When the Quran was first revealed, Arabs were not united, yet they shared the Arabic language with differences in some words. So the prophet peace be upon him commanded his Ummah to read the Quran in one Harf (letter), and he kept increasing saying “my Ummah would not bear that” until he ended up with 7 Qirat of Quran. That was mercy so every tribe began to read with the Harf that corresponds to its dialect or is closer to it. So, what are those 7 Ahruf, and what relates them to the 7 Qirat of Quran? we will know in this article.
What Are The Types of The 7 Qirat of Quran?
The Arabic word “Qirat” means readings, and it is the plural of the word “Qira’a”. According to scholars, Qirat means the field of knowledge that studies how to read or pronounce the Quranic words and how to recite them correctly.
The 7 Qirat of Quran are divided into 4 categories in terms of their methods and credits.
Al Mutawatir (المتواترة)
Mutawatir is an Arabic word that is derived from the word tawaatur, which means one after the other. And this Qirat of Quran is a transmission on which there is agreement and which has independent chains of authorities that are sufficiently long to avoid the risk of any mistake.
Al Msh-hur (المشهور)
These are slightly less wide in their transmission, but they are still quite uncommon to have an error. It also requires to stick to the Arabic language, And follow the drawing of the Ottoman Quran.
Al Ahaad Al Sahiha (الاحآد الصحيحة)
It is correct. However, it went against Mashur’s rules by not following the Arabic language or the Ottoman design.
Al Shadha (الشاذة)
Uncommon readings that are typically ignored.
Al Mawduea (الموضوعة)
These are the readings that have been attributed to the author without a source.
The Qirat That Are Similar to The Hadith Insert (القراءات المشابهة لمدرج الحديث)
According to various Qur’anic verses, these are the readings where the increase happens.
The Difference between Al Mutawatira And Al Shadha
There are 3 differences:
Credibility
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is credited to Al-Mutawatir, however it’s not correct to credit Al Shadha to him.
The Reward
You get rewarded if you read with Al Mutawatir in prayers, on the other hand, you don’t get rewarded for reading with Al Shadha and it’s not accepted in prayers.
Tafsir
Al Mufasir (An author of a tafsir) uses al Mutawatir to understand the meanings of the Quran, unlike al Shadha
What Are The 7 Qirat (Quraa/Readers)?
The word Quraa is the plural of Qari, which means a reader in Arabic. Here are the 7 Quraa:-
Qirat Naafi’ Al-Madani (Madinah)
His famous narrators:-
- Qaloon
- Warsh
Qirat Ibn Katheer Al-Makki (Makkah)
His famous narrators:-
- Ahmed Ibn Muhammed Al Bazzi
- Qunbul Muhammed Ibn Abdulrahman
Qirat Abu Amr al-Basri (Basra)
- Hafs Ibn Omar Al-Duri
- Saleh Ibn Ziad As-Soussi
Qirat Ibn Aamir ash-Shami (Syria)
His famous narrators:-
- Hisham Ibn Ammar
- Ibn Thaqouan Abdullah Ibn Ahmed
Qirat Asim Al-Kufi (Kufa)
His famous narrators:-
- Shu’bah Ibn Ai’ash
- Hafs Ibn Suliman
Qirat Hamzah al-Kufi (Kufa)
His famous narrators:-
- Khalaf Ibn Hisham Al Baghdadi
- Khallad Ibn Khalid Al Kufi
Qirat Al-Kisaa’i (Kufa)
His famous narrators:-
- Al-Layth Ibn Khalid
- Al-Duri ‘an Al-Kissa’i
What’s The Point of Having 7 Qirat?
“Gabriel recited the Qur’an to me in one way. Then I requested him (to read it in another way), and continued asking him to recite it in other ways, and he recited it in several ways till he ultimately recited it in seven different ways“.
— Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him
There are many reasons behind having 7 different Qirat, and the following are some of them:
It Is A Mercy from Allah
To make it easy to read by all Muslims, considering Arabs different dialects.
Highlighting The Miracle of Quran
To highlight the miracle of the Holy Quran; No one has been able to identify any flaws or defects in it despite the many readings.
For More Clarity
To increase the meanings deduced from the Book of Allah, and that’s why the scholars leaned on outweighing the sayings in many Fiqh issues based on the reading that has more clarification.
Enriching The Arabic Language
To enrich the language by deriving the meanings of particular linguistic questions from the Qur’anic text and then explaining their many aspects.
Increasing The Nation’s Reward
To increase the nation’s reward in view of its responsibility to read, teach, and transmit the holy Quran with absolute control and precision.
What Do The 7 Ahruf Mean?
The scholars disagreed on this causing several sayings, but the most famous of these is acknowledged from the story of Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and Hakim Ibn Hizam, where the scholars disagreed more over how to read the 7 Ahruf than over their meanings.
Despite the fact that all Arabs spoke the same language, several tribes developed their own dialects with their own words and letters that were difficult for others to pronounce.
The Difference between The 7 Qirat of Quran And The 7 Ahruf
“As it has been revealed. Verily, the Quran has been revealed in seven dialects. Recite whichever of them you find easy“.
— Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him
The scholars agreed that the 7 Ahruf are not the known 7 Qirat of Quran, some of them believe that the only differences between the 7 Qirat of Quran are differences in the letters. And the 7 Ahruf are shared all through the 7 Qirat of Quran. And the others believe that The Quran of Uthman, may God be pleased with him, was written in one letter; removing the six letters and keeping only one letter. and it is the saying of (Ibn Jarir al-Tabari|Ibn Jarir) al-Tabari.
What Relates The 7 Ahruf to The Qirat?
The Quran’s revelation in 7 Ahruf marked the start of Qirat and their diversity. And strong evidence of it is the Prophet’s acknowledgment of both Umar and Hakim bin Hizam for reciting it. It turns out that what relates the seven letters to the readings is what relates the cause to what caused it.
Now you may wonder, are the 7 Ahruf still there till now? Are they in all the readings or only the 10 readings?
The answer is yes, they’re still there, and that’s because the reason why they existed is still there as well, which is to make reading the Quran easy for all Muslims. Secondly, it doesn’t have a single reading or narrative, therefore whoever reads one from the well-known readings just read some of the seven letters, not all of them. Thirdly, the 7 Ahruf are found throughout the 10 readings except for what has been copied from them and the readings in the final Aardah (The last time the prophet peace be upon him was taught the Quran by Gabriel). The 7 Ahruf are all still present. Last but not least, the Quran was revealed to our prophet peace be upon him throughout the period of revelation. According to a hadith, Gabriel used to teach him the Quran every year during Ramadan, which was every night, and in the year that he died, he taught him twice.
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Resources:
ما هي القراءات السبع للقرآن الكريم
الأحرف السبعة والقراءات
FAQ
(Q&A of The 7 Qirat of Quran!)
What’s the difference between the 7 Qirat of Quran and Tajweed?
The 7 Qirat of Quran are the different recitation techniques when Tajweed is a set of rules that make your pronunciation of the Quranic words correct to recite it properly.
