لطفا منتظر باشید ...
1. Because they have been
transmitted through akhbar ahad.
2. Because some of the seven qurra'
were not reliable (muwaththaq) as
narrators.
3. Because these qira'at
depend on subjective judgement (ray) and
personal ijtihad of the qurra'.
Had these been received through tawatur from the Messenger of Allah (S),
there would have been no need of a proof to establish their authenticity.
4. Because some scholars have rejected
some instances in the readings of the seven qurra'.
According to al‑Zarakshi in
al‑Burhan fi ulum al‑Qur'an
(i, 318), those who believe in these seven qira'at being mutawatir do so
on the following bases:
a. They claim ijma on the
affirmation of their tawatur.
b. They furnish evidence in
favour of their authenticity on the basis of the care exercised by the Sahabah
and Tabiun in the memorization and recitation of the Qur'an.
c. They argue that not to regard
these qira'at as mutawatir necessarily leads to regarding the Qur'an
also as non‑mutawatir.
That which is significant in this
relation is that believers in the tawatur of the seven qira'at
put a special kind of reliance upon
them, to the extent of considering them as permissible bases for deduction of ahkam. Those who deny that such a tawatur
existed do not consider such a reliance as legitimate. Abd al‑Rahman al‑Suyuti
in his work al‑Itqan fi ulum al‑Qur'an (i, 13.)
states that Ibn al‑Jazari has divided the qira'at into six
categories.
1. The readings which are mutawatir, having been narrated by so
many different narrators that any possibility of a conspiracy to establish
something false as true is not imaginable.
2. The mashhur readings whose narrators are adil although their number does not reach the extent of tawatur.
3. The readings whose narrators
are adil but are either different
from the writing of the Uthmani codices or are not in harmony with the rules
of Arabic grammar. This kind of reading should not be used in reciting the
Qur'an, in prayers or something else.
4. The shadhdh readings, whose chains of narrators are not sahih. An example of it is the reading
of Ibn Samigh of verse 92 of Surat
Yunus, in which is read with a ha' instead of jim and is read'with fathah on the lam of .
The reading of Hafs is
5. The reading which is majul or mawdu (fabricated) is one which is ascribed to its author and has
no other basis. An instance of it are the reading mentioned by Abu al‑Fadl
Muhammad ibn Ja'far al Khuza'i (d. 408/1017) in his book al Muntaha that he has attributed to Abu Hanifah.
One of such readings is that of
the verse (35:28) with raf on 'Allah' and nasb on al‑ulama'.
6. Like the mudraj hadith, this is a reading in which an expository word or
phrase is added to the accepted reading of the text. An instance of this kind
is the qira'ah of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
of 4:12 as with the addition ,
Another instance of it is the qira'ah of
verse 2:198 as with the addition of the phrase
For more details in this regard
one may refer to these books: al‑Taysir
dal‑qira'at al‑sab by al‑Dani, al‑Shatibiyyah by Abu Muhammad al‑Qasim al‑Shatibi,
and Tibat al‑nashr fi al‑qira'at
al‑ashr by Ibn al‑Jazari.
c. The Effect of the Readings
on Legal Deduction:
The difference of readings can
influence one's understanding of the doctrinal and ideological issues from the
Our'an as well as effect the deduction of practical ahkam. For instance, in the verse if the word Allah' be read as marfu (as
) and al‑'
ulama' as mansub (),
the meaning becomes something which is not in harmony with Islamic doctrine and
ideology (for then if it means, "God is apprehensive of His knowledgeable
servants"). Rather, it would then be in accordance with the belief of some
non‑Islamic modes of thought according to which the prohibited tree in
Paradise was the tree of knowledge and that God expelled Adam from Paradise
because of his inclination for knowledge. But if the verse is read with nasb on "Allah " and raf ' on al‑Ulama' the
meaning derived is the opposite of the above one and in harmony with the other
Qur'anic verses that constantly call man to knowledge, understanding,
contemplation and intellection, and consider the basis of man's obedience and
servitude to God to be his intellect and consciousness.
Although such differences of
reading are few, the knowledge of them and complete familiarity with them is
essential for someone who wants to acquire expert understanding of the Qur'an,
both the verses relating to ahkam and
other verses besides them.
For instance, in verse 222 of Surat al‑Baqarah, God Almighty
says:
..Go apart from women during the monthly course, and do not approach
them till they are clean. (2: 222)
There is a difference of reading
regarding the word ,
some read it as and
others as .
If read as it
means that it is permissible to have intercourse with a woman after her mensus
have ceased but before she has taken a ritual bath. If read as means that intercourse with her is not
permissible before she takes the bath. means' (until) they become clean' and means (until) they clean', i.e. through a
ritual bath.
A group of jurists belonging to
different schools of Islamic law, including some eminent Shi'i jurists, Abu
Hanifah and his followers, have given their faatwa
according to the first reading. Another group, including Malik, al‑Shafi'i
and Ahmad ibn Hanbal as well as some Shii jurists have given fatwa in
accordance with the second reading.
By the way, a third viewpoint is
found among the Sunnis according to which taharah'
in the verse is taken to mean washing clean of the bloody locale, not bath.
Among them are Abd al‑Rahman al‑'Awza'i, the founder of the Awza'i
school of law and Ibn Hazm, the second ranking leader of the Zahiri school.
The reason for the divergence of
views between the jurists is due to the fact that the word tuhr is used in all the three meanings in the Arabic tongue.
The Comprehensive Character of
the Qur'an:
After this brief outline of legal
studies relating to the Qur'an, it is necessary to point out that the terms fiqh ; faqahah'and faqih' in the parlance current in Islamic society
convey a significance related exclusively to matters of worship and
ritual. As a result of it the task of jtihad
has practically been confined to about 500 verses, or nearly onesixth, of
the Qur'an. Accordingly, the rest of the Qur'anic verses have not been studied
sufficiently from the viewpoint of ijtihad.
But it is a fact that the fiqh, faqahah and tafaqquh which are mentioned in the Qur'an and many traditions as
an activity possessing sublime value are not what these terms have come to
mean in our current vocabulary. Rather, the meaning that they signify today may
be considered only a part of the real meaning of fiqh' and faqahah' because
the spirit of Islam is asocial and an all‑embracing one. The movement of
the prophets has been a comprehensive and an all‑embracing movement
which, for the purpose of developing spirituality, devotion and observance of
divine laws, has placed the reform of human society, the purification and
education of human beings, their moral development and the implementation of
social justice at the head of its programme.
Fiqh or tafaqquh includes
the recognition and understanding of all the values that the Messenger of Allah
(S) has brought in his capacity as the messenger and communicator of the
revelation. Evidently, that which the Prophet (S) has brought meets all the
real needs of man and those of his spiritual and material life. The Qur'an,
obviously, occupies the foremost arid the most fundamental position in the
message. Accordingly, attention to a part of its contents and neglect of its
other parts amounts to deviation from the straight path, which is condemned by
the Qur'an, which declares:
Those who say, We believe in part, and disbelieve in part,' desiring
to take between this and that a way - those in truth are the unbelievers. (4:150‑151).
And also says:
And (O Prophet) beware of them lest they tempt thee away from any of
what God has sent down to thee. (5:49).
To limit fiqh to the ayat al‑'ahkam, and that too to a
section of them related to prayer, fasting, hajj and such matters of ritual as wudu',
tayammum and so on, is equivalent to
the exercise of a selective, discriminatory approach in relation to the Divine
8yat and ahkam ‑ something which has taken place unwittingly and
unconsciously. The same thing has been responsible for the decline of the
Muslim society after the first centuries of rising glory. This is because the
Qur'an and Sunnah that guarantee the flourishing life of human society are the whole of the Qur'an and the Sunnah in
their uncompromised totality. If this totality is ignored or neglected, that
guarantee too shall cease to operate.
If we observe that the
magnificent Prophet of Islam (S) was able to mould a primitive and unlettered
people within half a century into a civilized, progressive and exemplary
society with a system of political and social life, law, morality and doctrine
superior to all the other systems that existed in the world of those days, that
was because he presented a perfect and multifaceted totality to the Muslims.
