Jabir reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “No one among the people claims to have completely collected the Qur’an as it was sent down, except a liar, because no one collected and guarded it as God sent it down, except Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.) and the Imams (a.) after him.” [Al-Kafi of Al-Kulaini, volume 1 page 135 – 136 Hadith 1]

محمد بن يحيى عن أحمد بن محمد عن ابن محبوب عن عمرو بن أبي المقدام عن جابر قال: سمعت أبا جعفر عليه السلام يقول: ما ادعى أحد من الناس أنه جمع القرآن كله كما أنزل إلا كذاب وما جمعه وحفظه كما نزله الله تعالى إلا علي بن أبي طالب عليه السلام والأئمة من بعده عليهم السلام

Jabir reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “No one can claim that the Qur’an is completely in his hands, both its outer wording and its deeper meaning, except for the representatives (a.).” [Al-Bayan of Al-Khu’i, page 223]

عن محمد بن يعقوب عن محمد بن الحسين عن محمد بن الحسن عن محمد بن سنان عن عمار بن مروان عن المنخل عن جابر عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: ما يسطيع أحد أن يدعي أن عنده جميع القرآن كله ظاهره وباطنه غير الأوصياء

Jabir reported that Imam Al-Baqir (a.) said: “None among the people claims that he collected the Qur’an completely as God sent it down, except a liar, because nobody preserved and collected it as God sent it down, except Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.) and the Imams (a.) after him.” [Basa’ir-ud-Darajat of As-Saffar, page 239 – 230 Hadith 2]

حدثنا احمد بن محمد عن الحسن بن محبوب عن عمرو بن ابى المقدام عن جابر قال سمعت ابا جعفر عليه السلام يقول: ما من أحد من الناس يقول إنه جمع القرآن كله كما انزل الله الا كذاب وما جمعه وما حفظه كما انزل الله الا على بن ابى طالب والائمة من بعده

Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.) reported that the Prophet Muhammad (s.) said: “God chose from among men the prophets and messengers and He chose from me Ali and He chose from Ali, Al-Hasan and Al-Husain and He chose from Al-Husain the authorized guardians. They guard the revelation from the falsification of those who err and the assertions of those who use falsehood and the interpretation of the ignorant.” [Bihar-ul-Anwar of Al-Majlisi, Volume 25 page 363 Hadith 22]

عن حسن بن سليمان عن حسن بن كبش عن محمد العكبري عن أبي بصير عن جعفر الصادق عن محمد الباقر عن علي السجاد عن الحسين الشهيد عن علي الصديق صلوات الله عليهم عن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله قال: واختار من الناس الأنبياء والرسل واختارني من الرسل واختار مني عليا واختار من علي الحسن والحسين واختار من الحسين الأوصياء يمنعون عن التنزيل تحريف الغالين وانتحال المبطلين وتأول الجاهلين

Muhammad Baqir Al-Majlisi writes: “With regard to the first tradition there are different views. With the statement “no one makes the claim” is “except the Imams (a. )” and “the complete Qur’an” means all its words and letters and “how it was sent down” means its order, its wording, its vowels, its pauses and the limitations of the verses and chapters and this is a refutation of those people who claim that the Qur’an is what is written in the common manuscripts (Mushaf) and how the seven recitators and their like-minded people used to read it. Our companions held different views on this and therefore As-Saduq Ibn Babawaih and a group took the attitude that the Qur’an was not changed and nothing was removed from it in terms of how it was sent down, while Al-Kulaini and the scholar Al-Mufid and a group took the attitude that the complete Qur’an was read by the imams (a. ) and that what is written in the manuscripts (Mushaf) is a part of it and the commander of the faithful (a.) collected it after the messenger (s.) as it was sent down and took it out to the hypocrites of the companions, whereupon they did not accept it and had the intention to collect it in the time of Umar and Uthman as it will be discussed in detail in the book on the Qur’an. Our excellent teacher Al-Mufid, may God rest his soul, said in an answer in Al-Masa’il-us-Sarawiyyah: “That which is between the two covers of the Qur’an is in total the Word of God and His revelation and in it there is nothing of the word of man and it is most of what has been revelated and the remaining part is with the guardian of the law and judgement (Mahdi) of which nothing has been lost, even if it was a person who collected it, what is between the two covers of the book today, did not accomplish as a whole of what was to be collected and that for the reasons that led them to do so, and among the reasons was that they had little knowledge of some of it and among the reasons was that they had doubts about it and among the reasons was that what they wanted to intentionally eliminate it and among the reasons was that what they intentionally removed from it, whereby the commander of the faithful (a. ) had already collected the revealed Qur’an from the beginning to the end and put it together as it had to be so that he placed the Meccan before the Medinan and the abolished before the abolishing part and he put all of it in its place and therefore Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.) said:”By God, if you would read the Qur’an as it was sent down, you would find us in it with our names, as the one before us was named.” Until he continued with the treatise and said: “Although the report of our Imams (a.) is authentic (Sahih), that they ordered to read what is between the two covers of the book and not to go beyond it, neither by adding to it nor removing it until the one who is rising (Qa’im) appears, so that he reads the Qur’an to the people as God sent it down and as the Commander of the Believers (a. ) collected it and they only forbade us to read what the traditions reported in terms of wordings that go beyond what is confirmed in the manuscript (Mushaf) because they do not reach the continuous degree (Tawatur) and only individual reports (Ahad) were received about it and one can be mistaken about what he has passed down and because a human being can make a mistake, as soon as he reads anything other than what is between the two book covers, he could put himself in danger with the enemies and thereby expose himself to ruin with the tyrants, and because of what we mentioned, they forbade us to read the Qur’an with what is different from what is confirmed between the two book covers.” Which brings the quote to the end. The reports of the removal and change are continuous (Mutawatir) both through the paths of the general public and through those of our circles and the mind comes to the conclusion that if the Qur’an was scattered among the people and a fallible person took care of its collection, it usually remains denied, that its collection is complete and is in accordance with the reality, but there is no doubt that the people are required to act according to what is written in the manuscripts (Mushaf) and read it until the rising one (Qa’im) appears and this is known to be continuous (Mutawatir) through the paths leading to the people of the house (a. ) and most of the reports in this chapter are a proof of the removal and change and much will happen in the coming chapters and especially in the book about the Qur’an but at this point, God willing, we will be satisfied with the statement made about it.” [Mir’at-ul-Uqul, Volume 3 Page 30 – 32 Hadith 1]

قال محمد باقر المجلسي: الحديث الأول مختلف فيه ما ادعى أحد أي غير الأئمة عليهم السلام والمراد بالقرآن كله ألفاظه وحروفه جميعا والمراد بكما أنزل ترتيبه وإعرابه وحركاته وسكناته وحدود الآي والسور وهذا رد على قوم زعموا أن القرآن ما في المصاحف المشهورة وكما قرأه القراء السبعة وأضرابهم واختلف أصحابنا في ذلك فذهب الصدوق ابن بابويه وجماعة إلى أن القرآن لم يتغير عما أنزل ولم ينقص منه شيء وذهب الكليني والشيخ المفيد قدس الله روحهما وجماعة إلى أن جميع القرآن عند الأئمة عليهم السلام وما في المصاحف بعضه، وجمع أمير المؤمنين صلوات الله عليه كما أنزل بعد الرسول صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وأخرج إلى الصحابة المنافقين فلم يقبلوا منه، وهم قصدوا لجمعه في زمن عمر وعثمان كما سيأتي تفصيله في كتاب القرآن. قال شيخنا السديد المفيد روح الله روحه في جواب المسائل السروية أن الذي بين الدفتين من القرآن جميعه كلام الله وتنزيله وليس فيه شيء من كلام البشر وهو جمهور المنزل، والباقي مما أنزله الله تعالى قرآنا عند المستحفظ للشريعة المستودع للأحكام لم يضع منه شيء وإن كان الذي جمع ما بين الدفتين الآن لم يجعله في جملة ما جمع، الأسباب دعته إلى ذلك منها قصوره عن معرفة بعضه ومنها ما شك فيه ومنها ما عمد بنفيه، ومنها ما تعمد إخراجه عنه، وقد جمع أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام القرآن المنزل من أوله إلى آخره وألفه بحسب ما وجب من تأليفه، فقدم المكي على المدني والمنسوخ على الناسخ ووضع كل شيء منه في موضعه فلذلك قال جعفر بن محمد الصادق عليه السلام: أما والله لو قرئ القرآن كما أنزل لألفيتمونا فيه مسمين كما سمي من كان قبلنا وساق الكلام إلى أن قال: غير أن الخبر قد صح عن أئمتنا عليهم السلام أنهم أمروا بقراءة ما بين الدفتين وأن لا نعتداه إلى زيادة فيه ولا نقصان منه حتى يقوم القائم عليه السلام، فيقرأ الناس القرآن على ما أنزل الله وجمعه أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام وإنما نهونا عن قراءة ما وردت به الأخبار من أحرف تزيد على الثابت في المصحف لأنها لم تأت على التواتر وإنما جاءت بها الآحاد، والواحد قد يغلط فيما ينقله ولأنه متى قرأ الإنسان بما يخالف ما بين الدفتين غرر بنفسه من أهل الخلاف وأغرى به الجبارين وعرض نفسه للهلاك فمنعونا عليهم السلام عن قراءة القرآن بخلاف ما ثبت بين الدفتين لما ذكرناه انتهى. والأخبار من طريق الخاصة والعامة في النقص والتغيير متواترة، والعقل يحكم بأنه إذ كان القرآن متفرقا منتشرا عند الناس وتصدي غير المعصوم لجمعه يمتنع عادة أن يكون جمعه كاملا موافقا للواقع، لكن لا ريب في أن الناس مكلفون بالعمل بما في المصاحف وتلاوته حتى يظهر القائم عليه السلام وهذا معلوم متواتر من طريق أهل البيت عليهم السلام وأكثر أخبار هذا الباب مما يدل على النقص والتغيير وسيأتي كثير منها في الأبواب الآتية لا سيما في كتاب القرآن وسنشبع القول فيه هناك إن شاء الله تعالى