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.
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.