Are the Seven Ahruf (Modes of Recitation) the Same as the Seven Qira’at (Readings) of the Quran?

Answered by Shaykh Anas al-Musa

Question

Are the seven ahruf (modes of recitation) the same as the seven qira’at (readings) of the Quran?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious and Merciful

The seven ahruf (modes of recitation) are different than the seven qira’at (readings) because the seven ahruf were present at the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) while the seven qira’at became popularly known in the fourth Hijri century through the efforts of Imam Ahmad ibn Musa ibn al-Abbas (Allah have mercy on him), otherwise known as Ibn Mujahid (d. 324 H).

He is the one who undertook the compilation of the qira’at of the Quran, and it coincidentally occurred that he found there to be seven of them, the same number as the ahruf. He recorded them in his book al-Qira’at al-Sab‘. If the seven ahruf were the seven qira’at, it would entail the the understanding and the action upon the hadith that mention the seven ahruf to be completely suspended until Ibn Mujahid came and laid them out for people. [Dr. Nur al-Din Itr, ‘Ulum al-Quran]

In order for the difference between the seven ahruf and the seven qira’at to be clear, we must pause briefly to understand the definitions.

The Definition of the Seven Ahruf

The seven ahruf are seven valid linguistic and recitational styles upon which the Quran was revealed. The base for understanding this is the hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim from Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him): “I heard Hisham ibn Hakim reciting Surat al-Furqan during the life of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace). When I listened to his recitation, it turned out he was reading with many different variations that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not teach me.

I was about to attack him in his prayer, but I restrained myself until he finished. I then wrapped his garment around his neck and said, ‘Who taught you this Sura that I heard you recite?’

He responded, ‘The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught it to me.’ I said, “You lie! For the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught it to me differently than how you recited it.’ I then brought him out, dragging him to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), and I said, ‘I heard this man reciting Surat al-Furqan with variations that you did not teach to me.’

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ‘Let him go. Recite, Hisham.’ He recited the same way I heard him recite, and the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ‘That is how it was revealed.’ Then he said, ‘Recite, Umar.’ I recited in the way that he had taught me, and the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, ‘That is how it was revealed. This Quran was revealed according to seven ahruf, so recite what is easy therefrom.’ [Bukhari]

‘Ubay ibn Ka‘b (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was at the pond of Banu Ghafir when Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to him and said, “Allah commands you for your nation to read the Quran on one harf.” He responded, “I ask Allah for His security and His forgiveness. My nation cannot bear that.”

He came to him a second time and said, “Allah commands you for your nation to read the Quran on two harfs.” He responded, “I ask Allah for His security and His forgiveness. My nation cannot bear that.” He came to him a third time and said, “Allah commands you for your nation to read the Quran on three ahruf.” He responded, “I ask Allah for His security and His forgiveness. My nation cannot bear that.”

He came to him a fourth time and said, “Allah commands you for your nation to read the Quran on seven ahruf. Whichever harf they read on, they will have been correct.” [Muslim] This hadith indicates that the seven ahruf are all Quran that Allah revealed to His Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), and it is not a matter of personal judgment.

The wisdom behind revealing them as such is to give ease to the nation and remove any burden upon those who recite in various dialects. It is a matter related to the way in which the words are pronounced and read, not the meanings.

Examples of the Seven Ahruf

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir (Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “I saw the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) read this ayah at the end of Surat al-Nur, placing his two fingers under his eyes, saying, “Seeing of all things.” [Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir; Abu al-Qasim ibn Sallam, Fada’il al-Quran]. What is in the mushaf reads, “Knowing of all things.”

Yahya ibn Abdul-Rahman ibn Hatib narrates from his father, from Umar (Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) prayed the Isha prayer and began to recite Sura Ali-‘Imran (in which he recited the names of Allah): “al-Hayy al-Qayyam.”

Harun said, “In the mushaf of Abdullah, it is written as “al-Qayyim.” [Abu ‘Ubayd Qasim ibn Sallam, Fada’il al-Quran; Ibn Kathir, Musnad al-Faruq; Hafs ibn Umar al-Duri, Juzʿ fi Qira’at al-Nabiy; Ibn Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, al-Masahif; al-Muqaddimat al-Asasiyya fi ‘Ulum al-Quran]

In the standard mushaf it is written as “al-Qayyum.”

The Definition of the Qira’at

As for the definition of the qira’at: It is a method adopted by one of the the imams of Quranic recitation, differing with others in the pronunciation of the Noble Quran, with a congruence of the narrations and chains that come from him, regardless of whether this difference is in the pronunciation of the letters or in the pronunciation of their forms.

Ibn al-Jazari (Allah have mercy on him) defined the qira’at as: “A knowledge of the ways of reciting the words of the Quran and their differences, attributed to the transmitters.” “Attribution to the transmitters” means that this knowledge is firmly established through continuous transmission from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).

The qira’at have existed since the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace); the Companions received the Quran from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and each tribe recited the Quran as they learned from him.

Thus, each land or region had its own qira’at that was mass-transmitted from generation to generation. In each era of the nation, a group of reciters became famous, united by the memorization of the Quran and mastery in the precision of its performance, and dedicated themselves to teaching it, from the era of the Companions (Allah be pleased with them), then the Tabi‘in and their successors, and so on.

Among the reciters were those who reached the peak in mastery and precision, as there were also other reciters below them. Scholars then critically examined these qiraʿat and studied their conditions, clarifying for the people which of them were transmitted with tawatur.

Starting from the era of the Tabi‘in, the qira’at spread widely, and a group of scholars felt the necessity to safeguard the Quran and its readings. So, each imam took it upon himself to precisely document the reading from the imams of recitation and so on in subsequent eras.

Then these readings were compiled into special treatises, until Imam Ahmad ibn Musa ibn al-Abbas (Allah have mercy on him), famously known as Ibn Mujahid (died 324 AH), singled out the seven well-known readings and documented them in his book al-Qira’at al-Sab‘, thus giving them a place in textual documentation and becoming a distinct field of study sought after by students of the qira’at.

The seven readers whose readings Ibn Mujahid compiled are:

1. Abdullah ibn Kathir al-Dari al-Makki, who passed away in the year 120 AH.
2. Abdullah ibn ‘Amir al-Yahsibi al-Shami, who passed away in the year 118 AH.
3. ‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud al-Asadi al-Kufi, who passed away in the year 127 AH.
4. Abu ‘Amr Zabban ibn al-‘Ala al-Basri, who passed away in the year 154 AH.
5. Hamza ibn Habib al-Zayyat al-Kufi, who passed away in the year 156 AH.
6. Nafi‘ ibn Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Nu‘aym al-Madani, who passed away in the year 169 AH.
7. Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Hamza al-Kisa’i al-Nahwi al-Kufi, who passed away in the year 189 AH.

Note: The readings that Ibn Mujahid compiled are not all of the readings. Scholars of qira’at continued the research – among whom Ibn al-Jazari (Allah have mercy on him) is most prominent – until the academic reliance settled on other continuous readings in addition to the seven. These amounted to three readings, making the total of the mutawatir readings ten. The three readings that complete the ten are:

1. The reading of Abu Ja‘far Yazid ibn al-Qa‘qa‘ al-Madani, who passed away in the year 130 AH.
2. The reading of Ya‘qub ibn Ishaq al-Hadrami, who passed away in the year 205 AH.
3. The reading of Khalaf ibn Hisham, who passed away in the year 229 AH.

It is also important to note that the name of a reading style after one of these imams is due to it having been made popular through them, not because they invented it or made it up.

Where are the Seven Ahruf Now?

In fact, there was significant controversy on this issue due to differing interpretations of what is meant by the seven ahruf, and Imam Zarqani (Allah have mercy on him) has mentioned in his book Manahil al-‘Irfan 12 meanings for them.

I will choose some of these as a primer on this topic, and whoever wishes to delve further should refer to the book Manahil al-‘Irfan fi ‘Ulum al-Quran and other books on the sciences of the Quran:

Some researchers, like Imam Baqillani (Allah have mercy on him) and others, believe that the seven ahruf are still preserved and that the Uthmanic codices, which were copied by ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (Allah be pleased with him), included all the seven ahruf collectively, encompassing the last recension presented by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), to Gabriel and containing it.

This means that each of these codices included what corresponds to its script from these ahruf, either entirely or partially, such that the codices in their entirety did not omit any of the Ahruf at all.

Another group believes that what is extant from the seven Ahruf is part of what we read today. This is because ‘Uthman (Allah be pleased with him), when he compiled the Quran, took as his reference the scripts compiled during the era of Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him). He ordered the scribes, when they differed in their writing, to adhere to the language of the Quraysh, which was to be the deciding factor among them. Any Ahruf that did not conform to the script—even if it was from the seven—was not written in the codex.

This is because the companions understood the reason why the Quran was revealed in seven Ahruf, which was to facilitate recitation for the followers, and that every Ahruf was in agreement with the others in meaning.

After the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), they saw the beginning of differences arising in the community due to this, and they realized that the reason for the differences in the Ahruf, which was to facilitate for the community, had disappeared, and in its place discord and tribulation began to emerge. Thus, they prevented that tribulation by preserving the Quran compiled on one script, which was generalized across all capitals of the Islamic state, and what remained of those ahruf was what agreed in script with the Uthmanic codex.

Conclusion

The seven ahruf are different from the seven or ten Qira’at, and the seven Ahruf existed during the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), while the Qira’at were compiled in the fourth century AH by Ibn Mujahid (Allah have mercy on him). Opinions differ on whether the seven Ahruf are included in the seven or ten qira’at, or if only some are extant.

Ultimately, Allah knows best. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our master and Prophet Muhammad, his family, and His companions.