Continuation from Part 1: The Ahruf of the Qur’aan
Before discussing the answer to this question, it would be useful to mention some points that can be inferred from the above narrations:
1) The different ahruf are all directly from Allaah, and not from the Companions. In all the narrations where the Companions differed from each other, it was clear that each one had been taught directly from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him), who was inspired by Allaah. This is why the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said to each one of the ahruf recited by ‘Umar and Hishaam, “It was revealed this way.”
2) The reason the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) requested the number of ahruf to be increased was to make the memorisation and recitation of the Qur’aan easier for his Ummah. The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) prayed to increase the ahruf because in his ummah were “…old and young men and women, and those who have never read any writing.” Therefore, the limitations of the Qur’aan being in only one harf have been removed by Allaah as a blessing for this Ummah.
3) The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) used to teach the different ahruf to different Companions, depending on the condition and situation of that Companion. It can be assumed that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) chose the particular harf to recite to a Companion depending on which one would be the easiest for that particular Companion to memorise, since the purpose of the ahruf was to simplify recitation and memorisation. The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) did not teach all the ahruf to all the Companions, for ‘Umar and Hishaam did not know about the existence of the different ahruf. Also, the cause for Ubay’s doubt was the fact that he was unaware of these ahruf, and the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) had to pray to Allaah to remove his doubts.
4) The differences between these ahruf were not so great as to prevent recognition of what was being recited. In other words, even though Hishaam was reciting the Qur’aan in a different harf than ‘Umar, ‘Umar could still recognise that Hishaam was reciting Soorah al-Furqaan, thus showing that the ahruf were not radically different from each other. Also, the narration of Ibn Shihaab shows that the basic meaning of all these ahruf was the same.
5) Each one of these ahruf is complete in and of itself. The proof for this is the statement of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him)“…so whichever one of them they recite, they are correct.” This is not to say that the ahruf do not complement one another in meaning, but rather that the recitation of the Qur’aan in one harf is sufficient.
6) The number of ahruf is exactly seven – not more, not less. The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him)asked Jibreel to increase the number of ahruf until Jibreel reached seven ahruf; therefore interpretations to the effect that ‘seven’ indicates an unspecified plurality (this is the opinion of Qaadee ‘Iyaad (d. 504 A.H.)) are false.
However, one narration in the Musnad of Imaam Ahmad states that the Qur’aan was revealed in three ahruf, and yet another narration states that it was revealed in ten ahruf. Some scholars have tried to explain the first narration as meaning that, in the Makkan stage, the Qur’aan was revealed in three ahruf, whereas in the Madeenan stage, Allaah increased this to seven ahruf. Other scholars have given different interpretations to reconcile these hadeeth. 388 However, there is no need to resort to such explanations, since both of these narrations are weak. 389 Therefore, the Qur’aan was revealed in exactly seven ahruf.
7) The revelation of the Qur’aan in seven ahruf started in Madeenah, after the hijrah. In one of the narrations, the phrase, “…while the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him)was on the outskirts of Madeenah,” indicates that this occurred after the hijrah.
8) A last benefit that can be inferred from these hadeeth (although this is not relevant to the ahruf) is the concern shown by the Companions in the preservation of the correct recitation of the Qur’aan. In all the cases quoted above, the Companions were not content with listening to recitations that were different from theirs – despite the fact that these recitations were said to have been learnt from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) – until they had taken the matter to the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) himself.
As for what is meant by these seven ahruf, there is a great deal of difference on this issue. Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 A.H.) recorded thirty-five opinions on this issue, and as-Suyootee listed over forty. Ibn Sa’adan (d. 231 A.H.), a famous grammarian and reciter of the Qur’aan, even declared that the true meaning of the ahruf was known only to Allaah, and thus to attempt to investigate into this issue was futile! On the other hand, Imaam Muhammad ibn al-Jazaree (d. 832 A.H.), perhaps the greatest scholar of the qira’aat after the era of the salaf, said, “I have sought to discover the meaning of these hadeeth (about the ahruf), and have pondered over them, and contemplated this topic for over thirty years, until Allaah opened my mind to that which is the correct answer in this matter, Inshaa Allaah!” (1)
The reason that such a great difference of opinion exists concerning the exact meaning of the ahruf is due to the fact that there does not exist any explicit narration from the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him), or the salaf, concerning the exact nature of the ahruf; these various opinions are merely the conclusions of later scholars, based upon their examination of the evidences and their personal reasoning (ijtihaad).
Therefore, it should be understood from the outset that to arrive at one specific conclusion, and claim with certainty that it alone is correct and all else is wrong, is pure folly. What is desired, however, is to narrow down the various opinions and eliminate as many as possible based upon evidences.
All of these opinions can be divided into three broad categories, which will be discussed in the following weeks. (2)
A. THOSE OPINIONS WHICH HAVE NO BASIS WHATSOEVER
B. THOSE OPINIONS WHICH HAVE SOME APPARENT BASIS, BUT ARE WEAK OPINIONS
C. THOSE OPINIONS WHICH HAVE STRONG EVIDENCE
Footnotes
(1) Itr, p. 10.
(2) cf. al-Hamad, pps. 133-144; az-Zarqaanee, v.1, pps. 137-191; Itr, 122-190.