Ibn Mas’ood (رضي الله عنه) is one of the most well-known companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). (Can someone suggest some good links that detail his biography?) Orientalists–who do not generally fabricate–claim that, prior to the Second Compilation, Ibn Mas’ood’s (رضي الله عنه) mushaf had two extra surahs that our mushafs today don’t have. If you investigate this claim, you find that, indeed, it’s authentically report that his mushaf had two extra chapters.
So are these two “lost surahs” of the Qur’an, as they claim, that we don’t have anymore?
Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:
Translation: Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian. [Surah Al-Hijar, verse 9] (And yes, the Arabic has three forms of emphasis in it.)
Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has promised that He will protect the Qur’an. And whose promise is greater than His?
So when you search further in the authentic narrations–not surprisingly–what do you find? What were these two mysterious chapters?
Nothing more than du’a–authentically related du’a; one was dua-u-qunoot, for salaatul-witr.
(See how Orientalists twist things and slant things to make them look sinister?)
But this post is not about slamming Orientalists-some of them are good, some of them are neutral, and some of them are evil–just like any other group of people.
Rather, this post is about the mushaf of Ibn Mas’ood (رضي الله عنه)–a mushaf which, even when the khalifa ordered him to give it up (as part of the Second Compilation), he refused–for a long time, he refused, until finally, he was convinced.
So why would he (رضي الله عنه) write du’a in his mushaf? Why not in another place?
There are a couple of reasons. First, paper (or, rather, parchment and similar materials) were very scarce–as was literacy–in the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). It was very hard to gather writing materials. Having a book was itself significant. So Ibn Mas’ood simply wrote du’a at the end of his mushaf.
But isn’t there a chance of confusion? People mixing Qur’an and ahadith together, in Arabic, in one book? No, not at all–companions knew which was Qur’an and which was not! So what was the harm in writing them in one book–especially considering the scarcity of materials?
And that, in a nutshell, is Ibn Mas’ood’s (رضي الله عنه) mushaf.
For more Orientalist refutations, check out the Islamic Awareness site. It details many Orientalist arguments against Islam, and their refutations.
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) protect us from doubts and whispers of Shaytaan and keep us firm in our eman and on our deen, ameen!
Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Route 114: Qur’anic Sciences. University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, March 2008.