Versions of Quran

Versions of Quran
How they differ
- Glossary
The different editions
- The Seven Authoritative Reciters and Their Transmitters
- The Isnads
Situation and Problems
References

How they differ

Glossary

Saba'ah: Seven
Harf / Ahruf: Style(s)
Kitab: Book (Quran refers to itself as Kitab)
Rawi / Ruwah: Transmitter(s)
Riwayatan: Transmitted Versions
Q'ari / Qurra': Reciter(s)
Qira'ah (singular) / Qira'at (plural): Recitation(s)
Tajwid: The rules of pronunciation, intonation, and caesuras of the Qur'an
Harf: Style
Mus-haf: Codex / Collection of Pages
Sanad / Isnaad: Link(s) in transmission

They say the recitation was given to Mohammed in 7 different styles according to a Hadeeth, and therefore each recitation can be traced back to Mohammed.

Note

The 7 Ahrufs (al-Ahruf al-Saba') are not the 7 Qira'ahs (al-Qira'at al-Saba')

Uthman took the Quran from different styles and replaced them with a single style, but omitted the diacritic marks, so some other styles too could be accommodated, while omitting many other styles. This was done because people used to criticize one another for reading the Qur'an differently, and now only one style could be used.

The different editions

The Seven Authoritative Reciters and Their Transmitters

The readers were from the early centuries, and their recitations were textualized by the transmitters. The transmitted forms are what we read from today. Muslims say the Quran was revealed in 7 styles to Mohammed, so all are from Allah.

Nafi' (from Medina; d. 169/785)
- Imam Warsh
Ibn Kathir (from Mecca; d. 119/737)
Abu 'Amr al-'Ala' (from Damascus; d. 153/770)
Ibn 'Amir (from Basra; d. 118/736)
Hamzah (from Kufah; d. 156/772)
al-Qisa'i (from Kufah; d. 189/804)
Abu Bakr 'Asim (from Kufah; d. 158/778)
- Imam Hafs

@@Names again:

1-Naafi’ al-Madani
2-Ibn Katheer al-Makki
3-‘Aasim al-Kufi
4-Hamzah al-Zayaat al-Kufi
5-Al-Kisaa’i al-Kufi
6-Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala’ al-Basri
7-‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Aamir al-Shaami

The Isnads

Hafs -> Abu Bakr 'Asim -> al-Sulami
Warsh -> Nafi'
Isham (Asadi / from Banu Asad) -> Ibn 'Amir

Notes about the Qira'at

The ones who have the strongest Isnaad in recitation are Naafi’ and ‘Aasim.
The most eloquent are Abu ‘Amr and al-Kisaa’i.

Situation and Problems

Source: https://www.ugr.es/~mreligio/materiales/Green.Samuel_The-different-arabic-versions-of-the-Quran.pdf

Uthman destroyed all other copies of the Quran, and the differences between the ahrufs
So the claim that any of the recitations can be traced back to Mohammed is false
Everything can be traced back to the Uthmanic manuscript
So there are ten Q'aris (reciters) and seven Ahrufs (modes, as per the Hadith)
Muslims do not accept all of them as valid, they choose the best one for reading
Because "it is ridiculous to believe that God gave the recitation in different variants and we have to pick and choose"
There are 7 Mutawatir recitations and 3 Mashhur recitations