The Seven Letters

What Is the Preferred View on the Seven Ahruf (Letters)?

Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "Jibreel recited to me in one manner (harf), and I kept asking him for more, and he kept granting me more, until he reached seven manners (ahruf)." (Agreed upon.)

Ubayy ibn Ka'b reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was at the pool of Bani Ghifar when Jibreel, peace be upon him, came to him and said: "Allah commands you to recite the Quran to your community in one manner." He said: "I ask Allah for His pardon and forgiveness; my community cannot bear that." Jibreel came a second time and said: "Allah commands you to recite the Quran to your community in two manners." He said: "I ask Allah for His pardon and forgiveness; my community cannot bear that." He came a third time and said: "Allah commands you to recite the Quran to your community in three manners." He said the same. He came a fourth time and said: "Allah commands you to recite the Quran to your community in seven manners; whichever manner they recite, they will have done rightly." (Narrated by Muslim.)

'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I heard Hisham ibn Hakeem ibn Hizam reciting Surah Al-Furqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. I listened to his recitation, and he was reciting it in ways quite different from what the Messenger of Allah had taught me. I nearly confronted him during the prayer, but I waited until he finished, then I seized his cloak and asked who had taught him this surah as he recited it. He said the Messenger of Allah had taught it to him. I said, "You are lying, for the Messenger of Allah taught me this very surah differently from how I heard you recite it." So I took him to the Messenger of Allah and said: "I heard this man reciting Surah Al-Furqan in ways you did not teach me, while you taught me Surah Al-Furqan [differently]." The Messenger of Allah said: "Recite it, Hisham," and he recited it as I had heard him. The Messenger of Allah said: "It was revealed this way." Then he said: "Recite, 'Umar," and I recited it as he had taught me, and the Messenger of Allah said: "It was revealed this way." Then the Messenger of Allah said: "This Quran was revealed in seven manners, so recite whichever of it is easy for you." (Agreed upon.)

Scholars have differed on the precise meaning of the "seven Ahruf," with the most well-known views being:

First view: that the seven Ahruf are seven dialects among the eloquent Arab tribal languages, such as the dialect of Quraysh, Hudhayl, Hawazin, and others — accounting for the differences between these dialects. This is the view chosen by Al-Qasim ibn Sallam, Ibn 'Atiyyah, and others. Ibn Al-Jazari said: "Most scholars hold that they are dialects."

Second view: that the seven Ahruf are seven modes of consistent meaning expressed through different wordings. This is the view of Abu Al-Fadl Ar-Razi, Ibn Qutaybah, Ibn Al-Jazari, and others. These seven modes are:

— Differences in nouns: singular, dual, plural, masculine, feminine. Example: ﴾Walladheena hum li-amanatihim wa'ahdihim ra'oon﴿ (Al-Mu'minun: 8), where "li-amanatihim" was recited in the singular form.

— Differences in verb conjugation: past, present, imperative. Example: ﴾Faqaloo rabbana ba'id bayna asfarina﴿ (Saba: 19) in the imperative form of supplication, also recited as "rabbana ba'ada" in the past tense.
— Differences in grammatical case endings. Example: ﴾Dhu-l-'arshi-l-majeed﴿ (Al-Buruj: 15), recited with "al-majeed" in the nominative and the genitive case.
— Differences by omission and addition. Example: ﴾Wama khalaqa-dh-dhakara wal-untha﴿ (Al-Layl: 3), also recited as "adh-dhakara wal-untha" [without "wama khalaqa"].
— Differences in word order. Example: ﴾Fayaqtuloona wayuqtaloon﴿ (At-Tawbah: 111), also recited as "fayuqtaloona wayaqtuloon".

— Substitution and interchange of letters. Example: ﴾Wanzhur ila-l-'izhami kayfa nunshizuha﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 259) with a Zaa, also recited as "nunshiruha" with a Raa.
— Differences in dialectal pronunciation, such as Fath and Imalah, Tafkheem and Tarqeeq, Idhar and Idgham. Example: ﴾Hal ataka hadeethu Musa﴿ (An-Nazi'at: 15), recited with both Fath and Imalah in "ata" and "Musa".

These last two views are the strongest of what has been said in explaining the meaning of the seven Ahruf, with the first view being the strongest, and Allah knows best.

An important note: it should be pointed out here that the seven Ahruf are not the same as the seven mutawatir Qira'at (transmitted readings) known today. This confusion arises from the shared number seven between the Ahruf and the Qira'at. The seven Qira'at were not known as such until the fourth Islamic century, when the reciter-scholar Ibn Mujahid compiled the readings of certain imam-reciters, and it happened that their number matched the number of Ahruf. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said on this matter: "There is no dispute among credible scholars that the seven Ahruf which the Prophet, peace be upon him, mentioned that the Quran was revealed upon, are not the same as the well-known seven readings of the seven reciters."

It should also be noted that 'Uthman and the rest of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, compiled the Quran upon a single Harf — the dialect of Quraysh — and that the well-known mutawatir Qira'at fall within this single Harf. Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Among this is that 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, united the [Muslim] nation upon a single Harf from among the seven Ahruf, so that their disagreement over it would not become a pretext for disagreement over the Quran itself, and the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, agreed with him on this."