The Eternal Quranic Text: A Comparative Study Between Ancient Manuscripts and the Contemporary Mus-haf

In a rigorous scientific study presented by the scholar Dr. Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami —may Allah have mercy on him— in his reference work "The History of the Qur'anic Text from Revelation to Compilation," the grandeur of divine preservation of revelation was manifested in its finest form through the investigative methodology of ancient manuscripts.

A Comparative Study of Surah Al-Isra

The author conducted a meticulous comparative study of Surah Al-Isra, covering nineteen Mushafs from manuscripts dating back to the period between the mid-first century AH and the fifth century AH. These included famous manuscripts such as the Birmingham manuscript, the Sana'a manuscript, and the Ibn al-Bawwab manuscript.

The comparison with the Mushaf in circulation today was carried out using a word-for-word method, and the result was astounding by all scientific standards; not a single difference was found in any word out of the 1,559 words that constitute the total of Surah Al-Isra across all those centuries and manuscripts.

The Paradox with Biblical Manuscripts

On the other hand, a profound chasm emerges when comparing this Qur'anic precision to others. The researcher Peter J. Gurry conducted a comparative study of 350 Greek manuscripts of the Bible, and the result recorded approximately 500,000 variants among those copies.

These documented facts confirm that the Qur'anic text represents an exceptional case in the history of human manuscripts, clearly reflecting the truth of the Divine promise to preserve the Remembrance.