Tahrif

Taḥrīf (Arabic: تحريف‎, "distortion, alteration") is an Arabic term used by Muslims for the alterations which Islamic tradition claims Jews and Christians have made to the revealed books, specifically those that make up the Tawrat (or Torah), Zabur (possibly Psalms) and Injil (or Gospel). Traditional Muslim scholars, based on Quranic and other traditions, maintain that Jews and Christians have changed the word of God.

195431

Usul al-Kafi . Sunni-Shi'a . Qur'an Preservation . Tahrif

A member of another sect claims that Twelver Shia believe there were originally 17,000 verses in the Quran, referencing Al-Kafi. Is this a widely accepted belief among the Shia, or is it considered a deviant perspective?

Mahmood Abu Maryam, Trying to make sense of it all... Answered 9 months ago

Here is an explanation given by Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar Rizvi in his book, The Quran: Its Protection from Alteration.

The commentator of al-Wafiyah, Muhaqqiq al-Baghdadi has clearly stated, by quoting from Muhaqqiq al-Karaki (who has written a complete tract on the subject) that: "The traditions which speak of omission must either be reinterpreted or rejected. Any tradition which is contradictory to the Qur'an, the acknowledged sunnah and the ijma' must be discarded if it has no room for interpretation or justifiable explanation."

A tradition, recorded in al-Kafi is quoted here to give an example in practice of what we mean when we speak of reinterpretation or justifiable explanation: Abu 'Abdillah [al-Sadiq] (peace be upon him) said, "The Qur'an which was brought by Jibrail (peace be upon him) to Muhammad (Mercy of Allah be on him and his progeny) is seventeen thousand verses."

Shaykh as-Saduq has written in his Kitabu'l-Itiqaddat, what in my view amounts to a reinterpretation of this hadith. He writes, "We say that so much of revelation has come down, which is not a part of the Qur'an, that if it were to be collected, its extent would undoubtedly be 17,000 verses. And this, for example, is like the saying of Gabriel (a.s.) to the Prophet (peace be upon him & his progeny): 'Allah says to thee, O Muhammad, deal gently with My creatures, in the same manner as I do."'

He goes on quoting many such ahadith qudsiyah until he concludes by saying: "There are many such (ahadith qudsiyah) all of which are revelations, but do not form part of the Qur'an. If they had been (part of the Qur'an), they would surely have been included in it, and not excluded from it."

If one is not prepared to accept this explanation because the tradition speaks about "the Qur'an", then we will discard this hadith without hesitation. Although the number (17,000) given in this tradition is much smaller than the one given by the 2nd Caliph (one million and twenty seven thousand letters in the Qur'an), it is never-the-less three times bigger than the actual number of the verses (which is some six thousand two hundred and thirty six verses).

This is the Shi'a method of resolving the problem of the ahadith on tahrif. Anyone studying it with unbiased mind and heart would readily accept it as the only correct solution for such ahadith because it is based on the method formulated by the Prophet (peace be upon him & his progeny) and expressed by Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) as follows: "...And so whatever conforms to the Book of Allah, take it; and whatever is contrary to the Book of Allah, leave it .. "

Source - https://al-islam.org/quran-its-protection-alteration-sayyid-saeed-akhtar...

194666

Scholars . Tahrif . Qur'an . Sunni-Shi'a . Muhammad Baqir Majlisi

How should we respond to Sunnis who claim that numerous well-known classical Shi’i scholars, like Al-Majlisi, supported the idea of Tahrif in the Qur'an?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 10 months ago

This is a false allegation on Al-Majlisi fabricated by our enemies who always try to put false allegations on us. Tahreef claims and narrations are in Sunni books from Ayesha who claimed that many verses were lost because it was eaten by an animal (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal 6: 269 and Sunan Ibn Maajah 1: 625)

, and narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab who claimed that Sura Al-Azhaab was as long as Sura Al-Baqarah.(Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal 5:132 and Al-Mustadrak Alal- Saheehayn by Al-Haakim al-Nisabori 4:359).
Tahreef claim is refuted in our main books written by our leading Shia Ulama like Shaikh Al-Sadouq, Shaikh Al-Mufeed, Allama Al-Hilli, Shaikh Al-Tousi, Al-Shareef Al-Murtadha, Al-Shaikh Al-Tabarsi, Al-Shaikh Al-Bahaare, Al-Shaikh Kashif Al-Ghitaa', Al-Sayyed Sharaf Al Deen, Sayyed Al-Khoei and other great Shia Ulama. Al-Majlisi never said that Tahreef took place in Quran but he said that some people diverted the meanings of some verse from its real meanings. If fact Shaikh Majlisi stated clearly that Quran can never be distorted as Allah Has preserved Quran from adding on it or omitting from it or changing any word of it or any Tahreef. ( Bihar Al- Anwar, volume 9, page 113).

'Wassalam.

181002

Jews . Christians . Qur'an . Tahrif

I heard the Qur'an states it was sent to confirm that which was currently with the Jews and Christians. However, would these not already be the corrupted versions? Why would the Qur'an be confirming the corrupted versions of these books?

Corruption in Torah and Bible does not reach to every part in it. Many facts in these two texts remained and still existing. Quran confirms the main original facts in Torah and Bible.

Wassalam.

173538

Artist . Drawing . Human . Islam . Face . Body . Tahrif

Is it permissible in Islam to draw a complete face while leaving out the rest of the body?

Yes it is permissible to draw a complete face. This is according to verdicts of most of our leasing scholars.

.Wassalam.

139017

Tahrif . Qur'an

Is a person who believes that there was Tahrif in the Quran considered a disbeliever?

Tahrif in Quran is impossible and it is against our Shia faith.
'If a person claims Tahrif, we need to ask him for authentic evidence of his claim then reply him with our authentic evidence from Ahlul Bayt (AS).

Wassalam.

131621

Arabic . Qur'an . Tahrif

I understand that Arabic is complex and words with different diacritic points can change the reading. So is the text we read today the full and complete and only version of the Quran?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 3 years ago

There are several surviving recitations (qira'at) of the Qur'an with very minor differences (mostly related to pronunciation such as a vowel sound or dots). Most of them are unused.

The differences typically have little impact on the meaning, although may be considered in jurisprudence or tafsir.

This is not considered to be tahrif (alteration) of the Qur'an, especially since it is nearly inconsequential.

In Sunni hadith, the Qur'an is said to have been revealed in seven dialects (ahruf).

The Shi'i view is that there is only one original correct revelation and recitation, even if, in reality, there exist multiple qira'at.

126507

Scholars . Tahrif . Sunni-Shi'a . Qur'an

I was told that some early Shia scholars believed that the Quran was distorted which I now know not to be true. However, is it Kufr to believe in Tahrif of the Quran?

Although belief in tahrif of the Qur'an is non-standard, it is better to reserve the word kufr for the things that Allah directly uses it for.

The Qur'an does not directly say that belief in tahrif is kufr. (Rather, some people assert this based on a deduction/interpretation of a verse, not a direct statement.)

The word kufr tends to be thrown around quite casually these days. There is rarely any benefit to accusing people of kufr or labelling Muslims as kafir just because one thinks they are incorrect in their belief. It is quite sad that this intolerance has developed today. The classical Islamic era seems to have been much more tolerant and open to discussing differences of opinion regarding theology. This is not to say that every view was always right, but it is better to be able to discuss things rationally rather than to shut down dissenting views by just labelling and attacking (verbally or sometimes physically).

108022

Akhbari . Qur'an . Tahrif

I have heard that Sheikh Yusuf Bahrani was an Akhbari scholar who believed in alterations in the Qur'an. Is it true that he and some Akhbari scholars held such a view?

Some Shi'i scholars have accepted the idea of deletion or rearrangement of material from the Qur'an based on narrations.

Some Sunni narrations also discuss deletions of material in the Qur'an, so it is not a Shi'i-only subject.

Most Shi'i scholars today reject those narrations and reject the idea of tahrif in the Qur'an. You can find a good argument and overview of the narrations and the subject in https://www.al-islam.org/al-bayan-fi-tafsir-al-quran-prolegomena-quran-s...

This can be a very sensitive and taboo subject because it is generally taken as a primary pillar and fundamental belief of Islam that nothing in the Qur'an has ever been changed (apart from the minor variations in qira'at).

Shi'is are also particularly sensitive because they feel defensive because they feel they have to "prove" to Sunnis that they have the same Qur'an. (And, in fact, Shi'is do use the same Qur'an and same recitations as Sunnis.)

However perhaps it's good to step down from the ideologically and sectarianly charged nature of this discussion and just take it as it is. If some people held this view, it was their view, and that is that.

104595

Sunni-Shi'a . Qur'an . Bihar al-Anwar . Tahrif

Are there traditions in Shia books such as Bihar Al Anwar that suggest that the Quran is distorted? If so, how can their presence in those books be explained?

There are some hadith along those lines. It has been suggested that these are forged hadith. In some cases, when the ayah is presented differently, with insertions, it has been suggested that this may have been an explanation or gloss by the speaker which was later misunderstood as a quotation of the entire ayah.

It is true that there are a few hadith along these lines both in Sunni and Shi'i texts.

Sunni-Shi'a . Qur'an . Bihar al-Anwar . Tahrif

Are there traditions in Shia books such as Bihar Al Anwar that suggest that the Quran is distorted? If so, how can their presence in those books be explained?

Quran is intact with out any distortion whatsoever. There are narrations in Sunni books like Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmithi, Al-Nasaa'ee, Ibn Maajah, Muwatta' Malik, Musnad Ibn Hanbal and other well known books claiming stories about distortion in some Suras of Quran. Our authentic evidence that Quran is intact, made our leading Ulama reject any narration contradicts with the fact that Quran is intact even if it the narration is mentioned in a Shia book. Such narrations in Shia books are much less than in Sunni books and some of them were copied from Sunni books. Such narrations are either fabricated or misunderstood.
Bukhari in Hadeeth number 4608 narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab different words in Quran which never recited by the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). Bukhari narrated in Hadeeth number 6327 and 6328 from Umar ibn al-Khattab a claimed verse on stoning the old man and old woman. Such verse is not in Quran but Umar said it is. These are just few examples of long list of such rejected Sunni narrations on this matter.

'The fact which we believe in according to most authentic evidence from Ahlul Bayt (AS) is: Quran is intact and preserved and protected by Allah (SWT) from distortion.

Wassalam.

90984

Qur'anic Verse . Sahih Muslim . Tahrif

Is there a narration in Sahih Muslim that refers to lost verses of the Quran or is it referring to something else?

https://muflihun.com/muslim/8/3422

Anyway it is just a single hadith whereas the Quran has been transmitted in a lot of ways, so it is probably just an erroneous hadith and doesn't pose a serious challenge to the authenticity of the Qur'an.

Besides, if someone was going to intentionally lose a part of the Qur'an, one would think it would be about a more controversial subject than how many times a baby should be suckled to be mahram. And it is unlikely that it would be lost accidentally.

82297

Sunni-Shi'a . Qur'an . Tahrif

I have read in Wikipedia that some Shia Muslims disputed the canonical validity of the Uthmanic codex of the Quran. Is this true? If so, can you tell me who they were?

Shia believe that Quranic text is intact and no one can change it as Allah (SWT) promised in Quran (We Have revealed the Thikr (Quran) and We Are keeping it intact) Sura 15, Verse 9.

Uthman removed he Tafseer which was mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) on some verses and written by Imam Ali (AS). The Quranic text remains the same.

Wassalam.