Rashad's Appendix 24 Tampering With the Word of God

A look at Appendix 24 Tampering With the Word of God

Part I Introduction 

Dr. Rashad Khalifa was controversial due to many of his claims. He believed the Qur’an

contains a hidden mathematical code that revolved around the number 19. The rejection of

hadith and sunnah as satanic innovations was central to Dr. Khalifa’s teaching. Dr. Khalifa’s

claim to be a messenger from God did not win favor in the Muslim world. In 1985 Dr. Khalifa

argued that the alleged code in the Qur’an required the rejection of the last two verses of

Surah Taubah (128,129) from the Qur’an. While Dr. Khalifa tried to make a case for this

alteration of the Qur’an based on a “mathematical analysis” he also tried to make a

historical case based on an enquiry into hadith books. Our objective is to examine Dr.

Khalifa’s historical research on the two “false” verses. We will review specifically Appendix

24 of Dr. Khalifa’s translation of the Qur’an, where Dr. Khalifa makes his claim that two

“false” verses were added to the Qur’an. Issues of the Submitters’ Perspective and one

apologetic document from Submisison.org will also be used. Our reader should know that

our discussion is not an attempt to defend the textual integrity of the Qur’an but only to

expose Dr. Khalifa’s faulty research. We also refrain from discussion Dr. Khalifa’s

mathematical theories.

Dr. Khalifa introduces the world to his controversial claim in the translation he produced on

the Quran “The Final Revelation; an authorized translation.” In appendix 24 of the

translation Dr. Khalifa tries to make a historical case why the Surah 9:128-129 need to be

expunged from the Qur’an. Dr. Khalifa claims the trouble began exactly 19 years after the

death of Prophet Muhammad. During the reign of Uthman, the third Caliph, a committee of

scribes was appointed to make several copies of the Qu’ran. The purpose of the committee

was to send these manuscripts to various regions of the Muslim world. Dr. Khalifa notes

specifically that the copies were based on a manuscript from “Muhammad’s hand.” We are

then informed of the particpants appointed by Uthman to carry out the scribal work. Two

other noteworthy pieces include the fact that the primary Quran manuscript was written in

Chronological order of revelation. Also Surah 9 was the last Surah revealed in Medina, with

only Surah 110 revealed shorty afterwards in Mina.

While the scribal authorities under Uthman were at work Dr. Khalifa writes ,”the committee

of scribes finally came to Sura 9, and put it in its proper place. One of the scribes suggested

adding a couple of verses to honor the Prophet. The majority of scribes agreed. `Ali was

outraged. He vehemently maintained that the word of God, written down by the hand of His

final prophet, must never be altered.”

Dr. Khalifa argued a great calamity happened in which the future Khalifa, Ali, opposed the

work of his co-workers because two verses” (Surah 9:128-129) were added. Dr. Khalifa cites

Suyuti’s AL ITQAAN FEE 'ULUM AL QURAN for the source of Ali’s alleged animosity. (Ali was

asked: "Why are you staying home?" He said, "Something has been added to the Quran, and I

have pledged never to put on my street clothes, except for the prayer, until the Quran is

restored.") Dr. Khalifa cites the Itqaan page 59 in the Appendix.

The “horrendous dimensions of this crime” are “realized” according to Dr. Khalifa in the

subsequent events in Islamic history such as the assassination of Uthman (and appointment

of Ali as Leader.) This is in addition to a “50 year” war between Ali and his supporters

against the “Muhamamaden distorters” of the Quran (by which we assume Dr. Khalifa means

the Ummayads)The well known events such as Ali’s assassination, the martyrdom of Imam

Hussain, the son of Ali and grandson of Muhammad, at Karbala, and the culmination of the

muslims being “deprived” of the “unaltered Quran” for 1400 years.

The Appendix states that the “distorters” of the Quran won the war and that the recorded

history represents their view. For Dr. Khalifa this proves the people that won reverted to

idolatry by deifying the Islamic prophet.

After discussing the Uthman committee we are taken into the future to discuss Dr. Khalifa’s

2nd piece of evidence for corruption. Marwan ibn al Hakam is attributed according to the

appendix as the “first peace time ruler” after a serious of wars. Dr. Khalifa argues that it

was Marwan who destroyed the “original” Quran that was “written by the Prophet's own

hand.” In fact Dr. Khalifa claims this was one of his “first duties.” The appendix quotes

Marwan’s argument for the destruction of the manuscript “"fearing it might become the

cause of NEW disputes." Dr. Khalifa references the Ulum Al Quran by Ahmad van Denffer for

this quote. Dr. Khalifa asks "If the original Quran were identical to the Quran in circulation

at that time, why did Marwan Ibn Al-Hakam have to destroy it?!"

The last piece evidence for the insertion of “false”” verses cited in appendix 24 comes from

a hadith found in both Imam Bukhari’s collection as well as Sayuti’s Itiqan. According to this

tradition, the final 2 verses of Surah 9 were found only with one companion, Khuzeimah ibn

Thabit Ansari. Dr. Khalifa argued that the acceptance of the two verses by Khuzeimah broke

a rule in place which required the verses to be verified by several people. Specifically, Dr.

Khalifa stated that this particular hadith required that “every single verse in the Quran was

verified by a multiplicity of witnesses " but that an exception was made (wrongly according

to Dr. Khalfia) for the insertion of these two verses. Dr. Khalifa stated that “When some

people questioned this improper exception, someone came up with a Hadith stating that

"the testimony of Khuzeimah equals the testimony of two men!!!"”

At the end of the “historical” narrative Dr. Khalifa argues that it is strange for the

“questionable” verses to be labeled as Meccan when the rest of Surah Taubah is Medina in

origin. Dr. Khalifa asks,” How could these `Meccan' verses be found with Khuzeimah, a late

`Medinan' Muslim?!” Second, “How could a Medinan sura contain Meccan verses, when the

universal convention has been to label as `Medinan' all revelations after the Prophet's

Hijerah from Mecca??!” Dr. Khalifa ends the discussion ,” Despite these discrepancies, plus

many more glaring contradictions associated with Verses 9:128-129, no one dared to

question their authenticity.”

We will summarize the above. Nineteen years after the Prophet’s death a committee was

established, under the auspices of the Third Caliph, whose purpose was to compose copies

of the Qur’an for distribution. During this process, two verses that lacked apparent

authenticity were inserted by people who wanted to “idolize” the Prophet. The insertion of

these verses was contrary to the committee’s own protocols. A companion named

Khuzeimah played a roll in bringing these verses into the Qur’an. The resulting manuscript

caused a riff with Ali ibn Talib and the supports of the two “false verses.” Then years later,

Marwan ibn Hakim destroys the original Qur’an written by Prophet Muhammad in order to

destroy evidence of the discrepancy.

We will go through every point to see what is wrong with Dr. Khalifa’s understanding of the

events in the history of the Qur’an’s compilation.

Before reviewing Dr. Khalifa’s evidence for the alleged manipulation of the Qur’an we need

to discuss what his Appendix fails to mention. When it comes to the transmission of the

Qur’an the first thing that is noticeable is that Dr. Khalifa talks about the historical

documentation process of the Qur’an as if it was limited to writing. The Appendix does not

discuss the oral recitation of the Qur’an anywhere. The oral transmission of the Qur’an is

understood to be the primary tool by which the Qur’an is taught. (How the Qur’an Was

Preserved During the Prophet’s ? Time: Mechanisms of Oral and Written Transmission

https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/how-the-quran-was-preserved-during-the-

prophets-time-mechanisms-of-oral-and-written-transmission) The ability of vast numbers

of people to recite the Qur’an orally is considered a miracle by believers. The notion that

the Qur’an is primary an oral recitation is not a piece of traditional polemics but is a fact

recognized by secular scholars (Qur’?n Recitation: A Tradition of Oral Performance and

Transmission Frederick Mathewson Denny; Oral Tradition, 4/1-2 (1989): 5-26

https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/4i-ii/2_Denny.pdf)

Why does Dr. Khalifa fail to mention the oral recitation of the Qur’an as a factor in it’s

transmission? The oral learning method the Qur’an hinders the doctor’s claims about the

so-called 19 “miracle” and the notion that two “false” were added. If the Qur’an is primarily

a verbal communication from the Creator than the writing on paper is a tool to help

transmit that oral form. The idea that a divine origin of a text can be proven from a

mathematical analysis of the text assumes that the text was written by God. But the Quran is

given by God in a revelatory process that involves listening and reciting, not writing. The

writing scripts with the alphabets used to record the Qur’an were developed by human

beings. The devisers of the Arabic scripts used their own ideas to decide how to display

phonetical sounds with letters.

The other problem for Dr. Khalifa is that the oral transmission of the Qur’an was one of the

methods used in the historical documentation process of the Holy writ. The memory of the

Qur’an by the companions along with the various scattered texts were both used to produce

what became the official manuscripts for the Qur’an we have today. We will see momentarily

why this put’s a big question mark on Dr. Khalifa’s ability to do research.