Qur’an The preserved book of God
Al-Risala (English), March 1993, p. 19
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
Qur’an The preserved book of God
1993 3 March 19-20 Qur’an The preserved book of God (581) The fifth Surah of the Qur’an states:
Today I have concluded for you your religion, and I have completed my favour upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion. (5:3)
Some people have taken this verse to mean that previous religions were incomplete, and that they were only made complete with the religion of the final Prophet, Muhammad, on whom be peace. But this interpretation is mistaken. By ‘conclusion of religion’ in this verse is meant conclusion of the Book of God, which had been revealed, to Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. This is the last verse of the Qur’an to be revealed and marks the completion to the Book of God in Arabic. The meaning of this verse is not that the religion, which God had been sending down since the beginning of human history, had gradually been developing and had now taken on its final and complete form. It is the revelationary completion of the Qur’an in Arabic that is referred to, not the evolutionary completion of divine religion as a whole.
There is, essentially, one Book of divine guidance. That Book has been called Ummul Kitab (The Essence of the Book) in the Qur’an. The divine scriptures were editions of this Ummul Kitab, revealed to the different Prophets. The difference between one Scripture and another is one of language and style. There is no question of one Scripture being complete and another incomplete.
After the final Prophet, however, the only way to salvation is by means of the Qur’an and Islam. Following previous scriptures and religions cannot now earn one salvation. But there is only one reason for this: the fact that the Qur’an is preserved in its original form whereas other religions are not.
The Qur’an still exists as it was revealed, but previous Scriptures have been altered and are not now as they originally were. This difference between the Qur’an and other Scriptures is a historical fact that cannot be doubted on any academic grounds. Clearly, only that edition of the Book of God, which exists in its original form, will be a source of guidance and salvation for man. Scriptures, which have been altered by man – which do not even exist in their original form – will never be able to provide man with guidance and salvation.
How was it that the Qur’an was preserved whereas previous Scriptures were not? The only reason for this was that in this world a powerful community is required to preserve the Book of God – a community that is able to ward off every threat to the integrity of the Scriptures. The Qur’an was the only divine Scripture to bring about a revolution of such universal proportions that a large community gathered around it – a community that was strong enough to ensure that the Book of God was preserved in its original form.
The scale of the revolution, which the Qur’an brought about, was unprecedented in human history. During the Prophet’s lifetime Islam had spread throughout the Arabian peninsula. Within one hundred years of the Prophet’s death his followers had subdued most of the inhabited world. The enemies of monotheism were – on a universal level – either obliterated or vanquished.
Islam continued to dominate the world scene, until eventually man entered the age of the press. Now, there was no possibility of any changes or additions being made in the Book of God. The task of preservation of the Qur’an had been accomplished for all time.
