In the Name of Allah the Beneficient the Merciful
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds
Allamah Abdul Karim Mushtaq (رحمه الله) was a Pakistani convert to the school of Ahlul Bayt from the Sunni sect. Upon his conversion, he engaged in the greater Jihad by the pen, and wrote scores of books refuting Sunni polemics and defending Shia Islam.
He was eventually assassinated by zealots due to his work, but even after his martyrdom the attacks upon him have not ceased. Recently, an "internet rumour" has been circulating that the Allamah believed in "Tahreef' (tampering of the Quran) and that the Holy Quran is incomplete, based on the following quote from his book "Hazaar Tumhari Dus Hamari" on page 553:
"No doubt the Quran that is with Imam Mehdi is complete. It has in it all Mansukh verses as well as the present verses in the same order they were revealed and all explanatory notes and explanations are present in it. It has the complete interpretation of the Prophet. It has in it all the issues of past, present and future. And in that complete book everything wet or dry is mentioned in it. And you people (Sunnis) don’t believe in that properly ordered Quran and only believe in this present Quran which according to you has lost a large part of it. That means that your (Sunni) belief is weak, whereas we (Shias) believe in that complete Quran which was never separated from the Ahlel Bayt. That is why in the Times of Justice (i.e. the End of Times) this Quran would appear and will defeat falsehood, and it will prove Allah’s Promise that this Quran has explanations of everything dry and wet in it and then not even any impure person can corrupt it. But only the pure can touch it. When Imam (Mehdi) will reveal this Quran to the world, falsehood will vanish from this world and Truth will rule. The Holy Quran we have now with us (i.e. the present Quran) contains verses of that same Quran (that is with Imam Mehdi) but its order of verses is not the same, and it also does not contain the explanations given by the Prophet. When we accept the present Quran as the Word of Allah, then how can you doubt our belief? The weakness of belief is present in your (Sunni) religion who only believe the present Quran to be enough, and don’t believe in that part which is invisible. However, they admit that a large part of the Quran went wasted but they don’t believe this lost part as the Word of Allah, but rather by denying it, they (the Sunnis) believe in a weak Quran."
Before we progress further, both Shia and Sunni traditions (in Tabaqat for instance) tell us that Imam Ali (عليه السلام) compiled a manuscript of the Quran which had the verses in the order of revelation, and contained the abrogated verses, and contained his exegesis of the Quran. This copy is not the Quran in the hands of the Muslims, which is the complete book of Allah intended for the Ummah, but mushaf of Imam Ali is a reference book, which then passed down the Imams of Ahlul Bayt and is with Imam al-Mahdi according to the Shia belief, who will present it upon his reappearance as proof of his identity.
When Allamah Abdul Karim is referring to the excess information found in that manuscript, and is referring to "all the verses" etc. he is talking about Mushaf Ali. The Allamah did indeed believe the Quran we have today is complete and is the one intended for us and is protected, but right now he is referring to Mushaf Ali, which is clearly shown if one reads the entire book.
The fact the Allamah uses the word "naskh" (compilation) clearly shows he is not referring to the Quran which is between the two covers in the hands of the Muslims, but referring to a particular compilation - that of Imam Ali.
The Allamah puts forth some questions to the Sunni readers, as Omar Ibn Khattab believed extra verses such as the verse of stoning to be part of the Holy Quran, and believed Surat al-Ahzab to be longer than Surat al-Baqara etc.
In the words of a member of Answering-Ansar, may Allah bless them:
Right from the beginning till the end, Abdul Kareem Mushtaq Shaheed has actually explained the 'mushaf' (copy) of Imams [as], that has been passed on by every Imam [as] to the next one which currently is with the Imam e Zaman [as]. At the same time he has compared that copy of Quran with the Sunni belief on the copy of Quran which we all Muslims have, i.e. Sunnies believe that this is not the complete one as Ibn Umar testified that most of its part has been lost. So its the Sunnies who need to answer the comment of Abdul Kareem Mushtaq not us. As for his list of qualities about the copy which Imams of Ahlulbayt [as] have possessed, this is not something new, we all know from shia traditions (as well as some Sunni traditions) that the first Imam, Ali bin Abi Talib [as] had collected the Quran according to its revelation, i.e., in the order in which it had been sent down. This is the reason that Sunni Imam, Muhammad Ibn Sireen (33/653 - 110/729), the famous scholar and Tabi'i (disciples of the companions of the Holy Prophet), regretted that this transcript had not passed into the hands of the Muslims, and said: "If that transcript were in our hands, we would found a great knowledge in it.". Abdul kareem Mushtaq shaheed has referred to the very 'great knowledge' contained by the compilation of Imam [as] which Sunni Imam Ibn Sireen had pointed out.
Therefore in conclusion, we quote the words of Allah Almighty and Glorious, and wish our Sunni brothers avoid any underhand tactics that damage and attack reputations and honours unjustly
"Glory be to Thee (O Allah)! This is awful calumny." (24:16)
Abdul Kareem Mushtaq did NOT believe in Tahreef
