Muhammad The Great Exemplar — Page 43
43 Muslims are spread among numerous nations and countries. They all possess copies of the Holy Qur’an and yet not one example can be found where one version differs from another. After extensive research, a certain Dr Mingana claimed to have discovered three different ancient versions of the Holy Qur’an. But when he had a few of their pages published, his findings were [immediately] proven false, and he set aside any plans for having the others brought into the public domain. The ones that were published were not accurate renditions. Instead, the mistakes in them were the work of an ignorant and inexperienced [scribe] and were, therefore, not an error in any real sense. A [true textual error] would be one by which people are misled. There was no need for Dr Mingana to go so far back into history. It was enough for him to present any misprinted copy of the Qur’an as published by Muslims, and point out the relevant verses to prove there are alternative versions. There used to reside a priest in Sialkot who would keep various copies of the Holy Qur’an and note down all the misprints he could find. Then whenever he met a Muslim he would say that contrary to their claims, certain words are written differently in various versions of the Qur’an. And yet he too could have made his point in a simpler manner. He only had to ask a person with a stammer to recite the Holy Qur’an, and with every mispronounced