An Analysis and Critique on John Burton's Views about the Compilation of the Quran

John Burton، a researcher of the Quran، believes: The Quran to which we have access today was compiled by the Prophet (p. b. u. h.) during his lifetime. Existence of different copies and versions of the Quran in the Companions hands led to the exclusion of the Prophet’s role in the attempts aimed at compiling the Quran. Nullification of recitation and judgment، nullification of recitation and preservation of judgment، and differences of the readings of the Companions’ copies of the Quran did not really exist and they have been fabricated by those jurisprudents who have used them in their debates with other jurisprudents to support those judgments of themselves which were not supported by the nas (text) of the existing Quran. If the Prophet (p. b. u. h.) had compiled the Quranic verses in a single volume، these jurisprudents could never speak of the differences of the readings of the Companions’ copies of the Quran and exclusion of parts of the present day Quran in two forms of nullification of recitation. They had no choice but to forge narrations and exclude the Prophet’s role in compiling the Quran and thus they declared that the compilation of the Quran had taken place after the life of the Prophet (p. b. u. h). Although Burton’s views include some positive aspects، some serious criticisms have been leveled against some of the foundations of his views.