ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Collection and Preservation of the Qur'an The Meaning of Tahrif The Meaning of Tahrif (interpolation or tampering) This word is used with common denotations, some of which are acceptably applicable to the Qur’an; and the others are either inapplicable or disputed. The details are as below. First, the meaning is to transfer an object from its place to another.

There are several traditions which forbid this type of inter­pretations, and condemn its perpetrators. In al-Kafi , a tradition by Imam Muhammad al‑Baqir (‘a) says that he wrote to Sa'ad al‑Khayr: "One of the examples of their repudiation of the Book has been that they stood by its letters and distorted its injunctions; they narrate it, but do not have deference to its teachings.

The ignorant are impressed by their narrations and recitations, while the learned are grieved to see their disregard for its protec­tion..." [^1] Secondly, the meaning of Tahrif is an omission or an addition of a letter or a change in grammatical in­flections, without effecting any change in the content of the Qur’an. This change may sometimes not be discernible from the rest of the Qur’an. This type of change has definitely occurred in the Qur’an.

We have already pointed out earlier that the so called various readings of the Qur’an were not based on tawattur, which means that the Qur’an was really based on only one authentic system of reading, and the rest were either additions or omissions. The third meaning of Tahrif is an omission or an addition of a word or two, at the same time leaving the essence of the Qur’an untouched.

It is the type of interpolation which surely occurred in the first century of Islam, and in the days of the companions of the Prophet (‘s).