Differentiating between ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh and someone else who apostatised and claimed that he had distorted the revelation
Question

                ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh is a controversial figure in the history of Islam, as he was one of the scribes who vote down the revelation, then he apostatized from Islam. Did he distort some of the verses of the Qur’an?
Praise be to Allah.
      Firstly: 

    Many people mix up 
    two people who apostatized at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace 
    of Allah be upon him). One of the reasons for that is that they both wrote 
    down the revelation and they both apostatized. But in fact they are two 
    different people. The first one is ‘Abdullah ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Sarh, and the 
    second is a Christian man whose name is not known. The former apostatized 
    then came back to Islam during the conquest of Makkah; the latter remained 
    an apostate and died, and the earth rejected his body, and thus became a 
    sign for the people. The latter is the one who claimed that he used to 
    change words when he wrote down the revelation; that was not the noble 
    Sahaabi ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh. 

    Secondly: 

    With regard to the 
    former, his name was ‘Abdullah ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Sarh, Abu Yahya al-Qurashi 
    al-‘Aamiri, the brother through breast feeding of ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan. The 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had issued a death 
    warrant against him, but ‘Uthmaan asked for protection for him, and the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) granted him protection. 
    He became Muslim again and was a good Muslim. 

    It was narrated 
    that Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas said: On the day of the conquest of Makkah, the 
    Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) granted safety 
    to the people except four people, two women whom he named, and Ibn Abi Sarh. 
    As for Ibn Abi Sarh, he hid with ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, and when the 
    Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) called the 
    people to swear allegiance, ‘Uthmaan brought him and made him stand before 
    the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: 
    O Prophet of Allah, accept the allegiance of ‘Abdullah. He raised his head 
    and looked at him three times, each time refusing, then he accepted his oath 
    of allegiance after the third time. Then he turned to his Companions and 
    said: “Was there not among you any intelligent man who, when he saw me not 
    accepting his pledge, would get up and kill him?” They said: O Messenger of 
    Allah, we do not know what is in your mind; why did you not hint to us with 
    (a movement of) your eyes? He said: “It is not appropriate for a Prophet to 
    have treacherous eyes.” 

    Narrated by 
    an-Nasaa’i (4067) and Abu Dawood (2683). Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
    Saheeh an-Nasaa’i. 

    ‘Uthmaan (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) appointed him as governor of Egypt, and he is the 
    one who led the battle of Dhaat as-Sawaari. He went on campaign in North 
    Africa and conquered many of its cities. He refrained from getting involved 
    in the turmoil between ‘Ali and Mu‘aawiyah (may Allah be pleased with them 
    both), then he went to ar-Ramlah in Palestine. One morning he said: O Allah, 
    let my last deed be Fajr prayer. He did wudoo’, then he prayed; he said the 
    salaam to his right, then when he was going to say the salaam to his left, 
    Allah took his soul. 

    That was in 59 
    AH. 

    Imam adh-Dhahabi 
    (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning him: 

    He never harmed 
    anybidy, and he did not do anything that he could be blamed for after the 
    conquest of Makkah. He was one of the wisest and most generous of men.

    End quote from 
    Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’, 3/34 

    See also 
    al-Isti‘aab fi Ma‘rifat al-Ashaab by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, 3/52; 
    al-Isaabah fi Tamyeez as-Sahaabah, 4/110 

    We have not come 
    across any report with a saheeh (sound) isnaad that says that ‘Abdullah ibn 
    Abi Sarh used to distort the revelation; rather in his story it says that 
    the Shaytaan caused him to slip. 

    It was narrated 
    that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: ‘Abdullh ibn Sa’d ibn Abi’l-Sarh used to write for 
    the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Then the 
    shaytaan caused him to slip and he joined the kuffaar. The Messenger of 
    Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) ordered that he be killed 
    on the day of the Conquest [of Makkah], but ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan sought 
    protection for him and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah 
    be upon him) granted him protection.

    Narrated by 
    an-Nasaa’i (4069) and Abu Dawood (4358); classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
    Saheeh an-Nasaa’i. 

    Thirdly: 

    With regard to the 
    other man, he was a Christian, then he became Muslim, then he apostatized. 
    He used to say that he changed the words that the Prophet (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) dictated to him. Then Allah, may He be exalted, 
    destroyed him in a manner that served as a lesson to others who reviled the 
    Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and cast aspersions 
    upon his religion. 

    It was narrated 
    that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: There was a Christian man 
    who became Muslim and 
    read al-Baqarah and Aal ‘Imraan, and he used to write for the Messenger of 
    Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). He went back to being a 
    Christian, and he used to say: Muhammad does not know anything but what I 
    wrote for him. Allah caused him to die, and they buried him, then the next 
    morning the earth had thrown him out. They said: This is the doing of 
    Muhammad and his companions, because he ran away from them; they dug up our 
    companion and threw him (on the ground). So they dug a grave for him and 
    made it deep, but the next morning the earth had thrown him out. They said: 
    This is the doing of Muhammad and his companions, because he ran away from 
    them; they dug up our companion and threw him (on the ground). They dug 
    another hole for him and they made it as deep as they could in the ground, 
    but the next morning the earth had thrown him out. Thus they realised that 
    this was not something that people had done, so they left him unburied.

    Shaykh al-Islam 
    Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    This accursed one 
    who fabricated lies against the Prophet 
    
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said that he did not know 
    anything but what he wrote for him was subject to vengeance and shame from 
    Allah, as He caused him to be thrown out of the grave after he had been 
    buried, several times. This is something extraordinary which shows to 
    everyone that this was a punishment because of what he had said and that he 
    was a liar, because such things do not happen to most of the dead. 

    It also shows that 
    this crime was more grievous than merely apostatising, because such things 
    do not happen to most apostates who die; Allah wrought vengeance for His 
    Messenger 
    
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) because of his slander and 
    insults against him, to support His religion to prevail and expose the lie 
    of the liar, because the people could not carry out the hadd punishment on 
    him.

    End quote from 
    as-Saarim al-Maslool, 1/122 

    Thus it becomes 
    clear that ‘Abdullah ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Sarh (may Allah be pleased with him) 
    was innocent of that of which he was accused; he never made such a claim and 
    never said such words. Moreover, he repented after that, and he became 
    Muslim and was a good Muslim. 

    And Allah knows 
    best.