أثر تجرد الخط في نشأة القراءات القرآنية عند المستشرقين : عرض و مناقشة

Abstract EN

The Impact of Un-dotted Arabic Calligraphy in the Emergence of the Variant Readings of the Qur’an: The Orientalists’ Views.

This paper responds to suggestions by orientalists that the origin of variant Qur’anic readings is due to the lack of dots and signs in the first copies of the Qur’anic script.

The paper is divided into four sections.

In the first section, I discuss the stripping of the initial copy of the Qur’anic script of marks and other signs.

I also discuss the two commonly proffered explanations.

Secondly, I discuss the theories of the orientalists regarding to the origin of the readings (i.e., that they stem from the un-dotted Qur’anic script), whereby I concur with the most prominent view, particularly as represented by the Hungarian orientalist Goldziher, who attributed the emergence of the readings to un-dotted Arabic calligraphy.

I also respond to Berjtsrar, the German orientalist who analyzed the variant readings and concluded that the seven readings are little affected except for a limited benefit gained from the extended freedom afforded by the absence of the dots and vowel signs.

In the third section, I present my view based on Islamic sources regarding the origin of the variant Qur’anic readings, which could be summarized as follows: the variant readings are the result of the notion of the “seven letters”.

The famous reciters of the Qur’an to whom the readings are attributed had learned from the followers of the Companions, and thus they were not relying on their own initiative.

In the fourth section, I try to balance the various views and conclude that the differences between the recitations are not the same as those in the readings of the ancient manuscripts for there is no relationship between the author of a manuscript and the one who reads it.

As for the Qur’anic scripture, it was memorized before being written down, and the readings were known before the writing.

Therefore, how could the variation arise from the script?