# Where do the variant readings of the Quran come from?

*Were the words fixed? Surah al-Qiyamah 75:16-19, the chronological recitation and its remnants as the source of the qira'at*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/f2bcgwatu5g/s/6/
- Date: 2020-06-19 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Dr. Shehzad Saleem | the Preservation of the Quran & the Problem of Qira'at | MindTrap with Mufti#26 (24:57–28:54)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2BcGWatU5g&t=1497s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/f2bcgwatu5g/

**Topics:** Preservation and variant readings; Tafsir and verse study; Guest conversations

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** The guest says the Quran was revealed chronologically and then recompiled in a new divine order, as 75:16-19 describes; remnants of the earlier recitation kept by the companions are the biggest source of the qira'at. The final order was fixed when the Prophet revised the Quran twice with Jibril in his last Ramadan.

## Longer summary

The guest says the Quran itself speaks of its compilation, and this is where Farahi began: in Surah al-Qiyamah 75:16-19 Allah reassures the Prophet that the Quran, revealed piecemeal, will be collected by Allah and then read out, and that when it is reread in its final compilation the Prophet must follow that recitation and abandon the chronological one. The Quran was thus revealed chronologically and recompiled in a different, divinely given order, with some tenses, word orders and settings changed because it was now addressed to all mankind. The remnants of the chronological recitation persisted, because the companions did not want to give up what they had heard from the Prophet's mouth, and in the guest's view this parallel transmission is the biggest single source, perhaps seventy percent, of the extra-Quranic readings. Mufti Abu Layth checks his understanding that the qira'at originate in the earlier revelatory sequence that was later reread, and the guest confirms it, citing the reports that in his final Ramadan the Prophet revised the whole Quran twice with Jibril and sat in i'tikaf for twenty days instead of ten so that the new order could be preserved and passed to the ummah, a revision that had happened every Ramadan for that year's revelation.

## Sources and names cited

- Dr Shehzad Saleem (guest)
- Quran 75:16-19 (upon Us is its collection and its recitation): https://quran.com/75/16-19
- Hamiduddin Farahi
- qira'at (the variant readings)
- Jibril (Gabriel)
- i'tikaf
- report: in his final ramadan the prophet revised the quran with jibril twice and sat in itikaf for twenty days

## Transcript (machine tier, 24:57–28:54)

[24:31] in the Quran when the Prophet was reading this are you espousing the opinion that there was it was absolutely fixed the word is as the word is today all of the words yes I do but there is a little explanation perhaps that would that is in order because to understand this I would say yes and just to explain how I say yes I would say that the history of the compilation of the Quran is something which the Quran itself has itself has spoken of so you see when you talk about the collection of the Quran you first go to the primary source which is the Quran itself and this is precisely what Hamilton fara he did when

[25:10] he pointed out Surat Yama's verses 15 to 19 he said that these verses in Nara Lena Jumeirah who before Anna Faris apirana Fattah via purana Suman Elena by Anna this point out to the fact that the Quran was revealed through logically and then it was recompiled in a different order so the words are in our Elena Jumeirah huwa karana that these various parts of the Quran which have been revealed piecemeal in installments the Almighty is assuring the Prophet in a matte concern we know that surah clearomizer mekkin syrups and the Quran was in the process of its revelation so while while dispelling

[25:50] some doubts which the Prophet had in mind or maybe laying some of his fears the Quran goes on to say that don't worry your prophet it will not be given to you in one go it will be given to you in various installments and then it is upon me for other Almighty says to collect it in our Elena Gemara who I will collect its various parts and then read it before Anna who I would read it in a different order because the chronological order and the order that we have today are different but is a karana Futaba karana so when I reread the Quran in the final though in the final compilation you are bound to or to follow that file recitation as far as the key neurological recitation is

[26:28] concerned you have to abandon it now what has happened is that the remnants of that chronological recitation have persisted and the biggest source of these extra Quranic readings are is that chronological sequence or that chronological reading in which the Quran was sent down and then when it was recompiled some of the tenses were changed some of the word orders were altered and of course because of the fact that it was to be given to the the rest of mankind certain settings were changed but the chronological order was also preserved because from the people the Sahaba they did not want to give it away because they thought that whatever they have heard from the mouth

[27:07] of the Prophet it must be preserved so we have a case of a parallel transmission of the it's not the exactly logical order I would say the remnants of the chronological order so from their originating the qira'at and as far as the complete recompilation to the Quran is concerned that is the Quran that we have with us today so what you have just two just before that part just kind of evades us so the chronological order of many people will know that the chronological order isn't how the Quran is is eventually compiled or put together because the Mucky sutras aren't always in the beginning everybody

[27:45] knows people know that but we're saying that the Kira at are you saying that the Kira art or originated or they find the origins in the previous like it was a real first and then it was reread right so since I was I'm saying that one of the major sources of the kirat maybe 70% is that the revelatory sequence which was abandoned and as we know that the new sequence was given to the Quran and we know that the Hadees also corroborate this when they say that in the final Amazon of the Prophet he actually revised the Quran with Gabriel twice and

[28:23] he actually sat for Ithaca for 20 days instead of the normal ten days and the Quran was revised between him and the prepend and Gabriel twice so that the new order of the Quran could be preserved and this happened every death on this revision of whatever would be revealed in that year happened in every Ramazan only in the last Ramadan the whole rearrangement or the whole complete order was preserved and that was passed on to the Ummah now what happened is that some of the Sahaba insisted that because of the fact that they've heard the previous Quran is well although some of the parts of that Quran so we would not give it up but we would

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment f2BcGWatU5g/s/6. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/f2bcgwatu5g/s/6/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.