Editing Openai/690ebe98-9ccc-8012-b7a2-42d4636988b4 (section)

=== 1. The Qur’an ===

Transmission and preservation:

* Muslim and non-Muslim textual historians generally agree that the Qur’an has been preserved with remarkable consistency.
* The earliest manuscripts (for example, the Ṣanʿāʾ manuscript, Topkapi, and Birmingham fragments) match almost exactly with the Qur’anic text used today.
* The process of tawātur (mass memorization and recitation by many independent people) acted as a living verification system.

Variation:

* Minor orthographic and dialectal variants (qirā’āt) exist, but these are acknowledged and standardized within the Islamic tradition; they don’t alter the meaning substantially.

Scholarly consensus (confidence: ~95%)
→ The Qur’an is textually stable since the 7th century, with minimal variation that does not affect doctrine or narrative.

Source (peer-reviewed & neutral):

* Oxford Research Encyclopedia – “Qurʾan Manuscripts”
* Birmingham Qur’an Manuscript – University of Birmingham