Pillars of Recitation
There are 3 pillars of recitation. Any recitation needs to fulfill these 3 pillars.
1. Conforms to the original Arabic language in any of its ways because the Qur’ân was revealed in the Arabic tongue. (Qur’ânan arabiyyan lâ’lakum tâkiloon)
2. Must be in conformity with Ar-Rasm Al-Uthmâniyyah, the rasm ul Uthmân[1]. The writing of the mushaf during Uthmân’s time. In Abu Bakr radhiAllâhu anhu’s time, they made just one copy. The different words (for different recitations) were written in the margin. In Uthmân’s time, instead of having all the words in the margin, they incorporated it in the writing. Note, any letter in miniature is not part of the original Uthmâni script. They are to facilitate reading.
In Uthmân’s time they tried to incorporate as many readings as possible in the same mushaf. Wherever they couldn’t do that, they would write it one way in one mushaf and another way in another.
e.g. one mushaf would have ووصى and another would have وأوصى
The mushaf was sent with a recitor to a place. That’s why, for example one mushaf may have one word and another has another word. e.g. In Ash Shams, it could be wa lâ yakhâfu or fa lâ yakhâfu. In Kufa it is wa. In Warsh it was fa. Our mushafs are the mushafs that were sent to Kufa in Iraq.
3. Correct sanad, chain. One long chain without any break. It should be mutawâtir. It means it is impossible so many people narrated with the same mistake.
Anytime you have a reading that does not conform with one of these pillars, it is called shâd. Certain readings have been considered shâd even though they are in conformity with writing and grammar. But the chain was not correct.
There are also some where the chain was correct but did not conform to writing. So the ‘ulama considered it shâd.
e.g. reading kal ihnil manfoosh. Reading soof instead of manfoosh. It is grammatically correct but does not match the Uthmâni way of writing so it was rejected. Both mean wool so it is correct but the writing does not match. One of the mushafs should have a script to permit reciting as soof.
Surah Anam:137
Initially, when the qira’ah of Ibn ‘Âmir of the above verse was analyzed it was rejected because it did not seem to conform to Arabic grammar. The Qurra analyzed the recitation against the pillars of recitation. If the pillars were upheld, the qira’ah would be valid.
1. In regards to the sanad, they were able to trace the recitation to the prophet sallAllâhu alayhi wa sallam by tawâtur.
2. In regards to rasm, it was found that in the mushaf of Madinah, the hamza was written on top of a waw and in the mushaf of Shâm it was written on top of a ya. The difference was the presence of the letter waw or ya, and therefore it was found to be in accordance with the rasm.
3. In regards to nahw, the separation of the mudhâf (qatla) and mudhaf ilay (shurakâ’ihim) by the word awlâdihim. Typically, the mudhâf ilay immediately follows the mudhâf, so this is not the norm. Due to this, some scholars such as Zamakhshari and Fakr ur Râzi questioned the validity of this qira’ah. However, it was found that although the separation of mudhâf and mudhâf ilay was unusual, they found a few instances of them being separated in poetry.[2]
As all 3 pillars were fulfilled, the qira’ah could not be refuted.
From this example we see that the 3 pillars must be fulfilled in order for a qira’ah to be accepted as authentic.
In the past, preservation was done through memorizing. Now people have became lazy and stopped memorizing. So the scholars were afraid they would lose the tradition of learning or getting ijazah. So now people give ijazah even without memorizing. But some scholars feel it should not be called ijazah but should be called certificate or something.
[1] Following the script means that the reading conforms to the script. This does not mean every letter matches. Rather it means that it follows the code of understanding the script as was explained by the scholars who wrote the mushafs and made changes over the years and is understood and conveyed mutawâtir. For example we know in some places, the letter written is suad but a seen is pronounced and vice versa. There are reasons for the script not matching the reading but as it is known why the written letter is different and what is pronounced, the reading still conforms to the script. It is important to know that all of the 10 qira’ât are already proven to be mutawâtir and in conformity with the script. Anyone who challenges that is sinful.
[2] Poetry was one of the ways in which the scholars would verify grammar rules and usage. So if it was used in a poem, the scholars would use that as evidence that this was one of the ways in which it was used/ accepted.
If we consider the lifestyle of the Arabs at the time – they could not read or write. They were idle people who lived in the desert.Some herded sheep or camels, they were desert people. They had powerful memories. They would memorize lineage and put everything in poem form to be easy to remember. That’s why even today the poetry has been preserved to study their culture, history, etc. so if you want to know if they used a word, they would go to poetry and check.
Imam Shâfi’i was seeing a word and trying to determine the meaning. He went to the desert and saw 2 bedouins arguing over a well and said ana fatartuha and imam Shâfi’i understood this is how it was used. They used poetry to understand tafseer too because they were able to determine how the word was understood at the time. Instead of news they had poem. They even argued in poetry. Every prophet came with a miracle to outdo what was well-known at their time. At Moosâ alayhis salâms time it was magic, at Eesâ alayhis salâms time it was medicine and at the time of Prophet Muhammad sallAllâhu alayhi wa sallam it was language, speech, eloquence
1. Conforms to the original Arabic language in any of its ways because the Qur’ân was revealed in the Arabic tongue. (Qur’ânan arabiyyan lâ’lakum tâkiloon)
2. Must be in conformity with Ar-Rasm Al-Uthmâniyyah, the rasm ul Uthmân[1]. The writing of the mushaf during Uthmân’s time. In Abu Bakr radhiAllâhu anhu’s time, they made just one copy. The different words (for different recitations) were written in the margin. In Uthmân’s time, instead of having all the words in the margin, they incorporated it in the writing. Note, any letter in miniature is not part of the original Uthmâni script. They are to facilitate reading.
In Uthmân’s time they tried to incorporate as many readings as possible in the same mushaf. Wherever they couldn’t do that, they would write it one way in one mushaf and another way in another.
e.g. one mushaf would have ووصى and another would have وأوصى
The mushaf was sent with a recitor to a place. That’s why, for example one mushaf may have one word and another has another word. e.g. In Ash Shams, it could be wa lâ yakhâfu or fa lâ yakhâfu. In Kufa it is wa. In Warsh it was fa. Our mushafs are the mushafs that were sent to Kufa in Iraq.
3. Correct sanad, chain. One long chain without any break. It should be mutawâtir. It means it is impossible so many people narrated with the same mistake.
Anytime you have a reading that does not conform with one of these pillars, it is called shâd. Certain readings have been considered shâd even though they are in conformity with writing and grammar. But the chain was not correct.
There are also some where the chain was correct but did not conform to writing. So the ‘ulama considered it shâd.
e.g. reading kal ihnil manfoosh. Reading soof instead of manfoosh. It is grammatically correct but does not match the Uthmâni way of writing so it was rejected. Both mean wool so it is correct but the writing does not match. One of the mushafs should have a script to permit reciting as soof.
Surah Anam:137
Initially, when the qira’ah of Ibn ‘Âmir of the above verse was analyzed it was rejected because it did not seem to conform to Arabic grammar. The Qurra analyzed the recitation against the pillars of recitation. If the pillars were upheld, the qira’ah would be valid.
1. In regards to the sanad, they were able to trace the recitation to the prophet sallAllâhu alayhi wa sallam by tawâtur.
2. In regards to rasm, it was found that in the mushaf of Madinah, the hamza was written on top of a waw and in the mushaf of Shâm it was written on top of a ya. The difference was the presence of the letter waw or ya, and therefore it was found to be in accordance with the rasm.
3. In regards to nahw, the separation of the mudhâf (qatla) and mudhaf ilay (shurakâ’ihim) by the word awlâdihim. Typically, the mudhâf ilay immediately follows the mudhâf, so this is not the norm. Due to this, some scholars such as Zamakhshari and Fakr ur Râzi questioned the validity of this qira’ah. However, it was found that although the separation of mudhâf and mudhâf ilay was unusual, they found a few instances of them being separated in poetry.[2]
As all 3 pillars were fulfilled, the qira’ah could not be refuted.
From this example we see that the 3 pillars must be fulfilled in order for a qira’ah to be accepted as authentic.
In the past, preservation was done through memorizing. Now people have became lazy and stopped memorizing. So the scholars were afraid they would lose the tradition of learning or getting ijazah. So now people give ijazah even without memorizing. But some scholars feel it should not be called ijazah but should be called certificate or something.
[1] Following the script means that the reading conforms to the script. This does not mean every letter matches. Rather it means that it follows the code of understanding the script as was explained by the scholars who wrote the mushafs and made changes over the years and is understood and conveyed mutawâtir. For example we know in some places, the letter written is suad but a seen is pronounced and vice versa. There are reasons for the script not matching the reading but as it is known why the written letter is different and what is pronounced, the reading still conforms to the script. It is important to know that all of the 10 qira’ât are already proven to be mutawâtir and in conformity with the script. Anyone who challenges that is sinful.
[2] Poetry was one of the ways in which the scholars would verify grammar rules and usage. So if it was used in a poem, the scholars would use that as evidence that this was one of the ways in which it was used/ accepted.
If we consider the lifestyle of the Arabs at the time – they could not read or write. They were idle people who lived in the desert.Some herded sheep or camels, they were desert people. They had powerful memories. They would memorize lineage and put everything in poem form to be easy to remember. That’s why even today the poetry has been preserved to study their culture, history, etc. so if you want to know if they used a word, they would go to poetry and check.
Imam Shâfi’i was seeing a word and trying to determine the meaning. He went to the desert and saw 2 bedouins arguing over a well and said ana fatartuha and imam Shâfi’i understood this is how it was used. They used poetry to understand tafseer too because they were able to determine how the word was understood at the time. Instead of news they had poem. They even argued in poetry. Every prophet came with a miracle to outdo what was well-known at their time. At Moosâ alayhis salâms time it was magic, at Eesâ alayhis salâms time it was medicine and at the time of Prophet Muhammad sallAllâhu alayhi wa sallam it was language, speech, eloquence