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.

71837

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

Are there any reliable narrations in al-Kafi that seem to support the idea that there is Tahrif in the Quran? If so, how do the Shia scholars explain them?

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 5 years ago

Our Shia faith in Quran is: Quran is absolutely intact and saved by Allah The Glorious from any change, distortion or alteration. Narrations which suggest change or distortion in Quran are mainly in Sunni books including narrations from Umar Ibn Al-Khattab who claimed that Sura Al-Ahzab used to be as long as Sura al-Baqara. (al-Soyooto, Al-Dorr al-Manthour 3:208) and Ayisha who claimed that a Sura was eaten by a pet (Sunan Ibn Maajah 1:625).

Few narrations in this regard came from Sunni books to some of our Shia books but our leading scholars were and are always very clear in rejecting any claim against the fact that Quran is intact. Some narrations in our books might mean that people distorted the meaning (Tafseer) of some verses away from the real meaning explained by the Prophet (SAWA) and his Ahlul Bayt (AS) which is a sad fact, but it never means that Quranic text was distorted by any way.

Leading Shia scholars al-Shaikh Al-Saqouq (381 H), al- Shaikh al-Mofeed (413 H), al-Sayyed al-Mortadha (436H), al-Shaikh al-Toosi (460 H), al-Shaikh al-Tabrasi (548H), al-Shaikh al-Bahaa'ee, al-Faydh al-Kashaani, al-Shaikh Kashif al-Ghitaa', al-Sayyed Sharaf al-Deen, Allamah Tabataba'ee, al-Sayyed al-Kho'ee, al-Sayed al-Khomaini, al-Sayyed al-Gulpaygani, al-Sayyed al-Borojordi, al-Shaykh al-Saafi, al-Sayyed al-Sistani, al-Sayyed al-Hakeem and all our leading scholars are very clear in confirming the fact that Quran is absolutely intact from any change or distortion.

Wassalam.

76336

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

Did Allama Majlisi or any other top Shia scholars believe in the distortion of the Quran?

Mahmood Abu Maryam, Trying to make sense of it all... Answered 5 years ago

It is the consensus of the Shi'a scholars that there is no distortion in the Qur'an. You can read more about this topic in the article below that gives references to the statements of a variety of scholars.

https://www.al-islam.org/articles/beliefs-do-shiah-believe-different-quran

A famous scholar Ayatullah Sayyid Abu'l Qasim al-Khu'i has a detailed discussion around this topic in his book that you can also go through for a more in-depth treatment of this subject.

https://www.al-islam.org/al-bayan-fi-tafsir-al-quran-prolegomena-quran-ayatullah-sayyid-abulqasim-al-khui/7-protection-quran

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

Did Allama Majlisi or any other top Shia scholars believe in the distortion of the Quran?

Not at all.

All prominent Shia Scholars believe that Quran is intact and never been distorted.
Shia enemies put false allegations on us including in this matter. If they read our books properly, they will see that our faith is that Quran is intact. Sunni books have narrations from Omar that Sura al-Ahzaab was like Sura Baqarah, and from Ayisha that a Quranic chapter was eaten by a pet. These Sunni narrations and any similar narration are rejected by us because we believe that Allah (SWT) has promised to save and protect Quran from any discretion. (Sura Al-Hijr, verse 9).

We do believe that many persons tried and still trying to twist the meaning of some Quranic verses to make it in accordance to their wrong claims, but Qurani'c words are intact.

Shia scholars have written books on this subject confirming our faith in the intact Quran.

Wassalam.

66777

Qur'an . Sayyid Ali Hussaini Sistani . Tahrif

What is Sayyid al-Sistani's view on the completeness of the Qur'an?

Quran is complete, intact and unchanged. This is the faith of leading Shia scholars including Ayatullah Sistani, Ayatulla Al-Khoei, Shaikh Al-Sadouq, Shaikh Al-Toosi, Sayyed Al-Murtadha, Shaikh Al-Mufeed, Shaikh Al-Tabrasi, Shaikh Kaashif Al-Ghitaa' and thousand of Shia scholars.

There are some Sunni narrations from Umar and Ayisha that Qur'an which is available in our hands is not complete (Saheeh Muslim 1050, Musnad Ahmad 5:132, Al-Mustadrak 4:359, Al-Kashshaaf 3:518 etc), with few weak narrations in few Shia books, but there is no values for such narrations. Our authentic evidence from Ahlul Bayt (AS) is unchallengeable that Qur'an is complete and intact.

Wassalam.

66182

Imamah . Hadith . Tahrif

I understand that the Qur'an is protected by God as He has promised. How do we know that the Hadiths of the Prophet SAW, even the most authentic of them, and the teachings of the Imams haven't been changed or corrupted over time?

The authentic Hadeeths from the Holy Prophet (SAWA) and his holy
progeny, the Ahlul Bayt (AS) are confirmed through a very strict
procedure of checking every narrator and every narration which means
that the scholars check every narrator whether he is trustworthy or
not and up to what extent he is trustworthy according what has been mentioned about him in the books of Rijaal. If all the narrators are
trustworthy then the Hadeeth will be taken as authentic. We also study
the content and the text of the Hadeeth which should not contradict
any Qur’anic verse or any other authentic Hadeeth. By this very strict
procedure our scholars are sure that no unauthentic Hadeeth can be
taken as authentic. Now the question of whether all the authentic
Hadeeth are available or not, the answer is that all the authentic
Hadeeths are with infallible Ahlul Bayt (AS). The Imam (AS) of every
time is the authority and he has all the knowledge about every Hadeeth
from the Holy Prophet (SAWA) and the Ahlul Bayt (AS). We cannot say
now that our knowledge or all our scholars’ knowledge today has all
the Hadeeths but for sure, our Imam, Imam al-Mahdi (ATFS) has all that
knowledge and he is guarding and supervising and supporting the
followers of Ahlul Bay (AS) and guiding the scholars to the real
knowledge of Islam.

Wassalam.

Imamah . Hadith . Tahrif

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 5 years ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. There certainly was corruption of the hadith from the Prophet (saw) and Imams (as) even during their lifetimes and so at times the companions of the Imams (as) would check hadith that they did not recognise with the Imams themselves. Since the time of the ghayba one of the most important concerns of scholarship is to deal with the corpus of hadith and define benchmarks for deciphering authentic traditions from less authentic ones. There are a number of methodologies for doing that, some of which are quite technical but are discussed in the sciences of usul, hadith and rijal.

May you always be successful

57054

Bible . God (Allah) . Qur'an . Tahrif . Prophet Muhammad

Is it not unreasonable to believe that the Bible was changed but the Qur'an was not? Isn't it possible that transcription errors could take place in writing all the books of God and the Prophet Mohammed could be misquoted when he communicated the verses?

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 6 years ago

Additionally, it does not make sense to directly compare the process of compilation of the Bible and the Qur'an because the two scriptures are quite different structurally and in terms of the historical circumstances surrounding them.

The Qur'an is much newer than the Bible, much shorter than the Bible, emerged in one region and in a short span of time. There has never been any question of what portions of the Qur'an to consider canonical. It was also all in a single language and dialect. Stylistically, the Qur'an is internally consistent indicating it is the work of a single author and does not have interpolations (whether or not one considers that author to be God, it still has a single "voice"). While, at the time of the Prophet, Mecca and Medina did not have sophisticated means of producing books, it was not long before advances in those areas, such as the use of paper, came to the Islamic world; and, in fact, it was through the Islamic world that some of these technologies were transferred to Europe.

In contrast, the compilation of the Bible is much more complicated. The scriptures are much older, span a broader length of time, and there is a lot more complexity with respect to how it came to be a single text. (There are numerous works on this subject available.) It becomes even more complicated if one considers both the New and the Old Testaments. It is not as if someone 2000+ years ago held out a book (or, rather, a scroll) called "The Bible" that is exactly the same as you find today; there was a process.

So, from a purely historical perspective, there are very different circumstances surrounding the compilation of what today we know as the Bible and the Qur'an, and the nature of the two books is also quite different. Therefore, it is not a one-to-one comparison and it is best to look at the compilation of each scripture separately and consider the validity or authenticity of each one separately.

Bible . God (Allah) . Qur'an . Tahrif . Prophet Muhammad

Quran is the only Holy text which is completely intact, unlike Torah and Bible which have been distorted and changed into many different versions.

There is possibility at of misquoting the prophet Muhammad (SAWA) while writing the Quran as the Prophet and the writer (Imam Ali) both are Infallible supported by Allah (SWT) and His Angles. Allah (SWT) has promised to keep the Quran intact ( Verily, We Have sent the Thikr (Quran) and We will be guarding it (from corruption))(انا نحن نزلنا الذكر وانا له لحافظون )(Sura 15, verse 9)

The Prophet (SAWA) has recited the Quran and supervised writing it. No question at all of any error in writing the Quran as all the Infallible Imams read the Quran in the same way which confirms that there is no error whatsoever.

The fact of the purity of Quran is admitted even by the enemies who tried every thing to harm Quran but could not as Quran is protected by Allah (SW) and no one or power can make any change in Quran as it's enemies tried and failed.

Wassalam

50301

Sunni . Qur'an . Shi'a . Tahrif

Why do Sunni's think that the Shi'a believe the Quran is incomplete when that is not the case?

Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 6 years ago

Bismihi Ta'ala

This indeed is a sad issue that seems to never be solved. The earliest of Shi'ah scholars have addressed this in detail, establishing the completeness and perfection of the Quran, being the everlasting miracle of Islam.

Books have been written, detailed extensive research has been made, and statements so ever frequently given, all explaining the position of Shi'ah Muslims regarding the holy Quran.

However, with such abundant sources openly available for all to read, we see that some Sunnis persist on accepting this myth and want nothing to do with any of the solid evidence presented against it.

The cliche referencing of Kitab Ali (a.s.) is brought up, or Mashaf Fatimah (a.s.), even though it has nothing to do with the holy Quran.

If only someone could dig up this 'different Quran' Shi'ahs supposedly believe in.

Do these accusations come from ignorance, or is it just malice intent fueled with hatred.

In brief:

1. Twelver Shi'ahs believe the very Quran that is with us all today is the only and only Quran all Muslims believe in and accept.

2. This Quran is complete, and perfect, in every form and way, with no surah or verse missing, and there is no extra surah or verse added to it.

3. If, for argument sake, there is a Shi'ah scholar who has a view that the Quran is incomplete, or any other view of this sort, it is their view, and it does not represent the belief of the Shi'ah Creed. It is far from genuine and fair to use the singular views of one or two scholars and generalise it to be the foundational belief of the whole Shi'ah creed.

4. If there are narrations that elude to certain surahs/verses added, or taken away, then they are rejected and not accepted.

5. There are numerous examples of this that exists in Sunni sources, like the goat eating parts of a Quran that was forever lost. However, Shi'ah Muslims have never used this to accuse Sunni Muslims of such baseless accusations.

It is very important to be truthful to ourselves and avoid biased or baseless information.

This is a contemporary book that discusses this topic in detail:

https://www.al-islam.org/al-bayan-fi-tafsir-al-quran-prolegomena-quran-ayatullah-sayyid-abulqasim-al-khui/7-protection-quran

Wassalam