According to Islamic tradition, the Quran was revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (). The seven reading variants (, singular: ), translated as 'styles', 'ways', 'forms' and 'modes',Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, Tafseer Soorah Al-Hujuraat, 1990, Tawheed Publications, Riyadh, pp. 29–30. are said to have been taught by Gabriel. Islamic scholars agree that the were styles used by the early Muslims to recite the Quran.Dutton 2012, p. 21.
The issue of ahruf (lit means letters), whose origin and legality are disputed, Examining the hadith of Umar's surprise in finding out "this Quran has been revealed in seven Ahruf", Suyuti, a noted 15th-century Islamic theologian, concludes the "best opinion" of this hadith is that it is "mutashabihat", i.e. its meaning "cannot be understood." Suyuti, Tanwir al-Hawalik, 2nd ed. (Beirut: Dar al-Jayl, 1993), p. 199. is considered problematic to discuss today within the orthodoxy of the Quran's divine origin and preservation.Islamic scholar Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi stated in a 2020 interview that "every single student of knowledge ... who studies ulm of Quran" knows "that the most difficult topics are ahruf and qira’at", so vexing that even "the most advanced of our scholars, they are not quite fully certain how to solve all of it and answer questions in there", YouTube, Yasir Qadhi, 8 June 2020, video at 1h24m17s According to some accounts, when Uthman created his official codex, ordered the collection and destruction of other codices collected from different regions -and so expected to be having native different dialects-;The Islamic Caliph Uthman compiled the Quran using one of the during the 7th century, and the other fell out of use.Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, Tafseer Soorah Al-Hujuraat, 1990, Tawheed Publications, Riyadh, pp. 28-29 other accounts suggest that the writing process was based on the Quraysh dialect, and according to scholars who assumed the 'Ahruf' were dialects in themselves, these dialects were abolished through the work of Uthman's committee. This suggests that the accounts of Uthman's cancellation and burning of the codices may actually refer to a single issue encompassing different codices. The majority of explanations identify the seven with Arabic dialects, although a minority identifies them as categories of Quranic material.Dutton 2012, p. 26. While variant readings were initially scorned and criticized as human creations, five centuries later these readings were sanctified by being linked to a divine source.Nasser writes, "This position changed drastically in the later periods, especially after the 5th/11th century where the canonical Readings started to be treated as divine revelation, i.e. every single variant reading in the seven and ten eponymous Readings was revealed by God to Muhammad."Nasser, The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Qurʾān, 2012: p.77
Today, the terminology that delves deeply into the various readings the Quran, encompassing diverse narrations and schools, is Qira'at, and it is said to be distinct from "ahruf”, that also go back to Muhammad according to the Hadith.
Etymology The word is the plural of paucity of the Arabic word , which has multiple meanings.Dutton 2012, p. 22. The page is a summary of Ibn al-Jazari's discussion on the matter in his work al-Nashr fī l-qiraʾāt al-ʿashr. It can refer to the letters that form a word, and the aspects, borders or sides of an object. For this reason, Yasin Dutton suggests the Quran is being described as "linguistically seven-sided". Abu Amr al-Dani posits two explanations of 's meaning in the context of the seven : that it refers to "dialectical variation" in the sense that language has multiple "sides", or that it refers to a reading of the Quran by virtue of being part of it; in each reading a letter () has been modified.
Scriptural basis The Quran itself talks about it being recorded in the preserved tablet in heaven (), but makes no mention of there being any variant modes/forms/readings of it. However, there are numerous references to the seven in Sunni hadith literature. These are principally found in three "clusters" of similar narrations.Dutton 2012, p. 20. Seven traditions are included in Sahih al-Bukhari and 21 traditions in the of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.Melchert 2008, p. 83. Other traditions and references are found in the of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari,Abû Jacfar Muhammad bin Jarîr al-Tabarî (Translated & Abridged by J Cooper, W F Madelung and A Jones), Jamic al-Bayân 'an Tâ'wil ay al-Qur'an, 1987, Volume 1, Oxford University Press & Hakim Investment Holdings (M.E.) Limited, p. 16.Abû Jacfar Muhammad bin Jarîr al-Tabarî (Translated & Abridged by J Cooper, W F Madelung and A Jones), Jamic al-Bayân 'an Tâ'wil ay al-Qur'an, 1987, Volume 1, Oxford University Press & Hakim Investment Holdings (M.E.) Limited, p. 31.Abû Jacfar Muhammad bin Jarîr al-Tabarî (Translated & Abridged by J Cooper, W F Madelung and A Jones), Jamic al-Bayân 'an Tâ'wil ay al-Qur'an, 1987, Volume 1, Oxford University Press & Hakim Investment Holdings (M.E.) Limited, p. 39. the of Abu Ya'la, the of Ibn Abi Shaybah, the of Ma'mar ibn Rashid and most other classical hadith collections, including versions attributed to Abu Hurairah and Abdullah ibn Masud.
First cluster of narrations The most prevalent cluster of narrations describe a dispute between Umar ibn al-Khattab and a certain Hisham ibn Hakim regarding the recitation of Surah Al-Furqan, before the former requests Muhammad to adjudicate on the matter. One such narration can be found in the of Malik ibn Anas:
Variants of the narration are included in all six of the canonical Sunni hadith collections, including Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari.
Second cluster of narrations A second cluster of narrations describes how the ahruf encompass the substitution of words in more detail, including a hadith in the of Abd al-Razzaq citing Ubayy ibn Ka'b:
Variants of the narration are included in the of Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the of Abu Dawud, with Ibn Hanbal's recension including the addition of ('Forgiving and Merciful').
Third cluster of narrations A third cluster of narrations, citing Ibn Abbas and included in Sahih Muslim, describe Muhammad relating how he asked Gabriel to recite in an increasing number of before the latter stopped him at seven.
Differences The exact meaning and nature of the seven ahruf has been debated by Muslim scholars. The 9th-century hadith specialist Ibn Hibban, thought there were up to forty explanations for the traditions.Melchert 2000, p. 19.
The majority of explanations identify the seven with Arabic dialects, although a minority identifies them as categories of Quranic material.Dutton 2012, p. 26. Muslim scholars also disagreed on whether the number seven was to be interpreted literally or metaphorically.al-Khaṭṭābī, Maʿālim al-sunan, (Halab: al-Maṭbaʿah al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1932), 1:293; quoted in
Why there are differences between the
Different dialects According to Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi:
were banned about 1400 years ago, according to Islamic literature, when Uthman destroyed all but the official copies of the Quran, so the variants cannot be compared today. According to the explanations given by many sources, the differences reflect the differences in tribal dialects of the era and region, or at least "subtleties of pronunciations and accents".
Several Muslim scholars identified the seven with Arabic dialects (). Ibn al-Jazari mentions Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam as believing the ahruf referred to the dialects spoken by seven Arab tribes, including Quraysh and Banu Tamim. Bismika Allahuma website also states that at least according to one scholarly opinion there were seven because there were seven Arab tribes – Quraysh, Hudhayl, Tameem, Hawaazin, Thaqeef, Kinaanah and Yemen -- each with their own dialect at the time the Quran was revealed. "Thus, under this opinion, various verses would be pronounced according to the pronunciation of that particular tribe, and words from one dialect would be replaced by other words used by that particular tribe."
Other views, according to al-Jazari, include the ahruf referring to seven dialects found in the Quran – a position held by Ahmad al-Harrani – or every Arabic dialect. Al-Jazari criticises these stances on the grounds that Umar and Hisham, who dispute over the recitation of Surah al-Furqan in some ahruf traditions, both hailed from the same tribe, Quraysh.Dutton 2012, p. 24.
The Australian Islamic da‘wah (proselytizing) media network OnePath Network states that hundreds of companions of the Prophet (ṣaḥābah) "memorised the complete Quran in seven official dialects, all of which were considered valid ways of reciting the Quran", the seven dialects being the seven ahruf.
Oxford Islamic Studies Online writes that "according to classical Muslim sources", the variations that crept up before Uthman created the "official" Quran "dealt with subtleties of pronunciations and accents (qirāʿāt) and not with the text itself which was transmitted and preserved in a culture with a strong oral tradition."
Linguistic variation In the view of Ibn al-Jazari, the seven ahruf refer to seven types of linguistic variation. These range from changes in short vowels that do not change the Uthmanic rasm or meaning of a verse, to differences in both and word order.Dutton 2012, p. 27. Similar views were held by Ibn Qutaybah, al-Zarkashi and Abu al-Fadl al-Razi.
Other explanations for Ahruf and elements of it
Categories of Quranic content According to Ibn al-Jazari, a group of scholars identified the ahruf with seven categories of Quranic content – such as stories, prayers and parables – or legal judgements, such as haram (forbidden), halal (permitted), mutashbih (ambiguous), etc. Proponents of the second view adduce a hadith narrated by al-Tabarani attributed to Abdullah ibn Masud, describing the Quran as being sent down from seven gates of heaven according to seven ahruf, before listing seven types of legal judgement. Al-Jazari comments that ahruf, as defined in this tradition, may be referring to a separate concept since it is mentioned elsewhere in the context of Quranic recitation. He alternatively proposes that the legal judgements refer to the seven heavenly gates, not the ahruf.Dutton 2012, pp. 24-25.
Diversity Khan and Khatib argue ahruf are "multiple diverse equally valid alternate readings" for diverse audiences, quoting from Jami' al-Tirmidhi where Muhammad appeals to the angel Jibril: “‘O Jibrīl! I have been sent to an illiterate nation among whom are the elderly woman, the old man, the boy and the girl, and the man who cannot read a book at all.’ He said: ‘O Muḥammad! Indeed the Qur’an was revealed in seven aḥruf (i.e., seven different ways of reciting).’”
Meaning of seven A group of Muslim scholars argued that seven should be interpreted metaphorically, due to the tendency of Arabs to use numbers such as 7, 70 and 700 to denote large quantities. In their view, the ahruf were intended to permit the recitation of the Quran in any Arabic dialect or a multiplicity of variants. Ibn al-Jazari objects on the basis of the hadith which describes Gabriel granting Muhammad ḥarfs. In one of its recensions, Muhammad is quoted as saying "I knew that the number had come to an end." when seven ḥarfs had been reached. According to al-Jazari, this is evidence that seven is a specific value. However, Dutton maintains that it can still be interpreted metaphorically, as the number seven indicates limited multiplicity in a manner that others do not.Dutton 2012, pp. 25-26.
What happened to the ahruf According to Bilal Philips the downfall of ahruf came from "a rivalry" of "some Arab tribes" over which ahruf was superior, and that in the end only the harf of the Quraysh tribe remained.