Description
Florian, a student from Germany got up on the ladder for the first time at Speaker's Corner and helped Jay explain the significance of the many Qira'at and Riwayat Qur'ans (the differing readings between these Arabic Qur'ans).
This is highly damaging for Muslims as they believe that the Qur'an is eternal, and thus was never created (see Surah 85:21-22 where the Qur'an is referred to as the "Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz" = Eternally preserved tablets).
What's more, because it is eternal no man can change even one letter or one word within the Qur'an. That claim is found in Surahs 10:15 and 18:27. And the reason no one can change a word or letter is because according to Surah 15:9 Allah will guard it!
So, if we can find even one letter or one word which is different between any two Qur'ans, that suggests that the Qur'an has been changed by men subsequent to the 7th century.
Florian showed a picture of 26 different Arabic Qur'ans, each of which had different words within their text, in fact, over 100,000 different words between them.
At the Corner, he only held up two of the now 30 different Qur'ans which are used within the Muslim world today, the Hafs (memorized by 93% of the Muslim world), and the Warsh (memorized by 3% of the Muslim world, primarily in Northern Africa and in Nigeria).
He and Jay then pointed to just 3 examples of the over 100,000 to prove that these changes weren't just mere dialectical differences, as Muslims always claim, but these examples changed the complete meaning of the words, which changed the meanings of the verses, and in some cases changed the doctrines and the theology as well.
You will notice that about 7 minutes into this talk a well-meaning but misguided Christian medical doctor named David tried to shout down Jay and Florian at the foot of their ladders, yelling incessantly to the crowd that we were not preaching the gospel and that no one should be listening to us. Other Christians finally were able to walk him away, which allowed the two to continue with what they were saying concerning the Qira'ats.
We understand that he believes Jay is a supporter of ecumenicism, which at the Corner, when confronting Islam, he is, and that no one should have anything to do with him because Jay also believes Christians can lose their salvation, which goes against David's OSAS beliefs.
This subject on the Qira'ats is proving to be a real 'game-changer', and if a German student, who speaks English as a 2nd language can communicate the problems with these many differing Qur'ans so eloquently from the ladder and in front of a hostile crowd, there's hope for the rest of us who don't yet feel so brave.
© Pfander Centre for Apologetics & Polemics - US, July 12, 2026
(132,560)