The Qur’anic Readings Assumed by Al-Farrāʾ without Unaware of their Authentic Reciters

Abstract

This research explores the modes of Qirāʾāt (Qur’anic readings) assumed by Al-Farrāʾ with the purpose of examining them and attributing them to their authentic reciters, even though he did not confirm them as being authentic. It consists of an introduction, two sections, and a conclusion. The first section provides an overview of Al-Farrāʾ and his book entitled Maʿāní l-Qurʾān, as well as his approach in attributing the modes of readings. The second section examines the modes of readings hypothesized by Al-Farrāʾ that happened to conform to authentically reported ones. The research findings reveal that the book of Maʿāní l-Qurʾān is an encyclopedia in the science of Qirāʾāt, as it is in the science of exegesis, parsing, and language fundamentals. Another important finding is that many of the Quran’s meanings cannot be fully grasped by the commentators of the Quran except by relying upon the modes of recitations. It has also been found that every meaning that al-Farrāʾ allowed as a correct mode without certainty falls under Al-Farsh (variations) and not al-Uṣūl (principles of recitation). This might be attributed to the fact that disagreement on Al-Uṣūl has no impact on the different meanings of the Qur’an and its diversity.