Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Burhan

Assalam-o-Alaikum
Recently i came to know that in Quran, the punctuation marks (zer, zabar, tashdeed etc) were added after the death of Allah`s Messenger(PBUH).

Now this creates a confusion that how we can say that Quran is untouched & pure?

And if it was done to help non arabs to read & understand Quran easily then (Nowzobillah) how come this point did not came in the mind of Allah`s Messenger (PBUH)?

Hope u will understand my point and give logical reply with authentic sources.

waiting eagerly for your reply

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Answer:

Zer zabr addition to quran

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is indeed true and a historic fact that the punctuation marks, ‘zer’, ‘zabar’, stops to mark the end of the ‘aayahs’, the division of the Quran into 30 ‘juzz’ or ‘paras’, the division of the Surahs into ‘rukus’, etc. were introduced after the death of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Your Question: Now this creates a confusion that how we can say that Quran is untouched & pure?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Al Hijr verse 9:

It is We (Allah), Who has sent down this Quran, and We will assuredly guard it against corruption.

Respected brother in Islam, rest assured that the Glorious Quran that we have amongst us today is absolutely and totally free from any corruption whatsoever…..for it is the guarantee of none other than the Lord Most Gracious that it is He Who will guard it against any corruption.

To understand the wisdom and the reason for the early believers to add the punctuation marks, ‘zer’, ‘zabar’, etc. one must realize that the Glorious Quran was not revealed as a book, but rather as a verbal dictum in the Arabic language that was effectively spoken and in the dialect of the first addressees of the Quran: the Quraish tribe of Makkah.

For people whose mother-tongue is the Arabic language, or who are literate in the Arabic language do not need the ‘zer’/’zabar’ etc. to read or understand their text….if one picks up any book or newspaper written in the Arabic language even today, one would notice that there are no ‘zer’/’zabar’ etc. marks in their text.

When Islam spread to the various non-Arab lands after the death of the Messenger of Allah (saws), there arose a need to preserve the authenticity of the recitation of the Glorious Quran in the language it was originally revealed…..and it was then the the ‘zer’/’zabar’, punctuation marks, etc. were introduced so that the whole believing Ummah, Arabs and non-Arabs alike, would recite the Glorious Quran in the exact same manner as was recited by the original addressees of the Quran.

Respected brother, rest absolutely assured that the placing of ‘zer’/’zabar, punctuation marks, etc. does not corrupt the Glorious Quran in any way whatsoever….but rather helps prevent any corruption! Not even a single alphabet, leave alone a word or a phrase in the Glorious Quran has been altered, added or subtracted or moved from its original location.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan