An Invitation to Peace

An Invitation to Peace
wishing to go to Tashkent in the former Soviet Union (Uzbekistan)
today will find a complete copy of the Qur’an there written by one of
the Prophet’s own scribes, Zaid ibn Thabit. One can take any copy of
the Qur’an from any mosque in the world and compare it with this
copy, and find it exactly the same – word for word. Indeed, the fact that
the Qur’an was never in the domain of only a few select priests, but
from the very beginning has been accessible to, and memorised by,
even young children has meant that it has been impossible for the
original to become lost or corrupted – it was just too wide-spread and
among too many.
Consistency of Message
The Qur’an was revealed over a period of twenty-three years piece by
piece to Muhammad (PBUH). Over such a long stretch of time
everybody undergoes changes: changes in thought and ideas, in
mindset and way of thinking, in attitude and personality. Everyday as
we learn new things and gain new and different experiences, our
world view is altered in unnoticeably subtle ways. Somebody who
knows you now could well meet you in ten years time and find they
hardly recognise you, and you them. If that’s true for you and me, what
about a man whose life went through such tremendous upheaval and
unimaginable change as Muhammad (PBUH)? From quiet,
respectable family-man to a vocal and ardent preacher, from one held
by all in high regard to one persecuted by his own people and cast out
from his own hometown, from one who belonged to a strong and
noble family to one who is suddenly alone, sought after by his own
blood, from one who had many children to one who had to bury
everyone of his sons and daughters but one, and then to one who finds
himself a Head of State, a man who rallies armies, who signs treaties
with tribes and kings, and has diplomatic relationships with Christians
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