Is it true that there is no evidence of a Qur’aan being written in the 7th century?

Question

Praise be to Allah.

This is a false and incorrectstatement made by those who try to find faults with
Islam so as to put people off this religion. It is sufficient to know that
Allaah has guaranteed to preserve the Qur’aan, as He says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily,
We, it is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’aan) and surely,
We will guard it (from corruption).” [al-Hijr 15:9]

Moreover, the fact that the transmission
of the Qur’aan by memory and in writing was mutawaatir – narrated by
groups to groups [to such anextent
that so many people could not conceivably have agreed upon a lie] – is
well known to anyone who has the slightest acquaintance with Islamic
knowledge, especially knowledge of recitations and reciters.

There are still many people nowadays who
have learned the Qur’aan orally, with isnaads directly going back to the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

One of the miracles of Allaah’s
protection of the Qur’aan is the fact that those who try to tamper with
it are always found out.

The point is, everything that was
revealed to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
was written down in front of him straight away, and some of the Sahaabah
had masaahif (written copies
of the Qur’aan). After the death of the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), thefirst khaleefah, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq (may Allaah be pleased with
him) gathered the Qur’aan inwritten
and kept it. Then the third khaleefah, ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may
Allaah be pleased with him) compiled it in mus-hafs that were based on the
mus-haf compiled by Abu Bakr, in addition to what had been memorized.

When
we realize that the Qur’aan was written down and compiled by the
Sahaabah, and ‘Uthmaan sent copies of the Mus-haf during his reign to
all the main centres of Islam, so that it would be a reference for them,
and there were no disputes concerning them, then how can we say that there
is no written trace of the Qur’aan in the seventh century? Moreover,
there are several ancient manuscripts of the Qur’aan in libraries and
museums which bear visible testimony to the fact that nothing has been
changed in the Book of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“And
verily, it is an honourable well‑fortified respected Book (because
it is Allaah’s Speech, and He has protected it from corruption).
Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it, (it is) sent down
by the All‑Wise, Worthy of all
praise (Allaah).” [Fussilat 41:41-42]