Though it was itself an established revelation...

Though it was itself an established revelation, it was not part of the word of God which comprises the miraculous Qur'an...." He further adds, "I hold this opinion and seek succor from God (for guidance) to the truth." These words explicitly prove his belief in the absence of tahrif in the Quran.2 Apart from this, al-Shaykh al-Mufid has also rejected that which has been narrated concerning Ibn Masud mushaf, that it contained some additions.

He points out that these traditions are Odd and there­fore unworthy of any credence.3 Al-Sayyid al-Murtada 'Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Mitsawl al-`Alawi (d. 436/1044) in his set of replies to certain queries called al-Tarabul­usiyat observes: The knowledge of the authenticity of the Qur'an is like one's knowledge of countries, important events, famous books, and recorded Arabic poetry.

There existed an intensity of care and a plentitude of motives for narrating and preserving it, and they reached a degree not reached in respect of any example mentioned by us.... The Qur'an was collected and compiled during the Prophet's (S) lifetime the way it existed at that time. The Prophet (S) even chose a group of to memorize it, and it used to be presented to and recited before the Prophet (S).

A group of , like `Abd Allah ibn Mas`ud, Ubayy ibn Ka`b and others, completed the recital of the Qur'an a number of times in the presence of the Prophet (S). A little reflec­tion will show that all this proves that the Qur'an was collected in an organized manner and that it was not left in a fragmentary and scattered state.... As to those among the Imamiyyah and the Hashwiyyah who oppose this view, their opposition is of no significance.

Their opposition, along with that of a group of Ahl al-Hadith, is based on daif traditions that they narrate and which they imagine to be authentic, and it is not possible to give up on their basis something whose authenticity is known with certainty.4 Ibn Hajar writes concerning al-Shan't' al-Murtada that he considered anyone who believed the Qur'an to have been altered or to have suffered addition or deletion, an apostate.

The same is true of two of his con­temporaries, Abu" al-Qasim al-Razi and Abu Yala al-Tusi5 Shaykh al-Taifah Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi (d.