Sheikh Muqbil ibn Haadee al-Waad’iee was asked the following question regarding the different qiraa’aat, or recitations of the Qur’an:
نص السؤال: هل القراءات السبع أو العشر متواترة ؟
Question: Have the seven qiraa’aat or the ten qiraa’aat come to us through mutawaatir transmission (i.e. through a large number of independent routes of transmission)?
نص الإجابة: القرآن متواتر ، وأغلب القراءات متواترة ، أما بعض الأحرف فقد ذكر الشوكاني رحمه الله تعالى عند تفسير قول الله عز وجل : ” وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامِ ۚ” [ النساء : 1 ] هي بالمصحف ” وَالْأَرْحَامَ ” ذكر أن هذا الحرف لا ينبغي أن يقال أنه متواتر لكن يقال : هو ثابت عن النبي – صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم – . ـ
Response: The Qur’an has reached us through mutawaatir transmission, and most of the qiraa’aat have reached us through mutawaatir transmission.
As for some of the individual letters, al-Shakwaani mentioned a variant reading in his explanation of the first ayah of surah al-Nisaa’:
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامِ ۚ ـ
And have taqwa of Allah, through whom and through the ties of kinship you ask one another for your mutual rights
with the word “ties of kinship” there taking the genitive case, while in the mushaf it comes as:
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ ۚ ـ
And have taqwa of Allah, through whom you ask one another for your mutual rights, and have taqwa of the ties of kinship (i.e. do not break them)
where the word “ties of kinship” takes the accusative case.
So al-Shawkaani mentioned that is is not proper to refer to this particular variant letter change as having reached us through mutawaatir transmission, although one may say that it is authentically attributed to the Prophet (ﷺ). Continue reading