الأحرف السبعة وعلاقتها بالقراءات القرآنية في المصادر الإسلامية المعاصرة

The relationship of the Seven Letters to the Qur’anic recitations in contemporary Islamic sources

Abstract

This research aims to discover the interpretation of the Seven Letters and their relationship to the different recitations of the Qur’an according to the contemporary scholars in Qur’anic sciences. Limiting this study to the relationship of the seven letters to the different recitations of the Qur’an is based on the fact that the basis of the debate among scholars on the said issue is the meaning of the letters themselves. Accordingly, the researcher will focus on the issue of the seven letters' relationship to the Qur’anic readings only, regardless of its relation to the history of the revelation, writing, collection, and codification of the Qur’an or its relation to the Arabic dialects. The researcher will rely on what contemporary scholars wrote from their books devoted to the sciences of the Qur’an in general, such as the book "Al Muharrar fi ‘Ulum Al Qur’an" by Dr Musaid Al Tayyar, the book "`Ulum al-Qur’an" by Ibrahim Al-Na`mah, and the book "Min Rawa’i` al-Qur’an" by Dr Muhammad Saeed Ramadan Al-Buti (d. 2013), and others. It will depend on the books devoted to the issue of the seven letters, such as the book "Al-AÍruf al-Sab`ah wa Manzilat al-Qira’at  minha” by Dia’ Al-Din ‘Itr (died 2010 AD), and the book “Hadith al-Ahruf al-Sab`ah”: a study of its chain of transmission and its text and the differences of scholars in its meaning and its connection to Qur’anic readings, written by Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Qari. Contemporary scholars are selected based on the hypothesis that there is a difference in the way they explain the subject of the seven letters and their relationship to the Qur'anic readings.

Keywords & Phrases: Seven Ahruf- Qirāʼāt- Sciences of Qur’an- Saeed Ramadan Al-Bouti- Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Qari