Were there originally 200 verses in Surat Al-Ahzab?

Compiled by The SeekingIlm Team

The enemies of Islam, primarily those who attempt in vain to attack the authenticity of the Qur’an on the internet and elsewhere, consistently argue that the Qur’an has been changed drastically after the passing of the Prophet Muhammad (‘alayhis salaam). One of the “evidences” they forward for their claim is the report from our mother ‘Aa’ishah (radhiya Allahu ‘anha) that goes:

[Abu Ubaid] said, Ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us from Ibn Lahi’ah from Abil Aswad from ‘Urwah ibn Az-Zubayr from ‘A’ishah that she said, “We used to recite Surat Al-Ahzab with 200 verses during the lifetime of the Nabi (‘alayhis Salam). Then when ‘Uthman  transcribed the manuscripts of the Qur’an (masaahif) he was unable to find [all of the verses] except those [verses] as it currently is today.”

This hadith is weak due to (Abdullah) Ibn Lahi’ah. We have already written a research paper regarding his weakness here. So do not be deceived by the usage of this narrative. Even if we say this is authentic, this would could simply mean that the remaining unfounded verses were abrogated and thus the companions unanimously decided to leave them out of their masahif, as well as memories.