Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Are the Rāfiḍah (Shia) to be considered Ahl al-Qur’ān (People of the Qur’an)?
✿ Answer:
The Rāfiḍah (Shia) believe that the Qur’an has been altered and distorted (taḥrīf).
Therefore, they cannot be considered Ahl al-Qur’ān (People of the Qur’an).
Even when some among the Rāfiḍah appear to affirm the Qur’an, they do so as part of their doctrine of taqiyyah (religious dissimulation), not genuine belief.
✦ Shia Position on Qur’anic Distortion:
Several prominent Shia scholars have explicitly stated that the Qur’an has been changed, distorted, or altered, both in text and structure.
❖ Mirza Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad Taqī al-Nūrī al-Ṭabarsī (d. 1320 AH)
He authored a book titled:
“Fasl al-Khiṭāb fī Ithbāt Taḥrīf Kitāb Rabb al-Arbāb” (A Clear Statement on the Proof of Distortion in the Book of the Lord of Lords),
in which he promoted the belief in the taḥrīf of the Qur’an.
❖ Four Shia scholars — Ibn Bābawayh (d. 381 AH), Sharīf al-Murtaḍā (d. 436 AH), al-Ṭūsī (d. 450 AH), and al-Ṭabarsī (d. 548 or 561 AH) —
claimed the Qur’an was unaltered. However,
al-Nūrī al-Ṭabarsī rejected their view, writing:
“لم يعرف من القدماء موافق لهم”
“None of the early Shia scholars agreed with them.”
📚 Fasl al-Khiṭāb, p. 33
✦ Accusations Against the Noble Companions:
Al-Ṭabarsī stated that those responsible for the alleged taḥrīf were:
Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, Abū ʿUbaydah, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf,
and that Zayd ibn Thābit assisted them.
📚 Fasl al-Khiṭāb fī Ithbāt Taḥrīf Kitāb Rabb al-Arbāb
Such statements are extremely blasphemous and reflect severe deviation.
❖ Mulla Bāqir al-Majlisī (d. 1111 AH) wrote:
“لا يخفى أن كثيرا من الأخبار الصحيحة صريحة في نقص القرآن وتغييره، وعندي أن الأخبار في هذا الباب متواترة معنى، وطرح جميعها يوجب رفع الاعتماد عليها رأسا”
“It is not hidden that many authentic narrations clearly state the Qur’an is incomplete and altered. In my opinion, these narrations are mutawātir in meaning (mass-transmitted), and rejecting all of them would result in complete unreliability of our narrations.”
📚 Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl, quoted in Fasl al-Khiṭāb, p. 353
In Fasl al-Khiṭāb, nearly all major Shia scholars are listed as believing in taḥrīf al-Qur’an, including:
✔ Isḥāq al-Kātib – whom some Shia claim saw the Mahdi,
✔ Abū al-Qāsim Ḥusayn ibn Rūḥ al-Nawbakhtī – the third ambassador between the Shia and the “Hidden Imam”,
✔ Others among the Shia elite who explicitly stated that the belief in Qur’anic distortion is the creed of the majority of Shia scholars.
❖ Shaykh al-Islām ʿAllāmah Iḥsān Ilāhī Ẓahīr رحمه الله (d. 1407 AH) wrote:
“الحاصل أن متقدمي الشيعة ومتأخريهم تقريبا جميعهم متفقون على أن القرآن محرف مغير فيه، محذوف عنه”
“In conclusion: almost all early and later Shia scholars agree that the Qur’an has been altered, changed, and parts of it have been removed.”
📚 al-Shīʿah wa al-Sunnah, p. 122 – Published by Dār al-Anṣār
✔ Summary:
① The Rāfiḍah (Shia) hold the belief in taḥrīf of the Qur’an, which removes them from being counted among Ahl al-Qur’an.
② The claim that the Noble Qur’an has been distorted is kufr (disbelief) and a rejection of Allah’s promise to preserve His Book.
③ Numerous leading Shia scholars have affirmed this corrupt belief in their classical works.
④ Their external affirmation of the Qur’an is often deceptive (taqiyyah) and does not reflect true belief.
