Refuting Islam

One Qur’an or Many?

Uncovering the Early Versions of Islam’s Supposedly “Perfectly Preserved” Book

April 15, 2025

Muslims are often taught — with great conviction — that there has only ever been one Qur’an, unchanged and identical since the time it was first revealed to Muhammad. This idea is considered so sacred that even minor questions about the Qur’an’s transmission are often treated as blasphemous.

The standard claim goes something like this:

“The Qur’an has been preserved word for word, letter for letter, just as it was revealed 1,400 years ago.”

But historical records — even Islamic ones — flatly contradict this claim.

The truth is that in the first century of Islam, multiple different versions of the Qur’an existed. These versions included textual variants, differences in surah order, and even verses that were recited by some companions of Muhammad but excluded from the final canon.

So let’s dig deeper and ask:

Were there really multiple Qur’ans in early Islam — and what happened to them?

1. The Myth of One Qur’an, One Text

The idea of a perfectly preserved Qur’an is often based on this verse:

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an, and indeed, We will be its guardian.”
— Qur’an 15:9

But if Allah promised to preserve the Qur’an perfectly, then we should see evidence of a single, uniform version from the very beginning — with no variations, no disagreements, and no editing.

Instead, the historical record shows the exact opposite.

2. Early Reports of Multiple Qur’ans

Islam’s own primary sources admit that different versions of the Qur’an existed in the decades following Muhammad’s death.

❖ Ibn Mas'ud’s Qur’an

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud was one of Muhammad’s most trusted companions and one of the earliest converts to Islam. He was personally praised by Muhammad as an expert in recitation.

According to multiple Islamic sources, his version of the Qur’an had no Surah al-Fatiha (1) and no Surahs 113 or 114 (Al-Falaq and An-Nas).

He refused to give up his codex when Caliph Uthman tried to standardize the Qur’an.
He reportedly told his students:

“Conceal the Musahif [copies of the Qur’an], and do not show them to anyone.”
— Al-Nasafi, Tafsir

Why would one of Muhammad’s closest companions exclude entire surahs if the Qur’an had already been perfectly preserved?

❖ Ubayy ibn Ka'b’s Qur’an

Ubayy ibn Ka'b was another senior companion and personal scribe of Muhammad. He had his own codex, which differed from Uthman’s version.

His version included two additional surahs:
- Surah al-Khalʿ (The Separation)
- Surah al-Hafd (The Haste)
These are not found in the modern Qur’an, but he and his followers treated them as part of divine revelation.

So which is it — were these extra surahs legitimate revelations or not?

If yes, why are they missing from today’s Qur’an?

If not, why were they included by someone Muhammad himself trusted?

❖ Other Companions and Their Variants

Other companions, such as Salim, Miqdad, and Abu Musa al-Ashʿari, also had their own codices, some with:

Different verse orders
Alternative readings
Unique vocabulary or insertions

The sheer existence of these variants disproves the myth that a single unified Qur’an existed in Muhammad’s lifetime — or even in the generation after him.

3. The Uthmanic Standardization: A Political Decision, Not a Divine One

According to Sahih al-Bukhari:

“Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur’anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt.”
— Bukhari 4987

Let that sink in:
The third caliph of Islam ordered a mass burning of Qur’ans that did not match his standardized version.

Why would this be necessary if there had only ever been one version?

Uthman’s actions show clearly that:

There were multiple competing Qur’ans.
His goal was to eliminate diversity and enforce one official version.
The Qur’an was not preserved by divine protection, but by human censorship.

4. The Qira’at Problem: 10 Accepted Versions, Thousands of Variants

Even after Uthman’s standardization, the Qur’an did not freeze into a single form.

Instead, multiple qira’at (variant readings) continued to develop across the Islamic world — each with different rules for pronunciation, grammar, and even wording.

Today, Islamic scholars recognize 10 canonical qira’at, with hundreds of documented textual differences between them.

Some affect meaning significantly. For example:

Surah 2:184
- In Hafs: “a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person”
- In Warsh: “a ransom [as substitute] of feeding poor people”

One version requires feeding one poor person, another multiple.

Both are still considered valid. But that means there is no single, fixed Qur’anic text.

5. So Which Qur’an Is “Perfectly Preserved”?

Today, most Muslims use the Hafs transmission — a version that became popular under Ottoman rule and was officially printed in Cairo in 1924.

But this is just one version among many. It’s not the “original” Qur’an — and it doesn’t match any one manuscript or codex from the earliest centuries of Islam.

So when Muslims say the Qur’an is unchanged, the obvious question is:

Which Qur’an?

Ibn Mas’ud’s?
Ubayy ibn Ka'b’s?
The Ṣanʿāʾ manuscript’s?
The Hafs transmission?
The Warsh transmission?

They can’t all be identical — because we know from historical sources that they’re not.

6. Conclusion: The One Qur’an Narrative Is a Historical Myth

The reality is unavoidable:

Early Islam had multiple competing Qur’ans.
Caliph Uthman destroyed alternative versions and enforced a politically standardized text.
Variants survived and evolved into the multiple qira’at that exist today.
No single early manuscript matches the modern Qur’an completely.

The belief in a single, perfectly preserved Qur’an is not based on historical evidence.

It is based on faith in a theological myth — a myth that crumbles the moment you open a history book or examine the earliest Qur’anic manuscripts.

If the Qur’an was truly preserved by divine will, it would not need to be edited, burned, or rewritten.

The truth is simple:

The early Islamic world didn’t preserve one Qur’an.

It preserved many — until political power chose which one would survive.