"How Many Qurans?" The REAL ANSWER to this Trick Question

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]So, God Logic asks, "How many Qurans am I holding?" Initially, it's a laughable question because we know the Quran doesn't have different versions like the Bible does. I mean, NIV, the KJV, the ESV, the list goes on. But, as you think about it a little more, you realize the question is a little harder to answer than you initially thought. Because, like the Christian apologist might point out, we do have different recitations of the Quran. We have Warsh, we have Hafs, we have Khalaf al-Hamzah. Sometimes we recite Maliki Yawmiddin and other times we recite Maliki Yawmiddin.

[00:00:52]But, here's something to keep in mind.

[00:00:54]We don't have different versions that we disagree on. We have different recitations that we all agree on. It's not like we have some scholars saying Hafs is correct and Warsh is wrong and vice versa. But, we have different modes of reciting that we all agree on. Modes of recitation that all go back to the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and were authorized by Allah and his messenger, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So, what exactly are the Christians getting at when they ask this question? Well, to no one's surprise, they're not asking out of curiosity, they're asking out of spite. Think about it like this. Muslims argue that the Trinity is illogical because, under the classical laws of logic that we use, if the Father is God and the Son is God, but the Father is not absolutely identical to the Son, then you must have two gods. This is a law under absolute identity. So, the Christian is trying to flip it back onto us by saying, "Well, if Hafs is the Quran and Warsh is the Quran, and Hafs is not absolutely identical to Warsh, then you must have two Qurans." And since you have 10 modes of reciting like Hafs and Warsh, you must actually have 10 Qurans. So, are they right? I mean, do we have to concede that we don't have one Quran, or do we have to concede that the Trinity actually is logical because clearly our logic doesn't work? And the answer is no. This has nothing to do with the logic that Muslims use or the preservation of the Quran, but rather it's a trick question meant to trick you with the language that it uses. So, here's how you answer the question, "How many Qurans do you have?" The term Quran can mean multiple different things. If I say that I read the Quran in prayer, no one's going to assume I mean that I recited the entirety of the Quran from beginning to end in one prayer. Rather, they're going to assume I recited a portion of the Quran in my salah. Why?

[00:02:42]Because the portion that I recited in my prayer is sufficient enough to be regarded as the Quran since it's authorized by the prophet peace and blessings be upon him and goes back to him. So, when I recite Surah al-Fatiha and then say, "I recited the Quran in prayer," no one's going to think that I recited all of it, and no one's going to say that I'm using the language wrong because this is how we use the language.

[00:03:06]This is how we say, "I recited Quran," and everyone would understand what I meant. And here's where this argument stops working for the Christians because now if we analogize the Quran to the Trinity, which is why they bring this question up in the first place, the Christian would either have to concede that there are indeed multiple gods or they would have to concede to a heresy known as partialism, that the Father is a part of God, the Son is a part of God, and the Holy Spirit is a part of God.

[00:03:33]Let me demonstrate how.

[00:03:37]Let's say for this argument we decide to define Quran as everything the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, received by Allah that was authorized by Allah, including all the different modes of recitation from Surah al-Fatiha all the way through to Surah An-Nas. Then under this strict definition, each recitation of the Quran, each mode of recitation, would be a part of the Quran because it's all a portion of what the prophet peace and blessings be upon him received in totality. Hafs would be one portion, Warsh would be another, so on and so forth. And notice that this isn't a problem for Muslims. We've defined Quran to be everything the prophet received and he received Hafs and Warsh and everything. So therefore there are 10 recitations and they're each a part of what he received. That's not a problem.

[00:04:22]But now let's analogize this to the Trinity again. They would have to concede that the Father is a part of God, the Son is a part of God, the Holy Spirit is a part of God, and that's how you still have one God cuz they're each 1/3 or something like that. But of course this is a heresy and would take them out of mainstream Christianity. But now let's instead define Quran as any full recitation that the prophet peace and blessing be upon him recited. And now since we define Quran is basically being a recitation of the Quran, meaning Quran recitation and Quran are synonymous and can be used interchangeably, you could say we have 10 Qurans, meaning that we have 10 recitations of the Quran and that would be no problem. But what Christians are trying to do is take the definition from the first scenario and then the logic of the second scenario and then conclude you have 10 individual Qurans, meaning that you don't have one Quran or that there must be some kind of distortion or problem with your logic. So it clearly doesn't work. And in the second scenario where Quran is basically defined as any valid recitation of the Quran, this wouldn't help the Christian because if we analogize this to the Trinity, then you would say again the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and therefore you still have three gods.

[00:05:34]But the Christian would again never concede that. The only way a Christian would get away with this argument is if a Muslim who doesn't really know any better and kind of conflates the terms, basically concedes to or makes the argument that Hafs is a Quran recitation, Warsh is a Quran recitation, Hafs is not the same recitation as Warsh, but there's still somehow one Quran recitation. That would be analogous to what the Christians try to argue with the Trinity, but obviously no Muslim would use that language. They would only be unclear with their language, and then that ambiguity would create some confusion leading the Christians to think that oh, this must be a good argument cuz the Muslim didn't know how to specifically respond. So, that's how you answer any apologist when they ask how many Qurans do you have. Now, you might have some lingering questions such as how do we know these recitations are actually authorized? Or do the different recitations contradict each other? Do the different recitations change the meanings of the verses? And although these aren't questions I address in this video, if you guys are interested, leave a comment below letting me know, and I'll make a follow-up video addressing the different modes of recitation. And with that being said, I'll see you in the next one. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. I want to let you guys know about a great new prayer app called Just Pray. What makes this app stand out is it doesn't just give you the qibla direction and prayer times and all that stuff, but it actually has unique features to make sure you pray on time. One feature that you can enable is the feature that will actually block your other apps until you pray and mark down that you have prayed your salah.

[00:07:03]It's a great feature, especially for those who are forgetful of their salah and get distracted on their phone.

[00:07:09]Another amazing feature is their Fajr alarm. Their Fajr alarm feature, if you enable it, will keep going off until you actually get up and scan your prayer mat telling the app I'm ready to pray. This is really important for those who struggle with missing Fajr because they sleep in because this app will not let you miss your prayer in this precious time to make dua to Allah. I think it's a great app for any Muslim to use, and I am using it myself, and so far I've had a great experience. So, if you guys want to download Just Pray, you can find the link down below in the description.