Orality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’

Year 2014, Issue: 42, 329 - 379, 31.12.2014

Nazife Nihal İnce

Abstract

Orality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’The well known ḥadīth that the Qur’ān was revealed according to sevenaḥruf (‘alā sab‘ati aḥruf) indicates that a certain amount of variation in the text of the Qur’ān was considered legitimate, indeed normal, in the earliest days of Islam. The dominant view among traditional scholars is that this initial allowance was then reduced by the decision of the Caliph ‘Uthmān, with the agreement of the Companions, to unify the community on one textual skeleton (rasm), albeit allowing for various ‘readings’ (qirā’āt), such as those of the Seven, the Ten, etc., within the confines of this rasm.In this article, we consider the various traditional interpretations of the ‘seven aḥruf’ ḥadīth, alongside the numerous references to non-standard variant readings in the ḥadīth, tafsīr and qirā’āt literature, to gain a clearer idea of the nature of this textual variation both before and after ‘Uthmān’s decision. At the same time, we aim to apply the insights gained from orality studies (particularly work done on the Homeric tradition) to show how the picture outlined in the traditional sources suggests an oral recitation (qur’ān) with an initial degree of multiformity (in this instance, ‘seven aḥruf’), such as is characteristic of oral texts, which is then presented in a written version (known as al-rasm al-‘Uthmānī or al-maṣāḥif al-‘Uthmāniyya) which has a much greater degree of uniformity, such as is characteristic of written texts, although a degree of multiformity is nevertheless maintained (the Seven/Ten Readings, etc.). Finally, we consider the course of recent Euro-American scholarship on the Qur’ān in the light of these observations

Keywords

Harf/Ahruf, Readings, Mushaf, Multiformity

SÖZLÜ KOMPOZİSYON, YAZILI KOMPOZİSYON VE YEDİ HARF HADİSİ

Abstract

ÖZ

Kur’an-ıKerim’in yedi harf uzere (‘alāsab‘ati aḥruf ) indirildiğini bildiren

meşhur hadis, islamiyetin erken donemlerinde Kur’an metnine ait belirli sayıaki

kıaat farklıılarıı meşu, daha doğusu normal, kabul edildiğni gosterir.

İlamiyet’in ilk donemlerinde var olan bu serbestliğn daha sonra halife Osman’ı

(r.a.), sahabenin de onayııalarak MuslumanlarıKur’an metninin tek yazı

biciminde (rasm) birleşirme kararıla daraltıdığıgoruş geleneksel alimler arasıda

hakimdir. Her ne kadar bu yazı bicimi bilinen yedi, on v.b. bircok kıaat

şkline acı olsa da sıılayııolduğna hukmedilmişir.

Bu makalede, yedi harf hadisi hakkıdaki ceştli yorumları yanısıa hadis,

tefsir, kıaat literaturunde yer alan standart dışıkıaatlere dair referanslarıda ele

alarak bu metinsel ceştliliğn halife Osman’ı (r.a.) kararıdan onceki ve sonraki

durumu hakkıda net bir fikir oluşurmayıamaclıoruz. Aynızamanda, sozlu

kompozisyon araşımalarıı (bilhassa Homer geleneğ ile ilgili araşımaları)

verilerini Kur’ā metniyle ilgili bilgilere uygulamak suretiyle klasik kaynaklarda

nası bir tablonun ortaya cıtığııgostermeyi hedefliyoruz. Bu doğultuda,

başangıta var olan cok bicimli sozlu kıaati, (bu ornekte ‘yedi harf ’) bir sozlu

kompozisyon orneğ olarak; sonradan ileri seviyede tek bicimli yazıımetin haline

getirilen (er-resm el-‘Osmāīveya el-maṣāḥif el-‘Osmāiyye olarak bilinen)

Kur’ā metnini, belirli bir seviyede cok bicimlilik devam etse de(yedi, on v.b.

kıaatler gibi), bir yazııkompozisyon orneğ olarak onereceğz. Son olarak bu

incelemelerin ışığıda cağaşAvrupa-Amerikan Kur’ā bilimleri calışalarııdeğrlendireceğz.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Harf, Kıraat, Mushaf, Cok bicimlilik.

ABSTRACT

Orality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’

The well known ḥadīth that the Qur’ā was revealed according to

sevenaḥruf (‘alāsab‘ati aḥruf) indicates that a certain amount of variation in the

text of the Qur’ā was considered legitimate, indeed normal, in the earliest days of

Islam. The dominant view among traditional scholars is that this initial allowance

was then reduced by the decision of the Caliph ‘Uthmā, with the agreement of

the Companions, to unify the community on one textual skeleton (rasm), albeit

allowing for various ‘readings’ (qirā’ā), such as those of the Seven, the Ten, etc.,

within the confines of this rasm.

In this article, we consider the various traditional interpretations of the

‘seven aḥruf ’ ḥadīth, alongside the numerous references to non-standard variant

readings in the ḥadīth, tafsīr and qirā’ā literature, to gain a clearer idea of the

nature of this textual variation both before and after ‘Uthmā’s decision. At the

same time, we aim to apply the insights gained from orality studies (particularly

work done on the Homeric tradition) to show how the picture outlined in the

traditional sources suggests an oral recitation (qur’ā) with an initial degree of

multiformity (in this instance, ‘seven aḥruf ’), such as is characteristic of oral texts,

which is then presented in a written version (known as al-rasm al-‘Uthmāīor

al-maṣāḥif al-‘Uthmāiyya) which has a much greater degree of uniformity, such

as is characteristic of written texts, although a degree of multiformity is nevertheless

maintained (the Seven/Ten Readings, etc.). Finally, we consider the course of recent

Euro-American scholarship on the Qur’ā in the light of these observations.

Keywords: Harf/Ahruf, Readings, Mushaf, Multiformity.

Keywords

Harf, Kıraat, Mushaf, Çok biçimlilik

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