The Qur’an was sent down by Allah Most High in clear Arabic upon the heart of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, through the Trustworthy Spirit, Jibrīl, upon him peace. The Prophet received the text as well as its recitation and he conveyed both to his Companions. The preservation of the text and its recitation was guaranteed by the Sender of the text: Indeed We have sent down the Reminder and We are its Guardian (Q 15:9).
The fulfillment of this Divine promise involved human beings and it took place in the broad light of history.
The process of preservation of the text and its recitation started with the first revelation in 610 CE and it has gone through four distinct time-bound phases:
On the human plane, this fascinating process of preservation involves extraordinary foresight of the Companions, their faith and reliance on Allah Most High, developments in orthography as well as materials such as papyrus, bones, animal hides, and inks.
As we approach the blessed month of the Qur’an, CIK invites you to a journey through time to experience the process of preservation of the Book that is guidance and mercy for the believers (Q 10:57).
The fulfillment of this Divine promise involved human beings and it took place in the broad light of history.
The process of preservation of the text and its recitation started with the first revelation in 610 CE and it has gone through four distinct time-bound phases:
- (i) 610-632 CE: This is the time when the Qur’an was being revealed to the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, and it was simultaneously preserved in a unique manner;
- (ii) shortly after the Battle of Yamama (December 632 CE): the first compilation of the entire text of the Qur’an during the Caliphate of Abū Bakr, Allah be well-pleased with him;
- (iii) the second compilation during the Caliphate of Uthman b. ‘Affan, Allah be well-pleased with him (6 November 644–17 June 656), which gave us the Uthmani Mushaf;
- (iv) since the Uthmani Mushaf, up to our own time: orthographic developments, reading aids, teaching methodologies, unbroken chains of reciters and more.
On the human plane, this fascinating process of preservation involves extraordinary foresight of the Companions, their faith and reliance on Allah Most High, developments in orthography as well as materials such as papyrus, bones, animal hides, and inks.
As we approach the blessed month of the Qur’an, CIK invites you to a journey through time to experience the process of preservation of the Book that is guidance and mercy for the believers (Q 10:57).
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Dr. Muzaffar IqbalDr. Muzaffar Iqbal is the founder-president of the Center for Islamic Sciences, (previously, Center for Islam and Science) and General Editor of the Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, the first English-language reference work on the Qur'an based on fourteen centuries of Muslim scholarship.
Dr. Iqbal has held academic and research positions at University of Saskatchewan (1979-1984), University of Wisconsin-Madison (1984-85), and McGill University (1986). During 1990-1996, he worked as Director Scientific Information, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH). He was Director of Pakistan Academy of Sciences during 1997-98. In 1999, Dr. Iqbal became the Program Director for the Muslim World for the Science-Religion Course Program of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS), Berkeley, USA, a position he held until the end of the Program in 2001. Dr. Iqbal has written, translated, and edited twenty-one books and published nearly one hundred papers on various aspects of Islam, its spiritual and intellectual traditions and on the relationship between Islam and science, and Islam and the West. He co-translated, with Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari, Volume VII of Tafhim al-Qur’an (Islamic Foundation, 2001). He contributed, as consultant, to Concentric Circles—Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Childhood and is one of the founders of Muslim Education Foundation (Canada), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and services to educators, students and parents for a process of learning built on the Qur’anic worldview. He is the founding editor of the Islam & Science (renamed as Journal of Islamic Sciences in 2013), a journal that explores, from Islamic perspectives, religious and philosophical implications of data and theories originating in the physical, biological, and social sciences. He is also the Series Editor for Ashgate's Islam and Science: Historic and Contemporary Perspectives (2012, reprinted by Routledge), a four volume work that brings together the most important and influential articles dealing with various aspects of the relationship between Islam and science. His other publications include:
For a more detailed list of publications, see publications. |
