A AzizThe Prophet (saas) used to recite the Qur'an before angel Jibreel (Gabriel) once every Ramadan, but he recited it twice (in the same order we have today) in the last Ramadan before his death. Jibreel also taught the Prophet (saas) the seven modes of recitation. The verses were written by scribes, selected by the Prophet, on any suitable object - the leaves of trees, pieces of wood, parchment or leather, flat stones, and shoulder blades. Scribes included Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, Ubey Ibn Ka'ab, Zayed Ibn Thabit. Several hundred companions memorized the Qur'an by heart.Umar Ibn Al-Khattab urged Abu Bakr to preserve and compile the Qur'an. This was prompted after the battle of Yamamah, where heavy casualties were suffered among the reciters who memorized the Qur'an. Zayed, with the help of the companions who memorized and wrote verses of the Qur'an, accomplished the task and handed Abu Bakr the first authenticated copy of the Qur'an. The copy was kept in the residence of Hafsah, daughter of Umar and wife of the Prophet.Uthman ordered Zayed Ibn Thabit, Abdullah Ibn Al Zubayr, Saeed Ibn Al-Aas, and Abdur-Rahman Ibn Harith Ibn Hisham to make perfect copies of the authenticated copy kept with Hafsa. This was due to the rapid expansion of the Islamic state and concern about differences in recitation. Copies were sent to various places in the Muslim world. The original copy was returned to Hafsa, and a copy was kept in Madinah.Two Of these copies exist in the world today, one in Istanbul and the other in Tashkent. Whosoever is so inclined may compare any printed text of the Holy Qur'an with those two copies, shall find no variation. And how can one expect any discrepancy, when there have existed several million Huffaz in every generation since the time of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and in our own time? Should anyone alter a syllable of the original text of the Qur'an, these Huffaz would at once expose the mistake. In the last century, an Institute of Munich University in Germany collected FORTY-TWO THOUSAND copies of the Holy Qur'an including manuscripts and printed texts produced in each period in the various parts of the Islamic World. Research work was carried out on these texts for half a century, at the end of which the researchers concluded that apart from copying mistakes, there was no discrepancy in the text of these forty-two thousand copies, even though they belonged to the period between the 1st Century Hijra to 14th Century Hijra and had been procured from all parts of the world. This Institute, alas! perished in the bombing attacks on Germany during World War II, but the findings of its research project survived. Another point that must be kept in view is that the word in which the Qur'an was revealed is a living language in our own time. It is still current as the mother tongue of about a hundred million people from Iraq to Morocco. In the non-Arab world too, hundreds of thousands of people study and teach this language. A modern Arabic-speaking person can comprehend the Holy Qur'an with as much proficiency as did the Arabs of fourteen centuries ago. This, then, is an important attribute of Muhammad (PBUH), which is shared by no other Prophet or Leader of Religion. The Book which God revealed to Him for the guidance of mankind is today's in its original language without the slightest alteration in its vocabulary. Also you mention in your last line "all Muslims do: Defend the Quran at any cost" Give me one good reason why shouldn't. The Qur'an is the most sacred Book in the world. It is the uncreated word of Allah, given as the greatest blessing to the whole mankind through the last Messenger Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). We all know that Allah the Almighty, being the Creator, Protector and Sustainer of the universe has taken the responsibility of giving guidance to the people. For this purpose He has sent Messengers to all places in all times with glad tidings for the good doers and severe warnings of punishment to those who reject the divine Message. Allah has revealed divine books and pages of instructions to several prophets. But all the prophets before Mohammad (pbuh) were sent to a particular time and to a particular community. Their messages were confined to their respective areas. That is why the books revealed to them are not found now in the original form, though some copies with enough additions and omissions are kept with some communities and they consider it divine still today. A sincere attempt to see the actual conditions of these scripts reveals that Allah has sent Taurat to Moosa (Moses), Injeel to Isa (Jesus) and Zaboor to Dawood (David) - peace be on them - before the prophethood of Mohammad (pbuh). Originally all these were from Allah with divine instructions to their community. But by the passage of time the followers of those books misinterpreted the verses and made their own words in the book so as to suit and safeguard their interests. But the case of the Qur'an is entirely different. Since Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) has been sent to the whole mankind till the Day of Judgment and since he is the Last Messenger to the universe, Allah made the Holy Qur'an the last of His divine revelation and He Himself took up the responsibility of protecting it from all possible malpractices and misintrepretations. Thus we can see that the Qur'an is the most widely read Book in the whole world. It is noteworthy that even after 14 centuries the Revelation exists in its original form without being affected even by a single change to any of its letters. Allah says: "Surely We have sent down the Qur'an and will protect it". This is very much clear and everybody will agree to this fact. (Source: Islam online)
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