Tabari’s Exegetical Approach, with a Focus on Hafs’ Recitation from Asim

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 . PhD Graduate in Quranic and Hadith Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author):

2 . Rouhollah Bahadori Jahromi, Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Teachings, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Abstract

The selection of the seven canonical recitations by Ibn Mujahid (d. 324 AH), followed by the subsequent selections of ten and fourteen recitations by later scholars, significantly distinguished these recitations from others. This distinction led some Sunni scholars to regard the seven, and others the ten recitations, as mutawatir (massively transmitted). As these classifications gained prominence after Ibn Mujahid, it becomes essential to analyze the earlier written works to evaluate the legitimacy of these recitations, as they remain unaffected by the categorizations introduced by Ibn Mujahid and his successors. A notable example of such an early work is the extensive commentary Jami’ al-Bayan by Mohammad bin Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), which is free from the biases of later classifications. This research aims to elucidate Tabari’s perspective on various recitations by employing a library-based methodology to explore how he addressed the different recitations of the Quran in his Jami’ al-Bayan, particularly focusing on his treatment of the narration of Hafs from Asim. The results suggest that Tabari did not endorse the tawatur (massively transmission) of the ten canonical recitations. In fact, he often deemed the recitations of certain ten reciters as impermissible in various verses. Additionally, an analysis of Tabari’s stance on the Hafs narration indicates that he did not recognize it as mutawatir or as a reliable narration; he did not even equate it with lesser-known or anomalous recitations and intentionally avoided acknowledging or transmitting it.

Keywords

References

  1. Aqīlī, Abū Ja’far Mohammad bin ‘Amr, Al-Ḍu’afā’ (The Weak), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1404 AH (1984 CE).
  2. Abū Zar’ah, ‘Ubaid Allāh bin ‘Abd al-Karīm, Su’ālāt al-Baradh’ī (Ajwibat Abī Zar’ah al-Rāzī ‘an As’ilat al-Baradh’ī) (Questions of al-Baradh’ī (Answers of Abū Zar’ah al-Rāzī to the Questions of al-Baradh’ī)), Madinah: al-Jāmi’ah al-Islāmiyyah, 1402 AH (1982 CE).
  3. Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal, Al-’Illal wa Ma’rifat al-Rijāl bi Riwayat ‘Abd Allāh (The Defects and Knowledge of the Men According to the Narration of ‘Abd Allāh), Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, Riyadh: Dār al-Khānī, 1408 AH (1988 CE).
  4. Bakrī, Yaḥyā bin ‘Abd Allāh Shahrī, Ḥafṣ bin Sulaymān Asadī Rāwī Qirā’at ‘Āṣim Bayn al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta’dīl (Ḥafṣ bin Sulaymān Asadī, Narrator of ‘Āṣim’s Reading, Between Criticism and Praise), Arabistan: al-Maktabah al-Bakrīyah, 1442 AH (2021 CE).
  5. Balāghī, Mohammad Jawād, Ālā’ al-Raḥmān (The Blessings of the Merciful), Qom: Bunyād-i Ba’that, 1420 AH (1999 CE).
  6. Bīhaqī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin Hossein, Al-Sunan al-Kubrā (Al-Sunan al-Kabīr) (The Major Sunan), Hyderabad (India): Dār al-Ma’ārif al-’Uthmāniyyah, Beirut: Dār al-Ma’ārifah, d.
  7. Bīhaqī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin Hossein, Al-Sunan al-Ṣaghīr (The Minor Sunan), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1412 AH (1991 CE).
  8. Bīhaqī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin Hossein, Ma’rifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār (Knowledge of the Sunan and Traditions), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1412 AH (1991 CE).
  9. Bīhaqī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin Hossein, Sha’b al-Īmān (The Branches of Faith), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1410 AH (1989 CE).
  10. Bukhārī, Mohammad bin Ismā’īl, Al-Ḍu’afā’ (Al-Ḍu’afā’ al-Ṣaghīr) (The Weak Narrators (The Minor Weak Narrators)), Aleppo: Dār al-Wa’ī, 1404 AH (1984 CE).
  11. Bukhārī, Mohammad bin Ismā’īl, Al-Tārīkh al-Awsat (The Middle History), Riyadh: Dār al-Ṣumay’ī, 1418 AH (1997 CE).
  12. Bukhārī, Mohammad bin Ismā’īl, Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr (The Great History), Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, d.
  13. Damīātī, Aḥmad bin Mohammad, Iḥṭāf Fuḍalā’ al-Bashar fī al-Qirā’āt al-Arba’ah ‘Ashar (The Enrichment of the Best of Humanity in the Fourteen Recitations), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1422 AH (2001 CE).
  14. Darqutnī, Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin ‘Umar, Sunan al-Dārqutnī (The Sunan of al-Dārqutnī), Beirut: Dār al-Ma’ārifah, 1386 AH (1966 CE).
  15. Dhahabī, Mohammad Hossein, Al-Tafsīr wa al-Mufassirūn (The Exegesis and the Exegetes), Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, d.
  16. Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Mohammad bin Aḥmad, Al-Kāshif fī Ma’rifat Man Laḥu Riwayah fī al-Kutub al-Sitta (The Revealer of the Knowledge of Those with Narrations in the Six Books), Jeddah: Dār al-Qiblah, 1413 AH (1993 CE).
  17. Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Mohammad bin Aḥmad, Diwān al-Ḍu’afā’ wa al-Matrūkīn (The Collection of the Weak and Abandoned), Mecca: al-Nahḍah al-Ḥadīthah, 1387 AH (1967 CE).
  18. Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Mohammad bin Aḥmad, Mīzān al-I’tidāl (The Balance of Moderation), Beirut: Dār al-Ma’ārifah, 1382 AH (1962 CE).
  19. Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Mohammad bin Aḥmad, Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā’ (The Lives of the Noble Figures), Beirut: Maktabat al-Risālah, 1410 AH (1990 CE).
  20. Fakhr al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn Mohammad bin ‘Umar, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (The Keys to the Unseen), Beirut: Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, 1420 AH (1999 CE), 3rd Edition.
  21. Farrā’, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin Ziyād, Ma’ānī al-Quran (The Meanings of the Quran), 2nd Edition, Egypt: al-Hay’ah al-Miṣriyyah, 1980 CE.
  22. Ḥamawī, Yāqūt, Mu’jam al-Adabā’ (The Dictionary of Literary Figures), Beirut: Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, 1414 AH (1994 CE).
  23. Ibn ‘Adī, Abū Aḥmad ‘Abd Allāh Jurgānī, Al-Kāmil fī Ma’rifat Ḍu’afā’ al-Muhaddithīn (The Complete Book on the Knowledge of the Weak Hadith Narrators), Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1405 AH (1985 CE).
  24. Ibn Abī Ḥātim, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Abī Ḥātim Mohammad bin Idrīs Rāzī, Al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta’dīl (The Criticism and Praise), Hyderabad: Dār al-Ma’ārif al-’Uthmāniyyah, 1373 AH (1954 CE).
  25. Ibn Ḥajar, Aḥmad bin ‘Alī ‘Asqalānī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (The Refinement of the Refinement), Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1404 AH (1984 CE).
  26. Ibn Ḥajar, Aḥmad bin ‘Alī ‘Asqalānī, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (The Concise Edition of the Tahdhīb), Syria: Dār al-Rashīd, 1406 AH (1986 CE).
  27. Ibn Ḥazm, Abū Mohammad ‘Alī bin Aḥmad, Al-Muḥallā bi al-’Āthār (The Decorated with Traditions), Beirut: Dār al-Āfāq al-Jadīdah, d.
  28. Ibn Ḥibbān, Abū Ḥātim Mohammad bin Ḥibbān, Al-Majrūḥīn (The Impaired), Beirut: Dar al-Ma’ārifah, d.
  29. Ibn Ḥibbān, Abū Ḥātim Mohammad bin Ḥibbān, Al-Thuqāt (The Trustworthy), Hyderabad: Dār al-Ma’ārif al-’Uthmāniyyah, 1403 AH (1983 CE).
  30. Ibn Jazari, Mohammad bin Mohammad, Al-Nashr fī al-Qirā’āt al-’Ashr (The Dissemination of the Ten Recitations), Beirut: al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, d.
  31. Ibn Jazari, Mohammad bin Mohammad, Ghayat al-Nihāyah fī Ṭabaqāt al-Qurrā’ (The Ultimate End in the Classes of Reciters), Cairo: Maktabat Ibn Taymiyyah, 1351 AH (1932 CE).
  32. Ibn Jūzī, Abū al-Faraj ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin ‘Alī, Al-Mawḍū’āt (The Fabrications), Madinah: al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1388 AH (1968 CE).
  33. Ibn Ma’īn, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin Ma’īn, Tārīkh Ibn Ma’īn bi Riwayat Ibn Miḥriz (Ma’rifat al-Rijāl) (The History of Ibn Ma’īn According to the Narration of Ibn Miḥriz (Knowledge of the Men)), Damascus: Majma’ al-Lughah al-’Arabiyyah, 1405 AH (1985 CE).
  34. Ibn Ma’īn, Abū Zakariyyā Yaḥyā bin Ma’īn, Tārīkh Ibn Ma’īn bi Riwayat al-Dārimī (The History of Ibn Ma’īn According to the Narration of al-Dārimī), Damascus: Dār al-Ma’mūn li al-Turāth, 1400 AH (1980 CE).
  35. Ibn Mājah, Aḥmad bin Mūsā, Al-Sab’ah fī al-Qirā’āt (The Seven Recitations), Egypt: Dār al-Ma’ārif, 1400 AH (1980 CE).
  36. Ibn Mihrān, Aḥmad bin Hossein bin Mihrān, Al-Ghayah fī al-Qirā’āt al-’Ashr (The Ultimate Goal in the Ten Recitations), Arabistan: Dār al-Shawāf, 1405 AH (1985 CE).
  37. Ibn Qāqābī, Mohammad bin Khalīl, Iḍāḥ al-Rumuz wa Miftāḥ al-Kunūz fī al-Qirā’āt al-Arba’ah ‘Ashar (Clarification of Symbols and the Key to the Treasures in the Fourteen Recitations), Amman: Dār ‘Amr, 1424 AH (2003 CE).
  38. Khaṭīb Baghdādī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin ‘Alī, Muwāḍiḥ Awhām al-Jam’ wa al-Tafrīq (Clarifications of the Mistakes of Collection and Division), Beirut: Dār al-Ma’ārifah, 1407 AH (1987 CE).
  39. Khaṭīb Baghdādī, Abū Bakr Aḥmad bin ‘Alī, Tārīkh Baghdād (The History of Baghdad), Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-’Arabī, d.
  40. Ma’arifat, Moḥammad Hādī, ‘Ulūm Quraniyyah (Quranic Sciences), Qom: Mū’assasah-yi Farhangī al-Tamīd, 1381 AH (2002 CE), 4th Edition.
  41. Moḥammadi, Moḥammad Hossein, Akhlāqī, Moḥammad Yaḥyā, Amīnī Tehrānī, Moḥammad, “Recitations and Their Authority from the Perspective of Abū Ja’far al-Ṭabarī and Amīn al-Islām al-Ṭabarī,” Studies in Quranic Recitations, 1401 AH (2022 CE), 10(19): 289-311. doi: 10.22034/qer.2023.7598.
  42. Muslim, Abū al-Hossein Muslim bin Ḥajjāj, Al-Kunā wa al-Asmā’ (The Names and Nicknames), Madinah: al-Jāmi’ah al-Islāmiyyah, 1404 AH (1984 CE).
  43. Nasā’ī, Aḥmad bin Shu’ayb, Al-Ḍu’afā’ wa al-Matrūkūn (The Weak and Abandoned), Aleppo: Dār al-Wa’ī, 1396 AH (1976 CE).
  44. Sharīfī-Nasab, Ḥāmid and Bābā’ī, ‘Alī Akbar, “A Study and Analysis of the Term ‘Qirā’ah al-’Āmmāh’ and Similar Terms in al-Farrā’’s Exegesis,” Studies in Quranic Recitations, Year 6, Issue 10, 1397 AH (2018 CE).
  45. Sutoodeh-Niya, Mohammad Reżā and Qāṣim-Nazād, Zahra, “Ta’thir Siyaq dar Tarjih Qia’at Dat Tafsir Tabari (The Effect of Context in Preferring Recitations in al-Ṭabarī’s Exegesis),” Studies in Quran and Hadith, Year 6, Issue 12, Spring and Summer 1392 AH (2013 CE).
  46. Suyūtī, Jalāl al-Dīn, Al-Itqān (The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qurn), Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-’Arabī, 1421 AH (2000 CE).
  47. Suyūtī, Jalāl al-Dīn, Ṭabaqāt al-Mufassirīn (The Classes of the Exegetes), Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, d.
  48. Ṭabarī, Mohammad bin Jarīr, Jāmi’ al-Bayān (The Comprehensive Explanation), Beirut: Dār al-Ma’ārifah, 1412 AH (1992 CE).
  49. Ṭabarī, Mohammad bin Jarīr, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī (The History of al-Ṭabarī), Beirut: Dār al-Turāth, 1387 AH (1967 CE).
  50. Tirmidhī, Abū ‘Īsā Mohammad bin ‘Īsā, Sunan al-Tirmidhī (The Sunan of Tirmidhī), Mecca: Maktabat al-Tijārīyah, d.
  51. Zarkashī, Mohammad bin ‘Abd Allāh, Al-Burhān (The Proof), Beirut: al-Ma’rifah, 1410 AH (1989 CE).
  52. Zarqānī, Mohammad ‘Abd al-’Azīm, Manāhil al-’Irfān (The Springs of Knowledge), Beirut: Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, d.
Studies of Quran Reading
Volume 12, Issue 22 - Serial Number 22
September 2024
Pages 85-118

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 28 September 2023
  • Revise Date: 18 December 2023
  • Accept Date: 12 June 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics