NOTICE: This article is a reproduction from Submitters Perspective No 3, April 1985.
(1) All classic and modern references dealing with the documentation of Qur’an agree that it was scrupulously written down out of the Prophet’s mouth, immediately following revelation.
As reported here in the March issue, the process of documentation took place during Abu Bakr’s era. Abu Bakr and Omar appointed Zeid Ibn Thabet (the Prophet’s secretary) to collect and document Qur’an. The three men established a criterion: that every single verse had o be confirmed through the multiplicity of sources; a minimum of two sources was agreed upon. EVERY SINGLE VERSE OF QUR’AN HAD TO BE CONFIRMED BY A MINIMUM OF TWO WITNESSES. This criterion was so strictly observed that when Omar came up with a verse, it was not accepted from him because no other witness was found to confirm that verse.
Yet, the same classic and modern reference inform us that the last two verses of Sura 9 were found with only one source, namely, Khuzeimah Ibn Thabet Al-Ansary!!! Thus, the last two verses of Sura 9 were the only verses in Qur’an that failed to meet the criterion for documentation into the Qur’an.
Naturally, some intelligent Muslim had asked the inevitable question: “Why was Omar’s verse rejected, when Omar was an intimate friend of the Prophet from early Islam, a son-in-law of the Prophet, the second Khalifa, and a man nick-named Al-Farouk because he was staunch in adhering to the truth and rejecting falsehood, while the last two verses of Sura 9 were accepted from a relative unknown, Khuzeimah Ibn Thabet Al-Ansary (a late Medinan Muslim)???”
Here is what the classic and modern references tell us about that. When this question came up, someone said, “Oh, I heard the Messenger of God, may God exalt him and bless him, say, “One testimony by Khuzeimah equals two!!!” (GIMME A BREAK!)
Are we going to be fooled by such primitive liars who are trying to tamper with Qu’an? One cannot help but ask, “How about the fellow who claimed that he had heard the Prophet state that one testimony by Khuzeimah equals two? Is HIS testimony also equals two???!!!
As reported in the March Issue of MP, most probably the last two verses of Sura 9 were injected into Qur’an by the Prophet’s idolizers much later than the time of Abu Bakr, Omar and Zeid. The stories were then fabricated (and one lie led to another) in order to justify the existence of the alien verses, and to give them credibility through the names of Abu Bakr, Omar and Zeid Ibn Thabet.
However, God has provided a formidable standard, the Qur’an’s mathematical miracle, in order to fulfill His promise regarding the perfect preservation of Qur’an. It is the Miracle of Qur’an that enabled us to uncover the blasphemy and restore Qur’an to its pristine purity. God, of course, has pointed out the location of the blasphemy by refusing to start Sura 9 with His Holy Name.
(2) The following is reported in the classic and modern references dealing with documentation of Qur’an:
“Abdullah Ibn Ahmad in Zawa’ed Al Musnad, and Ibn Mardaweih reported that Ubayy Ibn Kaab (the famous revelation writer) told of collecting and recording Qur’an during the reign of Abu Bakr. He said that a group of scribes were writing Sura 9, and when they reached the verse that says: ‘God has turned their hearts away, for they are people who do not understand’ (Verse 127), they decided that it was the last verse of Sura 9. But Ubayy Ibn Kaab told them that the Prophet had read to him two extra verse in this Sura: ‘A messenger has come to you from amongst you who cares very much about you….. to the end.’”
At the same time, all these references agree that Zeid Ibn Thabet found the last two verses of Sura 9 with Khuzeimah, and “did not find them with anyone else.” The obvious discrepancy is that Zeid Ibn Thabet was an intimate friend of Ubayy Ibn Kaab, and it simply does not make sense that Ubayy would have these two verses and would not tell his friend Zeid about them. Both men were prime writers of the Qur’anic revelation. God thus exposes the liars, and preserves His message to the world.
The last two verses of Sura 9 are documented as “Meccan” as we see above. It should be noted here that the only source of these two verses was, supposedly, Khuzeimah Ibn Thabet Al-Ansary, a late Medinan Muslim. Additionally, Sura 9 WAS THE LAST SURA EVER REVEALED IN MEDINA. It simply defies all logic that the last Medinan Sura should contain Meccan verses.
When the Prophet immigrated to Medina, the Qur’an continued to be revealed. Gabriel told the Prophet that Medinan verses belonged in Meccan suras (revealed before Hijra). This is why we find Medinan verses within Meccan suras, but not the other way around. A careful study revealed that with the exception of one sura (8) which straddled the Meccan and Medinan eras, no Meccan verses are found in Medinan suras. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS SURA 9, WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THE VERY LAST SURA EVER REVEALED IN MEDINA. God’s exposure of the liars is nothing short of remarkable.
Certainly, it doesn’t make sense that the angel Gabriel would come to the Prophet and say, “I will give you two verses now that belong in a sura I will reveal to you 12 or 15 years from now.”