Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 215
17 March 1908 215 that one should read it with full attention from end to end with a fair mind. 1 17 March 1908 Hazrat Ali ra Was Obedient to Three [Preceding] Khulafa The Promised Messiah as said: The Shia allege that there has been some tampering of the Glorious Quran, but they themselves are the first to face the blow of this criticism. Hazrat Ali ra did not become the Khalifah to fight with Mu’awiyah [the first Khalifah of the Umayyad Dynasty]. On the contrary, his duty was to safeguard the Holy Quran which is the foundation of the fundamentals of the Faith. Accordingly, he could have published the origi- nal [unadulterated] copy of the Quran during the period of his Khilafat [Successorship]. Was any alteration possible in that Glorious Quran which had been continuously disseminated to thousands of people—friend and foe alike—under the watch of the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him? What nonsense! Then, I ask: ‘Why did Hazrat Ali ra continue praying behind 1. Al- H akam, vol. 12, no. 19, p. 3–4, dated 14 March 1908