Variant Readings Of The Quran

This fascinating and important book attempts to investigate the nature of the seven Ahruf in which the Qur'an has been revealed and the reason for the variations in readings among the Qurraa of the Quran. It studies, examines, and discusses: the revelation of the Qur'an in the seven ahruf concluding that they represent seven linguistical ways of recitation; the compilation of the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet and the preservation of the Quran in the memories of the Companions as well as in written form, the compilation during the time of Abu Bakr, and the further compilation during the time of Uthman; the problem of naskh to demonstrate the completeness and trustworthiness of the Quran and that no verses are missing or were read and abrogated by naskh al-tilawah either with or without hukm; the Uthmanic masahif and their relation to the seven ahruf; the language of the Quran and whether it includes one, several, or all the dialects of the Arabs; the origin of the qiraat and conditions governing accepted readings; and ikhtiyar (i.e., the selection of one reading rather than another) and the rules governing the Qurraa' who selected a reading.

This work is a study of the transmission of the variant readings of the Qurʾān, the canonization of the system Readings, and the emergence of the non-canonical shawādhdh readings. Nasser argues that Ibn Mujāhid and the early Muslim scholars viewed the variant readings as legal rulings aḥkām and that the later generation of Qurrāʾ were responsible for moving the discipline of Qirāʾāt from the domain of fiqh to the domain of Ḥadīth. After studying the theories of tawātur in detail, Nasser shows that the transmission of the system Readings of the Qurʾān failed to meet the conditions of tawātur set by the Uṣūlīs, thus creating a paradox between the transmission of the physical text, the muṣḥaf, and the transmission of its oral recitation, the “Qurʾān”.

This fascinating and important book attempts to investigate the nature of the seven Ahruf in which the Qur’an has been revealed and the reason for the variations in readings among the Qurra’ of the Quran. It studies, examines, and discusses: the revelation of the Qur’an in the seven ahruf concluding that they represent seven linguistical ways of recitation; the compilation of the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet and the preservation of the Quran in the memories of the Companions as well as in written form, the compilation during the time of Abu Bakr, and the further compilation during the time of Uthman; the problem of naskh to demonstrate the completeness and trustworthiness of the Quran and that no verses are missing or were read and abrogated by naskh al-tilawah either with or without hukm; the Uthmanic masahif and their relation to the seven ahruf; the language of the Quran and whether it includes one, several, or all the dialects of the Arabs; the origin of the qiraat and conditions governing accepted readings; and ikhtiyar (i.e., the selection of one reading rather than another) and the rules governing the Qurra’ who selected a reading.

This unique work takes a method of textual analysis commonly used in studies of ancient Western and Eastern manuscripts and applies it to twenty-one early Qur'an manuscripts. Keith Small analyzes a defined portion of text from the Qur'an with two aims in view: to recover the earliest form of text for this portion, and to trace the historical development of this portion to the current form of the text of the Qur'an. Small concludes that though a significantly early edited form of the consonantal text of the Qur'an can be recovered, its original forms of text cannot be obtained. He also documents the further editing that was required to record the Arabic text of the Qur'an in a complete phonetic script, as well as providing an explanation for much of the development of various recitation systems of the Qur'an. This controversial, thought-provoking book provides a rigorous examination into the history of the Qur'an and will be of great interest to Quranic Studies scholars.

The Second Canonization of the Qurʾān studies the transmission and reception of the Qurʾānic text and its variant readings through the work of Ibn Mujāhid (d. 324/936), the founder of the system of the Seven Eponymous Readings of the Qurʾān.

Scholars of Islam are familiar with the Koran's many errors and contradictions, but these have rarely been revealed to a wider public. THE ORIGINS OF THE KORAN is an attempt to remedy this deficiency by bringing together classic critical essays which raise key issues surrounding Islam's holy book. Indispensable to scholars and all those interested in the textual underpinning of one of the fastest growing religions in the world.

The Qur'an was reveled in parts. It was after this piecemeal revelation that its parts were given a new arrangement and then the collected whole was transmitted to the later generations. A number of illustrious scholars in the past have undertaken to write down this collection and transmission history of the Qur'ān. What then is the need to revisit and synthesize this history in the wake of these studies? In the humble opinion of this writer, the answer to this question is that most previous works on this topic have been marred by three flaws and hence occasioned this study. The fisrt flaw is that the collection history of the Qur'ān has generaly been compiled only on the basis of historical reports found in Ḥadīth anthologies. Seldom was this collection history based on the account of the Qur'̄an itself on it collection. The second flaw is that tools of historical criticism have not always been fully employed to evaluate the content acquired from Ḥadīth anthologies on the collection of the Qur'ān. The resut is that, at times, far-reaching conclusions have been drawn from data that is of questionable reliability. The third flaw is that the readings of the Qur'ān transmitted by tentative (dhannī) menas have been regarded acceptable along with its reading transmitted by certain (qaṭ'ī) means against the verdict of the Qur'ān itself. In this way, both have been equated and the distinction between the two has become extremely blurred if not totally forgotten.... The objectives of this study are to (i) synthesize the collection and transmission history of the Qur'ān on the basis of the Qur'ān and established historical sources. (ii) critically evaluate the accounts of the Qur'ān's collection and other related content mentioned in Ḥadīth anthologies using tools of historical criticism. The reader will find the second of the above objectives spanning the greater part of the study because its content is plentiful and needs paintaking reevaluation. This critique constitutes Section 1 (Chapters 1 to 17) of this study. The synthesis is attempted in Secion 2 (Chapters 1 and 2). -- from Introduction.