Introduction

The Qur’an, the sacred scripture of Islam, occupies a central position in the faith and practice of over a billion people worldwide.

Muslims regard it as the literal word of God (Allāh), revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad over a period of twenty-three years through the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel).

Yet from a critical historical and theological perspective, the Qur’an is also a text embedded in human history, shaped by the linguistic, cultural, and political environment of late antiquity.

This essay aims to examine the Qur’an through historical, linguistic, and archaeological evidence, drawing on manuscript studies, philology, and early Islamic historiography, rather than confessional faith claims.

It explores the origins and compilation of the Qur’an, its textual transmission, the development of the Arabic language, and the question of internal contradictions.

Through this inquiry, we aim to determine whether the Qur’an reflects divine revelation or a humanly constructed literary and ideological synthesis that emerged in the evolving world of 7th-century Arabia.

 

1. The Historical Context of the Qur’an’s Emergence

1.1 Arabia in Late Antiquity

The Qur’an emerged in the milieu of late antiquity, a period characterised by dynamic interaction between the Byzantine, Persian, and Arabian spheres. The Arabian Peninsula, far from being culturally isolated, was a crossroads of trade, religion, and language. Inscriptions and archaeological finds demonstrate that Christian, Jewish, and polytheist communities coexisted across Arabia long before Islam’s rise (Robin 2012). The Najrān region was home to Christian tribes, while Jewish settlements existed in Yathrib (later Madīnah) and Khaybar.

This environment provided fertile ground for the emergence of a new monotheistic ideology. The Qur’an’s narratives of biblical prophets, angels, and eschatological judgement show direct familiarity with Syriac Christian and Jewish midrashic traditions (Luxenberg 2007; Shoemaker 2011). It is within this interreligious and multilingual world that the earliest Qur’anic proclamations must be situated.

 

1.2 Muḥammad and the Qur’anic Recitations

Islamic tradition holds that Muḥammad (c. 570–632 CE) received revelations orally from God via Gabriel, later recited to followers who memorised or recorded them on diverse materials such as parchment, bone, and palm leaves (Ibn Hishām, Sīrah). However, these accounts were written centuries after the events and cannot be verified independently. From a historical standpoint, it appears that the Qur’anic corpus evolved gradually, with its language and content reflecting ongoing theological and political developments within early Islamic communities (Wansbrough 1977; Crone & Cook 1977).

 

2. The Compilation and Codification of the Qur’an

2.1 The Uthmānic Standardisation

According to Islamic historiography, after Muḥammad’s death, disputes arose over correct recitation forms. Caliph ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (r. 644–656 CE) allegedly commissioned an official recension to unify the text, ordering other variant copies destroyed (al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Rusul wa’l-Mulūk). The resultant Uthmānic codex became the standard version of the Qur’an still used today.

However, critical textual study reveals that early Qur’anic manuscripts display significant orthographic, grammatical, and structural variation, inconsistent with the idea of a single fixed text established so early.

These variations are documented in the Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest (Yemeni MS DAM 01-27.1), discovered in 1972, which contains an undertext (scriptio inferior) differing from the canonical Uthmānic version in wording, sequence, and verse arrangement (Puin 1999; Sadeghi & Goudarzi 2012). Such evidence indicates that the Qur’an’s textual history was fluid and evolving, not immediately standardised.

 

2.2 Early Manuscripts and Their Implications

Among the earliest extant Qur’anic fragments are the Birmingham Manuscript (Mingana 1572a) dated to c. 568–645 CE (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit 2015), and the Topkapi and Samarkand codices, both palaeographically dated to the late 7th or early 8th centuries. While Muslim apologists cite these as proof of perfect preservation, palaeographic studies reveal variations in spelling conventions, missing diacritics, and verse divisions, signs of a developing written standard rather than a divinely fixed script.

The Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest’s corrections and re-inked passages further demonstrate an editorial process: scribes adjusted earlier readings to conform to what later became canonical.

This suggests the Qur’an was not transmitted unchanged from a single archetype, but rather stabilised over decades through selective harmonisation.

 

3. Linguistic Origins: Arabic and Its Development

3.1 Pre-Islamic Arabic and Its Neighbours

A central question concerns whether Arabic existed as a standardised written language in the early 7th century. Epigraphic evidence shows that while forms of Old North Arabian and Nabataean Aramaic scripts were used across Arabia, Classical Arabic as known today was not yet codified.

The Qur’an’s script, known as the rasm, lacks vowel markers and diacritical dots, rendering many words ambiguous (Hoyland 2001).

Linguistic comparison suggests that early Qur’anic Arabic was a hybrid idiom, shaped by contact with Syriac Aramaic, Hebrew, and South Arabian languages. Numerous Qur’anic terms, such as Injīl (Gospel), Furqān (criterion), Zakāh, and Ṣalāt, appear to derive from Syriac or Hebrew sources (Luxenberg 2007; Mingana 1927).

 

These borrowings reveal that Qur’anic Arabic emerged through a process of linguistic synthesis, not divine isolation.

 

3.2 The “Clear Arabic” Problem

The Qur’an repeatedly describes itself as Qurʾān ʿArabiyy mubīn (“a clear Arabic recitation”; cf. Q. 12:2; 16:103). Yet many of its words are not of Arabic origin, raising the question of what “clear Arabic” meant in its historical context. Rather than indicating grammatical purity, the phrase may signify that the text was intelligible to its immediate audience, Arabised Aramaic speakers familiar with regional dialects and religious idioms.

As scholar Christoph Luxenberg argues, several obscure Qur’anic passages become comprehensible when reinterpreted through Syriac Christian lectionaries. Though controversial, this hypothesis underscores that the Qur’an’s earliest linguistic layer may not have been purely Arabic, but a regional koine that gradually evolved into classical Arabic through later redaction and vocalisation.

 

4. Textual Contradictions and Theological Revisions

4.1 Internal Inconsistencies

A critical reading of the Qur’an reveals internal contradictions concerning chronology, theological concepts, and legal prescriptions. For example, one passage asserts no compulsion in religion (Quran: chapter 2, verse 256), while others advocate for armed struggle and coercion (Quran: chapter 9, verse 5 and Quran: chapter 9, verse 29). Similarly, the creation narrative alternates between six days (Quran: chapter 7, verse 54) and eight days (Quran: chapter 41, verse 9 - 12).

Muslim exegetes developed the doctrine of naskh (abrogation) to reconcile such tensions, claiming that later revelations supersede earlier ones (Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr). From a historical standpoint, however, these contradictions reflect textual layering, different recitational traditions or community circumstances integrated into a single corpus without full harmonisation.

 

4.2 The Role of Redaction

Evidence from manuscript variants and early tafsīr literature suggests that post-Prophetic editors shaped the Qur’an’s content to address theological debates of the expanding Muslim polity. For instance, variants concerning Christological references (ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, “Jesus son of Mary”) and the “seal of the prophets” (Quran: chapter 33, verse 40) may have been reinforced to differentiate Islam from competing Christian sects (Donner 2010).

The Qur’an thus appears less as a single, uninterrupted revelation than as a compilation of evolving proclamations, continually adapted to sociopolitical needs, a process paralleling the canonisation of other ancient scriptures.

 

5. The Qur’an and Mathematical Claims

5.1 Code 19 and Numerical Patterns

In the 20th century, Rashad Khalifa advanced the “Code 19” theory, arguing that the Qur’an’s structure was mathematically engineered around the number 19 (Khalifa 1981). While intriguing, this claim collapses under critical scrutiny. Early manuscripts lacked orthographic uniformity, making consistent letter or word counts impossible (Puin 1999).

Furthermore, statistical analysis shows such patterns can emerge randomly in any sufficiently large text, a classic case of apophenia, the human tendency to perceive order in randomness.

 

5.2 Word Frequencies and Symmetry

Other modern apologists claim the Qur’an exhibits miraculous word frequencies, for example, that “day” appears 365 times or that “man” and “woman” occur equally. Yet results vary depending on morphological counting and textual edition. Comparative studies demonstrate that similar numeric coincidences appear in non-religious texts, undermining any claim to divine encoding.

While the Qur’an’s rhetorical rhythm and symmetry are indeed literary achievements, they belong to poetic artistry, not mathematical miracle.

 

6. Archaeological and Epigraphic Corroboration

6.1 The Absence of Early Inscriptions

Despite Islam’s expansion in the 7th century, there is no archaeological evidence of the complete Qur’an or its verses appearing in inscriptions until the late Umayyad period (post-685 CE). The Dome of the Rock inscription (691 CE) provides the first extensive Qur’anic quotations, notably anti-Trinitarian passages aligning with early Islamic polemics (Hoyland 2014).

 

This late appearance suggests the Qur’an’s textual consolidation coincided with state formation under the Umayyads.

 

6.2 The Palimpsest Evidence

The Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest remains the most significant archaeological witness to the Qur’an’s early transmission. Its lower text diverges substantially from the canonical version, including variant wordings and orderings, proving that multiple textual traditions circulated contemporaneously. Such diversity contradicts the Islamic claim of perfect preservation and points instead to a gradual process of textual standardisation, possibly completed only in the early Abbasid period (8th–9th centuries).

 

7. The Qur’an as a Political and Ideological Document

7.1 The Caliphal Agenda

The early Islamic empire required a unifying scripture to legitimise its expanding rule. The Qur’an, compiled under caliphal auspices, served precisely this purpose, providing theological justification for political authority and conquest. The canonisation of a single Qur’an under ʿUthmān and later reforms under ʿAbd al-Malik reflect not merely piety but state control of doctrine (Crone 1987).

 

7.2 Religion, Ideology, or Political System?

Viewed critically, the Qur’an functions as a multifaceted text, part religious instruction, part legal code, and part political manifesto. Its language codified the moral and administrative structure of an emerging Arab empire. Many commandments and social regulations in the Qur’an (inheritance, warfare, taxation) align with imperial governance, not purely spiritual exhortation. In this sense, the Qur’an’s formation parallels the ideological crystallisation of empire, a textual consolidation of political theology.

 

8. Re-Evaluating the Origins

8.1 Human Authorship and Evolutionary Composition

When the archaeological, linguistic, and textual evidence is considered together, a consistent pattern emerges: the Qur’an is a product of human authorship evolving across time. Its composition reflects oral traditions, regional dialects, and interfaith borrowings rather than an unmediated dictation from heaven.

Far from diminishing its importance, this recognition situates the Qur’an within the broader continuum of Near Eastern scriptural culture — one shaped by dialogue, adaptation, and reinterpretation.

 

8.2 Modern Scholarship and Continuing Inquiry

Modern critical scholarship continues to refine our understanding through radiocarbon dating, digital manuscript analysis, and comparative linguistics. Projects such as the Corpus Coranicum in Berlin and the Qur’anic Manuscripts Project in Birmingham demonstrate that textual diversity characterised the Qur’an’s earliest centuries. As new evidence emerges, the traditional narrative of pristine preservation becomes increasingly untenable.

 

Conclusion

The Qur’an stands as one of history’s most influential literary and religious works, yet its origins reveal a profoundly human process. Emerging from a complex matrix of Semitic languages, regional politics, and theological debates, the Qur’an crystallised into its canonical form only through decades of editorial and ideological refinement.

 

Early manuscripts such as the Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest and Birmingham fragments show that the text was not static but in transition, reflecting an evolving orthodoxy. The claim that Arabic was fully developed or divinely fixed in the 7th century is contradicted by linguistic and epigraphic evidence.

Similarly, assertions of mathematical perfection fail under scientific scrutiny.

 

Ultimately, from a critical theological perspective, the Qur’an must be understood not as a miraculous exception to history, but as a document deeply embedded within it, a remarkable synthesis of human language, culture, and power, revealing as much about its world as about the divine it proclaims.

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9. Original Quranic Manuscripts

The following catalogues Qur’anic codices and manuscripts that are commonly treated by palaeographers and textual critics as 7th-century witnesses to the Qurʾān’s early written transmission. Each entry lists the shelfmark/identifier used in scholarship, the present repository, the principal dating evidence (radiocarbon and/or palaeography), the script type, approximate textual coverage, and a short appraisal of the manuscript’s significance for the history of the text.

 

Note on chronology and method: catalogues of Qurʾānic manuscripts must distinguish (a) radiocarbon-dated parchment (which dates the animal skin and ink), (b) palaeographic dating (hand and decoration), and (c) textual features (orthography, verse order, qirāʾāt) that inform assessments of relative chronology.

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9.1 Birmingham Manuscript - Mingana Collection, Cadbury Research Library (University of Birmingham)

Shelfmark/ID: Mingana Collection 1572a (commonly cited as the “Birmingham folios”)
Location: Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
Dating: Radiocarbon analysis of the parchment dated the material to ca. 568–645 CE, placing the animal’s death within a range that overlaps Muhammad’s lifetime.
Script: Early Hijazi hand (Syriac-Aramaic, Hebrew)
Coverage: Two parchment leaves containing parts of Sūra 18–20 (roughly ~3% of the codex in folio fragmentary terms).
Significance & Notes: These folios are among the earliest physical witnesses to Qurʾānic text. Their nearly consonantal agreement with the modern standard text has been used by some to argue for early textual stability; conversely, the narrowness of coverage and the caveat about dating the skin (not the writing) counsel restraint.

The folios were found within the Mingana collection and remained unidentified as Qurʾānic until recent palaeographic study.

 

9.2 Ṣanʿāʾ Palimpsest - House of Manuscripts (Dār al-Makhṭūṭāt), Ṣanʿāʾ (Yemen)

Shelfmark/ID: DAM 01-27.1 (often cited simply as “Ṣanʿāʾ 1”)
Location: House of Manuscripts (Dār al-Makhṭūṭāt), Ṣanʿāʾ, Yemen (fragments microfilmed and digitally imaged).
Dating: Palaeographic and radiocarbon evidence place portions of the manuscript in the late 7th century / early 8th century range; the lower (erased) layer is generally considered an early (possibly 1st-century AH) witness.
Script: Hijazi script; the codex is a palimpsest with an upper text conforming largely to the later canonical order and a lower undertext showing notable variants of Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew.
Coverage: Composed of dozens of folios (many fragmentary); the exact original extent is uncertain. Recent work has identified some 38 folios assigned to this hand, with many additional fragments from the Ṣanʿāʾ cache related to the same corpus. 
Significance & Notes: The Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest is uniquely important because its scriptio inferior (undertext) displays substantive textual variants (wording, orthography, and occasionally chapter order) that differ from the later Uthmānic standard. High-resolution ultraviolet imaging and computer post-processing have permitted significant recovery and publication of the undertext, demonstrating an active process of textual revision and correction in the early manuscript tradition.

 

9.3 Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus - BnF Arabe 328

Shelfmark/ID: BnF Arabe 328 (with folia also held in St Petersburg, Vatican, and Khalili Collections)
Location: Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris) - principal portion Arabe 328(a–f); additional folia in the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg), Vatican Library (Vat. Ar. 1605/1), and Khalili Collections.
Dating: Palaeographic dating places much of the manuscript in the late 7th century (third quarter of the 1st century AH); François Déroche and others have argued for a late-7th-century provenance based on hand and layout.
Script: Hijazi script (several hands), consonantal rasm; produced by multiple scribes, possibly to expedite copying.
Coverage: The preserved leaves represent roughly 40–45% of the Qurʾān in aggregate (when fragments dispersed among institutions are combined). 
Significance & Notes: The Codex Parisino-Petropolitanus is a composite witness (several codices joined under one shelfmark by later collectors). Its partial but substantial text and archaic orthography make it vital for reconstructing pre-canonical orthographic conventions and regional variants. 

 

9.4 Topkapi Manuscript - Topkapı Palace Museum (Istanbul)

Shelfmark/ID: Topkapı H.S. 32 (often cited as “Topkapı MS H.S.32” / Topkapı Codex)
Location: Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.
Dating: Traditionally attributed in Islamic lore to a Uthmānic copy, but modern palaeography commonly assigns the extant codex to the late 7th century.
Script: Large Kufic style (with Hijazi affinities in some folios) with Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew words; near-complete text in format close to later canonical order.
Coverage: Approximately 97–99% of the Qurʾān (minor lacunae noted in the manuscript). 
Significance & Notes: The Topkapı codex is among the most complete early mushafs extant; while historically venerated, its palaeographic characteristics indicate production slightly later than the Prophet’s lifetime.

 

9.5 Samarkand (Tashkent) Codex - Hast-Imam / Tashkent

Shelfmark/ID: Commonly referred to as the “Samarkand Kufic Qurʾān” or Uthmanic Mushaf (various institutional identifiers for dispersed folia)
Location: Hast-Imam Library (Tashkent), with folios dispersed to other institutions (Metropolitan Museum of Art et al.).
Dating: Palaeographic studies place the extant manuscript in a broad range to the late 7th century.
Script: Bold Kufic, Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew wording.
Coverage: Roughly 30–40% of the original codex remains in Tashkent; additional folios are scattered among other collections.
Significance & Notes: The codex has a strong traditional pedigree and has been central to claims of early canon transmission; modern scholarship treats its late palaeographic features and fragmented preservation with caution.

 

9.6 Ma’il Qurʾān (Vertical format) - British Library (Or.2165)

Shelfmark/ID: British Library Or. 2165 
Location: British Library, London (additional folia and related leaves noted in other collections).
Dating: Palaeographic attribution is typically to the late 7th century.
Script: Ma’il/Hijazi script in vertical folio format with Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew wording.
Coverage: Partial; several folia survive, though not a complete codex.
Significance & Notes: The British Library’s Ma’il folios provide useful palaeographic parallels to Parisino-Petropolitanus and other Hijazi witnesses.

 

9.7 Codex Mashhad - Āstān-i Quds Library (Mashhad, Iran)

Shelfmark/ID: MSS 18 & 4116 (codicological ensemble known as “Codex Mashhad”)
Location: Āstān-i Quds-i, Razav Library, Mashhad, Iran.
Dating: Scholars argue for an early date, with palaeographic features 7th century for portions of the codex. Recent facsimile projects and critical studies have emphasised its antiquity.
Script: Hijazi / large format, vertical layout, Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew wording.
Coverage: The two volumes together approach a very high percentage of the Qurʾān (over 90% in their current recomposed form, though later supplements and repairs are present).
Significance & Notes: Codex Mashhad is exceptional for its near-completeness and archaic orthography; it offers an important dataset for understanding early recitational and codicological practices, though repair and replacement folia from subsequent centuries complicate textual history.

 

9.8 The “Uthmānic” Mushaf at Al-Husayn (Cairo)

Shelfmark/ID: Often referred to in tradition as the “Mushaf of ʿUthmān” at Al-Husayn Mosque (Cairo) - institutional identifiers vary, and the manuscript is conserved.
Location: Al-Husayn Mosque / associated repository, Cairo.
Dating: Traditional attributions assign the codex to Uthmān’s commission; modern scholarship regards the claim as traditional and often symbolic; palaeographic study typically places the physical artefact in the late 7th century.
Script & Coverage: Monumental format with large folios; near-complete codex written in Syriac-Aramaic and Hebrew wording (historically celebrated for its extent).
Significance & Notes: Although revered in Sunni tradition as a Uthmānic copy, this manuscript’s historical attribution is debated; nonetheless, it is significant for the history of Qurʾānic veneration.

 

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