Corruption of the text of the Qur'an

Many Muslims are reluctant to read the Gospels, on the basis that the New Testament “has been corrupted” (tahrif). Goldsack conceded that a few letters or words might have been changed, but with little harm to the meanings: the Gospel is overwhelmingly intact. Such Muslims have to understand that there have been many changes to the text of the Qur’an. Today’s Qur’an is very different from the Qur’an of Muhammad, much of which was lost when the third Caliph ‘Uthman compiled the precursor of today’s text, because he burned all other manuscripts. The current sequence of discussions in the Qur’an was arbitrarily set by ‘Uthman. Alternative vowelings of the original consonantal text also give divergent senses to passages. The Qur’an itself told those in doubt of its meaning to ask those who read the books from before you: the New Testament is the book that will answer the Bengali Muslims’ inquiries about God.Title translation and description by Dr. Dennis Walker, Monash Asia Institute, Faculty of Arts, Monash University.Original item held by Global Interactio