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God Almighty has sent more than 100,000 Prophets to humanity. Islam defines Prophets as those who came with important tidings ("the tidings of religion") concerning belief in God's Existence and Unity, angels, Prophethood's mission and Prophets, Revelation and Divine Scriptures, the Resurrection and afterlife, and Divine Destiny (including human free will).
The tidings also include offering a life based on this belief, promises related to accepting belief, and warnings related to rejecting it. The frequent corruption of religion by various communities has caused Prophets to be sent to revive and restore it, and also to amend some rules or bring new laws concerning daily life. Such Prophets usually were given a Book and are known as Messengers, the greatest of whom are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (42:13). The name of the religion that God Almighty revealed through all Messengers is Islam. Just as the laws ordering and operating the universe remain the same and constant, and just as all people have the same basic characteristics, essential needs, and final destination regardless of when and where they live, it is natural for religion to be based on the same essentials of belief, worship, and morality. As this religion gradually was corrupted, altered, or contaminated with borrowings from false creeds, God sent different Messengers at different times. Muhammad was sent as the last Messenger and with the perfected form of the Divine religion (Islam). God protects this final and perfected religion by promising to preserve the Qur'an and telling the Prophet to live his life by the rules that He revealed to him (known as the Sunna): Without doubt, We sent down the Message and We will preserve it (15:9). People who followed the messages brought by Moses and by Jesus later on called them Judaism and Christianity, respectively, whereas Islam has retained its original and God-given name. In this world, as God Almighty acts behind natural or material causes, He also uses causes or means to preserve the Qur'an. One of these is having the Qur'an written down during the Prophet's lifetime and under his direct supervision so that nothing could be deleted, added, or changed. All copies of the Qur'an in existence during the 14 centuries of Islam are exactly the same. Unlike other earlier Scriptures, the Qur'an has been preserved in its original form or text and in the language in which it was revealed. Thus the following points are of considerable significance: The Qur'an was revealed in parts. God Almighty undertook its preservation, due recitation, and its part's arrangement. He revealed to His Messenger where each revealed verse and chapter was to be placed: Do not move your tongue (with the revelation) so that you may hasten (committing) it (to memory). It is for Us to collect it and to promulgate it. But when We have promulgated it, follow its recital (as promulgated). Then it is also for us to explain it. (75:16-19) High above all (considerations) is God, the Sovereign, the Truth. Do not show haste to receive and recite the Qur'an before its revelation to you is completed; but rather say: "Lord, increase me in knowledge." (20:114) The Almighty emphasizes that no falsehood can touch the Qur'an or cast doubt on its authenticity:
These are the people who rejected the Message when it came to them. But the fact is that this is a noble, mighty Book. No falsehood can approach it from before or behind. It is a Revelation being sent down from One All-Wise, All-Praised. (41:41-42)
Once a year, the Messenger reviewed all that had been revealed up to that point with Archangel Gabriel. In his last year, after the revelation was completed, Gabriel came twice for this purpose. The Messenger concluded from this that he would die soon.6 From the very beginning, the Companions paid the utmost attention to the Qur'an and tried their best to understand, memorize, and learn it. In fact, the Qur'an ordered them to do so: When the Qur'an is recited, give ear to it and pay heed, that you may obtain mercy (7:204). Only a few people could read and write when the Revelation began. After the Battle of Badr (624), the first military encounter between the Muslims and the Makkan polytheists, Makkan prisoners of war were freed only after they taught ten Madinan Muslims how to read and write. The beneficiaries of this policy then tried to memorize the Qur'an for several reasons: reciting some verses is obligatory during the prescribed prayers; the Qur'an was very original for them; it purified their minds of prejudice and wrong assertions, their hearts of sins, and illuminated them; and it built a society out of illuminated minds and purified hearts. To understand the extent of their effort and the number of those who did so, 70 Companions who had memorized it were martyred at Bi'r al-Ma'una (625). During the Prophet's lifetime, another 70 or so were martyred.7 When the Prophet died, several Companions knew the Qur'an by heart, among them 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr, Hudayfa ibn al-Yaman, Salim, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Abu al-Darda, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and 'A'isha and Umm Salama (two of the Prophet's wives). New converts or immigrants to Madina were sent to Companions to learn the Qur'an. As the subsequent reciting raised a humming noise, the Prophet asked them to lower their voices so that they would not confuse each other.8 The Qur'an was revealed piecemeal and mostly on certain occasions. Whenever a verse, chapter, or group of verses was revealed, it was memorized by many Companions and written down by scribes chosen by the Prophet specifically for that purpose. The Messenger also told them where to place it in the Qur'an.9 Known as the Scribes of the Revelation, these 40 or so Companions also copied the pieces for themselves and preserved them.10 At the time of the Prophet's death, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Abu al-Darda, Ubayy ibn al-Ka'b, and other Companions already had assembled these portions in book form. 'Ali arranged them chronologically.11 After the Battle of Yamama (633), during which around 700 memorizers were martyred, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Caliph Abu Bakr about compiling an "official" version. Zayd ibn Thabit, a leading scholar and memorizer, was chosen for the task. After a meticulous work, he prepared the official collection (mushaf).12 The Almighty declares: It is for Us to collect it and to promulgate it (75:17). The Qur'an's verses and chapters were arranged and collected according to the Prophet's instructions [while he was still alive], which were guided by the Revelation. The official version was formed after the Battle of Yamama. When a disagreement appeared over the pronunciation of certain words, the formal version was copied and sent to important centers during the reign of Caliph 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (644-56).13 One of the foremost reasons for the Qur'an's continued incorruptibility is that it has been preserved in its original language. No one in the Muslim world has ever thought to supersede it with a translation, and so it was never exposed to imprecise or mistaken translations, or to additions or deletions. In conclusion, the Qur'an that we hold in our hands today is the same Qur'an that the Prophet received from God. Its authenticity and genuineness cannot be contested. No Muslim scholar of any standard has ever doubted this, and none have questioned that the Prophet spoke every word that we find in the Qur'an today. Some may ask why the Almighty did not preserve other Scriptures. First, He has preknowledge of everything and thus knew and predetermined that human well-being and happiness would require a final Prophet. He chose Prophet Muhammad for this position. Through him, He perfected Islam so that it would address all levels of knowledge of understanding and solve all human problems until the Last Day. As this would obviate the need for another Prophet to revive or restore the religion, He preserved the Qur'an. Second, it is not a sign of God's favor to Muslims to preserve the Qur'an. Rather, as His predetermination includes human free will, He knew that Muslims would be devoted to their Book more than any other people would be devoted to their own. He has preserved the Qur'an by creating the means for its preservation.
6. Suad Yildirim, Kur'an-i Kerim ve Kur'an Ilimlerine Giris (Istanbul: 1983), 43, 62-63.
7. Suphi al-Salih, Kur'an Ilimleri (trans.) (Konya: n.d.), 55.
8. Ibid., 57 (reporting from Zarkani).
9. The Qur'an, although revealed over a period of 23 years, has been called the Qur'an since the beginning of its revelation.
10. Al-Salih, Kur'an Ilimleri, 61 (reporting from al-Zarkashi's Al-Burhan).
11. M. M. Puye, Genuinness of the Holy Qur'an (Karachi: 1974), 95-98 (reporting from al-Suyuti's Al-Itqan, and from Tabarani and Ibn al-Asakir.
12. Yildirim, Kur'an-i Kerim, 62-66; al-Salih, Kur'an Ilimleri, 62-65.
13. Yildirim, Kur'an-i Kerim, 66-70; al-Salih, Kur'an Ilimleri, 65-73.
Bibliography
Cetin, Abdurrahman. Kur'an Ilimleri ve Kur'an-i Kerim Tarihi. Istanbul: 1982.
Izutsu, Toshihiko. Kur'an'da Allah ve Insan (Turkish trans.). 1975.
———. Kur'an'da Dini ve Ahlaki Kavramlar (Turkish trans.) 1984.
Nasr, S. Hossein. Ideals and Realities of Islam. London: 1966.
Nursi, Said. Sozler (The Words, 2 vols.). Istanbul: 1958.
Pouya, M. M. The Genuineness of the Holy Qur'an. Karachi: 1974.
Al-Salih, Suphi. Kur'an Ilimleri (Turkish trans.). Konya: n.d.
Yildirim, Suat. Kur'an-i Kerim ve Kur'an Ilimlerine Giris. Istanbul: 1983.
O. Zeki Mollamehmedoglu, Sunen-i Tirmizi Tercumesi, vol. 5.
'Abdurrahman Cetin, Kur'an Ilimleri ve Kur'an-i Kerim Tarihi (Istanbul: 1982).
Hayreddin Karaman, Fikih Usulu (Istanbul: n.d.)
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Islam & Humanity 
