Some Distinctive Features of Islam — Page 11
11 followers of Islam, thus safeguarding the true spirit of the Holy Quran. Of course, there is the question as to whether the Quranic claim of its preservation is also supported by reliable corroborative evidence? A clue to the answer to this question lies in the fact that there are a very large number of non-Muslim researchers who, despite themselves, have totally failed to show that th e text of the Holy Quran has been tampered with, in the slightest ma nner after the passing away of the Holy Prophet sa of Islam. In fact, there are many non-Muslim researchers who have felt compelled, after their extensive searches in this field, to affirm openly that the Holy Quran has indeed been preserved and safeguarded in its original form. For instance, Sir William Muir in his work The Life of Muhammad says: We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse is the genuine and unaltered composition of Muhammad himself. 14 Also, there is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we posses the text which Muhammad himself gave forth and used. 15 Noldeke Says: Slight clerical errors there may have been, but the Holy Quran of Uthman contains none but genuine elements, though some times in very strange order. The efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Holy Quran have failed. 16