Three insertions and one erasure, proves later changes! - Quranic Corrections Ep. 6

We continue in this episode by highlighting four more examples of the 20
Corrections he has offered in his book.

Example 6: Here, we have an example of multiple Post-Production Insertions, found in a manuscript from the Museum of
Islamic Art, Doha (MS.67.2007.1).

These insertions are located in Surah 5:93. The phrase “wa-ʿamilū
al-ṣāliḥāt thumma attaqū wa āmilū” has been inserted between the lines.
Except for the first wa āmilū the rest could be a copyist error, which
then had to be re-written into the text, and above the line, at a later
date.

Al fadi also notes that the wa-ʿamilū al-ṣāliḥāt is also inserted to
reflect a common repetitive phrase which is found throughout the Qur’an,
which means “believed and did good deeds”. Yet, by adding it the whole
phrase now supports today’s ‘Hafs’ text.

In the next line down, the initial ʿalif of احسنوا ʿ aḥsanū “do good”
(imperative, 3rd pl.), written in red, was omitted when it was first
written, and was then added later, but in red ink. The reason? ‘Ahsanu’
can be written without the Alif, but it then means “improve”. With the
alif added it now becomes “do good”.

This same red ink was used for the diacritical dots added at a later
date, proving that this ‘alif was added at this later date. Both of
these insertions now correspond with the current ‘Hafs’ text, proving
human intervention.

Example 7: In this example, taken from the Petropolitanus
Manuscript in Paris, France (BnF arabe 327, fol.ir.), we have an
insertion of the words “The Seven” above the line in Surah 23:86-87.

The words السبع alsabʿi “the seven” were added by a later scribe in
Surah 23:86. Formerly it used to say, “Say: ‘Who is the Lord, the Lord
of the Great Throne?’” which is a perfectly good phrase. Now it reads,
“Say: ‘Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Great
Throne?’”

As such it now agrees with the 1924 ‘Hafs’ text. But more importantly,
there is a theological difference as well. By adding ‘the seven’, the
text now matches what Muhammad said when he went up to the 7 heavens
during the night of the ‘Mi’raj’, which some Muslims try to attribute to
Surah 17:1, referring to Muhammad going up from the ‘Great Mosque’ (i.e.
Mecca), to the ‘Farthest Mosque’ (i.e. Jerusalem). The problem with this
view is that there were no Muslims in Jerusalem at all in 621 AD when
this would have taken place, and thus no mosque could have existed there
that early.

Nonetheless, if the 7 heavens is to be attributed to the Mi’raj, than
this poses a further historical problem, because that story is first
introduced in the Hadith and the Tafsir, which aren’t created until
after 870 AD, or the late 9th century, suggesting that this correction
would have to be post 9th century, since this manuscript is from the 8th
century.

In Surah 23:87 we find another insertion, this time of the letter ʾalif
which has been inserted in front of the word lillāhi “Allah’s”. Note
that it has been written with a narrower nib, proving it was added later
by another scribe. Yet, this ‘alif is not found in the modern 1924
‘Hafs’ text, suggesting that the correction goes against that text, and
was created only by that later scribe.

Example 8: In this example, again taken from the
Petropolitanus Manuscript in Paris, France (BnF arabe 330, fol. 55r.),
we find an erasure has subsequently been overwritten in Surah 4:149.

Originally it used to say fa-inna illāha ʿafurān qadiran, which means,
“so surely Allah Forgiving, Powerful”, which doesn’t make sense.
Currently, the word allāh (“Allah”) of Q4:149 has been replaced by
allāhu kāna, which means “Allah is”, employing an erasure, and then
overwriting it. By adding “is” the sentence now agrees with the 1924
‘Hafs’ text, and also makes sense.

Example 9: Another example taken from the Petropolitanus
Manuscript (BnF arabe 327, fol. 12v.), this time from Surah 42:5, we
find an insertion above the line, with the words ‘The Merciful’.
Interestingly, these words الرحيم al-raḥīm “the Merciful” were omitted
in the original, and have now been added at a later time.

Originally, it said “And Allah is the Forgiving”. With the insertion it
now says “And Allah is the Forgiving, the Merciful”. This, not only
smooths out the reading of the text, it also now corresponds to the 1924
‘Hafs’ text.

But, intriguingly, this is part of the ‘Bismillah’ which is found in the
‘Fatiha’, the very first verse of the first chapter of the Qur’an, a
chapter which often doesn’t exist in many of the earliest Qur’anic
manuscripts. Could this be an example of introducing the Bismillah and
redacting it into an earlier manuscript? We don’t know, but it certainly
could be.

In conclusion, the question needs to be asked why these corrections
haven’t been noticed or published before by Muslim scholars, and why has
it taken an American scholar to be the first to uncover these thousands
of later corrections, and then subsequently publish them?

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