Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam
[27] Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 2, pp. 57 f; EI², s.v. "Kur'an,"
p. 405. Cf. Nöldeke, "Qur'an," p. 24.
[28] Marwan was afraid that some would later be in doubt (about the text
of the Qur'an). Jeffery, Materials, pp. 212 f; Watt and Bell, Introduction,
p. 43; Watt, Religionen, p. 179.
[29] See n. 15, above.
[30] Dodge, Fihrist, vol. 1, pp. 53 f.
[31] Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 58 f.
[32] See Nöldeke and Schwally, GQ, vol. 2, pp. 234 f, for general
discussions on Islamic traditions which allegedly give the texts of some
missing passages. See also Suyuti, El-Itkan, vol. 2, pp. 65 f, for a tradition
in which A'isha claims that Qur'an 33 contained 200 verses when Muhammad was still living, but that it only had as many as at present (?) afterUthman's edition was made. In another hadith (Ibid., vol. 2, p. 66) a
man tells Ubayy b. Ka`b that Qur'an 33 has 72 or 73 verses, and Ubayy
replies that this sura used to contain the verse about stoning (for adulterers)
and was once as long as Qur'an 2 (286 verses).
[33] See Sahih Muslim, vol. 2, pp. 500 f. Cf. Sahih Bukhari, vol. 8,
pp. 296 f. A hadith in Suyuti, El-Itkan, vol. 2, p. 65, quotes Ibn `Umar as
having said that no one was to claim he possessed the entire Qur'an, since
much of it was gone. See also the references to n. 21, above.
[34] Uthman himself is reported to have found fallacious expressions in the completed manuscripts he had standardized and is quoted as having said that nothing should be changed as the Arabs would correct everything with their tongues. This tradition and others showing a number of alleged mis- takes which were made in transcribingUthman's standardized text of the
Qur'an are given by Bergsträsser in GQ, vol. 3, pp. 1 f. Ubayy b. Kab is reported to have made some minor corrections toUthman's text; Suyuti,