in the form of addition or omission. What appears from the tradition of al-Bukharr is that it (i.e., what has happened in the past nations would also happen in this commu‌ nity) could extend to the Day of Judgment. As such, how can one argue that alter‌ ation occurred in the early days of Islam or during the first period of the caliphate?

The Second Error

According to this error, Ali (peace be upon him) possessed a written text [of the Quran] other than the one existing now. He presented it to the community, but they refused to accept it from him. Moreover, his text included parts that are not present in the Quran that we have in our hands. From this it follows that the existing Quran is deficient when compared with the text of the Commander of the Faithful Ali. This is the type of alteration that has been the subject of so much controversy. The tradi‌ tions which indicate it are numerous.
Among them is the one narrating the argument of Ali against a group of Emi-
grants (muhajirun) and Helpers (an$ar), in which he is reported to have said:

٠ Tali:ta! Every verse that was revealed by God, the Exalted, to Muammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) is in my possession, dictated by the Messenger of God and written by my hand. [Moreover], the interpretation of every verse that was revealed by God, the Exalted, to Mui:tammad-of all things that are lawful or unlawful, subject to legal punishment or ordinances, or anything needed by the community until the Day of Resurrection-is in my possession, dictated by the Messenger of God and written by my hand, to the extent of [rules regarding] the blood money for the scratchmark....٣٤

Another tradition reports Alis argument against a heretic (zindfq), in which Ali said that he had "brought the complete Book [of God], comprising the interpretation and the revelation, the precise and the ambiguous verses, the abrogating and the abrogated verses; nothing was missing from it, [not even] a letter alif, nor lam. But they did not accept it from him."٣٥
Another tradition is related by al-Kulayni in his al-Kafi, with a chain of transmis‌ sion going back to Jabir, who reported from the Imam al-Baqir (peace be upon him), who had said, "No one can claim that he possesses all of the Quran, its exoteric form and its esoteric dimension, except the legatees (aw$iya) [of the Prophet]."٣٦
He also reports that Jabir said:

I heard Abu Jafar [ai-Baqir] say that no one has ever claimed that he collected the Quran in its entirety as it was revealed, except a liar; and no one collected it and memo‌ rized it as it was revealed by God, the Exalted, except Ali b. Abi Talib and the Imams (peace be upon them) who came after him.٣٧

The response to this is as follows.
That there existed a text of the Quran, in the possession of Amir al-Muminin [Ali] (peace be upon him), differing in arrangement of the chapters from the exist‌ ing Quran, is something that should not be doubted. The fact that prominent scholars are unanimous in affirming its existence spares us the trouble of proving it. How‌ ever, even if it is true that his Quran incorporated additions that are not part of the existing Quran, this does not mean that these additions comprised parts of the Quran and have been dropped from it due to alteration. Rather, the correct position in this