Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 269
269 And again, "…and conclude with at least a close approximation to the verdict of Von Hammer that we hold the Quran to be as surely Mohammad’s word as the Mohammadans hold it to be the word of God. " 344 Noldeke says: Slight clerical errors there may have been, but the Quran of ‘Uthman contains none but genuine elements, though sometimes in very strange order. The efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed. 345 Arrangement of Chapters and Verses It is sometimes asserted that the arrangement of the Chapters of the Quran is the work of ‘Uthman. This is not correct. It is well-known that the Holy Prophet used to recite the whole of the Quran in Ramadan and some of his Companions also did so. It is also mentioned in the traditions that the Holy Prophet used to recite the whole of the Quran to the angel Gabriel during the month of Ramadan. 346 A non- Muslim may not be prepared to accept this last statement, but it is beyond doubt that the Holy Prophet used to recite the Quran and he must have done it in accordance with some arrangement. After the Holy Prophet’s death ‘Ali did not call on Abu Bakr (who had been elected Caliph) for some time. Abu Bakr sent for him and asked him whether he was displeased with his election as Caliph. ‘Ali replied that it was not so, but that he had been busy in copying out the Quran in the order in which it had been revealed, as he had resolved at the time of the death of the Prophet that he would undertake this duty. This also shows that in the time of the Holy Prophet the Quran used to be recited in a certain order and that that order was different from the order in which it had been revealed. That is why ‘Ali decided that he should copy it out in the order in which it had been revealed so that for purposes of history that arrangement should also be preserved. There are traditions which relate that whenever a verse or group of verses was revealed to the Holy Prophet, he would send for one of the recorders and direct him to record the verse or verses indicating at the same time to which Chapter and where they belonged. This shows that at the time of receiving a revelation the Holy Prophet was also informed where the revealed verse or verses belonged. The strongest evidence, however, in support of the arrangement adopted in the compilation of the Quran is the evidence of the subject-matter itself. A study of the Quran reveals that the subject-matter of each Chapter is connected with the subject- matter of the preceding and the following Chapters. If the current arrangement was adopted by ‘Uthman merely with reference to the length of each Chapter, how is it that the arrangement reveals a continuity of topics and subject-matter? For instance, the Surah al-Fatihah was revealed in Mecca and is the opening Chapter of the Quran. The Surah al-Baqarah was revealed at Medina and follows immediately after the Surah al-Fatihah, leaving out several Chapters that had been revealed during the interval. Western writers allege that the Surah al-Baqarah has been placed first as it is