jay learned to read Arabic in 2 weeks!).

4) Why didn't Zaid ibn Thabit write it down? He was Muhammad’s secretary! Wasn’t that his job?

5) Why didn’t Abu Bakr make copies and disperse them to the 9 provinces in 634 AD, as Uthman did later on? (Remember, these included: Basra, Baghdad, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo, Alexandria, Aden, Herat, and Nishapur).

6) Muslims say 1000s died at Yamama, though the traditions tell us only 70 Hafiz (those who memorized the Qur’an) died. Doesn’t this prove that there were very few who actually knew the Qur’an? Doesn’t this also prove that there was a real crisis with the Qur’an? Doesn’t this moreover suggest that memorization wasn’t good enough to preserve the Qur’an?

7) How could there be dialectical differences in the mid 7th c.? Dialects require diacritical marks, and vowellization when writing them down in written form. These were not introduced until the 8th century, and they were not finalized until possibly another century later.

8) Why did Uthman burn all of the other copies? Doesn’t that suggest that they didn’t agree, and he needed to destroy the evidence? Wouldn’t it be great to have them today to compare with?

9) Doesn't the fact that Zaid ibn Thabit, in 652 AD, came upon Surah 33:23 with only one man (Khuzaima bin Thabit al-Ansari), prove the Qur’an wasn’t even complete 20 years earlier, in 632 AD? Could there have been many others Surahs he missed? What about the material which was lost with those killed at the battle of Yamama?

10) If there was a 2nd Qur’an in 652 AD, why are there now many different Arabic Qur’ans (as many as 32)?

11) If there were 9 copies sent to 9 different cities, all of them (accept for Jerusalem) still under Muslim control, shouldn't we be able to find all of them? That was only 1400 years ago. We have 3 complete New Testaments from the 4th and 5th centuries, a good 200-300 years earlier. Why can't the Muslims find even ONE copy of those original 9 Qur'ans from the 7th century? Furthermore, what about the earliest extant manuscripts which do exist? Should we not take a look at them to find out just how similar they are to our present Hafs text?

© Pfander Centre for Apologetics - US, 2019
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years!?