First of all I want to make sure that people understand that the ahruf is different from the Qira'at
"'Umar b. Khattab said: I heard Hisham b. Hakim b. Hizam reciting Surah al-Furqan in a style different from that in which I used to recite it, and in which Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had taught me to recite it. I was about to dispute with him (on this style) but I delayed till he had finished that (the recitation). Then I caught hold of his cloak and brought him to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and said: Messenger of Allah, I heard this man reciting Surah al-Furqan in a style different from the one in which you taught me to recite. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) told (me) to leave him alone and asked him to recite. He then recited in the style in which I beard him recite it. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) then said: Thus was it sent down. He then told me to recite and I recited it, and he said: Thus was it sent down. T
he Qur'an was sent down in seven dialects. So recite what seems easy therefrom.."
As stated before, the ahruf used today is in the Qurayshi dialect, that of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It was never changed it remains the inerrant word of Allah. I have repeatedly posted hadith which detail the methodology of its compilation using physical evidence amongst a council of learned Muslims who had memorized the Qur'an by heart under the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
There are seven undisputed readings of the Qur'an (Qira'at) and three more readings that are held at a slightly lower standard. All readings of the Qur'an stem from one ahruf, the Qurayshi dialect. Furthermore, to be considered a valid Qira'at there are certain conditions that must be met.
The first condition was that the recitation have an authentic chain of narration in which the chain of narrators was continuous, the narrators were all known to be righteous and they were all known to possess good memories. It was also required that the recitation be conveyed by a large number of narrators on each level of the chain of narration below the level of Sahaabah (the condition of Tawaatur). Narrations which had authentic chains but lacked the condition of Tawaatur were accepted as explanations (Tafseer) of the Sahaabah but were not considered as methods of reciting the Qur'an. As for the narrations which did not even have an authentic chain of narration, they were classified as Baatil (false) and rejected totally.
Note that without large numbers of secondary chains of people who had studied under the Sahaba the reading would be considered tafsir or exegis by the learned companions. It is interesting how the system of secondary chains works because it revolves around the concept of large numbers of narrators reporting the same thing would dismiss any possibility of corruption.
The seond condition was that the variations in recitations match known Arabic grammatical constructions. Unusual constructions could be verified by their existence in passages of pre-Islamic prose or poetry.
The third condition required the recitation to coincide with the script of one of the copies of the Qur'an distributed during the era of Caliph cUthmân. Hence differences which result from dot placement (i.e., ta'lamoon and ya'lamoon) are considered acceptable provided the other conditions are met. A recitation of a construction for which no evidence could be found would be classified Shaadhdh. This classification did not mean that all aspects of the recitation was considered Shaadhdh. it only meant that the unverified constructions were considered Shaadhdh.
The chain of narration for the authentic Qira'at are well known.
Recently there has been attempts by Christian missionaries to try and claim that the Qur'an, as a text, has several variations. This is based on Adrian Brockett's own work, however it is interesting to see what exactly Brockett says on the matter in his text.
Brockett said:
In cases where there are no variations within each transmission itself, certain differences between the two transmissions, at least in the copies consulted, occur consistently throughout. None of them has any effect in the meaning.[23]
Brockett divides the Qur'an into two spheres, one being the written and the other being the oral.
Brockett said:
On the graphic side, the correspondences between the two transmissions are overwhelmingly more numerous than differences, often even with oddities like ayna ma and aynama being consistently preserved in both transmissions, and la'nat allahi spelt both with ta tawila and ta marbuta in the same places in both transmissions as well, not one of the graphic differences caused the Muslims any doubts about the faultlessly faithful transmission of the Qur'an.[2]
It's important to understand this point because it explicitly rejects the notion of different texts. That is diatric markings are far and away similar except for specific cases, persevering in consistency even in odd grammatical structuring within the Qur'an itself.
Within the oral sphere Brockett states
Brockett said:
On the vocal side, correspondences between the two transmissions again far and away outnumber the differences between them, even with the fine points such as long vowels before hamzat at-qat having a madda. Also, not one of the differences substantially affects the meaning beyond its own context... All this point to a remarkably unitary transmission in both its graphic form and its oral form.[26]
Brockett outlines the restrictions that protected the Qur'an from any external alteration
The definitive limit of permissible graphic variation was, firstly, consonantal disturbance that was not too major, then unalterability in meaning, and finally reliable authority.
The absence of one would again void the reading as reliable and at best it would be considered exegesis.
Brockett repeats the same point of preserving the text of the Qur'an
Brockett said:
The simple fact is that none of the differences, whether vocal or graphic, between the transmission of Hafs and the transmission of Warsh has any great effect on the meaning. Many are the differences which do not change the meaning at all, and the rest are differences with an effect on the meaning in the immediate context of the text itself, but without any significant wider influence on Muslim thought.[28]
What is very important is that Brockett states
Brockett said:
Such then is the limit of the variation between these two transmissions of the Qur'an, a limit well within the boundaries of substantial exegetical effect. This means that the readings found in these transmissions are most likely not of exegetical origin, or at least did not arise out of crucial exegetigal dispute. They are therefore of the utmost value for the textual history of the Qur'an.[29]
As in these readings were not interpretations of the companions of the Prophet nor did they arise out of debate over the writing itself. They are are a part of the textual history of the Qur'an itself. They are inestimably important in understanding the origins of the Qur'an and as another brother said before that is a miracle in itself.
Dr. Brockett confirms this when he states
Brock[U said:
ett]The limits of their variation clearly establish that they are a single text.[/u]
Brockett compares the Qur'an's unaltered line of textual history with that of other works within Islamic scholarship
Brockett said:
Thus, if the Qur'an had been transmitted only orally for the first century, sizeable variations between texts such as are seen in the hadîth and pre-Islamic poetry would be found, and if it had been transmitted only in writing, sizeable variations such as in the different transmissions of the original document of the constitution of Medina would be found. But neither is the case with the Qur'an. There must have been a parallel written transmission limiting variation in the oral transmission to the graphic form, side by side with a parallel oral transmission preserving the written transmission from corruption.[31]
Brockett concludes
Brockett said:
The transmission of the Qur'an after the death of Muhammad was essentially static, rather than organic. There was a single text, and nothing significant, not even allegedly abrogated material, could be taken out nor could anything be put in.[32]
It's odd that after scholars from both non-Islamic POV and learned Muslim scholars who mastered all 10 of the accepted Qira'at and recited each and every one of them did not find any textual incongruities within the Qur'an that would give evidence for variations of the Qur'an, you Mark would.