This is proved by Allah's saying: "We surely are its guardians.

This is proved by Allah's saying: "We surely are its guardians." Muqaddas Baghdadi, in 'Sharh al-Wafiya' says: "...the talk about deletion which is in circulation among our companions, is in contrast to the unanimous talk of non-interference in it...it is said that Sheikh Ali bin Abdul-Aali had written an exclusive book refuting the deletion theory', quoting the aforementioned speech of Saduq."(34) The late contemporary scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Husein Aal Kashif al-Ghita', in his book 'Asl al-Shi'a wa Usuliha', says: "The Book which is (in circulation) among the Muslims is the Book which Allah had sent down to His Prophet - a miracle and challenge - and there is no deletion, distortion, nor additions in it." Tas his is the position of the Shi'ati scholars, regarding the Qur'an now in the hands of the Muslims.

It is, it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), and it will remain pure and unadulterated, as long as man remains on the face of the earth, guiding humanity towards virtue and happiness. Certain dubious narrations which allegedly speak about deletions in the holy text, and, sometimes, claim of a Qur'an other than this, have been exploited by purposeful offenders and have obviously misled some people.

These simple-minded souls cite the following narration from Imam Ja'far bin Muhammad al-Sadiq to support their misconstrued views: "...but by Allah (pointing to his chest) we have the weapon of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), his sword and his armour. By Allah we have Fatima's 'Mashaf' (book), wherein are not any of the verses of Allah's Book.

It is a dictation of the Messenger of Allah, written by Ali with his hand."(35) They have misunderstood the Imam, and without going into the lexical meaning of the word Mashaf thought that he was indicating a Qur'an other than the one in circulation. It was a grave mistake on the part of these people.

However, a careful scrutiny of the narrative, will help reveal the actual meaning of the word Mashaf: "By Allah we have Fatima's 'Mashaf' (book)," By looking up the word Mashaf in Arabic lexicons, we discover what Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) actually meant. Raghib Isfahani says: "(Al-Sahifa means any flat thing such a s the flatness of the check, a leaf a page, or a sheet which is used for writing.