The Story of Verses 9:128-129

The Quran in verse 74:30 states that there are 19 angels appointed to watch over the affairs of Hell.

Then in verse 74:31, God in the Quran says that He appointed “their number” (the number 19, which is the number of the angels guarding Hell) to carry out five distinct functions some time in the future.

[74:30] Over it is nineteen.

[74:31] We have made not but angels as custodians of the Fire, and We have not assigned “iddatahum” (their number, i.e. the number 19) except as a trial for those who have disbelieved, for those who were given the Book may attain certainty, and that those who believed may increase in faith, and that those given the Book—as well as the believers—may not doubt, and that the ones who have sickness within their hearts—as well as the disbelievers—may say, “What did God intend with this example?” Like that, God sends astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills; none knows the soldiers of your Lord except He. It is but a reminder for humanity.

The five distinct functions of the number 19 as foretold in verse 74:31 are:

1. To be a trial for the disbelievers,
2. To help the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) achieve certainty,
3. To help increase the faith of the believers,
4. To remove doubt from the hearts of the believers and People of the Book,
5. And to allow the disbelievers and people who are sick in their hearts to react to the number 19 with mockery and ridicule, asking what God really meant by this.

And with the discovery of the Quran’s complex 19-based mathematical system, all of those prophecies get fulfilled on a regular basis. The faith and certainty of the believers who witness this miracle get increased exponentially, and the doubt is totally erased from their hearts, because this confirms Islam as the truth.

• The reason why the Quran’s 19-based structure is so miraculous is because the prophet Muhammad could not have unintentionally or unknowingly composed a book mathematically based on the number 19 and could not have unintentionally put a prophecy of 19 in the Quran.

• Yet, despite the prophet’s lack of awareness of anything related to number 19, the Quran has a very complex 19-based structure, and also predicted that the number 19 will one day prove Islam as the truth, beyond a doubt.

The second foundational article of our masjid lists in detail a portion of this enormous mathematical composition based on the number 19.

However, the Quran’s 19-based system caused a stunning discovery.

It turns out that there are more than seven dozen violations to the Quran’s 19-based mathematical system that come from the addition verses 9:128-129, both small and large, as if the Quran itself was rejecting these two verses with its own built-in security system.

Due to such overwhelming evidence, any honest believer would realize that the Quran is telling us something: verses 9:128-129 do not belong in the Quran.

As it turns out, it is not just the Quran’s mathematical system rejecting this, but a number of Hadith reports also indicate that these two verses are “pretty sus” as someone from Gen-Z (like me) would say.

Historical Documents

The first red flag about these verses is that verses 9:128-129 are believed to be Meccan verses, but the rest of the Surah is Medinan.

• This is very strange, because Hadiths state that Surah 9 was sent down all at once as a complete Surah, in one single revelation. It was not revealed part-by-part like other Surahs.

• But if Surah 9 was sent as a complete Surah, altogether at once, in Madina, then why did the last two verses originate in Mecca, separate from the other 127 verses? If we accept the Meccan verses 9:128-129 as authentic, then Surah 9 was not truly revealed in full. Two things cannot be true at once.

• Abu Ishaq said that he heard al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib (Allah be pleased with him) say: The last complete sura revealed (in the Holy Qur’an) is Sura Tauba (i e. al-Bara’at, ix.), and the last verse revealed is that pertaining to Kalala. (Muslim, no. 1618)

• Narrated al-Bara: The last Sura which was revealed in full was Baraa (i.e. Sura-at-Tauba), and the last Sura (i.e. part of a Sura) which was revealed was the last Verses of Sura-an-Nisa’:– “They ask you for a legal decision. Say: Allah directs (thus) About those who have No descendants or ascendants As heirs.” (Bukhari, no. 4364)

The next red flag is that even though the Quran was memorized by a lot of people in the Muslim community, for some reason no one (not even Zaid ibn Thabit himself, who was one of the prophet’s scribes) was aware of verses 9:128 and 9:129. After searching all written sources and searching the heart of every male who memorized the Quran, he discovered only one man named Khuzaima who knew of those two verses.

• How can it be that not a single other Quran hafiz (memorizer) contained those two verses in their hearts, but they were found with only one man, Khuzaima ibn Thabit?

• Narrated Zaid bin Thabit: Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while Umar was sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), Umar has come to my and said, ‘A great number of Qaris of the Holy Qur’an were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Qur’an may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part of the Qur’an may be lost. Therefore I consider it advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qur’an collected.’ I said, ‘How dare I do something which Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) did not do?’ Umar said, By Allah, it is something beneficial.’ Umar kept on pressing me for that till Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest of Umar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as Umar had.” Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), “You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). So you should search for the fragmentary scripts of the Qur’an and collect it (in one Book).” Zaid further said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a mountain among the mountains from one place to another it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur’an. Then I said (to Umar and Abu Bakr), “How can you do something which Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) did not do?” Abu Bakr said, “By Allah, it is something beneficial.” Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and Umar, and I had in that matter, the same opinion as theirs. So I started compiling the Qur’an by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qur’an). I found the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: (“Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves–‘ (9.128-129) ) from Khuzaima or Abi Khuzaima and I added to it the rest of the Sura. The pages (suhuf) of the Qur’an remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then it remained with Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and then with Hafsa bint Umar. (Bukhari no. 7191)

• Narrated Zaid ibn Thabit: “Abu Bakr sent for me and said, “You used to write the Divine Revelations for Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ): So you should search for (the Qur’an and collect) it.”  I started searching for the Qur’an till I found the last two Verses of Surah At-Tauba (verse 9:128-129) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari and I could not find these Verses with anybody other than him.” (Bukhari, no. 4989)

There are other Bukhari hadiths from Zaid which state that he was looking for a verse (33:23) which he knew, but didn’t find it with anyone other than Khuzaimah.

• Bukhari Hadith 4784: “When we collected the fragramentary manuscripts of the Qur’an into copies, I missed one of the Verses of Surat al-Ahzab (33:23) which I used to hear Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) reading. Finally, I did not find it with anybody except Khuza`ima Al-Ansari, whose witness was considered by Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) equal to the witness of two men: ‘Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah.’”

The difference here is that Zaid specified that he previously knew of verse 33:23, but no one else other than Khuzaimah did, thus making him the second witness for verse 33:23.

• Whereas for verses 9:128-129, the Hadith reports did not indicate that Zaid ibn Thabit had prior knowledge of those two verses. There is no documented proof that he even knew those two verses existed before Khuzaima mentioned them.

• Also, many dozens of parts of the Quran’s 19-based mathematical system would be destroyed with the deletion of verse 33:23, whereas the mathematical system overwhelmingly rejects the addition of verses 9:128-129. 

Hadith from Al-Suyuti

There is a Hadith that casts suspicion onto verses 9:128-129, which the scholar al-Suyuti mentioned in his book “Al-Itqaan”: 

• On the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaab, they were collecting the Quran and when they reached the end of the verse in surat Baraa: Thus, God has diverted their hearts, for they are people who do not comprehend, they thought that this was the last of what had been revealed. Then, Ubayy said, “God’s messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, had me recite two verses after this: Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves…”to the end of the Sura, (and he said) “Meccan.” (Al-Itqaan)

This story should bring forth some issues. This one mentions Ubayy ibn Kaab, not Zaid or Khuzaima, as the only one who knew of these verses. The others (including Zaid) believed that 9:127 was the end.

• So this narration suspiciously states that everyone believed Surah 9 had 127 verses. But Ubayy ibn Kaab, out of nowhere, claimed that there were two additional verses.

Hadiths from “Kitab al-Masahif”

Ibn Abi Dawud is the son of one of the six renowned Hadith collectors in Sunni Islam, Abu Dawud. He wrote a book called “Kitab al-Masahif” which has Hadith narrations about the compilation of the Quran.

Kitab al-Masahif is arguably the most important source of history about the Quran’s compilation after Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

There are a few narrations from Ibn Abi Dawud’s book that portray verses 9:128-129 as false additions to the Quran.

• Ibn Zubair said, “Al-Harith ibn Khuzaima brought two verses from the end of Surah Baraa: Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on him. He is anxious over you, compassionate and merciful to the believers, until His saying, the Lord of the glorious throne, to Umar. So he [Umar] said, ‘Who is with you in this?’ He [Al-Harith] said, ‘I only know that I bear witness that I heard them from God’s messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.’ Then, Umar said, ‘And I bear witness that I heard them from God’s messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.’ Then he said, ‘If it was three verses, I would make them a separate Surah. Then, they looked for a Surah from the Quran and attached them to it. Thus, it was attached at the end of Bara’ah” (Ibn Abu Dawud Vol. 2, 30).

• Uthman ibn Affan stood up and said, ‘Whoever has something from the Book of God, let him bring it to us.’ And nothing would be accepted until two witnesses testified to it. Then, Khuzaima ibn Thabit came and said, “I see that you left out two verse that you did not write.” They said, “What are they?” He said, “I learned from God’s messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, (9:128-129): Indeed, a messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering is hard on him. He is anxious over you, compassionate and merciful to the believers…,” to the end of the Surah. Uthman said, “I bear witness that they are from God. So, where do you think you should put them?” He said, “Seal the last of what was revealed of the Quran with them.” So Bara’ah was sealed with them. (Ibn Abu Dawud vol. 2, 31).  

The first Hadith says that the people who compiled the Quran under Uthman would have made it a new Surah if it were three verses instead of two. They randomly looked for one to attach them to, and they attached it to the end of Surah 9.

• The Quran in verse 75:17 states that the compilation of the Quran is God’s responsibility. That means God alone decides what Surah any verse belongs to and where to place each verse, and those instructions were provided to prophet Muhammad.

• Therefore, they had zero authority to put the verses anywhere they wanted, or make any group of verses into a new Surah.

• The only reason they had to “look for a Surah” to place these two verses in is because those verses were man-made fabrications and no one had any idea where they belonged.

• Also according to the first Hadith, Umar said he bears witness he heard them from the prophet. But if Umar really heard it from the prophet, how did Umar not even know where those verses belonged? Why did he have to look for a random Surah to attach these verses to if he really did hear it from the prophet?

There are some important issues in the second Hadith as well.

• The fact that Khuzaima announced the compilers “left out” verses 9:128-129 suggested that before his statement, everyone believed verse 127 was the end of Surah 9. The words “left out” tells us that if Khuzaima chose not to mention these two verses, the committee headed by Uthman would have concluded the standardization of the Quranic text with 127 verses for Surah 9.

• The second issue raised by this Hadith is that nobody knew where to put those two verses, so they decided to place these verses at whatever Surah was last revealed to the prophet, which they believed to be Surah 9. But if these two verses were truly revealed, no one would need to place them in a random Surah because God is the one responsible for the compilation (verse 75:17), so the instructions for where to place each verse was given to the prophet by God.

• According to this Hadith, Uthman is the second witness for verses 9:128-129. If that’s the case, then how come Uthman had to ask which Surah to put those two verses on? If he truly was the second witness, then he surely would have known which Surah had those two verses. This hadith implies that Uthman only chose to be the second witness to corroborate Khuzaima because he trusted the testimony of Khuzaima, not because he actually heard these verses from the prophet.

So “Kitab al-Masahif” is a historical source which lets us know that verses 9:128-129 are man-made additions, for those who believe that the son of Abu Dawood is a credible source of Islamic history.

The Issue of the Qira’at

One important question is: “If verses 9:128-129 are false, the why do all 10 standard “Qira’at” (recitations) of the Quran contain them? Even if the written text was tampered with during the standardization of the Quran, the qira’at of the Quran were orally transmitted, and existed independently of the written text, yet they contain those two verses.“

The 10 qira’at of the Quran (qira’ah in singular form) are the grammatically different recitations of the Quran. They originated because different Arab tribes had different dialect, pronunciation differences, different grammatical preferences, and some vocabulary differences.

Sunni scholars say that the 10 Qira’at of Quranic recitation were passed down from the prophet, and that God revealed the 10 different Qira’at of the Quran to the prophet, although there is no Hadith in existence to back up this claim. Moreover, the idea of multiple valid recitations of the Quran violates verse 75:17-18.

• The alternative hypothesis is that the linguistic differences amongst the Arabic tribes, and the lack of dots and vowel markings of the Uthmanic manuscript, caused different recitation traditions to emerge naturally.

• This hypothesis makes more sense because there were far more than 10 Qira’at in existence before they were reduced to 7 standard Qira’at by ibn Mujahid in the fourth century after the prophet’s death, which scholars later changed to 10. According to Shady Nasser, professor of Arabic literature at Harvard, there used to be as much as 25 different Qira’at of the Quran before ibn Mujahid’s standardization.

• So even if 10 standard Qira’at were distinct revelations from God, what if ibn Mujahid and later scholars selected the wrong 10? What if there were more than 10, or less than 10? What if one or two revealed qira’at are now gone forever from memory due to selecting the wrong 10 qira’at, even though the Quran said it is protected from falsehood (verses 15:9, 41:42)?

• The only hypothesis that does not contradict the Quran is that there is only one revealed oral recitation of the Quran, and the rest are just human attempts to interpret the Uthmanic consonantal skeleton of the Quranic text. The way to tell which one the correct one is by the 19-based mathematical system. It just happens to be that the recitation of Hafs is the one that is most in harmony with the Quran’s mathematical system and the one that is most grammatically consistent. To give just one an example, 12 out of the 20 recitations say that the Quran has anywhere between 6204 to 6219 verses, which does not align with the 19-based structure.

• This is further supported by the fact that verse 75:17 says the “recitation” (singular form) of the Quran is God’s responsibility, NOT “recitations” (plural). Verse 75:18 tells the prophet to follow the Quran’s “recitation” (singular) after God recites it. If God revealed multiple recitations of the Quran to the prophet, God would not tell the prophet to only follow one recitation. So verses 75:17-18 say that there is only one recitation of the Quran that God revealed, not multiple recitations.

Moreover, recall that according to Sahih Bukhari, Zaid ibn Thabit did not discover verse 9:128-129 from the hearts of Quran memorizers, except for 1 person. That means even if God revealed multiple recitations of the Quran, no qira’at that could have existed at the time of the compilation of the written text contained these two verses.

• So this is some evidence that the eponymous recitations (Qira’at) were later influenced by the preservation and standardization of the written text under Abu Bakr and Uthman, such that later reciters began to include these two verses in their recitations only after they were included in Uthman’s standardized manuscript, not before.

The Issue of Abu Bakr’s Quran

According to Kitab al-Masahif, Abu Bakr (the first leader of the Islamic empire and prophet Muhammad’s father-in-law) made his own personal written copy of the Quran with the help of one of the prophet’s scribes (Zaid ibn. Thabit).

Then this written copy was handed down to Umar (the second leader and another father-in-law of the prophet) after Abu Bakr died. After Umar was killed, that copy of the Quran was handed down to his daughter Hafsah (who was also the wife of the prophet).

Then Uthman (the third leader of the empire and the prophet’s son-in-law) used Hafsah’s copy to create the standardized written text of the Quran, so that only one written text is used by the whole Muslim community.

Hafsah’s copy was returned to her afterward, then when she died, Marwan ibn al-Hakam (the fourth ruler of the Umayyad empire) burned her copy because he feared it may cause disputes when people compared it to the written text that was standardized under his predecessor Uthman.

• Narrated Abdullah, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Malik informed me, from Ibn Shihab, from Salim and Kharija, that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq had collected the Qur’an in parchments, and he had asked Zaid ibn Thabit to look into it. Zaid refused until Abu Bakr sought help from Umar, and then he agreed to do so. Those parchments remained with Abu Bakr until he passed away, then they were with Umar until he passed away, and then they were with Hafsa, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Then Uthman sent for her, but she refused to give them to him until he promised to return them to her. She sent them to him, and he copied them into these mushafs, then returned them to her. Marwan sent for them, took them, and burned them. (Kitab al-Masahif, page 15-16)

• Ibn Shihab narrated that Salim bin Abdullah said: When Hafsa passed away, Abdullah bin Umar sent her scrolls to Marwan. Marwan took them and burned them to avoid any disputes, following the example of Uthman’s compilation of the Qur’an. (Kitab al-Masahif, page 28)

• Narrated Abdullah: Muhammad bin Auf narrated to us: Abu al-Yaman narrated to us: Shu’aib narrated to us from al-Zuhri who informed me that Salim bin Abdullah said that Marwan used to send to Hafsa requesting the manuscript from which the Quran was copied, but Hafsa refused to give it to him. Salim said: When Hafsa passed away and we returned from her burial, Marwan sent someone to Abdullah bin Umar requesting that he send him those manuscripts. Abdullah bin Umar sent them to him, and Marwan ordered that they be shredded. Marwan said: “I only did this so that no one would remain with anything of this matter in their heart in the future, or say that there was something in it that was not written.” (Kitab al-Masahif, page 32)

Now the question is: why would Marwan ibn al-Hakam destroy the copy of the Quran that was created and owned by the wife and the fathers-in-law of the prophet?

Why would he destroy the copy that the prophet’s son in law used as the template for standardizing the written text?

What serious discrepancy or abnormality would cause him to burn the first ever compiled manuscript of the Quran, the one owned by one of the most important women in Islam, a mother of the believers, who did not want it to be destroyed?

Why would Marwan fear any disputes that may arise from comparing the Uthmanic standardized text with the copy created by Abu Bakr?

The only reason Marwan would fear any new disputes is because the copy of the Quran owned by Hafsah (and created by Abu Bakr) contained some material that is different from the standard Uthmanic manuscript.

But did not Uthman use Abu Bakr’s Quran (which was in Hafsah’s ownership) to standardize the Quranic text? Why would Uthman’s standardized copies contain material that is any different from Abu Bakr’s copy?

• If you recall earlier Hadith from Kitab al-Masahif, all compilers of the Quran under Uthman believed that verse 9:127 was the end of Surah 9 before Khuzaima (or his son Al-Harith) declared the existence of two additional verses.

• Obviously, if those two verses were in the copy of the Quran created by Abu Bakr (which was used as the template to standardize the written Quranic text), none of the compilers of the Quran under Uthman would have been confused about where in the Quran to put them, nor would they need to search for a Surah to place these two verses.

• As a result, Kitab al-Masahif informs us that verses 9:128-129 were two verses that existed in Uthman’s standardized Quran manuscript, but did not exist in Hafsah’s copy (which was created by Abu Bakr). Because Marwan did not want differences like this causing potential disputes, he destroyed Hafsah’s copy.

What Does Preservation of the Quran Really Mean?

Some might say, “When God says falsehood can never enter the Quran, that means falsehood can never enter how the Muslims collectively remember the Quran. The collective memory of the Muslim community, established through mass memorization, is infallible, and verse 9:128-129 is part of that collective memory.“

But according to a Hadith that is classified as authentic, the Quran is missing a verse of stoning. (Tirmidhi, no 1432, graded Sahih)

• ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said: “Verily Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with the truth, and he revealed the Book to him. Among what was revealed to him was the Ayah of stoning. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stoned, and we stoned after him. I fear that time will pass over the people such that someone will say ‘We do not see stoning in the Book of Allah.’ They will be misguided by leaving an obligation which Allah revealed. Indeed stoning is the retribution for the adulterer if he was married and the evidence has been established, or due to pregnancy, or confession.”

Moreover, a Hadith states that God revealed verses allowing for breastfeeding adults and stoning adulterers, which were eaten by a sheep, hence not present in today’s Quran.

• “The Verse of stoning and of breastfeeding an adult ten times was revealed, and the paper was with me under my pillow. When the Messenger of Allah died, we were preoccupied with his death, and a tame sheep came in and ate it.” (Sunan Ibn Majah, 1944, graded Hasan)

Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari are believed by Sunnis to be the two most accurate books after the Quran. This Hadith in Sahih Muslim states that a person who used to recite a Surah similar in length to Surah al-Bara’ah, but he cannot remember that Surah except a verse about the children of Adam having two valleys of riches not being enough to satisfy their greed. Hence according to this Hadith, the Quran is missing an entire Surah.

• Abu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash’ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur’an and he said: “You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara’ah. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it: “If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust.”… (Sahih Muslim, 1050)

So if Sunni Islam makes it mandatory to follow all authentic Hadith that come from the prophet and “the salaf” (the companions, their followers, and the followers of the followers), then Sunni Muslims are required to believe that the Quran is missing verses about stoning and breastfeeding, and is even missing an entire Surah.

• In other words, according to Sunni Islam, it is mandatory to believe that certain parts of the Quran are missing from the public memory.

So even according to Sunni Islam, the Quran cannot be defined as whatever exists in the memory of the public. That is because according to what Sunni Islam requires Sunni Muslims to believe, falsehood has entered the Quran that exists in public memory due to many missing verses, and a missing Surah.

• But if falsehood can never enter the Quran (verse 41:42), then according to Sunni Islam, the Quran that verse 41:42 says is guaranteed protection from falsehood cannot be the Quran that exists in the public memory.

The Quran exists independently of human memory as a book in the “guarded tablet” according to verse 85:22, and this is undisputed by Sunni Muslims. That is the original Quran, and only that is divinely guarded from falsehood, not the man-made copies of the Quran, or whatever version of the Quran exists in the public memory.

The “Ahruf” of Quran are Missing According to Hadith

In addition to missing verses and a missing Surah, there are Hadith which imply that most “Ahruf” (versions) of the Quran that were revealed to the prophet are completely missing.

Certain Hadiths state that the Quran was revealed with seven different “ahruf” (groups of letters). This means there are seven revealed versions of the Quran.

• Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Gabriel read the Qur’an to me in one harf, and I continued asking him to read it in different ways till he read it in seven different ahruf.”

Okay, what exactly are the 7 ahruf?

The answer: No one knows. The general view among Sunnis is that the Caliph Uthman destroyed all but one when he standardized the written text of the Quran, to unite the people under one of the seven ahruf.

• But that explanation contains serious negative theological implications, because it says that one of the most respected companions of the prophet (his son in law) destroyed part of the Quranic revelation, causing it to be no longer accessible to the public memory.

Whether Uthman destroyed them or not, the fact is that there are no seven Ahruf (versions) in existence today. So if Sunni Islam requires believing in seven Ahruf, but all but one of them are gone, then most of the revealed versions of the Quran are gone from public memory according to Sunni Islam.

• But the Quran in verse 41:42 says that falsehood can never enter the Quran, then that means Sunnis are forced to believe that the Quran that exists in public memory is not necessarily the Quran that is guaranteed divine protection.

Conclusion

God made it His responsibility to guard the Quran from false additions. However, God only guaranteed that the original Quran will be preserved, rather than any man-made copy of the Quran. Falsehood cannot enter the original Quran. This begs the question: What is the original Quran?

• The original Quran exists in two forms: physical, and oral.

• The physical form is inside the “guarded tablet” (verse 85:22). The oral form of the original Quran is the “tanzeel” (transmission) that came directly from God to the prophet (verse 41:42). This transmission was 1 single recitation (verse 75:17-18), not multiple “Qira’at” (recitations).

• Every written Quran that we produce is not the original Quran, but a physical copy of the original written Quran that exists with God. Every verse of the Quran that we recite is an oral copy of the original oral transmission (tanzeel) recited to the prophet by God.

• God is not going to magically chop off anyone’s hand for writing mistakes in the physical Quran copies, nor destroy the vocal cords of anyone who accidentally makes a mistake in reciting the oral Quran copies. When the Quran is guarded from falsehood, that means only the original is guarded, not its copies.

• [41:42] Falsehood will neither come to it (the Quran) from before it nor behind it. It (the Quran) is a transmission from a Wise, Praiseworthy one.

• [85:21-22] Rather, it is a Quran in a guarded tablet.

Therefore, to distinguish any added falsehoods, God installed a 19-based security system in the Quran to help us align our corruptible, man-made copies with the original physical and oral Quran. And that security system says one thing: verses 9:128-129 are man-made fabrications that do not belong in the Quran.

Anyone who accuses the messenger of God and the believers of removing two legitimate verses from the Quran should know that we speak nothing but what Muhammad al-Bukhari and the son of Abu Dawood al-Sijistani insinuated through their writings more than 12 centuries ago. Both the math and the historical documentation say these verses do not belong in the Quran.

So the true believer should look at this decisive evidence and ask himself and herself: “Am I going to follow what the majority of people say?”

“Or am I going to believe what God alone is telling me through the number 19, the same number which God Himself said (in verse 74:30-31) will confirm the Quran’s authenticity beyond all doubts?”