The Qur’an and Immunity from Distortion

This book is an abridged English rendition of the latter part of _yatull_h Mu_ammad H_d_ MaÔrifatÕs magnum opus, Al-Tamh_d f_ ÔUl_m al-QurÕ_n (Introduction to the Sciences of the QurÕan) which can be considered a significant contemporary contribution to ÔUl_m al-QurÕ_n.

ÔUl_m al-QurÕ_n is a branch of science which deals with such subjects as revelation and the sending down of the QurÕan, the duration and order of revelation, circumstances surrounding the revelation, the collection and recording of the QurÕan, scribers of the revelation, standardization of the manuscripts, the emergence of different readings (qir_Õ_t) and the origin of differences in QurÕan reading, the QurÕanÕs authority and immunity from distortion (ta_r_f), the issue of abrogation (naskh) in the QurÕan, the emergence of its allegorical verses, the QurÕanÕs inimitability (iÔj_z), etc. And since each of these issues has its own framework and is considered distinct from each other, this science is in plural form (Ôul_m which literally means ÔsciencesÕ).

In this book, after initially identifying different factors that contributed to the emergence of the notion of ta_r_f or textual distortion of a scripture, the author discusses in length the textual and technical meanings of ta_r_f Ð including the notion of abrogation of recitation and the issue of ins_Õ (being forgotten). He then gives a summary of the proofs of invalidity of the notion of ta_r_f. In the succeeding two chapters, he enumerates and gives examples of alleged ta_r_f according to the Hashwiyyah and Akhb_r_ schools of thought.