The Origin of Different Readings and Manuscripts of the Qur’ānic and Biblical Texts and Its Effect on Exegesis

If we assume that the textual words are issued by God and that what we call as the texts of the Qur’ān and the Bible have different readings and manuscripts, then the question that arises is that the meaning of which reading and manuscript can be taken as valid and congruent with the divine intention. Paying attention to the different readings and manuscripts of the texts of the Qur’ān and the Bible has a significant effect on understanding these texts. Therefore, the study at hand discusses the issue of different readings and manuscripts first in the Qur’ān and then in the Bible. The result is that the difference in the readings of the qur’ānic and biblical texts is due to the absence of diacritics and vowels, and this is more frequent in the Qur’ān. However, the issue of different manuscripts exists more intensely in the Bible, because unlike the Qur’ān, the legalization of the Old Testament and the New Testament has had a gradual process.

Keywords:

Qur’ān , Bible , reading , Manuscript , exegesis , Torah , Gospel