Prophet may have forgotten the Qur’an or intentionally omitted it

 The response to the claim that it is permissible for the Prophet, may

God bless him and grant him peace, to forget the Qur’an or intentionally omit it. The issue of the Prophet forgetting. Some atheists have cast doubt on the basis upon which the writing and compilation of the Noble Qur’an was based, which is the Prophet’s memorization of the Qur’an, claiming that it is permissible for the Prophet to forget. They have provided evidence for this with two pieces of evidence:
The first is the Almighty’s saying: “We will make you recite, and you will not forget, except what God wills.” (29)
They claimed that the verses indicate - by way of exception - that Muhammad intentionally omitted or caused verses to be forgotten that no one had come to remind him of, and they also indicate that it is permissible for the Prophet to forget

. The second is what Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, who said: The Prophet heard a reciter reciting at night in the mosque, so he said: May God have mercy on him. (30)
They claimed that the Prophet intentionally omitted some verses of the Qur’an, or that he made them forget.


The answer to what the proponents of this doubt

have relied on is that the noble verses indicate that it is permissible for the Prophet to forget some of the Qur’an:

First: His statement, “We will make you recite, and you will not forget,” is a generous promise that he will not forget what he recites of the Qur’an, since “la” in the verse is negative, not prohibitive, as evidenced by the saturation of the “seen,” so God informed in it that he will not forget what He recited to him.
It was said that “la” is prohibitive, and the saturation of the “seen” was used to match the beginnings of the verses, and the first statement is more common. (31)
Al-Qurtubi said after mentioning the two statements: The first is the preferred one; Because the exception to the prohibition is almost never anything but a known temporary one, and also the letter Ya is established in all copies of the Qur’an, and the reciters are upon it. (32)
The meaning of the verse according to this is: We will teach you the Qur’an, so do not forget it, so it indicates the opposite of what they wanted to prove with it.


Secondly: The exception in the verse is dependent on God’s will for it, and the will did not occur, as evidenced by what was mentioned in the Almighty’s saying: Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation { , and because the non-occurrence of the dependent upon entails the non-occurrence of the dependent, and it is impossible for God’s will to be related to the non-delivery of His message.



Thirdly: The exception in the verse does not indicate what they claimed that it indicates the possibility of forgetting something from the Qur’an, and there are two opinions regarding what is meant by this exception:

The first opinion: That the exception is formal and not real, so it is for blessing, and there is nothing that was excluded.
Al-Farra’ said: “He did not want to forget anything, and it is like His saying: ‘They will abide therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except what your Lord wills. ’ And He does not will, and you are saying in speech: ‘I will surely give you everything you ask for, except what I will, and unless I will to prevent you,’ and the intention is not to prevent it, and on this is the course of oaths, an exception is made in it, and the intention of the one taking the oath is complete.” (34)
It was said that the wisdom in this formal exception is to teach the servants that the Prophet not forgetting the Qur’an is purely due to the grace and kindness of God, and if God Almighty had willed to make him forget, He would have made him forget, and in that is a notification to the Prophet that he is always immersed in God’s grace and care, and a notification to the nation that their Prophet, with what he was singled out for of gifts and characteristics, did not go beyond the circle of servitude, so they will not be tempted by him as the Christians were tempted by Christ. (35)

The second statement: That the exception is real, and that what is meant by it is the abrogated recitation, so the meaning is that God Almighty promised that His Prophet would not forget what he recites, except what He - Glory be to Him - wills to make him forget by abrogating its recitation for a reason, or that what is meant by it is abandonment, or what happens to a person by virtue of human nature, or for the sake of teaching people and clarifying the Sunnah to them.
On the authority of Al-Hasan and Qatadah: {Except what God wills}: meaning He decreed that its recitation be lifted.
And on the authority of Ibn Abbas : Except what God wills to make you forget so that it may be a Sunnah.
Al-Tabari said: And others said: Forgetting in this place: abandonment, they said: The meaning of the statement is: We will recite to you, O Muhammad, so do not abandon working with any of it, except what God wills that you abandon working with from what We abrogate. (36) According

to these two statements, the proponents of that doubt have no connection to these verses, since it is not understood from them that the Prophet forgot a single letter of what he was commanded to convey.





The answer to what they claimed about the noble hadith:

First: The hadith that they cited does not constitute evidence for them in what they claimed of doubt about the origin upon which the writing and compilation of the Qur’an was based, since the verses that the Prophet forgot and then mentioned were written in the hands of the Prophet, and were preserved in the hearts of his companions who received them from him, and whose number reached the level of continuous transmission - and among them is this one who mentioned him, and the most that it indicates is that the reading of that man reminded the Prophet of the verses, and he had forgotten them, or he had forgotten them, and there is no indication in the report that these verses were not among what the scribes of the revelation wrote, nor is there anything that indicates that the companions of the Prophet had forgotten them all, so that there is fear of their loss. (37)


Second: The narrations of the hadith do not indicate that these verses that the Messenger heard from one of his companions had been erased from his noble mind as a whole, but the most that they indicate is that they were absent from him and then he remembered them and they came to his mind through the reading of his companion, and the absence of something from the mind is not the same as its erasure from it. Forgetting here is due to the mind being occupied with something else, whereas complete forgetfulness is impossible for the Prophet (peace and blessings

of God be upon him), due to his failure to fulfill his mission of message and communication. (38) Al-Baqillani said (39): If you mean that he forgets the amount that a knowledgeable person who has memorized the Qur’an forgets, and whose owner is not accused of stupidity, then that is permissible after he has performed and communicated it, and what indicates its permissibility is that it does not corrupt it, nor does it disparage its verses, nor does it corrupt the perfection of its attributes, nor does it diminish its status, nor does it lower it, nor does it expose him to accusations of it. (40)


Third: His saying: (I dropped it) is explained by his saying in the other narration: (I made it forget), so it indicates that he dropped it out of forgetfulness, not intentionally, so there is no place for what they have mentioned that he may have dropped some verses of the Qur’an intentionally.
Al-Nawawi said: His saying: “I had caused it to be forgotten” is evidence that it is permissible for him to forget what he had conveyed to the nation. (41)

Here comes the issue of the Prophet’s forgetfulness, which is the following issue.
The issue of the Prophet’s forgetfulness

The Prophet’s forgetfulness is of two types:

The first: His forgetfulness occurs in what is not his way of conveying. This is absolutely permissible due to his human nature.

The second: His forgetfulness occurs in what is his way of conveying. This is permissible under two conditions: The
first condition: That he forgets after he conveys it. As for before conveying it, forgetfulness is not permissible for him at all.
Al-Nawawi said in his explanation of his saying: “I had caused it to be forgotten”: It is evidence that it is permissible for him to forget what he had conveyed to the nation. (42)

The second condition: that he does not continue to forget it, but rather he remembers it: either by himself or by someone else. (43) And
Qadi Iyad (44) - may God have mercy on him - said: The majority of scholars agree that he may initially forget something that is not the way of conveying it, and they differed regarding something that is the way of conveying it and teaching, but those who allow it said: It is not to be acknowledged, rather he must remember it or be reminded. (45) And

the Prophet’s forgetting of something that is the way of conveying it is also of two types:

Al-Isma’ili said: (46) The Prophet’s forgetting of something from the Qur’an is of two types:

One of them: His forgetting that he remembers from close up, and this is based on human nature, and this is indicated by his statement in the hadith of Ibn Mas’ud regarding forgetfulness: I am only a human being like you, I forget as you forget. (47)
And this type is an incidental event that quickly disappears, due to the apparent meaning of His statement: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.” (48)

The second: That God removes it from his heart with the intention of abrogating its recitation, which is what is referred to by the exception in the Almighty’s saying: “We will cause you to recite, and you will not forget, except what God wills” (49), according to some sayings.
This section is included in His statement: “We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten.” (50) (51)


Some of the scholars of the principles of jurisprudence and some of the Sufis claimed that forgetfulness does not occur in anything at all, but rather its form occurs, to be recommended. (52)
Al-Qadi Iyad said: This is a contradiction that is rejected, and no one who is followed has said this, except for Professor Abu al-Muzaffar al-Isfarayini (53) from our sheikhs, for he leaned towards it and preferred it, and it is weak and contradictory. (54)


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(29) Surah al-A’la, verse 6, and part of verse 7.
(30) Narrated by al-Bukhari in his Sahih. See Sahih al-Bukhari with its commentary Fath al-Bari (5/312) Book of Testimonies, Hadith: 2655, and (8/702-705) Book of the Virtues of the Qur’an, Hadiths: 5037, 5038, 5042. (11/140) Book of Supplications Hadith: 6335, and narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, Sahih Muslim with Al-Nawawi’s commentary, Book of the Prayer of Travelers, Chapter on the command to pay attention to the Qur’an (6/75), and Abu Dawud in his Sunan: Book of Prayer - Chapter on raising the voice in reading in the night prayer (2/37) Hadith: 1331, and at the beginning of the Book of Letters and Readings (4/31) Hadith: 3970.
(31) Nukat Al-Intisar for Translating the Qur’an p. 312, and Fath Al-Qadir (5/420), Tafsir Al-Qur’an Al-Azeem (4/500).
(32) Al-Jami’ li Ahkam Al-Qur’an (20/14).
(33) He is Abu Zakariya Yahya bin Ziyad Al-Asadi, their client, the scholar, author of books, Imam of grammarians, and companion of Al-Kisa’i, died on the Hajj road in the year 207 AH. Siyar A’lam An-Nubala’ (1/118), and Tadhkirat Al-Huffaz (1/372).
(34) The Meanings of the Qur’an by Al-Farra’ (3/256).
(35) Manahel Al-Irfan (1/267-268).
(36) Tafsir Al-Tabari (30/154), Fath Al-Qadir (5/422), and Fath Al-Bari with Commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari (8/702).
(37) Manahel Al-Irfan (1/265).
(38) Manahel Al-Irfan (1/266).
(39) He is Judge Muhammad bin Al-Tayeb bin Muhammad bin Ja’far, the Imam, the scholar, the sword of the Sunnah and the tongue of the nation, the speaker on behalf of the people of Hadith, the author of books, and he was an example of his understanding and intelligence, and he was a trustworthy and brilliant Imam. He wrote in response to the Rafidah and the Mu’tazilah and other sects, and he died in Dhul-Qi’dah 403 AH. Siyar A’lam An-Nubala’ (17/190).
(40) Al-Intisar’s Jokes on the Transmission of the Qur’an, p. 312.
(41) Al-Nawawi’s Commentary on Sahih Muslim (6/76).
(42) Al-Nawawi’s Commentary on Sahih Muslim (6/76).
(43) Fath Al-Bari with Commentary on Sahih Al-Bukhari (8/703).
(44) Abu al-Fadl Ayyadh ibn Musa ibn Ayyadh, the Imam, scholar, memorizer, Sheikh of Islam, he was well versed in the sciences, collected and composed, and his writings were widely known. He was the Imam of Hadith in his time, and the most knowledgeable person in grammar, language, and the speech of the Arabs. Among his works are: Al-Shifa bi-Ta’rif Huquq al-Mustafa, and Mashariq al-Anwar. He died in the year 544 AH. Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ (20/212).
(45) Al-Shifa bi-Ta’rif Huquq al-Mustafa (2/161), and An-Nawawi’s commentary on Sahih Muslim (6/76).
(46) He is the Imam, memorizer, jurist, authority, Sheikh of Islam, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ismail ibn al-Abbas al-Ismaili al-Shafi’i. He wrote books that testify to his leadership in jurisprudence and Hadith. He was one of his time, and the Sheikh of Hadith scholars and jurists. He died in the year 371. Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’ (16/292).
(47) Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Prayer, Chapter on Facing the Qiblah Wherever One Is. (1/600) Hadith 401.
(48) Verse 9 of Surat Al-Hijr.
(49) Verse 6 and part of verse 7 of Surat Al-A’la.
(50) From verse 106 of Surat Al-Baqarah.
(51) Fath Al-Bari Sharh Sahih Al-Bukhari (8/703).
(52) Ash-Shifa bi Ta’rif Huquq Al-Mustafa (2/147), and (2/161).
(53) He is the scholar and mufti Tahir bin Muhammad Al-Tusi Al-Shafi’i, the author of the great interpretation. He was one of the scholars and died in the year 471 AH. Seerah A’lam An-Nubala (18/401).
(54) Al-Shifa in defining the rights of the Chosen One (2/163-164), and Al-Nawawi’s explanation of Sahih Muslim (6/76-77)