Principles for Understanding How the Qira’at Impact Tafsir: Sheikh Muhammad Bazmool

In part of his doctoral thesis on the qira’at, Sheikh Muhammad Bazmool included the following chapter:

قواعد مهمة يتنبه لها أثناء دراسة أثر القراءات في التفسير

Important Principles to Know
for Studying the Effect
that the Qira’at Have on Tafsir

من الاشياء المهمة للذي يبحث في أثر القراءات في التفسير مراعاة القواعد التالية :ـ

Something important for anyone studying the effects that the qira’at can have on the explanation of the Qur’an is to be mindful of the following principles:

ـ (أ) الخلاف الواقع بين القراءات الصحيحة إنما هو من خلاف التنوع ، لا خلاف التضاد والتناقض . ـ

1. The differences that are present between the valid qira’at are merely acceptable variations on a theme, not contradictions or defects.

ـ (ب) إضافة القراءة إلى المقريء إنما هي إضافة اختيار واتباع وليست إضافة رأي وابتداع . ـ

2. Attributing a certain way of reciting to a master reciter is simply saying that he selected that way and followed what had been transmitted, not that he invented or originated that way himself.

ـ (جـ) لا تفرقة بين القراءات الصحيحة المقبول فكلها كلام الله وكلها قرآن والمعاني التي تدل عليها كلها معان قرآنية لا تفضيل بينها . ـ

3. There is no hierarchy among the valid authentic qira’at. All of them are Allah’s Speech, all of them are equally Qur’an, and all of the meanings which they communicate are Qur’anic meanings. There is no space for claiming any of them to be better than another.

The Linguistic Meaning of the Word “al-Qur’an”: al-Suyooti

In his famous manual for the Qur’an sciences, al-Itqan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’an, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti included an in-depth discussion about the linguistic root and meaning of the word al-Qur’an. We have added some section headers in brackets [] to help with navigation:

وأما القرآن : فاختلف فيه ، فقال جماعة : هو اسم علم غير مشتق ، خاص بكلام الله . فهو غير مهموز ، وبه قرأ ابن كثير ، وهو مروي عن الشافعي ، أخرج البيهقي والخطيب وغيرهما عنه : أنه كان يهمز قرأت ، ولا يهمز القرآن ويقول : القران اسم وليس بمهموز ولم يؤخذ من قراءة ولكنه اسم لكتاب الله ، مثل التوراة والإنجيل . ـ

As for the word al-Qur’an, the scholars have differed regarding its linguistic meaning.

[Those who held that its meaning was not tied to its root letters]

Some have said that is is a title whose root letters do not reflect anything about its meaning and that this title is reserved exclusively for Allah’s Speech. This is without a hamzah,

القران

al-Qurān

which is how the reciter ibn Kathir recited it.

This position has been transmitted as that of al-Shafi’ee. al-Bayhaqi, al-Khatib and others reported that al-Shafi’ee used to articulate a hamzah in the word

قرأت

qara’tu

I read

but would not articulate a hamzah in the word

القران

al-Qurān

saying:

al-Qurān is a title which does not include a hamzah and it is not derived from qirā’ah – “recitation”. Rather, it is the title of Allah’s Book in a similar manner to al-Tawrah and al-Injeel.

What is the I’rab of the Qur’an?: al-Suyooti

al-Suyooti wrote the following under his discussion of the ghareeb of the Qur’an, i.e. its unfamiliar vocabulary:

وينبغي الاعتناء به فقد أخرج البيهقي من حديث أبي هريرة مرفوعا : أعربوا القرآن والتمسوا غرائبه . وأخرج مثله عن عمر ، وابن عمر ، وابن مسعود موقوفا . ـ

One ought to give attention to learning the meanings of unfamiliar words in the Qur’an, for al-Bayhaqi mentions a hadith transmitted by Abu Hurayrah:

Apply i’rab to the Qur’an, and search for the meanings of its unfamiliar wordings.

He also reported similar statements from ‘Umar, ibn ‘Umar, and ibn Mas’ood.

وأخرج من حديث ابن عمر مرفوعا : من قرأ القرآن فأعربه ، كان له بكل حرف عشرون حسنة ، ومن قرأه بغير إعراب كان له بكل حرف عشر حسنات . ـ

And he reported a hadith transmitted by ibn ‘Umar:

Whoever recites the Qur’an and applies i’rab to it, then he will have 20 rewards for each letter. Whoever recites it without i’rab, then he will have 10 rewards for each letter.

Benefits of the Parables of the Qur’an: al-Suyooti

Near the beginning of his discussion of the parables of the Qur’an, al-Suyooti wrote:

 وقال غيره : ضرب الأمثال في القرآن يستفاد منه أمور كثيرة : التذكير والوعظ ، والحث ، والزجر ، والاعتبار ، والتقرير ، وتقريب المراد للعقل ، وتصويره بصورة المحسوس ، فإن الأمثال تصور المعاني بصورة الأشخاص لأنها أثبت في الأذهان لاستعانة الذهن فيها بالحواس ، ومن ثم كان الغرض من المثل تشبيه الخفي بالجلي ، والغائب بالمشاهد . ـ

One of the scholars said: Striking parables throughout the Qur’an serves a number of purposes:

• to remind
• to exhort
• to urge one to do something or caution him against doing something
• to provide an example
• to clarify a matter
• and to make a message easier to grasp and present it in a concrete form.

For parables present messages in human form, which is easier to grasp mentally since one’s mind can relate it to one’s senses, for the point of a parable is to liken something obscure or hidden to something plain and clear.

[al-Itqan 2/273]

Explore more on this topic with our Parables of the Qur’an Article Index

On Numerology and Numeric Miracles in the Qur’an: al-Suyooti

In part of his famous handbook to the Qur’anic sciences, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti wrote:

قال الخويي : وقد استخرج بعض الأئمة من قوله تعالى : الم غلبت الروم [ الروم : 1 – 2 ] أن البيت المقدس تفتحه المسلمون في سنة ثلاثة وثمانين وخمسمائة ، ووقع كما قاله . وقال السهيلي : لعل عدد الحروف التي في أوائل السور – مع حذف المكرر – للإشارة إلى مدة بقاء هذه الأمة . ـ

al-Khuwayyi said: Regarding Allah’s statement:

ألم * غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ

Alif Laam Meem * The Romans have been defeated [30:1-2]

Some scholars extracted from this that Jerusalem would be conquered by the Muslims in the year 583, and that is indeed what happened.[1]

And al-Suhayli said: Perhaps the number of the letters found at the beginnings of the surahs – minus those that are repeated – indicates the length of time that this Ummah will endure.

قال ابن حجر : وهذا باطل لا يعتمد عليه ، فقد ثبت عن ابن عباس – رضي الله عنه – الزجر عن عد أبي جاد . والإشارة إلى أن ذلك من جملة السحر ، وليس ذلك ببعيد ، فإنه لا أصل له في الشريعة ، وقد قال القاضي أبو بكر بن العربي في فوائد رحلته : ومن الباطل علم الحروف المقطعة في أوائل السور . وقد تحصل لي فيها عشرون قولا وأزيد ، ولا أعرف أحدا يحكم عليها بعلم ولا يصل منها إلى فهم . ـ

Ibn Hajr said:

This is false and should not be taken seriously, for it has been authentically transmitted from ibn ‘Abbaas that he warned against numerology and implied that it is a form of magic. And that is not far-fetched as numerology has no basis in the sharee’ah. When discussing some of the benefits of his travels, al-Qadhi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said, “The numerological study of the disconnected letters at the beginnings of the surahs falls under the category of falsehood.”

Addressing Reports of Alleged Scribal Errors in the ‘Uthmani Mushaf: al-Suyooti

After an extended discussion of claims that ‘Uthman had allowed grammatical mistakes to be kept in the ‘Uthmani Mushaf, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti proceeded with the following discussion of reports which could be interpreted to indicate scribal errors in the ‘Uthmani Mushaf and an explanation of those reports:

تذنيب : يقرب مما تقدم عن عائشة ما أخرجه الإمام أحمد في مسنده ، وابن أشتة في المصاحف ، من طريق إسماعيل المكي ، عن أبي خلف مولى بني جمح : أنه دخل مع عبيد بن عمير على عائشة ، فقال : جئت أسألك عن آية في كتاب الله تعالى ، كيف كان رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – يقرؤها ؟ قالت : أية آية ؟ قال : والذين يؤتون ما آتوا [ المؤمنون : 60 ] أو ( والذين يأتون ما أتوا ) . فقالت : أيتهما أحب إليك ؟ قلت : والذي نفسي بيده لأحدهما أحب إلي من الدنيا جميعا . قالت : أيهما ؟ قلت : ( والذين يأتون ما أتوا ) فقالت : أشهد أن رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – كذلك كان يقرؤها ، وكذلك أنزلت ، ولكن الهجاء حرف . ـ

A follow-up: Something similar to the report of ‘A’ishah that was mentioned above is another report that Imam Ahmad included in his Musnad and ibn Ashtah included in his book al-Masahif by way of Ismaa’eel al-Makki, via Abu Khalf the mawla of Banu Jamh, that he and ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umar visited ‘A’ishah and

‘Ubayd said, “I have come to ask you about an ayah in the Qur’an, about how Allah’s Messenger used to recite it?”

She said, “Which ayah is that?”

He said: “Is it

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوا وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ

And they who give what they give while their hearts are fearful because they will be returning to their Lord [23:60]

or

وَالَّذِينَ يَأْتُونَ مَا أَتَوْا وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ

And they who do what they do while their hearts are fearful because they will be returning to their Lord [compare to 23:60]

She said, “Which of the two do you prefer?”

I said, “I swear by the One who holds my soul in His Hand, one of these is more beloved to me than this entire world!”

She said, “Which one?”

Alleged Grammatical Errors in the Qur’an: al-Suyooti

In part of his chapter on al-i’raab in his famous manual of the Qur’anic sciences, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti included a discussion about alleged grammatical errors in the Qur’an:

الثالث : قال أبو عبيد في ” فضائل القرآن ” : حدثنا أبو معاوية ، عن هشام بن عروة ، عن أبيه ، قال : سألت عائشة عن لحن القرآن عن قوله تعالى : إن هذان لساحران [ طه : 63 ] وعن قوله تعالى : والمقيمين الصلاة والمؤتون الزكاة [ النساء : 162 ] . وعن قوله تعالى : إن الذين آمنوا والذين هادوا والصابئون [ المائدة : 69 ] . فقالت : يا ابن أخي ، هذا عمل الكتاب ، أخطئوا في الكتاب . هذا إسناد صحيح على شرط الشيخين . ـ

Point Three: In his book Fadha’il al-Qur’an, Abu ‘Ubayd mentioned that

… ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr said, “I asked ‘A’ishah about grammatical errors in Allah’s statements:

إِنْ هَٰذَانِ لَسَاحِرَانِ

… These are two magicians … [20:63]

وَالْمُقِيمِينَ الصَّلَاةَ وَالْمُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ

… and those who perform the prayer and give the zakah … [4:162]

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئُونَ

Those who believe and those who are the Jews and the Sabi’oon … [5:69]

To which she replied, “O my nephew, this is was done by the scribes, they made mistakes when writing them down.”

This chain of transmission is sound according to the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim.

وقال حدثنا حجاج ، عن هارون بن موسى ، أخبرني الزبير بن الخريت ، عن عكرمة ، قال : لما كتبت المصاحف عرضت على عثمان فوجد فيها حروفا من اللحن ، فقال : لا تغيروها ; فإن العرب ستغيرها – أو قال : ستعربها – بألسنتها ، لو كان الكاتب من ثقيف والمملي من هذيل لم توجد فيه هذه الحروف . أخرجه ابن الأنباري في كتاب ” الرد على من خالف مصحف عثمان ” وابن أشتة في كتاب ” المصاحف ” . ـ

Abu ‘Ubayd also narrated that … ‘Ikrimah said

After the ‘Uthmani Mushafs were written, they were presented to ‘Uthman and he found some words that were written with grammatical errors, so he said, “Don’t change them, for the Arabs will change them …” – or he said “for the Arabs will apply the proper i’raab to them” – “… with their tongues. If there were a scribe from the Thaqif tribe and the person who dictates it to him is from the Hudhayl tribe, you would not find these renderings in what they would write.”

This was reported by ibn al-Anbari in his book al-Radd ‘Alaa man Khalif Mushaf ‘Uthman and ibn Ashtah in his book al-Musahif.

Different Levels of the Qiraa’aat: al-Suyooti

Inside his famous manual to the Qur’anic sciences, in the chapter on the different levels of transmission of the Qur’an, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti followed up a long quote and accompanying discussion of some words from ibn al-Jazari on the best definition of the authentic qiraa’aat by writing:

قلت : أتقن الإمام ابن الجزري هذا الفصل جدا ، وقد تحرر لي منه أن القراءات أنواع : ـ

I, al-Suyooti, say: Imam ibn al-Jazari really excelled in this discussion, and from it I derived that the qiraa’aat can be divided into the following categories:

الأول : المتواتر : وهو ما نقله جمع لا يمكن تواطؤهم على الكذب ، عن مثلهم إلى منتهاه ، وغالب القراءات كذلك . ـ

First: al-Mutawaatir, which are those that have been transmitted by such a large group of people that it is not possible for them all to have conspired to produce something false, and this large group likewise transmitted it from another large number of people, and so on down the chain. The majority of the qiraa’aat fall into this category.

الثاني : المشهور : وهو ما صح سنده ولم يبلغ درجة التواتر ، ووافق العربية والرسم ، واشتهر عند القراء فلم يعدوه من الغلط ولا من الشذوذ ويقرأ به ، على ما ذكر ابن الجزري ويفهمه كلام أبي شامة السابق . ومثاله : ما اختلفت الطرق في نقله عن السبعة ، فرواه بعض الرواة عنهم دون بعض ، وأمثلة ذلك كثيرة في فرش الحروف من كتب القراءات كالذي قبله ، ومن أشهر ما صنف في ذلك ” التيسير ” للداني ، وقصيدة الشاطبي ، وأوعبه ” النشر في القراءات العشر ” وتقريب النشر كلاهما لابن الجزري . ـ

Second: al-Mashhoor, which are those which 1) have a sound chain of transmission but do not reach the level of being al-mutawaatir, 2) are in line with the rules of Arabic and the written script of the ‘Uthmani Mushaf, and 3) are well-known among the leading reciters and they have not declared them to be mistakes or shaadh recitations but instead do recite them. This aligns with the previous statements of ibn al-Jazari mentioned and what is understood from Abu Shamah.

Types of al-Munasabat: al-Suyooti

In part of his chapter on al-Munasabat – the links and connections different parts of the Qur’an – in his famous handbook to the Qur’anic sciences, Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti provided the following invaluable guidance for identifying the links and connections between different sections of a surah:

ـ [طريقة طلب المناسبة] ـ

A Method for Identifying Munasabat

وقال الشيخ ولي الدين الملوي : الذي ينبغي في كل آية أن يبحث أول كل شيء عن كونها مكملة لما قبلها أو مستقلة ، ثم المستقلة ما وجه مناسبتها لما قبلها ؟ ففي ذلك علم جم ، وهكذا في السور يطلب وجه اتصالها بما قبلها وما سيقت له انتهى . ـ

Sheikh Wali al-Deen al-Malawi said:

For every ayah, the first thing one ought to search for is: is this ayah a completion of what came before it, or is it an independent idea? Then, if it is an independent idea, how it is related to what came before it?

There is tremendous knowledge to be found in doing this.

And the same approach can be applied to the surahs: one searches for how they connect to what came before them and what will follow.

القاعدة : قال بعض المتأخرين : الأمر الكلي المفيد لعرفان مناسبات الآيات في جميع القرآن هو : أنك تنظر إلى الغرض الذي سيقت له السورة ، وتنظر ما يحتاج إليه ذلك الغرض من المقدمات ، وتنظر إلى مراتب تلك المقدمات في القرب والبعد من المطلوب ، وتنظر عند انجرار الكلام في المقدمات إلى ما يستتبعه من استشراف نفس السامع إلى الأحكام واللوازم التابعة له ، التي تقتضي البلاغة شفاء الغليل بدفع عناء الاستشراف إلى الوقوف عليها ، فهذا هو الأمر الكلي المهيمن على حكم الربط بين جميع أجزاء القرآن ، فإذا عقلته تبين لك وجه النظم مفصلا بين كل آية وآية ، وفي كل سورة سورة انتهى . ـ

A General Principle:

One of the latter-day scholars said:

How Was the Arrangement of Ayaat and Surahs Decided?: al-Suyooti

In his famous manual of the Qur’anic sciences, al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’an, Imam Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti dedicated one chapter to the collection and arrangement of the Qur’an. Inside this chapter there were two sub-sections discussing 1) the arrangement of ayaat within the surahs and 2) the ordering of the surahs in the Qur’an. Below we have translated sheikh Muhammad Bazmool’s abridgement of these two sections:

فصل [في ترتيب الآيات ] . ـ

Chapter on the Ordering of Ayaat

الإجماع والنصوص المترادفة على أن ترتيب الآيات توفيقي ، لا شبهة في ذلك . ـ

There is unanimous consensus and all of the texts are agreed that the arrangement and ordering of ayaat in the Qur’an is something divinely ordained; there is no doubt about this.

أما الإجماع : فنقله غير واحد ، منهم الزركشي في البرهان ، وأبو جعفر بن الزبير في مناسباته ، وعبارته : ترتيب الآيات في سورها واقع بتوقيفه – صلى الله عليه وسلم – وأمره من غير خلاف في هذا بين المسلمين . انتهى . ـ

As for the consensus on this matter, it has been mentioned by more than one scholar, including al-Zarkashi in al-Burhan and Abu Ja’far ibn al-Zubayr in his book on the munasabat. Abu Ja’far put it this way:

The arrangement of the ayaat within the surahs was done in exact accordance with the way of the Prophet and according to his instructions, and there is no disagreement about this point among the Muslims.

ومن النصوص الدالة على ذلك إجمالا : ما ثبت من قراءته – صلى الله عليه وسلم – لسور عديدة ، تدل قراءته – صلى الله عليه وسلم – لها بمشهد من الصحابة : أن ترتيب آياتها توقيفي وما كان الصحابة ليرتبوا ترتيبا سمعوا النبي – صلى الله عليه وسلم – يقرأ على خلافه ، فبلغ ذلك مبلغ التواتر . ـ

And out of the texts which generally prove this point, there are those authentic texts regarding the Prophet’s recitation of numerous surahs which shows that his recitation was something witnessed by the Sahabah. From this we understand that the arrangement of the ayaat was something divinely ordained and that it would not be fitting for the Sahabah to arrange the ayaat in any order other than the order that they heard the Prophet recite them in, and the order in which the Prophet recited the ayaat is something which has been independently transmitted through a wide number of chains.