Ahruf

Bilal Philips writes that the Quran continued to be read according to the seven ahruf until midway through Caliph 'Uthman's rule when some confusion arose in the outlying provinces concerning the Quran's recitation. Some Arab tribes had begun to boast about the superiority of their ahruf and a rivalry began to develop. At the same time, some new Muslims also began mixing the various forms of recitation out of ignorance. Caliph 'Uthman decided to make official copies of the Quran according to the writing conventions of the Quraysh and send them along with the Quranic reciters to the major centres of Islam. This decision was approved by Sahaabah and all unofficial copies of the Quran were destroyed. Uthman burned the unofficial copies of the Quran. Following the distribution of the official copies, all the other ahruf were dropped and the Quran began to be read in only one harf. Thus, the Quran which is available throughout the world today is written and recited only according to the harf of Quraysh.[2]

This is to be distinguished from qirâ'ât. Philips writes that qirâ'ât is for the most part a method of pronunciation used in the recitations of the Quran, different from the seven forms or modes (ahruf) in which the Quran was revealed. The seven modes were reduced to one, that of the Quraysh, during the era of Caliph 'Uthman, and all of the methods of recitation are based on this mode. The various methods have all been traced back to the Prophet through a number of Sahaba who were most noted for their Quranic recitations. That is, these Sahaba recited the Quran to the Prophet or in his presence and received his approval. Among them were the following: Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Ali ibn Abi Taalib, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Masud, Abu Darda, and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. Many of the other Sahaba learned from these masters. For example, Ibn Abbas, the master commentator of the Quran among the Sahaba, learned from both Ubayy and Zayd.[2] (pp. 29–30)

On transmission of Quran, Philips writes that among the next generation of Muslims (the Tabi'in), there arose many scholars who learned the various methods of recitation from the Sahaabah and taught them to others. Centres of Quranic recitation developed in Medina, Mecca, Kufa, Basra and Syria, leading to the evolution of Quranic recitation into an independent science. By the mid-eighth century CE, there existed many outstanding scholars considered specialists in the field of recitation. Most of their methods of recitations were authenticated by chains of reliable narrators ending with the Prophet. Those methods which were supported by many reliable narrators on each level of their chain were called mutawaatir and were considered to be the most accurate. Those methods in which the number of narrators were few or only one on any level of the chain were referred to as shaadhdh. Some of the scholars of the following period began the practice of designating a set number of individual scholars from the previous period as being the most noteworthy and accurate. By the middle of the tenth century, the number seven became popular since it coincided with the number of dialects in which the Quran was revealed.[2] (pp. 30)

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, on the other hand, while commenting on hadith in Muwatta,[1] writes that if Ahruf are taken in the context of pronunciation (for which actual words are lughat and lahjat), then the content of the hadith rejects this meaning itself as it is known that Umar and Hisham belonged to the same tribe - Quraysh, and people from same tribe cannot have different pronunciation. Hence, he questions those hadith which purport "variant readings". He also insists on the basis of Quranic verses (^{[Quran 87:6-7]}, ^{[Quran 75:16-19]}) that Quran was compiled in the life of Muhammad, hence he questions those hadith which report compilation of Quran in Uthman's period:[3] As most of these narrations are reported by Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Imam Layth Ibn Sa‘d in his letter to Imam Malik has written:[3][4]

And when we would meet Ibn Shihab, there would arise a difference of opinion in many issues. When any one of us would ask him in writing about some issue, he, in spite of being so learned, would give three very different answers, and he would not even be aware of what he had already said. It is because of this that I have left him – something which you did not like.

It is said[3] that Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam (d. 224 AH) selected twenty-five readings in his book. The seven readings which are famous in current times were selected by Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid (d. 324 AH).[3] The 20th-century Pakistani theologian Javed Ahmad Ghamidi writes:

[I]t is generally accepted that [the number of valid readings] cannot be ascertained, but every reading is Qur’an which has been reported through a correct chain of narration, [is] found in any way in the masahif prepared by Uthman, and [is correct] as far as the Arabic language is concerned.[3]

'Uthman Ibn ‘Affan asked those present at the mosque of Madinah if any of them had ever heard Muhammad say, "The Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven ahruf." In response, a huge number of them stood up and testified that they had heard this hadith. Consequently, 'Uthman himself emphasized this hadith by stating that he testified with them. [5]