is found in many of the manuscripts—just as the copies of certain hadith collections sometimes differ, with particular phrases in some copies being replaced. This, however, is altogether unlike the case of the Glorious Qur’an, whose very words have been safeguarded in people’s hearts through uninterrupted, mass transmission; it has never been dependent on preservation in a written volume. The Exalted says:

“Indeed, it is We who have sent down the Reminder, and indeed, We will be its Guardian.” ⦗al-Hijr 9⦘

Long before the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—during his lifetime, and after him, the Jews were dispersed across East and West, each community possessing numerous copies of the Torah. The Christians likewise held many copies of the Torah, and no one ever succeeded in gathering those manuscripts together and altering them. Had such tampering been possible, it would have been one of the great historical events that innumerable motives would have driven people to chronicle. The same holds true for the Gospel; the Exalted says:

“Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.” ⦗al-Maʾida 47⦘

Thus it is known that within this Gospel there is a ruling Allah the Exalted revealed, yet