#6 Quran: the Protected Scripture

Although Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a living role model for Muslims to understand the Quran; he is considered a pure vehicle through which God revealed the Quran, sent by the medium of the Angel Gabriel (a.s.). Both Prophet Muhammad and the early Muslim community preserved a clear distinction between words that the Prophet (pbuh) spoke from himself as a human being, and God’s message of the Quran revealed through him.

The Quran refers to itself as a “protected” scripture. This concept is linked to another statement in the Quran that Muhammad (pbuh) is the “seal” of the Prophets, meaning that God will send no other prophet after him. Hence God has promised to protect His final, most complete revelation of guidance so that it cannot be changed through human intervention.

Although God’s protection is essentially spiritual, Muslims point to a number of practical facts to support this belief. They consider Prophet Muhammad’s state as “unlettered” (illiterate) as a form of protection: being unable to read or write, he did not form preconceived ideas through exposure to previous scriptures.

The noble character of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is also a form of protection, reinforcing the community’s belief in the authenticity of the Quran. A man of dignity and humility, Muhammad (pbuh) was highly regarded for his honesty, integrity, kindness, generosity, mercy and mental clarity. His faultless reputation earned him the title of “The Trustworthy” well before he received the first Quranic revelations. Although many his fellow tribesmen refused to leave their ancestral religion (and the unjust social order it preserved), no one who knew the Prophet(pbuh)–not even his enemies–was able to brand him a liar. It was–and still is–obvious to the Muslim community that a man who was intensely honest in every aspect of his life would never lie about the most essential part of his being: his relationship with God, and his perfect obedience to His message.

The manner in which the Quran was first preserved has also been significant in protecting it from corruption. The first verses of the Quran were given to the Prophet(pbuh) at the age of forty (610 CE), during one of his frequent meditative retreats in the cave of Mount Hira (outside of Mecca). These revelations continued over the next twenty-three years. Whenever a Quranic verse came to him, he called his close companions to both memorize the verse and inscribe it on whatever material was at hand. Arabia had no paper at this time; therefore Quranic verses were inscribed on materials such as leather or bone. The Arabs were also renowned for their expansive memories. Hence there quickly developed a group of people known as the “huffaz”–“protectors”–who (along with the Prophet) memorized the entire Quran. The existence of the “huffaz,” in addition to the preserved written text, has insured that the words of the Quran have never been changed.

The role of the “huffaz”, as living witnesses of the Quran, continues into the present day: countless Muslims all over the world–even here in Cornwall–have preserved the entire six hundred page scripture in their memory. In this way the Quran–with its message of mercy, forgiveness, warning, promise, personal and spiritual guidance, rules for social conduct and community dealings, scientific insight and mystical knowledge–has been faithfully preserved since the early seventh century, as God’s “protected” scripture.