This Is Islam Uncovered

The Cairo Standard: How Hafs Became “The Quran” While Others Were Burned or Forgotten

❓ The Claim Muslims Make

“The Quran has been perfectly preserved — every word, every letter, exactly as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.”

But here’s the reality:

The Quran that most Muslims read today (Hafs ‘an ‘Asim) is the product of a 20th-century government committee in Cairo, Egypt — not divine preservation.
The man whose transmission it’s based on — Hafs ibn Sulayman — was rejected as unreliable by leading Hadith scholars.
And the dozens of other Qurans that once existed? They were either burned, suppressed, or simply forgotten.

This is the untold story of how Islam's claim of perfect preservation quietly falls apart under its own historical weight.

📘 Part 1: How the 1924 Cairo Committee Created "The Quran"

📅 Background: Egypt in the Early 1900s

At the time, Egyptian schools were struggling with students who:

Memorized different versions of the Quran.
Used conflicting qirāʾāt (recitations).
Read Qurans with different verse counts, vowel markings, and word variations.

To end the chaos, the Al-Azhar Islamic authority stepped in.

🛠️ What Did the 1924 Committee Do?

Chose one version of the Quran to be the official standard.
That version was: Hafs ‘an ‘Asim — based on a transmission from Kufa, Iraq.
Other qirāʾāt were rejected, excluded from printing, and effectively erased from mainstream Islam.

This standardized Hafs Quran is the one printed in:

The 1924 Cairo Edition (first official print)
The King Fahd Quran Printing Complex (Saudi Arabia)
Nearly every mosque, app, and translation used today

The Quran of today is not “the original.”
It’s a modern selection, made by a committee, finalized in 1924.

❗ But Why Hafs?

Because they needed a default version, and Hafs was the most widespread by that point.

But ironically...

📕 Part 2: Was Hafs a Reliable Narrator?

No. According to major Islamic scholars of Hadith science, Hafs ibn Sulayman was considered:

Weak
Unreliable
Accused of lying
Not accepted as trustworthy in transmitting hadiths

Let’s look at their own words:

🔍 Scholar Testimonies:

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani:

“Hafs is matruk (abandoned). His hadith is not written.”
— Tahdhib al-Tahdhib, Vol. 2, p. 354

Ahmad ibn Hanbal:

“He was a liar.”
— Tahdhib al-Kamal, Vol. 7, p. 339

Yahya ibn Ma'in:

“Hafs is not trustworthy.”
— al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil, Vol. 3

Abu Zur’ah:

“His narrations are not accepted.”

Let that sink in:
The man who transmitted 90% of the world’s Quran today was rejected by Islam’s own early scholars.

🤔 But Isn’t Hafs Reliable in Quran, Just Not Hadith?

That’s the modern excuse.
But it makes no logical sense.

If someone is a known liar or weak narrator,
why trust him to transmit the entire Quran, word-for-word?

Islamic scholars have no documented mutawātir chain proving that the Hafs Quran was transmitted by thousands per generation back to Muhammad.
They only claim it was — without forensic evidence.

So Muslims today believe in a Quran:

Transmitted by a man labeled unreliable.
Chosen by a government committee.
Canonized in 1924.

That’s not divine preservation — it’s editorial control.

🔥 Part 3: Why the Other Qurans Were Burned or Forgotten

🧾 Sahih Bukhari 6.61.510:

“Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Quranic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burned.”

That includes:

The Mushaf of Ibn Mas‘ud — who rejected 3 surahs and was personally taught by Muhammad.
The Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka‘b — which had two extra surahs (al-Khal‘ and al-Hafd).
All other variant codices — lost forever.

Uthman’s recension destroyed all evidence of early Quranic diversity.

If the Quran was truly mutawātir and unchanged, why the need to:

Destroy manuscripts?
Enforce one reading?
Threaten companions who disagreed?

And even centuries later:

The 1924 Cairo committee did the same thing — but with printing presses instead of bonfires.

🧠 Logical Syllogisms

Syllogism A – Divine Preservation?

A perfectly preserved book does not require later human standardization.
The Quran was standardized in 1924.
∴ The Quran was not perfectly preserved.

Syllogism B – Trust and Transmission

If a transmitter is unreliable in hadith, his trustworthiness in Quran is questionable.
Hafs was rejected as weak, a liar, and abandoned.
∴ Hafs should not be the sole transmitter of the world’s Quran.

Syllogism C – Erasure of Evidence

A true divine revelation should preserve all authentic recitations.
Uthman and later committees destroyed or suppressed all but one version.
∴ The current Quran represents editorial control — not full divine preservation.

✅ Final Verdict

The Quran used today — Hafs — is not the exact Quran of Muhammad.

It is:

One version among many,
Transmitted by a man deemed unreliable,
Standardized by scholars and politicians,
And enforced while all others were erased.

Conclusion:

The Quran today is a curated product of history — not a perfectly preserved word of God.