ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Collection and Preservation of the Qur'an True Meaning of the Traditions It is abundantly clear from the last report quoted above that the word Tahrif (displacing the words of Allah from their rightful places) denotes the variations brought about by the qaris who most of the time based their mode of recitations on their own opinions.

We have made it plain from the very outset that such a tampering has definitely occurred, where a particular Qari has read a particular word differently though without effecting any change in the original text or its essence. Whether we subscribe to the so called, seven modes of recitations or not, there is no doubt that such a tampering took place. In fact, there are many renderings, each based on the reader's guess and conjecture, which have changed the pronunciations and the recitations.

In any case, this report does not support the view of Tahrif as the alteration, addition, omission or interpolation in the Qur'an. The remaining traditions clearly point out that the word Tahrif used in them mean the misinterpretation of the verses. One of the results was that the excellence of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) was denied, and hostility towards them encouraged.

This is further supported by the sermon of Imam Husayn (‘a) quoted above when those who were gathered to kill him are described as perpetrators of Tahrif. In the tradition reported from al-Kafi , Imam Muhammad al Baqir (‘a) says: "And one of the examples of their repudiation of the Book is that while they upheld the words they distorted its injunctions". Well, we have repeatedly said that Tahrif in this fashion has indisputably occurred in relation to the Qur'an.

Had it not been so, the rights of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) would have remained protected, and the reverence for them by the Prophet (‘s) would have been honoured. The events would not have taken the tragic turn the way they did, resulting in the usurpation of their rights and in the Prophet's inconsolable grief. The second type of traditions are those which state that the names of aimma (Imams) had originally appeared in certain verses of the Qur’an. These are quite a few.

Among them is a report in al-Kafi by its own chain of narrators from Muhammad b. Fudhail that Abul Hasan (Imam Ali b. Musa Ridha (‘a) )said: "The wilayah of Ali b. Abi Talib found mention in every book of the Prophets.