Orthography, variations and readings of the Koran

Orthography, variations and readings of the Koran

Even with the introduction of dots and accents, the orthography of the Koran diverged sensibly from the one in use in the other writings of the Arabic language since more than a millennium. Within the Koran itself, certain words were written in different ways. For instance, the name Ibrahim (Abraham) is written 15 times in chapter 87/2 as Ibrahm (without the i), and 54 times elsewhere as Ibrahim (with the i). Some Muslim authors think that the orthography of the words was indicated by Muhammad himself to those who were writing down the revelation during his time. Some went as far as attributing esoteric meaning to writing mistakes.¹ But Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) is of the opinion that the orthography of the Koran is simply defective. He writes:

Arabic writing at the beginning of Islam was […] not of the best quality nor of the greatest accuracy and excellence. It was not (even) of medium quality, because the Arabs possessed the savage desert attitude and were not familiar with crafts. One may compare what happened to the orthography of the Koran on account of this situation. The men around Muhammad wrote the Koran in their own script, which was not of a firmly established, good quality. Most of the letters were in contradiction to the orthography required by persons versed in the craft of writing. The Koranic script of (the men around Muhammad) was then imitated by the men of the second generation […]. No attention should be paid in this connection to the assumption of certain incompetent (scholars) that (the men around Muhammad) knew well the art of writing and that the alleged discrepancies between their writing and the principles of orthography are not discrepancies, as has been alleged, but have a reason […]. They think that good writing is perfection. Thus, they do not admit the fact that the men around Muhammad were deficient in (writing). They (want to) consider them as perfect by ascribing good writing to them, and they seek to explain (orthographic peculiarities) that are contrary to good orthographic usage. This is not correct. It should be known that as far as (the men around Muhammad) are concerned, writing has nothing to do with perfection. Writing is an urban craft that serves to make a living, as has been shown above. Perfection in a craft is something relative. It is not absolute perfection. A deficiency in (perfection in the crafts) does not essentially affect one's religion or personal qualities.²

While affirming that the Koranic orthography was neither determined by God, nor considered obligatory by Muhammad, some Muslim authors think that the consensus of Muhammad's companions was in favour of maintaining the orthography. They add that consensus implies an obligatory rule. They consider that the modification of orthography leads to variations which undermine the uniformity of the text from country to country. Uniformity of the text is one of the contributing factors to the unity among Muslims.¹

Some Shiites accuse 'Uthman (d. 656) of having suppressed or modified the passages of the Koran which mention 'Ali (d. 661), his political rival. Some whole chapters and several verses may have also disappeared or been truncated from the Koran compiled under 'Uthman. Muhammad Mal-Allah, a Sunnite author, gives 208 examples of falsifications alleged by the Shiites.¹ Without denying that some Shiite trends may have sustained the idea of the alleged falsification of the Koran, a small anonymous piece of work, with no editor and no publisher, denies the attribution of such allegations to Shiism. It adds that allegations of falsification can be found even in greater numbers in Sunnite documents.²

These discussions irritate religious Muslims who vigorously affirm that the Koran has never been altered, contrary to the Old Testament and to the New Testament. The affirmation is part of the Islamic dogma. The Koran says: « It is we who descended the remembrance, and we who will protect it » (54/15:9). We have no intention to be drawn into such polemics. Our task is more modest and it is focused on variations of the Koran admitted by Muslim authorities themselves. Where do these variations come from?

Muslim sources narrate that 'Umar (d. 644) heard someone recite chapter 42/25 of the Koran in a manner different from what he knew. He took him to Muhammad who made each of them recite his own version and approved both of them, saying that the Koran was revealed in seven letters. Similar narrations have been reported concerning other chapters of the Koran.¹ The incident reminds us of the verses 112/5:48; 52/11:118; 70/16:93; 62/42:8 which have decreed that the differences among the different communities were intended by God himself and they must therefore be tolerated. What does the term letters mean? Some hold that the Koran was revealed under seven versions which took into account the different Arab dialects in order to facilitate the accessibility of the Koran to the tribes which were not conversant with the dialect of the Qurayshites, the tribe of Muhammad. Hence the term seven letters.

Besides the revelation of the Koran in seven letters, Muslim sources speak of the different readings of the Koran. The difference in reading could be due to the fact that the initial writing of the Koran was difficult to decipher without the help of those who had memorized it. Fourteen readings were thus accepted. Each of these readings was attributed to a reader supported by a chain of guarantors going back to the Companions of Muhammad.² The Cairo edition, the most widely spread today, favoured the reading of Hafs transmitted by 'Asim. The Tunisian edition follows the reading of Nafi' reported by Qalun, whereas the Moroccan edition of the Koran follows the reading of Nafi' reported by Warsh. These variations, according to the unanimous Islamic doctrine, are part of the revelation.³ Besides their religious value, they provide important information about the Arabic pronunciations of the different tribes, and constitute a means to understanding a Koranic text that originally was without dots and without accents. They also have legal consequences where normative passages are concerned.⁴

The variations of the Koran appear in the different readings of the Koran and have been transmitted by classic Islamic books. In order to avoid polemics, we have exclusively used the following modern sources approved by the Islamic religious authorities:

- 'Umar, Ahmad Mukhtar and Makram, 'Abd Al-'Al Salim: Mu'jam al-qira'at al-qur'aniyyah ma' muqaddimah fil-qira'at wa-ashhar al-qurra', 6 vols., 3^rd edition, 'Alam al-kutub, Cairo, 1997. The first two editions were published by the University of Kuwait. The collection has been approved by the academy of the Islamic research of the Azhar.⁵

- Al-Khatib, 'Abd Al-Latif: Mu'jam al-qira'at, 11 vols., Dar Sa'd Al-Din, Damascus, 2000. The collection has been approved by the Department of ifta' and religious teaching in Syria. It often indicates, in addition to the variations, their meaning.⁶

- Al-Qira'at, in: http://www.altafsir.com/Recitations.asp. This website is managed by Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, which depends on the Jordanian royal family.

These three sources indicate the variations, word by word, in the order of the chapters and the verses of the Koran, and mention the consulted classic works. It is easy for the reader to find his way around. Thus, it is not necessary to overburden our work with references to these sources.