What is the evidence for the preservation of the Holy Qur’an, and have some exegetes interpreted the verse: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Dhikr, and indeed, We will be its Guardian" (15:9) to mean that what is preserved is the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and not the Qur’an?

The Quranic proofs for Allah's preservation of the Quran from loss, increase, or decrease include:

1. Surah (definition) Al-Hijr: 9: (Indeed, it is We who sent down the Dhikr [i.e., the Quran], and indeed, We will be its guardian), which signifies the preservation of the Quran from any addition or omission. 2. Surah Fussilat: 41-42: (Indeed, those who disbelieve in the Dhikr [i.e., the Quran] when it has come to them... And indeed, it is an honorable Scripture. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from One All-Wise and Praiseworthy), which confirms its infallibility from distortion or alteration. 3. Surah Al-Kahf: 27: (And recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. No one can alter His words, and you will not find any refuge other than Him), which indicates the permanence of its words and their unalterability. 4. Surah Al-Ankabut: 48-49: (And you did not recite before it any scripture, nor did you inscribe it with your right hand. Otherwise, the falsifiers would have had [cause for] doubt. Rather, it is verses [that are] self-evident in the breasts of those who were given knowledge), which points to its preservation in the hearts of scholars. 5. Surah Al-Haqqah: 44-47: (And if he [i.e., Muhammad] had made up about Us some [false] sayings, We would have seized him by the right hand; Then We would have cut from him the aorta. And there is no one of you who could prevent [Us] from him), which clarifies that an attempt to alter the Quran incurs divine punishment. 6. Surah Az-Zukhruf: 1-3: (Ha, Meem. By the clear Book, Indeed, We have made it an Arabic Qur’an that you might understand. And indeed, it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom), which shows the great status of the Quran and its preservation in the Preserved Tablet. 7. Surah Al-Baqarah: 2: (This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah), where it negates doubt and alteration concerning it. 8. The Hadith (definition) in Sahih (definition) Muslim from Iyad ibn Himar al-Mujashi'i that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: (And I have sent down to you a Book that water does not wash away), meaning it is preserved in the hearts and does not vanish.

These proofs confirm Allah's guarantee to preserve the Quran, and their truth is manifested in its being a universal book and a legislation for all times and places.