The 7 Ahruf

 Bismillah

Asalama Laykum dear Sisters

Following our  Dawa Workshop  and at  the request of  some  Let us discover  briefly what is the 7 Ahruf InshAllah!

though it is an extensive subject,i have chosen to present it in brief from(my old abridged notes) in a ,simple way

               

 Hope it will be BENEFICIAL! this is for you Sobia!!!

from Islamic Online University -Usool Tafseer level evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel evel 

The meaning of ahruf/harf: edge, aspect, dialect

ومن الناس من يعبد الله على حرف
And among mankind is he who worships Allah upon a narrow margin,

Saheeh Intl.: ‘an edge’

Zarqaanee defines it as : a single circumstance

أي وجه واحد: وهو أن يعبده على الس ا رء لا على الض ا رء
so if good befalls him he is content therewith, but if a trial befalls
him, he falls away utterly. (22:11)

 

Gabriel came to the Prophet (PBUH ) and told him, “Allaah commands
you to have your Ummah recite the Qur’aan in a single way.” The Prophet (PBUH)
responded, “I ask Allaah to relent and forgive, for my Ummah will not be capable of
that.” Then Gabriel came to him a second time and said, “Allaah commands you to have your Ummah recite the Qur’aan in two ways.” The Prophet (ñ) responded, “I ask Allaah to relent
and forgive, for my Ummah will not be capable of that.” Then Gabriel came to him a third time and said, “Allaah commands you to have your Ummah recite the Qur’aan in three ways.” The Prophet (ñ) responded, “I ask Allaah to relent and forgive, for my Ummah will not be capable of that.” Then Gabriel came to him a fourth time and said, “Allaah commands you to have your Ummah recite the Qur’aan in seven ways. Whichever one they recite, they will be correct.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

'Umar ibn Khattaab related, “I heard Hishaam ibn Hakeem ibn
Hizaam reciting Soorah al-Furqaan in a different way than I used to recite it and [different from] what Allaah’s Messenger (PBUH) had taught me. I was about to dispute with him but I delayed until he had finished. Then I caught hold of his cloak and brought him to the Messenger of Allaah ((PBUH)) and said, ‘Messenger of Allaah, I heard this man reciting Soorah al-Furqaan differently from the way you taught me to recite.’ Allaah’s Messenger (PBUH)) told [me] to leave him alone and asked him to recite. He
then recited it in the same way I had heard him recite. The Messenger of Allaah (PBUH) then said,
‘That’s how it was sent down.’ He then told me to recite and I recited it, and he said, ‘That’s how it was sent down. The Qur’aan was revealed in seven aspects, so recite whatever is easy [for you] of them.’” (Bukhari and Muslim)

 Ubayy ibn Ka'b reported a similar incident involving himself and two other men, each of them having a different recitation. After that they asked Prophet (ñ),and he approved of all three recitations

Total number of Sahaabah who reported hadeeths of this meaning: 21.

However Not every word has seven variant pronunciations!

Hikmah of seven dialects: to make its recitation and memorization easy for the
various tribes.

Few Examples to illustrate this explanation

1- A Hudhalee(tribe) would recite:

ع تّى حين
instead of
ح تّى حين

2-A Tameemee would pronounce hamzat al-qat‘ where a Qurashee would not
Some tribes would say ‘alayhim and feehim while others would recite ‘alayhimu and
feehimu  and yet others would recite alayhimoo and feehimoo.( with mad)

3- Some would make tarqeeq of the raa’ in khabeera baSeera  while others would not.

Some would make tafkheem of
الصلاة والطلاق while others would not.

4- Al-Raazee:

Verb: past/present/command

فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا 34 سبأ 19
فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا 
 

I'raab:
ذو العرش المجيدِ 85 البروج 15
ذو العرش المجيدُ
Addition & deletion of letters and words:
وما خلق الذكر والأنثى 92 الليل 3
والذكر والأنثى
Word order:
وجاءت سكرة الموت بالحق 50 ق 19
وجاءت سكرة الحق بالموت

 

So is it a contradiction??

Answer: .it is a miracle!!The variation is actually another proof of its origin: Despite all the variation in wording there is no contradiction in meaning.

Al-Jazaree said that all the variations between recitations fall into three categories with regard to the meaning:
a) Variation of pronunciation, based on dialects, with no difference at all in
meaning, e.g.
الص ا رط وعليهم

b) Variation of pronunciation that gives a slight expansion of meaning, but both
variations refer to the same object:
مالك وملك في الفاتحة

Owner and king of the Day of Judgment; both are descriptions of Allah
ننشزها بال ا زي وننشرها بال ا رء
Raise the bones or give them life, the meaning is essentially the same.

c) The variation causes the wording to refer to two different things, but they are compatible and complimentary:
وظنوا أنهم قد كُ ذِ بوا 12 يوسف 110 قرئ بالتخفيف والتشديد: كُ ذ بوا
المبني للمجهول.
Kuthiboo: “They thought they had been lied to.” ‘They’ refers to the
ones to whom the prophets were sent. They thought the prophets had lied to them.
Kuth-thiboo: “They became certain that they were considered liars.”
‘They’ refers to
the prophets. They became certain that their people considered them liars.

Ibn Mas'ood said, “Do not disagree regarding the Qur’aan, and do not
dispute about it, for verily it does not contradict itself. Don’t you see that the
Sharee'ah of Islam is a 5 single unity in its limits and [the meaning of] its recitations and
that the order of Allah in it is a single unity? If one recitation [harf] commanded something
while another prohibited it, that would be contradiction, but in fact, it combines
all of them in a comprehensive unity [of meaning]. So whoever is reciting by a
recitation [that was taught by the Prophet ñ] he should not abandon it out of distaste for
it, for whoever rejects one harf of it has rejected all of it.” And despite all the dialects, no one was able to imitate it.

 contradiction, which the Qur’an itself denies in 4:82(meaning of which is ).Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction.

Allah Akbar!!!!