Darhaqiqat, Zikrni Biz nozil qildik va albatta, uni Biz saqlovchimiz.442

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its Guardian.”442

Qur'onning saqlanishi va buzilmasligi unda aniq va’da qilingan edi. Yigirma uch yil davomida xotirada saqlangan va suyaklarda, xurmo barglarida hamda teri parchalarida yozib qo‘yilgan kitobning qanday qilib omon qolganini o‘ylab hayratga tushmaslik qiyin. Odamlar Qur'onning bir qismini Payg‘ambar ﷺ yoki ashoblaridan o‘rganardilar, so‘ngra o‘z yurtlariga qaytib, uni oila a’zolariga, do‘stlariga va shogirdlariga o‘rgatardilar, ular esa boshqalarga yetkazardilar. Bu alohida og‘zaki rivoyatlar asrlar davomida yer yuzining turli burchaklarida mustaqil ravishda davom etdi. Shunga qaramay, bugungi kunda barcha 1,8 milliard musulmon Qur'onni Payg‘ambar ﷺ sahobalariga o‘rgatilgan va Usmon mushafidagi asl shaklida tilovat qiladi. Hatto bir-biriga raqib bo‘lgan mazhablar (ya’ni sunniylar, shialar, xorijiylar) ham bir xil Qur'onni o‘qiydi. Shunday bo‘lsa-da, bir ming besh yuz yil o‘tib ham, dunyo bo‘ylab mavjud bu og‘zaki an’analar o‘rtasida ma’no jihatidan hech qanday ziddiyat topilmaydi. Ba’zi oyatlarning tan olingan qiroat farqlari esa matnning ko‘p qatlamli ma’nolariga go‘zallik qo‘shadi, xolos.443 Bunday izchillik tasodif bo‘lishi mumkin, yoki Qur'onning og‘zaki nusxasi ustida butun dunyo miqyosida til biriktirish amalga oshgan, yoki bunday ulkan fitnani amalga oshirish mantiqan imkonsiz edi, deb qabul qilish aqlga sig‘maydi. Neapol Sharqshunoslik universitetining italiyalik sharqshunos olimasi Laura Vaglieri (vafoti 1989) o‘zining “Islomning talqini” kitobida shunday deydi: “Qur'onning ilohiy kelib chiqishiga yana bir dalil shundaki, uning matni nozil bo‘lgan kundan bugungi kunga qadar asrlar davomida sof va o‘zgarishsiz saqlanib qolgan.”444

The preservation and incorruptibility of the Qur’an were boldly promised therein. One should wonder how a book primarily committed to memory and documented on bones, palm leaves, and leather scraps over the span of twenty-three years could survive. People would learn some Qur’an from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم or his Companions, then travel back to their homelands and teach it to their families, friends, and students, who would then relay it to others. These separate oral transmissions continued independently for centuries, across the earth. Despite that, all 1.8 billion Muslims today somehow still recite the Qur’an exactly as it was taught to the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم Companions and written in the original Uthmanic codex. Even competing denominations (i.e., Sunni, Shiite, Kharijite) recite the same Qur’an. And yet, a millennium and a half later, we do not find contradictions in meaning between all these oral traditions worldwide. As for the established variant readings of some verses, they only add to the beauty of the text’s multi-layered meanings.443 To accept that such consistency could be mere coincidence, or that global collusion on a spoken version of the Qur’an has taken place, or that a conspiracy of this magnitude was even logistically possible, is irrational. Italian Orientalist Laura Vaglieri (d. 1989) of Naples Eastern University attests in her book, An Interpretation of Islam, “We have still another proof of the divine origin of the Quran in the fact that its text has remained pure and unaltered through the centuries from the day of its delivery until today.”444

Shuni ham e'tiborga olish kerakki, bugungi kunda yozma shaklda mavjud bo'lgan Qur'on Payg'ambar ﷺ sahobalari tomonidan tuzilgan asl nusxalar bilan mukammal mos keladi. Ba'zi sahobalardan xabar qilingan kotiblik farqlari ham Islomning birinchi to'rt xalifasi davrida bartaraf etilgan, barcha sahobalar tomonidan qabul qilingan va bir nusxaga muvofiqlik ularning konsensusini qozongan. Buni to'liq anglash uchun xolis mulohaza qilish lozim: zamonaviy texnologiyaning imlo tekshiruvi va shunga o'xshash imkoniyatlari bugungi yozuvlarimizdagi ko'plab xatolarni kamaytirgan bo'lsa-da, elektron pochta xabarlarimiz va matnli xabarlarimiz hanuzgacha imlo va grammatika xatolariga duch keladi. Endi bosma mashina va ommaviy savodxonlikdan oldingi dunyoga, ya'ni premodern kotiblik an'anasiga qaytaylik. O'tmishdagi diniy matnlar uchun yuz minglab nomuvofiq qo'lyozmalar paydo bo'lishi ajablanarli emas — bu ish beg'araz qilinganmi yoki ataylab qilinganmi, asl nusxalar o'zaro solishtirish uchun mavjud bo'lganmi yoki yo'qmi, bundan qat'i nazar. Ammo Qur'on bilan bunday holat yuz bermadi. Buning sababi Usmon mushafining saqlanib qolganligi, uning ommaviy yodlanishi, yodlashni osonlashtiradigan kuchli she'riy ohangi va musulmonning kundalik hayotida doimiy qo'llanilishi edi. Bular birgalikda tarixda o'xshashi bo'lmagan kuchli mustahkamlash mexanizmini tashkil etadi.445

It is also remarkable that the Qur’an in written form today perfectly matches the original manuscripts of the Qur’an compiled by the Prophet’s Companions. Even the few scribal differences reported from some of the Companions were reconciled during the reign of Islam’s first four caliphs, accepted by all the Companions, and conformity with one copy won their consensus. To fully appreciate this, impartial consideration should be given to the fact that while spell-check and similar features afforded by modern technology have mitigated many lapses in our writing today, our emails and text messages still fall prey to spelling and grammatical errors. Then consider the premodern scribal tradition, rewinding to a world before the printing press and before mass literacy. It should not surprise us to have hundreds of thousands of misaligned manuscripts for the religious texts of the past—irrespective of whether this was done innocently or maliciously, and irrespective of whether originals of that text were available for cross-verification. But with the Qur’an, this was averted due to that Uthmanic codex being preserved, in addition to its mass-memorization, its strong poetic rhythm that facilitates memorization, and its daily usage in a Muslim’s life, which together constitute a genius reinforcement mechanism unrivaled in history.445

Ba'zi odamlar Qur'onning dastlab markaziy hokimiyat tomonidan kodifikatsiya qilinganini va bu shunchalik erta sodir bo'lganini da'vo qilishadi, shu sababli muvofiq bo'lmagan qo'lyozmalarning tarqalishini oldini olish mumkin bo'lgan.

Some people claim that the Qur’an was initially codified by a central authority, and this happened early enough to make preempting the spread of non-conforming manuscripts possible.

Ular Abu Bakr tomonidan amalga oshirilgan to‘plash va Usmon tomonidan amalga oshirilgan standartlashtirish ishlari, ular o‘zlari xohlamagan har qanday dastlabki qo‘lyozmalarni yo‘q qilgan bo‘lishi mumkin, deb da’vo qilmoqdalar. Bunday gumon kutilmagan emas, chunki Bibliya Protestant islohoti natijasida, Iso Masih dan 1500 yil o‘tgunga qadar, hukumat tomonidan joriy etilgan farmonlar bilan yashirin tutilgan va oddiy xalq uchun ochiq bo‘lmagan. Biroq, Qur’onning o‘ziga xos markazlashmagan tarqalishi uni keyinchalik har kim tomonidan mazmunini o‘zgartirishni imkonsiz qilgan, Bibliyaning bugungi kungacha chiqarilib kelinayotgan “rasmiy tahrirlari”dan farqli o‘laroq.

They contend that the compilation of Abū Bakr  and standardization of ʿUthmān  could have purged whatever early manuscripts they arbitrarily deemed undesirable. Such a suspicion is not unexpected, given that the Bible was kept secret by government-enforced dictates and remained inaccessible to the laity until 1,500 years after Jesus Christ , following the Protestant Reformation. However, the Qur’an’s unique decentralized dissemination made it impossible for anyone to later modify its content, unlike the “authorized revisions” of the Bible that continue being issued until the present day.

Bundan tashqari, Qur'onning bu naqli faqat yozma manbalarga tayanmagani sababli, yozilgan matnni og'zaki an'ana bilan solishtirish imkoniyati mavjud bo'ladi va bu hujjatlashtirish hamda tarqatish jarayonlarining qat'iyatli bo'lganini tasdiqlaydi. Shuning uchun uni abadiylashtirgan narsa aynan uni yod olganlarning qalblarida saqlanishidir, Alloh taolo aytadi: "Balki bu (Qur'on) ilm berilganlarning ko'krak(lari)dagi ochiq oyatlardir. Va zolimlardan boshqa hech kim oyatlarimizni inkor qilmaydi." {Balki u ilm berilganlarning ko'ksidagi ravshan oyatlardir. Zolimlardan boshqa hech kim Bizning oyatlarimizni inkor etmaydi.}446

Furthermore, since this transmission of the Qur’an does not solely hinge on the written records, this allows for measuring the written against the oral to ensure that the documentation and dissemination processes were scrupulous. Hence, its preservation in the hearts of those who memorized it that is what has immortalized it, as Allah says, “Rather, the Qur’an is distinct verses [preserved] within the chests of those endowed with [sacred] knowledge, and none rejects our verses but the wrongdoers.”446

Orientalist Alford T. Welch yozadi: Musulmonlar uchun Qur’on G‘arbning odatdagi ma’nosidagi oddiy muqaddas kitob yoki diniy adabiyotdan ancha ko‘proqdir. Asrlar davomida ko‘pchilik uchun uning asosiy ahamiyati og‘zaki shaklida bo‘lgan, ya’ni u birinchi marta paydo bo‘lgan shaklda — Muhammad ﷺ taxminan yigirma yil davomida o‘z izdoshlariga o‘qib bergan “tilovat” (qur’on) sifatida. Vahiylarni Muhammad ﷺ hayotligidayoq uning ba’zi izdoshlari yod olganlar va shu tarzda shakllangan og‘zaki an’ana o‘shandan beri uzluksiz davom etib kelmoqda, ba’zi jihatlarda yozma Qur’ondan mustaqil va undan ustun bo‘lgan… Asrlar davomida butun Qur’onning og‘zaki an’anasi kasbiy qori‘lar tomonidan saqlab kelingan, musulmonlarning hammasi esa kundalik namozlarda foydalanish uchun Qur’onning qismlarini yodlaydilar. Yaqin vaqtgacha tilovat qilinadigan Qur’onning ahamiyati G‘arbda kamdan-kam to‘liq anglab yetilgan.447

Orientalist Alford T. Welch writes, For Muslims, the Ḳurʾān is much more than scripture or sacred literature in the usual Western sense. Its primary significance for the vast majority through the centuries has been in its oral form, the form in which it first appeared, as the “recitation” (kurʾān) chanted by Muhammad to his followers over a period of about twenty years… The revelations were memorized by some of Muhammad’s followers during his lifetime, and the oral tradition that was thus established has had a continuous history ever since, in some ways independent of, and superior to, the written Ḳurʾān… Through the centuries the oral tradition of the entire Ḳurʾān has been maintained by the professional reciters, while all Muslims memorise parts of the Ḳurʾān for use in the daily prayers. Until recently, the significance of the recited Ḳurʾān has seldom been fully appreciated in the West.447