Revisiting the meaning of the Divine preservation of the Qur’an : With special references to Verse 15:9

In this article, I discuss the topic of Divine preservation of the Qur’an in the context of exegesis verse 15:9: ‘Indeed, it is We who sent down the reminder (dhikr) [i.e., the Qur’an], and indeed, We will be its guardian’. First, I will briefly examine Muslim and non-Muslim perceptions regarding authentic transmission of the Qur’an. I question some Western researchers, who problematise Muslims’ approaches to the history of the Qur’an with various polemics, and the Muslim perception, which compresses the notion of Divine preservation of the Qur’an into the narrow meaning of verse 15:9 with dogmatic and apologetic reflexes. Then, I chronologically analyse interpretations of the verse from linguistic, historical, theological and sociological aspects of the exegeses from the classical period to the modern times. The main argument of this article is centred on verse 15:9, which, in my opinion, deals with the first route of Qur’anic revelation from God to the Prophet through Angel Gabriel, and the Prophet’s perfect memorisation of it together with his flawless transmission to the Companions. The next processes (post-Prophetic developments in transmission of the revelation) were left to the foresight of the Muslim community, ummah. I believe, while the vertical process (revelation from arsh to farsh (heaven to earth) is guaranteed by God, responsibility for the horizontal process (from the Companions to the following generation and so on) is left to the Muslim community. The use of the same Qur’anic text by Sunnis, Shi’ites, Ibadis, etc., from northern Kazakhstan to West Africa, from Asia Pacific to the Balkans, is the clearest proof that Muslims are preserving the book entrusted to them. They demonstrate the reflection of their understanding of tawhid (Oneness of God) in their faith on the Qur’an by their consensus on a single mushaf.