The Koran's authenticity

I refer to the letter entitled "Faith and Understanding" by Fr Victor Degabriele in which he questions the authenticity of the Holy Koran (The Sunday Times, April 30).

The Holy Koran is not a mere writing but a revelation from God to Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Since Muhammad was illiterate, he did not write the Koran and, before his prophetic mission, he was not capable of composing anything like the Koran, which is the epitome of Arabic language eloquence.

Muhammad did not claim that he wrote the Koran and nobody made such a claim. The speaker in the Koran is nobody but God Almighty. The Koran was revealed gradually over 23 years to provide the Prophet and his followers with the spiritual power required in their endeavours to convey the message, to give them the chance to learn it off by heart as most of the Arabs at that time were illiterate and also to make it easier for them to gradually adapt to the new Islamic laws.

Immediately after receiving revelation, the Prophet used to dictate it to his followers. Some of them used to learn the freshly revealed verses off by heart; others wrote it down. There were 40 writers of the revelation.

The Koran was not monopolised by anybody. The Prophet used to know it off by heart. Many of his followers also knew it by heart. They used to recite it, learn and teach it every day, besides the daily recitation during regular prayer times. The whole text of the Koran was written during the life of Muhammad. But it was not compiled in one book. So the Koran was preserved completely during the life of Muhammad by two main ways: memorisation and writing.

It was then passed on from generation to generation. Two years after the death of the Prophet, Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, ordered the collection of all the chapters of the Koran in one volume. Every verse in this collection was gathered and authenticated from various oral and written sources. This copy was held in the custody of Abu Bakr and, when he died, it was passed on to Omar, the second Caliph, and then, after Omar's death, to Hafsa, Omar's daughter, and the Prophet's wife.

At this same time, many of the companions of the Prophet used to have their own Koranic copies and there was no problem at that time about the authenticity of any verse of the Holy Koran. Fifteen years after the death of Muhammad, the third Caliph, Othman, ordered seven copies of the original and sent them to different Muslim regions. After consultation with the other companions of the Prophet, he ordered the burning of all other copies because many of them had personal commentaries and explanations.

Today, all copies of the Holy Koran are derived from the seven copies of Othman. The Koran was passed from one generation of reciters to another, till this very day, by word of mouth. There are certain reciters who have certificates indicating the list of reciters, which end with the companions of the Prophet. Today there are millions of Muslims who know the whole text of the Holy Koran off by heart.

In the Islamic world, we do not have any problem or debate about the authenticity of the Holy Koran. This is taken for granted by all Muslims, who have great faith in the divine source of their Book. The problem in the Islamic world today is how to put into practice the teachings of the Holy Koran.