NOTICE: This article is a reproduction from Submitters Perspective No 2, March 1985.
“Surely, we have sent down this message, and surely, we will preserve it” (15:9)*
The history of tampering with the word of God is as ancient as God’s holy scriptures. Invariably, such tampering has been provoked by powerful human prejudices.
One of the most flagrant interferences in the word of God is currently evident in the Torah. Someone was driven by racial bias to alter the name of Abraham’s son in Genesis 22:2 from Ishmael to Isaac.
For prejudicial reasons they wanted to bestow the honor on Isaac, father of the Jews, rather than on Ishmael, father of the Arabs.
In the process of tampering with the word of God, the guilty party committed a grievious mistake.
Furthermore, when the absurdity of the original mistake was discovered, someone tried to cover it up by committing another falsification. Since two wrongs do not make a right, the second mistake proved far more serious.
The oldest translation of the Torah I could find was copyrighted in 1917 by the Jewish Publications Society of America. Its title is THE HOLY SCRIPTURES according to the Masoretic Text, A New Translation with the Aid of Previous Versions, and With Constant Consultation of Jewish Authorities.
Genesis 16:15-16 of this translation states:
And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. And Abram was foursome and six (86) years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
And Genesis 21:5 states:
And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
This means that Ishmael was 14 years old when his brother Isaac was born. In other words, Ishmael was Abraham’s only son for 14 years. Yet, Genesis 22:1-2 of this translation states:
And it came to pass after these things that God did prove Abraham, and said unto him: ‘Abraham’; and he said: ‘Here am I.’ And He said: ‘Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
The tampering is so obvious that subsequent translators tried to get around it by injecting their own version. In another very old (undated) translation, I found the following version of the same verses. This translation is titled: TWENTY FOUR BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, translated by Isaac Leeser. In this translation, Genesis 16:15-16 states:
And Hagar bore abram a son: and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. And Abram was eighty and six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 21:5 states:
And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Then Genesis 22:1-2 states:
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and he said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here am I. And he said, Take now thy son, thy only one, who thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I tell thee of.
The compounding of both errors is evident in the recent translations of the Torah. I looked up a translation copyrighted in 1962 by the Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, titled: THE TORAH, the Five Books of Moses, a new translation of THE HOLY SCRIPTURES according to the Masoretic text.
In this translation, Gensis 16:15-16 states:
And Hagar bore a son to Abram, and Abram gave the son that Hagar bore him the name Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
And Genesis 21:5 states:
Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
While Genesis 22:1-2 now reads:
(NOTICE: Genesis 22 and 23 are removed from digital versions of this book)
Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test. He said to him, “Abraham,” and he answered, “Here I am.” And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights which I will point out to you.”
There is no doubt that Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, had they been alive today would have been appalled by this blasphemy.
Unfortunately, the same crime has been committed against the Qur’an. However, because Qur’an is God’s final message to the world, and because the Qur’an’s integrity is guaranteed forever by God, this blatant tampering with the Qur’an has now been exposed. Such exposure guarantees the continued purity of Qur’an.
Before presenting the physical evidence, it should be pointed out that the last two verses of Sura 9 have always been suspect. All classic and modern references dealing with the collection and recording of the original Qur’an have UNANIMOUSLY agreed that these two verses ARE THE ONLY VERSES IN QUR’AN THAT FAILED TO MEET THE CRITERIA SET BY ABU BAKR, OMAR AND ZEID IBN THABET (the original collectors of Qur’an). According to these references, the last two verses of Sura 9 were never confirmed by the criterion of SOURCE MULTIPLICITY. Among the outstanding references that expose this serious discrepancy are:
(1) AL BUKHARY, Vol 6, pp 89-90 and 225-226. (Dar Al-Turath Al-Araby) (See also: page 425)
(2) AL MUTAKHAB MIN AL SUNNAH, Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Cairo, Egypt, pp 178-182.
(3) Imam Ismail Ibn Katheer’s AFDAAL AL-QUR’AN AL-KAREEM.
(4) Muhammad Husain Haykal’s AL-SIDDIQ ABU BAKR.
(5) AL-Suyooty’s AL-ITQAN FI ‘ULOOM AL-QUR’AN.
Sahih Bukhari gives three different accounts regarding this subject, and Al-Muntakhab gives two different accounts. As mentioned above, all accounts, in the various references agree that THE LAST TWO VERSES OF SURA 9 ARE THE ONLY VERSES IN QUR’AN THAT FAILED TO CONFORM TO THE RECORDING CRITERIA, specifically the criterion of source multiplicity. One wonders why were these two verses included in Qur’an in the first place!!!
The multiplicity of sources for every single verse in Qur’an was a vital criterion, since it confirms the authenticity of every verse.
THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
The Almighty Creator informed us that the Qur’an contains a certain secret that, in time, will prove that Qur’an is God’s final message to the world.
The disbelievers said, “This (Qur’an) is no more than a fraud fabricated by (Muhammad), with the help of some others.” Indeed, they have committed a blasphemy and a falsehood.
Others said, “(This Quran) is tales from the past that he (Muhammad) had made up; they were dictated to him day and night.”
Say, “It was sent down by the one who knows THE SECRET in the heaven and the earth.” Indeed, He is the Forgiver, the Merciful.
(Qur’an 25:4-6)
Furthermore, the Qur’an states that this miraculous SECRET which is destined to prove the Qur’an’s authenticity shall be unveiled at a future time, not during the lifetime of the Prophet.
They say, “How come no miracle has come down to him from his Lord?” Say, “The future belongs to God, so wait and I will wait along with you.” (Quran 10:20)
That the number 19 shall play a role in proving the Qur’an’s authenticity is stated in Qur’an 74:25-35. These verses state that anyone who declares that Qur’an is human-made (74:25) shall be proven wrong by means of the number 19 (74:30).
During the last 17 years (1968-1985), intensive research into the Qur’an with the use of computers has produced startling results, and an overwhelming proof of authenticity. In full agreement with Quran (74:25-35), the number 19 has provided the irrefutable evidence. Details of this work have been published in the following books:
(1) Qur’an: The Final Scripture.
(2) The Computer Speaks: God’s Message to the World.
(3) Qur’an: Visual Presentation of the Miracle.
(4) The Glorious Qur’an, Volume 1.
All published by ISLAMIC PRODUCTIONS, 739 E 6th St, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
In addition to the list of SIMPLE FACTS where the number 19 is the common denominator, the most powerful physical facts are in the famous mysterious letters of Qur’an which prefix 29 suras. These letters occur in their respective suras ALWAYS IN MULTIPLES OF 19. One has to study the details in the references listed above in order to fully appreciate this awesome Qur’anic miracle.
What concerns us in this Bulletin is the prominent physical fact that the opening verse of Quran (BISMILLAH) consists of 19 letters, and every word in it is mentioned throughout Qur’an a number of time which is CONSISTENTLY A MULTIPLE OF 19. Thus, the first word (Ism = Name) is found in Qur’an exactly 19 times, the second word (Allah = God) is mentioned 2698 times (19 x 142), the third word (Rahman = Gracious) is mentioned 57 times (19 x 3), and the last word (Rahim = Merciful) is mentioned 114 times (19 x 6), plus one time that refers specifically to the Prophet and is not an attribute of God.
During the last three years an extensive study was undertaken to examine the mathematical miracle of Qur’an at the word for word level. The objective was to confirm that the computers did not err, and that the results do conform to the Qur’an as it was originally recorded during the Prophet’s lifetime, and subsequently collected by Zeid Ibn Thabet upon request of Abu Bakr and Omar, then reproduced by Uthman Ibn Affan.
It is the result of this vast review of the computer data that unveiled the shocking crime of tampering with the Qur’an.
Nine violations of the Qur’an’s mathematical code were discovered by the time the review of data was completed. ALL NINE VIOLATIONS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THE LAST TWO VERSES OF SURA 9. (See the table at the end of this article).
It must be pointed out once more, that the LAST TWO VERSES OF SURA 9 WERE FINGERED AS FAILING TO CONFORM TO THE ESTABLISHED CRITERIA FOR COLLECTION AND RECORDING OF QUR’AN. This was done 1400 years before I (Rashad Khalifa) was born.
Most probably, these two verses were injected into the Qur’an by the Prophet’s idolizers much later than Abu Bakr, Omar, and Zeid. The story was then invented by the guilty, in order to justify and support such tampering, and to blame the existence of these two alien verses on such great authorities as Abu Bakr, Omar, and Zeid.
It is noreworthy that Sura 9 is the ONLY SURA IN QUR’AN THAT DOES NOT OPEN WITH “IN THE NAME OF GOD.” God’s advance knowledge and disapproval of the aforementioned blasphemy is manifested in the fact that the BISMILLAH is omitted. Such tampering could never be “In the Name of God.”
VIOLATIONS OF THE QUR’AN’s MATHEMATICAL MIRACLE
VIOLATED WORD | Frequency in Qur’an Without Removal of 9:128 and 129 | Frequency in Qur’an After Removal of 9:128 and 129 |
Messenger رَسُولٌۭ | 115 | 114 (19 X 6) |
(your)selves أَنفُسِكُمْ | 153 | 152 (19 X 8) |
Merciful رَّحِيمٌۭ | 115 | 114 (19 X 6) |
Turn away تَوَلَّوْا۟ | 20 | 19 (19 X 1) |
God ٱللَّهُ | 2699 | 2698 (19 X 142) |
god إِلَـٰهَ | 96 | 95 (19 X 5) |
Trust تَوَكَّلْتُ | 58 | 57 (19 X 3) |
Lord رَبُّ | 970 | 969 (19 X 51) |
Throne ٱلْعَرْشِ | 20 | 19 (19 X 1) |
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
The Islam that is being practiced in the Muslim World today is a vastly distorted Islam. we must return to the Islam preached by Muhammad, God’s final prophet.