Examining the Role and Status of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb in the Development of the Science of Qur’anic Readings (Qirāʾāt)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

PhD Candidate in Qur’anic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, University of Shiraz; Lecturer at Islamic Azad University, Iranshahr, Iran

Abstract

Objective: A key issue in the history of Qurʾānic sciences is the role of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb in the development of Qirāʾāt and the intensification of variant readings. This study is based on the hypothesis that the second caliph, aiming to draw society’s attention to the Qurʾān and to divert it from political and theological disputes, adopted policies in the field of Qirāʾāt that significantly expanded these differences.
Method: This research employed a descriptive–analytical approach. Historical and narrative reports from early Sunni and Shīʿī sources concerning ʿUmar’s activities in the field of Qurʾānic recitation were collected and categorized. These data were then analyzed to clarify the political, theological, tribal, and legal dimensions of his influence on the growth of variant readings.
Results: The findings indicate that ʿUmar played a formative role in four main areas: (1) establishing and institutionalizing a class of reciters (qurrāʾ) and employing them in key governmental positions; (2) appearing in the transmission chains of major reciters; (3) advancing personal readings influenced by political, tribal, and doctrinal motives; and (4) promoting the ḥadīths of “seven modes (sabʿat aḥruf)” and introducing the idea of Qurʾānic alteration. His personal readings clearly reveal the penetration of human and political considerations into the field of Qirāʾāt.
Conclusions: The study concludes that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had a pivotal role in shaping and expanding the science of Qirāʾāt. His policies legitimized the proliferation of variant readings and introduced political and social motives into this discipline, thereby giving the study of Qirāʾāt a distinctly non-revelatory dimension that influenced the subsequent trajectory of Qurʾānic sciences. 

Keywords


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