As for alterations occurring after the period of the [first four] caliphs, no such thing has been claimed by anyone we know of. However, this view has been attributed to some who believe in the occurrence of alteration. Hence, it is claimed that al-I:Iajjaj,٣٠ when he arose in support of the Umayyads, deleted many verses from the Quran that were revealed in the criticism of the Umayyads, and added to it things that were not part of it. He wrote Quranic codices and sent them to Egypt, Syria, Mekka, Medina, Basra, and Kufa. The Quran that is in existence now is in conformity with these texts. As for the other texts, he gathered them and destroyed them all, leaving not even one copy.٣l
These assertions resemble the senseless jabber of the feverish and the supersti‌ tions of the insane and children. This is because al-I:Iajjaj was one of the governors of the Umayyads. He was far too insignificant, and of too low a status, to harm the Quran in any way.ln fact, he was too ineffectual to make changes even in the ancil‌ lary branches of Islamic knowledge. How, then, could he change the foundation of religion and the pillar of the Sharia? Moreover, where did he acquire the authority to [distribute his own Quranic codex] in all Islamic lands when the Quran was al‌ ready in wide circulation there? And how is it that no historian has mentioned this major feat in the books of history, and that no critic has touched upon it in spite of the importance of the matter and the many good reasons to report it? More impor‌ tant, how is it that no Muslim narrated it in al-l:lajjajs time, and how did the Mus‌ lims overlook this deed after his time had passed and his authority ended?
Even if we were to assume that he was able to collect all the different manuscripts
of the Quran, and not a single manuscript in all the sprawling Muslim lands escaped his power, was he capable of removing the Quran from the hearts of the Muslims who had memorized it, with their number at that time being known only to God? Furthermore, if some of the verses in the Quran had been injurious to the Umayyads, Muawiya would have surely removed them long before the time of al-l:lajjaj, be‌ cause he was more powerful and influential than al-l:lajjaj. [Had this happened], the supporters ofAa would have taken this as a strong point against Muawiya, and used it as an argument, as they used other arguments that have been preserved in history and in the books of tradition and theology. From what has been said above, it is clear that anyone who asserts that alterations did take place in the Quran would be at variance with the most elementary reasoning. There is a proverb which says: "Tell a person about something that is impossible to have happened. If he believes it will happen, then he is certainly not rational."

The Errors of Those Who Maintain the Alteration View

Those who hold that alteration occurred in the Quran cling to a number of errors that need to be presented and refuted, one by one.

The First Error

First, alteration, they say, occurred in the Torah and the Gospel. According to tradi‌ tions narrated through various chains of uninterrupted transmission, by Sunni as well as Shiite traditionists, [they cite] all that has occurred in the past communities, [and