An Analysis of the Transmission and Text of Reports on Lahn in Quranic Orthography

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 . Full Professor in Quranic and Hadith Sciences Department at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran (Corresponding Author)

2 . PhD Candidate in Quranic and Hadith Sciences at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

The presence of specific terms in the Quran that deviate from standard Arabic orthography has historically prompted inquiries into the underlying reasons, justifications, and the validity of these variations. A significant source for this discourse includes the accounts relayed by the Companions and Followers concerning these orthographic anomalies. These accounts explicitly discuss the identification of errors in the Quranic text, alongside the affirmation, denial, or rationale for such discrepancies. However, what exactly are these accounts? How trustworthy are they? And what historical context do they belong to? This article employs an analytical-descriptive approach, utilizing library resources to compile, evaluate, and scrutinize these accounts, with a particular emphasis on identifying their chronological origins. The results suggest that these accounts likely trace back to the latter part of the 3rd century AH regarding both their transmission and textual content, making it challenging to assert their existence during the time of the Companions. Furthermore, the transmission chains associated with the reports attributed to Uthman do not meet the requisite standards for reliability, thus rendering them inadequate as reliable evidence.

Keywords


  1. ‘Afīfī, Fawzī Sālim, Nash’ah wa Taṭawwur al-Kitābah al-Khaṭṭiyyah al-’Arabiyyah wa Dawruhā al-Thaqāfī wa al-Ijtimā’ī (The Emergence and Development of Arabic Script and Its Cultural and Social Role), Kuwait: Wikalat al-Maṭbū’āt, 1980 CE.
  2. ‘Ukbī, ‘Abd Allāh bin Hossein, Imlā’ Mā Min Bihī al-Raḥmān Min Wujūh al-I’rāb wa al-Qirā’āt fī Jamī’ al-Quran (Dictation of What the Compassionate One has Bestowed in Terms of Syntax and Recitations Throughout the Quran), Edited by Ibrāhīm ‘Aṭwah ‘Awad, Egypt: Maktabat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī and Sons - Mohammad Maḥmūd and Partners, 1969 CE.
  3. Abīārī, Ibrāhīm, Tārīkh al-Quran (History of the Quran), Lebanon: Dar al-Kitāb al-Miṣrī wa al-Lubnānī, 1991 CE.
  4. Abū Nu’aym, Ahmad bin ‘Abdullāh, Ma’rifat al-Ṣaḥābah (Knowledge of the Companions), Edited by ‘Ādil bin Yūsuf al-’Azāzī, Riyadh: Dar al-Waṭan li al-Nashr, 1419 AH (1998 CE).
  5. Āqā’ī, Seyyed Ali, “Chronology of Hadith Based on a Combined Analysis of Chains: Textual Possibilities and Limitations,” Journal of Historical Quran and Hadith Studies, 17th Year, Issue 2, Sequential 50, Autumn and Winter 1390 SH (2011 CE).
  6. Āqā’ī, Seyyed Ali, “The Phenomenon of the Common Link in the Chains of Narrations: Explanation and Analysis,” Journal of Islamic History Studies, Issue 7, 1389 SH (2010 CE).
  7. Āqā’ī, Seyyed Ali, Chronology of Hadith: Methods and Examples, Tehran: Ḥikmat, 1390 SH (2011 CE).
  8. Azharī, Mohammad bin Ahmad, Tajīb al-Lughah (Refinement of Language), Beirut: Dar Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, n.d.
  9. Bāqalānī, Mohammad bin Ṭayyib, Al-Intiṣār li al-Quran (The Defense of the Quran), Amman/Beirut: Dar al-Fatḥ/Dar Ibn Ḥazm, 1422 AH (2001 CE).
  10. Bukhārī, Mohammad bin Ismā’īl, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ (The Authentic), N.p., Dar al-Fikr for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, 1401 AH (1981 CE).
  11. Bustanī, Qāsim, Maktāb (Madāris) Naḥw ‘Arabī (Schools of Arabic Grammar), Ahvaz: Collection of Articles from the Conference of Heads of Arabic Language and Literature Departments of Universities, 1382 SH (2003 CE).
  12. Dānī, ‘Uthmān bin Sa’īd, Al-Muqni’ fi Rasm Muṣāḥif al-Amṣār (The Sufficient Guide to the Script of the Regional Manuscripts), Edited by Mohammad Ṣādiq Qamḥāwī, Egypt: n.p., 1978 CE.
  13. Dhahabī, Mohammad bin ‘Abdullāh, Mīzān al-I’tidāl fi Naqd al-Rijāl (The Balance of Justice in Critiquing Men), Edited by ‘Ali Mohammad al-Bijāwī, Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah, 1963 CE.
  14. Dhahabī, Mohammad bin ‘Abdullāh, Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā’ (The Lives of the Noble Figures), Beirut: Printed by Mū’assasat al-Risālah, n.d.
  15. Dhahabī, Mohammad bin ‘Abdullāh, Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (The Memoir of the Preservers), Beirut: Dar Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, n.d.
  16. Faḍlī, ‘Abd al-Hādī, Muqaddimah-ī Bar Tārīkh Qirā’āt Quran Karim (An Introduction to the History of Quranic Recitations), Written by Seyyed Mohammad Bāqir Ḥujjatī, Tehran: Organization for Hajj, Endowments, and Charitable Affairs, n.d.
  17. Farā’, Yaḥyā bin Zyād, Ma’ānī al-Quran (The Meanings of the Quran), Edited by Aḥmad Yūsuf Najātī and Mohammad ‘Alī al-Najjār, Egypt: Dar al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1955 CE.
  18. Ḥamad, Ghānim Qadūrī, Rasm al-Muṣḥaf: Dirāsah Lugawiyyah Tārīkhiyyah (The Script of the Quran: A Linguistic and Historical Study), Baghdad: 1982 CE.
  19. Harawī, Abū ‘Ubaid, Qāsim bin Salām, Faḍā’il al-Quran (Virtues of the Quran), Edited by Marwān al-’Aṭīyah, Muḥsin Khurābah, and Wafā’ Taqī al-Dīn, Beirut: Dar Ibn Kuthayr, 1415 AH (1994 CE).
  20. Ibn Abī Dāwūd, Abdullah bin Sulayman al-Sijistānī, Al-Muṣāḥif (The Manuscripts), Cairo: Al-Farūq al-Ḥadīthah Publishing and Distribution, 1423 AH (2003 CE).
  21. Ibn al-Anbārī, Abū al-Barakāt, Al-Bayān fi Gharīb I’rāb al-Quran (The Explanation of Rare Quranic Syntax), Edited by Dr. Ṭāhā ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd Ṭāhā and Muṣṭafā al-Siqā, Qom: Intishārāt al-Hijrah, 1362 SH (1983 CE).
  22. Ibn al-Anbārī, Abū al-Barakāt, Al-Inṣāf fi Masā’il al-Khilāf (Equity in Issues of Dispute), Edited by Mohammad Muḥyī al-Dīn, Maktabat al-Sa’ādah, n.d.
  23. Ibn al-Anbārī, Abū al-Barakāt, Asrār al-’Arabiyyah (Secrets of the Arabic Language), Damascus: Maktabat al-Tarqī, n.d.
  24. Ibn al-Jazarī, Mohammad bin Mohammad, Al-Nashr fi al-Qirā’āt al-’Ashr (The Dissemination of the Ten Recitations), Edited by ‘Ali Mohammad al-Ḍa’bā’, Egypt: Al-Maktabah al-Tijāriyah al-Kubrā, n.d.
  25. Ibn Athīr al-Jazarī, Ali bin Abi al-Karim, Al-Lubāb fi Tahdhīb al-Ansāb (The Core in Refining Lineages), Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, n.d.
  26. Ibn Ḥajar, Ali bin Ahmad al-’Asqalānī, Hady al-Sārī (The Guide of the Aged), 1st Edition, Cairo: Dar al-Rubān li al-Turāth, 1986 CE.
  27. Ibn Ḥajar, Ali bin Ahmad al-’Asqalānī, Lisān al-Mīzān (The Tongue of the Balance), 2nd Edition, Beirut: Mū’assasat al-’Ālamī li al-Maṭbū’āt, 1390 AH (1970 CE).
  28. Ibn Ḥajar, Ali bin Ahmad al-’Asqalānī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (Refinement of Refinement), Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1984 CE.
  29. Ibn Ḥajar, Ali bin Ahmad al-’Asqalānī, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (Proximity of Refinement), Edited by ‘Abd al-Wahhāb ‘Abd al-Laṭīf, Dar al-Ma’rifah, Beirut: 1975 CE.
  30. Ibn Ḥanbal, Ahmad, Musnad Ahmad (The Musnad of Ahmad), Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, n.d.
  31. Ibn Ḥibbān, Mohammad, Al-Thiqāt (The Trustworthy), Hyderabad: Maktabat al-Kutub al-Thaqāfiyyah, 1393 AH (1973 CE).
  32. Ibn Manẓūr, Jamāl al-Dīn bin Mukarram, Lisān al-’Arab (The Tongue of the Arabs), Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, n.d.
  33. Ibn Qutaybah, Abdullah bin Muslim, Ta’wīl Mushkil al-Quran (Interpretation of Difficult Quranic Passages), Edited by Seyyed Ahmad Saqr, Dar Iḥyā’ al-Kutub al-’Arabiyyah, n.d.
  34. Ibn Shahrāshūb, Mohammad ‘Ali, Ma’ālim al-’Ulamā’ (Landmarks of Scholars), N.p., n.d.
  35. Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmad bin ‘Abd al-Ḥalīm, Majmū’ al-Fatāwā (Collection of Fatwas), Saudi Arabia: General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, n.d.
  36. Ibn Zubālah, Mohammad bin Ḥasan, Akhbār al-Madīnah (News of the City), Edited and Arranged by Ibn Salāmah and Ṣalāḥ ‘Abd al-’Azīz, 1424 AH (2004 CE).
  37. Jawāhirī, Mohammad, Al-Mufīd min Mu’jam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth (Useful Information from the Dictionary of Hadith Scholars), Qom: Maktabat al-Maḥallātī, 1424 AH (2003 CE).
  38. Kharūf, Mohammad Fahd, Al-Muyassar fi al-Qirā’āt al-Arba’ah ‘Ashar (The Simplified Guide to the Fourteen Recitations), Reviewed by Mohammad Karīm Rājih, 1st Edition, Damascus and Beirut: Dar Ibn Kuthayr and Dar al-Kalim al-ṭayyib, 1995 CE.
  39. Khu’ī, Ayatollah Seyyed Abū al-Qāsim, Al-Bayān fi Tafsīr al-Quran (The Explanation in Quranic Exegesis), Qom: Mu’assasat Iḥyā’ Āthār al-Imām al-Khu’ī, n.d.
  40. Khu’ī, Mu’jam Rijāl al-Ḥadīth (Dictionary of Hadith Scholars), Qom: Mu’assasat Iḥyā’ Āthār al-Imām al-Khu’ī, 1413 AH (1993 CE).
  41. Khuṭayb al-Baghdādī, Ahmad bin ‘Alī, Tārīkh Baghdad (History of Baghdad), Edited by Muṣṭafā ‘Abd al-Qādir ‘Aṭā, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1417 AH (1997 CE).
  42. Kubrī Zādah, Ṭāsh, Miftāḥ al-Sa’ādah (The Key to Happiness), India: Dā’irat al-Ma’ārīf al-Niẓāmiyyah, n.d.
  43. Ma’ārif, Majīd, Daramadī Bar Mutāla’āt Ḥadīthī dar Dawrān Mu’āṣir (An Introduction to Contemporary Hadith Studies), Tehran: SAMT, 1400 SH (2021 CE).
  44. Ma’arifat, Mohammad Hādī, ‘Ulūm Quranī (Quranic Sciences), Qom: al-Tamhīd, 1381 SH (2002 CE).
  45. Makī, Ibn Abī Ṭālib Qaysī, Mushkil al-I’rāb al-Quran (The Difficulties of Quranic Syntax), Edited by Yāsīn Mohammad al-Sawwās, N.p., Intishārāt Nūr, 1362 SH (1983 CE).
  46. Makram, ‘Abd al-’Āl Sālim, Al-Quran al-Karīm wa Atharuhū fī al-Dirāsāt al-Naḥwiyyah (The Noble Quran and Its Impact on Grammatical Studies), Egypt: Dar al-Ma’ārīf, 1968 CE.
  47. Manāwī, Mohammad ‘Abd al-Ra’ūf, Faẓl al-Qadīr Sharḥ al-Jāmi’ al-Ṣaghīr (The Abundance of the Powerful: Commentary on the Lesser Compilation), Edited by Aḥmad ‘Abd al-Salām, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah, 1415 AH (1995 CE).
  48. Mizzī, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf, Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmā’ al-Rijāl (Refinement of Perfection in the Names of Men), Edited by Dr. Bashār ‘Awwād, Beirut: Mū’assasat al-Risālah, 1998 CE.
  49. Muslim Nīsābūrī, Ibn Ḥajjāj, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ (The Authentic), Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.
  50. Muṣṭafawī, Ḥassan, Al-Taḥqīq fī Kalmāt al-Quran al-Karīm (The Verification of the Words of the Noble Quran), Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-’Ilmiyyah - Center for Publishing the Works of ʿAllāmah Muṣṭafawī, n.d.
  51. Mutqī Hindī, ‘Alī bin ‘Abd al-Malik, Kanz al-’Ummāl (The Treasure of the Workers), Edited by Shaykh Bakrī Ḥiyānī and Shaykh Ṣafwat al-Suqā, Beirut: Mū’assasat al-Risālah, 1409 AH (1989 CE).
  52. Mūtsikī, Harald, Ḥadīth Islāmī: Khāstagāhā wa Sīr Taṭawwur (Islamic Hadith: Origins and Development), Qom: Mū’assasah ‘Ilmī Thaqāfī Dar al-Ḥadīth, 1390 SH (2011 CE).
  53. Qalqashandī, Aḥmad bin ‘Alī, Ṣubḥ al-A’shā fī Ṣanā’at al-Inshā’ (The Dawn of the Blind Man in the Art of Composition), Egypt: al-Mu’assasah al-Miṣriyyah al-’Āmmāh, n.d.
  54. Qurṭubī, Mohammad bin Aḥmad, Tafsīr al-Jāmi’ li Aḥkām al-Quran al-Karīm (Exegesis of the Comprehensive Interpretation of the Noble Quran), Edited by Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm Aṭfīsh, Beirut: Dar Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-’Arabī, 1405 AH (1985 CE).
  55. Rāghib Isfahānī, Hossein bin Mohammad, Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Quran (Unique Words of the Quran), Beirut: Dar al-Qalam, n.d.
  56. Rajabzādah, Shabnam, Mostafīd, Ḥamīd Reza, & Ḥājī ‘Abd al-Bāqī, Maryam, “Analysis of the Development of Reading Scales,” Studies in Quranic Recitations, 11(20), 12-45. doi: 10.22034/qer.2023.8451.
  57. Reza’ī Haftādar, Ḥassan, & Zāri’ī, Nafīsah, “Didgah Entigadi Goldziher dar Tashabuh Quran wa Ahdayn (A Critical Review of Goldziher’s View on the Similarity of Quranic Recitations and the Two Testaments),” Studies in Quranic Recitations, 11(20), 263-284. doi: 10.22034/qer.2023.8460.
  58. Ṣābūnī, Abū ‘Abd Allāh, Nukat al-Intiṣār li Naql al-Quran (The Points of the Defense of the Transmission of the Quran), Edited by Mohammad Zaghūl Salām, Alexandria: Mū’assasat al-Ma’ārif, 1971 CE.
  59. Samarkandī, Naṣr bin Mohammad, Al-Tafsīr (The Exegesis), Edited by Mahmūd Maṭrajī, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.
  60. Shalbī, ‘Abd al-Fattāḥ, Rasm al-Muṣḥaf wa al-Iḥtijāj bihi fi al-Qirā’āt (The Script of the Quran and its Use in Recitations), Egypt: Maktabat al-Nahḍah, 1960 CE.
  61. Sībawayh, ‘Amr bin ‘Uthmān, Al-Kitāb (The Book), Egypt: Maktabat Būlāq, 1316 AH (1898 CE).
  62. Suyūtī, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Abī Bakr, Al-Durr al-Manthūr (The Scattered Pearls), Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah for Printing and Publishing, n.d.
  63. Suyūtī, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Abī Bakr, Al-Iqtirāḥ fi ‘Ilm Uṣūl al-Naḥw (The Proposal in Grammar Principles), Edited by Aḥmad Mohammad Qāsim, Qom: Offset Press for Seminary Publications, n.d.
  64. Suyūtī, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Abī Bakr, Al-Ittiqān fi ‘Ulūm al-Quran (The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Quran), Edited by Sa’īd al-Mandūb, Lebanon: Dar al-Fikr, 1416 AH (1996 CE).
  65. Suyūtī, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Abī Bakr, Al-Jāmi’ al-Ṣaghīr (The Lesser Compilation), Beirut: Dar al-Fikr for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, 1401 AH (1981 CE).
  66. Ṭabarī, Mohammad bin Jarrīr, Jāmi’ al-Bayān (The Comprehensive Explanation), Edited by Shaykh Khalīl Mays and Ṣidqī Jamīl al-’Aṭṭār, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, 1415 AH (1995 CE).
  67. Ya’qūb, Amīl Badī’, Al-Mawsū’ah al-Ṣarf wa al-Naḥw wa al-I’rāb (The Encyclopedia of Morphology, Grammar, and Syntax), Translated by Qāsim Bustānī and Mohammad Reżā Yūsufī, Qom: Intishārāt I’tiṣām, 1420 AH (1999 CE).
  68. Zarqānī, ‘Abd al-’Azīm, Manāhil al-’Irfān (Sources of Knowledge), Beirut: Dar Aḥyā’ li al-Kutub al-’Arabiyyah, n.d.