Comments by Dr. Ayman Swayd
(video entitled: تعليق الشيخ أيمن سويد على نسخة المصحف
الشريف المكتشفة بجامعة بيرمنغهام ) 3:33
Translated by Umm ‘Abdir Rahmaan Tara Hashim
Sha’baan 1437AH/ May 2016
Today, there has been talk on social media that there has
been an announcement about a very old manuscript of the Qur’aan that has
appeared or is displayed in Birmingham, UK. It is not a complete mushaf but
fragments only. Anyway, whether it is complete or not is not important. Carbon
dating affirms that it dates back to the time of the Prophet صلى الله
عليه وسلم . They say that this is a
great discovery.
However, there is a difference in the research methods of
the Orientalists and the those of the Muslims.
Orientalists rely upon age only. They say such and such an artifact goes back to such a date. This is only what concerns them.
As for the Muslim, when they find a very old fragment of a
Mushaf which is confirmed by carbon dating to go back to the time of the
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم we have two very important questions to ask:
Firstly, who wrote it? We do not take our religion
from ignorant people. It is possible that the one who wrote that fragment was
ignorant, or maybe an enemy, or he wrote it from the top of his head. Memory is
open to forgetfulness.
Secondly, From where was it copied? The Qur’aan is
not written down from one’s memory, it is copied from an existing mushaf.
We know that the Qur’aan was first written down in the
presence of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on the fragments of writing materials
available at that time. Then at the time of Aboo Bakr رضي الله عنه when he brought Zayd bin Thaabit رضي الله عنه to collect the fragments and copy the Qur’aan
from them. It was called the ‘Suhuf al Bakriyyah as Siddeeqiyyah’. Then at the
time of ‘Uthmaan رضي الله عنه when he wanted to make copies from this
Mushaf, he asked Zayd bin Thaabit رضي الله عنه to head the task and ‘Uthmaan said to Hafsa
bint ‘Umar to send him the Mushaf so that they could copy from it. So the Qur’aan
is written and copied from previous copies and not written from memory alone.
So whenever we hear of a fragment of an old mushaf like this
on discovered in an attic in Yemen’s Grand Masjid, or in Birmingham or tomorrow
in any part of the world, we are not shaken by this speech. I know for certain
that some of the Orientalists use these discoveries to cause doubts in the belief
of the Muslims and their Holy Book. They say that such and such has been found
to date back to the First Century and there are discrepancies in it when
compared to the existing text of the Mushaf in circulation today among the
Muslims. This affects their views on the principles and basis of Islaam.
We do not pay attention to this. Our methodology is based on
who wrote this fragment and where was it copied from. This is our
authentication: who wrote it so that we know he is practising, upright and free
from mistakes and the second matter: where it was copied from. Was it a trusted
mushaf and not from memory or from a mushaf that was not trusted or authentic.
This is what I wanted to draw your attention to so that if
you hear of a mushaf or fragments of a mushaf that are said to date back to the
time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم by way of scientific testing that we say that if it
agrees with what we have in circulation today then ‘welcome’ we’re happy, but if
there are differences, then what is with us today is what is trusted and relied
upon and all praise is for Allaah the Lord of the Worlds.
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Pictures of the Fragments Displayed:
There are 4 pages which were probably part of a complete, bound mushaf.
Page 1 contains Surah al Kahf [18:17-22]
Page 2 contains Surah al Kahf [23-31]
Page 3 contains Surah Maryam [19:91-98] and Surah Taha [20:1-12]
Page 4 contains Surah Taha [20:13-39]
It is said that the fragments are exactly the same as what we have in our printed masaahif today alhamdulillaah. Allaah preserves the Qur'aan.
To read more information about Qur'aanic Mushaf manuscripts in general click here.
and click here (University of Birmingham).
(NB. The link is for information purposes only and may contain content that do not reflect my views.)
