INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
From the time of the Prophet Mohammad until midway through Caliph Uthman’s rule (d. 35/656), the Qur’an continued to be read according to the seven ahruf. In the battle of Nahāvand, (currently in Iran) some confusion arose among the companions concerning which mode of reading was preferred. Some companions began to claim superiority of their reading and a rivalry began to develop.
Meanwhile, some new Muslims also started to mix the different forms of reading as they thought that mixing different modes is permissible. Caliph Uthman decided to make a master codex according to the dialect of the Quraysh from the collection compiled by Zaid Bin Thabet (d. 44/665) during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr Alssiddiq (d.13/634), rescind all the personal codices, and send seven copies of the master codex to the Islamic provinces. “The Uthmanic master codex converted to be the official copy of the Muslim countries during the rule of Uthman and after his rule”. (Abdul-Raof: 2012:110). The companions and the successors carried on reading some Qur’anic verses with different modes of reading from the official canonical codex.
Variant modes of reading were either phonetically-oriented which involved vocalic and diacritic differences, or semantically-oriented which involved within-the-text exegetical expressions. (Abdul-Raof: 2012:110). Below is an elucidated discussion of the compilation of modes of reading, the principles of an acceptable mode of reading, the phonetic and linguistic differences within the modes of reading, and the differences between the seven modes of reading in phonological features of consonants and vowels.
Literature Review
During the early seminal phase of Qur’anic recitation which arose during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad, modes of reading were not available as an independent scholarship. No master codex was written since the companions used to write scattered pieces of Qur’an on tree coats, animal skins and available papers. The companions taught the followers the Qur’an mainly as a spoken text. Among the Qurra’ from the companions were Obai Bin Ka’b, (d. 30/651) Abdullah Bin Mas’ud, (d. 32/653) Abdullah Bin Abbas (d. 68/689) and Mu’ath Bin Jabal (d.18/639). These companions among others formed the foundation of the modes of reading in Medina, Makkah, Kufah, Basra and Damascus.
During the last decade of the first half of the 1st/7th century, the two major cities which witnessed the commencement of the teaching of modes of reading were Madinah and Kufah. The phase of scholarship in recording the modes of reading began during the second half of the 1st/7th century. Among the first scholars who wrote on the modes of reading were: Yahya b. Ya’mur (d. 90/708), Abān b. Taghlub (d. 141/758), Muqātil b. Sulaimān (d. 150/767), Harūn b. Musa al-A’war (d. around 170-180/786-796), Abu Zakariyya al-Farrā’ (d. 207/822), and Abu ’Ubaid al-Qāsim b. Sallām (d. 224/838) (Abdul-Raof, 2012:110).
It was during the last half of the 1st/7th century that the differences among modes of reading began to emerge. However, during the evolution of the four schools of exegesis in Makkah, Madinah, Kufah, and Basrah, two major approaches to the modes of reading developed. The seven modes of reading (al-qira’āt al-sab’) are believed to have been established by the successors who met the companions and were taught by them. Ibn Mujāhid (d. 324/936) was the first scholar who compiled the seven readers in one book entitled al-Sabca fi’lqira’at (The Seven in the Science of Reading). The seven major Qur’an reciters (al-qurra’ al-sab’a) lived in either Makkah, Madinah, Kufah, Basrah, or Sham (mainly Damascus). The seven Qur’an readers along with the two ruwāt (sing. rāwi), which means the transmission of their modes of reading to their students are listed below.
(IMAGE)
“The Kitāb al-Sab’a represents a meticulously well-structured scholarship, focused primarily on the importance of the Qur’an as a liturgical text. This work is concerned with the authenticated Qur’anic readings sourced to seven eminent readers, adhering to the traditional order arrangement of chapters and verses in the Qur’an. Ibn Mujahid selected these readers whose Qur’anic readings had previously gained noticeable prominence and distinction within the reader tradition; they were celebrated luminaries from the regions of Hijaz, Iraq and Sham” (Shah, 2004:16).
Source: Phonological Features in Qiraat
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