Abstract:

The science of recitation (qira’āt), which provides great convenience in the recitation, memorization, interpretation and understanding of the Qur'an started during the period of The Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) and developed systematically through listening and recitation, and reached today. Despite such diversity of recitations that are not included in the holy books of other heavenly religions, the absence of contradiction and discrepancy in it constitutes one of the greatest proofs of its being the word of Allah. The authentic recitations in the science of recitation are accepted as one of the most important Islamic sciences, and the ones related to “the method of the seven letters” make it easier to read the Qur'an. On the other hand, those related to ferşu’l-ḥurūf, apart from the seven letters, should be evaluated in a separate category that constitutes the basis of the science of recitation. The recitation differences related to ferşu'l-ḥurūf replace the interpretation of the divine intention by verse through giving different ways of reading some words in the Qur'an. In addition, āhād qira’āt is the interpretation of the Qur'an with ḥadīth. It is one of the shāz recitations. It includes the additions of companions which are not originally recitations and are accepted as the interpretation of the Qur'an with the words of the companions. Since it has nothing to do with tafsīr and qira’āt, it is never possible to evaluate the readings as qira’āt. The recitations that record even the different pronunciations of a word are a clear proof of how delicately the Qur'an is protected. Scholars who are interested in tafsīr has always given importance to the science of recitation and discussed the qira’āt in their works. Except for some recitation books written before Ibn al-Javzī (597/1200), recitation differences which do not affect the meaning were given place in the first degree, while the recitation differences that have effect on the meaning related to the ferşu’l-ḥurūf were given place in the second degree. Ibn al-Javzī, one of the prominent representatives of the ecole of narration and discernment, gave more place to the recitation differences that have effect on the meaning related to the ferşu’l-ḥurūf rather than the ones that didn’t in his work Zād al-masīr fī ‘ilm al-tafsīr. He also included in his work the shāz qira’āt that he reached by means of recounting or that are in accordance with the Musḥaf line and Arabic language rules, which have an effect on understanding, rather than systematic recitals such as qira’āt-i seb'a, qira’āt-i ashera or qira’āt-i erbeate ashera, and he almost summarized the tafsīr acquis of the previous period. While conveying the aspects of recitation, Ibn al-Javzī gave brief information about the subject and generally avoided details and tried to make his tafsīr a concise work. The way he works on recitations indicates that he is competent in the science of recitation as well as in the sciences of tafsīr, ḥadīth and fiqh. Thanks to the multi-meaning and dialectical approach (the formation, which is the process of formation of the content of the Qur'an that continue simultaneously with the revelations during the revelation process and afterwards with the interpretations ever since the Qur'an began to descend; the constitution, in which the Qur'an changes and transforms its addressee by influence) supported by the recitations, the Qur'an, unlike other scriptures, will be able to survive as a fresh text that offers solutions to the problems of every era without turning into a dull dogma and will continue to guide people at all times. In this respect, the recitations reveal how rich the Qur'an is in terms of word and meaning. Our explicator followed a method of tafsīr that strives to comprehend all interpretations of a certain part in the text instead of deeming a particular interpretation as the only valid interpretation. Thus, the Qur'an was not imprisoned in the period of revelation and its connection with the factual situations experienced by the Muslims that came later didn't cease to exist.

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