—peace be upon him—for were that the case, the Qur’an would become subject to human control once falsehood had been mixed with it. As soon as people could tamper with it, it would no longer serve as a proof or a sign, nor would it remain miraculous.

Thus, anyone who claims that the Qur’an contains additions or omissions is in fact repudiating the Book of Allah and what the Messenger brought. Such a claimant is like one who says, “The obligatory prayers are fifty; marrying nine wives is lawful; Allah has imposed fasting on days in addition to Ramadan,” and other matters that have no foundation in the religion. When these assertions are unanimously rejected, the consensus concerning the Qur’an is even more firmly established, more emphatic, more binding, and more obligatory.

Imam Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Bashshār ibn Muḥammad al-Anbārī said:

“People of virtue and intellect have always recognised the Qur’an’s honour and its lofty station—as truth, fairness, and piety demand—and have kept it free from the statements of false pretenders, the sophistry of heretics, and the distortions of the deviant. Yet in our own time a misguided man has emerged, straying from the faith and assailing the leading scholars with claims intended to nullify the Sacred Law— a Law that Allah continually supports, strengthens at its roots, nurtures in its branches, and guards against the flaws of the crooked and the unjust and against the plots of the enemies of faith and disbelief.

He alleged that the codex compiled by ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—with the unanimous approval of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ does not contain the whole Qur’an, insisting that five hundred letters have dropped from it. “I have already recited some of them,” he said, “and I shall recite the rest.”

Among what he cited was the phrase:
“By the declining day and the calamities of time,”
claiming that the words “and the calamities of time” have fallen from the Qur’an known to the Muslim community.

He also recited:
“…till, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified, and its inhabitants think they have mastery over it, Our command comes to it by night or by day, and We render it a mown field as though it had not flourished the day before—
and Allah would never destroy it except for the sins of its people.”
He maintained that the clause “and Allah would never destroy it except for the sins of its people” is missing from the Qur’an, and he mentioned many other such letters.

Furthermore, he asserted that ʿUthmān and the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—had added to the Qur’an words that are not part of it. During an obligatory congregational prayer, with the people listening, he recited:
“Allah, the One, the Ever-Sufficient,”
thus omitting from the Qur’an the words,
“Say: He is…,”
and altering its wording besides.