Question:

What did the scholar As-Saduq say about the accessibility of the Qur’an?

Answer:

Muhammad Ibn Ali As-Saduq writes:

اعتقادنا أن القرآن الذي أنزله الله تعالى على نبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وآله هو ما بين الدفتين وهو ما في أيدي الناس ليس بأكثر من ذلك ومبلغ سوره عند الناس مائة وأربع عشرة سورة وعندنا أن الضحى وألم نشرح سورة واحدة ولإلاف وألم تر كيف سورة واحدة ومن نسب إلينا أنا نقول إنه أكثر من ذلك فهو كاذب

“We believe that the Qur’an that God revealed to His Prophet (s.) is the one that is between the two covers of the book and in the hands of the people, no more than that and the number of its chapters among the people is 114, while with us Ad-Duha and Ash-Sharh are a single chapter and Al-Fil and Quraish are a single chapter (112) and whoever attributed to us that we would say that it is more than that is a liar.” [Al-I’tiqadat, page 28]

Comment:

Ni’matullah Ibn Muhammad Al-Jaza’iri writes:

فقال عليه السلام قد سقط بينهما أكثر من ثلث القرآن وأخبارنا متواترة بوقوع التحريف والسقط منه بحيث لا يسعنا إنكاره والعجب العجيب من الصدوق وأمين الإسلام الطبرسي والمرتضى في بعض كتبه كيف أنكروه وزعموا أن ما أنزله الله تعالى هو هذا المكتوب مع أن فيه رد متواتر الأخبار وما قيل من طرفهم أنه يلزم عليه ارتفاع الوثوق بالآيات الأحكامية وينتفي جواز الاستدلال بها لمكان جواز التحريف عليها فجوابه أنهم صلوات الله عليهم أمرونا في هذه الأعصار بتلاوة القرآن والعمل بما تضمنته آياته لأنه زمن هدنة فإذا قامت دولتهم وظهر القرآن كما أنزل الذي ألفه أمير المؤمنين عليه السلام بعد وفاة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وشده في ردائه وأتى إلى أبي بكر وعمر وهما في المسجد في جماعة من الناس فعرضه عليهم فقالول لا حاجة لنا في قرآنك ولا فيك عندنا من القرآن ما يكفينا فقال لن تروه بعد اليوم حتى يقوم قائمنا فعند ذلك يكون ذلك القرآن هو المتداول بين الناس مع أن ما وقع من التحريف في الآيات الأحكامية أظهروه صلوات الله عليهم فيقوم الظن بأن ما لم يعرفونا تحريفه لم يكن فيه تحريف ومن هذا يظهر عدم تحقق تواتر القراءات السبعة كما لا يخفى

“Ja’far As-Sadiq (a.) said: “In between, more than a third of the Qur’an has disappeared.” Our traditions continuously (Mutawatir) say that falsification and removal were done so that we are not free to reject this and it is amazing of Muhammad As-Saduq and Al-Fadl At-Tabarsi and Ash-Sharif Al-Murtada in some of his works how they rejected this and claimed that what God revealed was this writing, although this means the rejection of traditions that are continuously present (Mutawatir) and as far as the statement from their group is concerned, that one can consequently no longer rely on unambiguous verses and that the evidence provided through them was invalid, since their falsification would be possible, one answers with the fact that the Imams (a. ) in these times ordered us to read the Qur’an and to act according to what its verses contain, because it is not the time of revolt. But when their kingdom is established, the Qur’an will be brought forth as it was revealed and Ali Ibn Abi Talib (a.) wrote it after the death of Muhammad (s.) and wrapped it in his garment and stood before Abu Bakr and Umar when they were among a crowd in the prayer house and showed them the Qur’an, whereupon they said: “We do not need your Qur’an nor you. With us is that what is sufficient for us from the Qur’an.” Whereupon he said: “You will not see it from this day on until our Rising one (Qa’im) rises!” Since then, this Qur’an has been accessible to humans. Nevertheless, the Imams (a.) pointed out the falsifications that were made on unambiguous verses, which is why the suspicion arises that what they did not teach us about, that it was falsified, was not falsified, and for this reason it becomes clear that it is not true that the seven readings are continuous (mutawatir).” [Nur-ul-Anwar, page 63]

Comment:

Wether Shaykh Saduq rejected tahrif or not, the imams (a) clearly preached that the Qur’an is incomplete and that the Uthmanic mushaf is not correct.