The Impact of the Ten Qirā’āt Mutawātirah on Jurists’ Disagreements in Sharīʿah Rulings

أثر القراءات العشر المتواترة في اختلاف الفقهاء في الأحكام الشرعية

Abstract

There is no doubt that the ten different forms of qirā’āt mutawātirah themselves are a source of Islamic law because they are connected to the Holy Qur’ān, hence this article explores how they can have an impact on the difference of opinions of jurists. Therefore, when determining the legitimacy of Sharīʽah law, these 10 qirā’āt are accepted by uṣūlī scholars, jurists, ḥadīth scholars, and ’a’immah of the Islamic schools of law. But beside these ten, there are three extra rare (shādhdhah) qirā’āt, i.e. the qirā’ah of al-Ḥasan al- Baṣrī, Ibn Muḥayṣin al- Makkī, and Sulaymān al- A’mash; and also there are some qirā’āt used by some of the Prophet’s Companions. Due to their lack of fulfilling the conditions of the qirā’ah mutawātirah, the majority of scholars are in the favor of not practicing according to them because they maintain that they aren’t the Qur’ān. Al-Bannā al-Dimyāṭī further noted that usūliyyūn and jurists have consensus that the qirā’ah shādhdhah does not belong to the Qur’ān. Thus, it is essential to write on this topic and adhere to the practical examples of the ten qirā’āt of the Qur’ān without the rare ones. The problem of this study revolves around the impact of the differences between the qirā’āt, as the difference between any two qirā’āt mutawātirah may have a jurisprudential impact and be a reason for the disagreement of scholars on many legal issues, in which it may be difficult for fiqh students to know the cause of the dispute. This is because of lack of knowledge or unfamiliarity with the qirā’āt. So, this article helps to shed some light on the subject. The researchers followed the inductive-analytical approach by extrapolating the Qur’ānic qirā’āt and collecting their examples as much as possible. But it is a partial extrapolation as it clarifies and presents some examples only. This is because of the limitations of the research paper. The study came to several conclusions, including: the Qur’ānic 10 qirā’āt are one of the most crucial methods for extrapolating rulings from the Qur’ānic texts, and as such, they have a considerable bearing on the divergent opinions of jurists about Sharīʽah rulings. The ten qirā’āt of the Qur’ān are authentic and have been transmitted in a direct line from the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). The article urges experts in qirā’āt, Qur’ānic science, and Sharīʽah scholars to promote and disseminate these 10 categories of qirā’āt among Muslims because according to the opinions of the scholars, they are all parts of the Qur’ān.