Origin of Differences Among the Readings

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The origin of the difference among the readings

Ibn Hashim said:

إن السبب في اختلاف القراءات السبع وغيرها هو أن الجهات التي وجهت إليها المصاحف التي كتبت في عهد الخليفة عثمان كان بها من الصحابة من حمل عنه أهل تلك الجهة وتلقُّوا عنه القرآن، وكانت المصاحف خالية من النَّقط والشَّكْل، فثبت أهل كل ناحية على ما كانوا تلقوه سماعًا عن الصحابة بشرط موافقة ذلك لخط المصحف العثماني، وتركوا ما يخالفه امتثالا لأمر الخليفة عثمان الذي وافقه عليه الصحابة لما رأوا في ذلك من الاحتياط للقرآن، ومن ثَمَّ نشأ الاختلاف بين قرَّاء الأمصار

"The cause of the difference between the seven readings and the others lies in this: the regions to which the mushafs copied at the time of the caliph 'Uthman were sent each had among the Companions the one from whom the people of that region received transmission and at whose hands they learned the Quran through oral recitation. As the mushafs were free of dots and vocalization, the people of each region held to what they had received by hearing from the Companions, on condition that it agreed with the script of the Uthmani mushaf, and they abandoned what contradicted it, in compliance with the order of the caliph 'Uthman, with which the Companions agreed in view of the precaution taken for the Quran. From there arose the difference among the reciters of the great cities" (end of quote) ¹.

From this it becomes clear to you that the difference among the readings is not a difference of opposition or of contradiction, for that is impossible in the Quran, which falsehood does not approach from before it nor from behind it: it is a difference of variety and diversity, as if one were to say, for example: "هلمَّ أو تعالَ أو أقبل" (come, draw near, come forward), all these expressions having a single meaning.

This difference arose, in reality, from what the Companions had received by hearing from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), and because the caliph 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was not content to send the mushafs alone to the regions to teach the Quran there: he sent with them a group of reciters among the Companions, who taught the people the Quran through guided recitation (at-talqeen).

Their readings varied according to the variety of their transmissions, and the Uthmani mushafs imposed no specific reading because of their lack of dots and vocalization, so that at the moment of talqeen they admitted the transmitted variants. Each Companion thus made the people of his territory recite what he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), and it is a reading that the script of the Uthmani mushaf, copies of which were sent to all horizons, can admit.

Thus, for example, the word "فتبينوا" in the saying of the Most High إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَأٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا ² (If a wicked person brings you some news, verify it), which is free of dots, admits the reading "فَتَثَبَّتُوا" (verify with thorough examination).

On this basis, the people of each territory held to what they had received by hearing from the Companion who made them recite the Quran, and left the rest: that is why the divergence among the readings appeared.