The canonization of the Koranic text

Authenticity is an essential issue for all religions, and a particularly acute one for those in which the written word plays a central role - and Islam is one of them, despite its insistence on the value of oral tradition. This raises questions both about the origin of the message and about scrupulous fidelity to it. Emerging religions face many challenges, as Reuven Firestone reminds us, drawing on Rodney Stark's theses:

[...] for a new religion to succeed, [...] it must retain cultural continuity with the religious systems of the societies in which it develops, while [...] maintaining a certain level of tension with its environment [1].

It must also demonstrate its authenticity

[...] by incorporating identifiable realia from earlier religions [...] through identification with an authentic religion, while at the same time attracting followers by establishing its uniqueness [2].

Muslims have a deep respect for the text of the Koran, due to its very status as the ipsissima verba of God, as al-A'zami affirms:

That the 'Uthmani Muṣḥaf contains the unadulterated Words of Allāh as sectioned into 114 surahs, is the firm belief of the Muslim umma ; anyone eschewing this view is an outcast[3].

Believers are convinced that absolute fidelity to the original is essential: they accept that the text appearing in the printed versions of the Koran that have been approved by the religious authorities scrupulously mirrors that of the heavenly original - with slight variations that are recognized by tradition and in no way affect its authenticity. The dogma of the uncreated nature of the Qur'an, which gradually asserted itself in the first centuries of Islam before becoming completely established, rules out the possibility of the text deviating from its model and undergoing variations and changes over time.
Modification or variation, however, represent themes that the Qur'anic text evokes in different aspects, for itself and for other revelations, and which are related to situations that arose at the time of Muḥammad's apostolate. Islam, which introduced the concept of "People of the Book" to refer to Judaism and Christianity, is historically in a special position in relation to them, which explains why the question of its authenticity arises for it in specific terms. Whereas the Gospels adopt a position of continuity vis-à-vis Judaism, finding in passages of the Old Testament elements that announce and legitimize Jesus' message, the Koran makes both abundant reference to the Old and New Testaments, and at the same time develops a critique against Jews and Christians, accused of having falsified the Scriptures entrusted to them and thus undermining their authenticity.

References

[1] R. Firestone, "The Qur'an and the Bible: Some modern studies of their relationship", in J. C. Reeves (ed.), Bible and Qur'an. Essays in scriptural intertextuality, Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2004, p. 1.

[2] R. Firestone, op. cit. p. 2.

[3] M. M. A'zami, The History of the Qur'anic Text, from Revelation to Compilation. A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments, Leicester, UK Islamic Academy, 2003, p. 235.

The canonization of the Koranic text

References

Program

The canonization of the Koranic text (1)

The canonization of the Koranic text (2)

The canonization of the Koranic text (3)

The canonization of the Koranic text (4)

The canonization of the Koranic text (5)

The canonization of the Koranic text (6)

The canonization of the Koranic text (7)

Canonization of the Koranic text (8)

See also