✿ Qirāʾāt Mutawātirah
These are the recitations that have been transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ through Tawātur (mass transmission), are authentic and accepted, and comply with Arabic grammatical rules and the ʿUthmānic script. Only these Qirāʾāt are permissible for recitation, and the current Qur’an is comprised solely of these recitations.
✿ Qirāʾāt Shādhah
These are recitations whose chain of transmission is weak or which contradict the Arabic rules or the ʿUthmānic script.
✔ Definition and Reason for the Term
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (رحمه الله):
“A Qirāʾah Shādhah is a recitation transmitted as Qur’an, but not established through Tawātur and not accepted by the leading scholars of Qirāʾāt.”
(al-Burhān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, 1/481)
Dr. Labīb al-Saʿīd (رحمه الله):
“A Qirāʾah Shādhah is one transmitted by a solitary chain, which contradicts the ʿUthmānic script but conforms to Arabic grammar.”
(al-Jamʿ al-Ṣawtī al-Awwal li-l-Qurʾān, p. 221)
✔ Reason for the Term
These recitations are termed “shādhah” (isolated) because they deviate from the ʿUthmānic script.
(Manāhil al-ʿIrfān, 1/376)
✿ Types of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
➊ With an authentic chain and consistent with rules but not transmitted through Tawātur.
➋ With an authentic chain and in accordance with the Arabic language, but differing from the ʿUthmānic script.
➌ With an authentic chain and consistent with the ʿUthmānic script, but in conflict with Arabic grammar.
➍ With an authentic chain but containing interpretive additions, not Qur’anic wording.
➎ With a weak chain, regardless of whether it conforms to the rules or not.
➏ Without any chain at all, regardless of its consistency with the rules.
✔ Example:
A Qirāʾah lacking an authentic chain or proper linguistic consistency is called shādhah or even fabricated, and it is impermissible to recite.
(al-Muḥtasab, 1/247; al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabʿ, p. 278; al-Nashr, 1/16; al-Itqān, 1/77)
✿ Sharʿī Status of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
✔ Consensus of the Ummah:
All scholars agree that Qirāʾāt Shādhah are not part of the Qur’an.
ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥazm (رحمه الله):
“It is impermissible to write a Qirāʾah Shādhah in the Muṣḥaf or recite it as Qur’an.”
(al-Muḥallā, 4/255)
ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (رحمه الله):
“Scholars have forbidden prayer behind someone reciting Qirāʾah Shādhah.”
(al-Tamhīd, 8/293)
✿ Authority of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
Some scholars accept Qirāʾāt Shādhah as explanatory statements (tafsīr)—like ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) and other Companions did.
✔ Conditions for Acceptance as Hadith:
✿ Qirāʾāt Shādhah and Atheistic Objections
✔ Claim by the Atheists and Orientalists:
Orientalists and atheists, such as Goldziher and Arthur Jeffery, have objected based on Qirāʾāt Shādhah. They claim that the existence of these recitations suggests variations in the Qur’anic text.
✔ Reality:
The only accepted recitations of the Qur’an are those that:
✔ Clarification of Objections:
✿ Summary:
✔ Qirāʾāt Shādhah lack the criteria to be considered part of the Qur’an; hence, the Ummah unanimously agrees that they are not Qur’anic.
✔ It is impermissible to recite them as part of the Qur’an or in prayer.
✔ The majority of scholars accept a Qirāʾah Shādhah as a ḥadīth only if it has an authentic chain and does not conflict with stronger evidence.
These are the recitations that have been transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ through Tawātur (mass transmission), are authentic and accepted, and comply with Arabic grammatical rules and the ʿUthmānic script. Only these Qirāʾāt are permissible for recitation, and the current Qur’an is comprised solely of these recitations.
✿ Qirāʾāt Shādhah
These are recitations whose chain of transmission is weak or which contradict the Arabic rules or the ʿUthmānic script.
✔ Definition and Reason for the Term
Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (رحمه الله):
“A Qirāʾah Shādhah is a recitation transmitted as Qur’an, but not established through Tawātur and not accepted by the leading scholars of Qirāʾāt.”
(al-Burhān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, 1/481)
Dr. Labīb al-Saʿīd (رحمه الله):
“A Qirāʾah Shādhah is one transmitted by a solitary chain, which contradicts the ʿUthmānic script but conforms to Arabic grammar.”
(al-Jamʿ al-Ṣawtī al-Awwal li-l-Qurʾān, p. 221)
✔ Reason for the Term
These recitations are termed “shādhah” (isolated) because they deviate from the ʿUthmānic script.
(Manāhil al-ʿIrfān, 1/376)
✿ Types of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
➊ With an authentic chain and consistent with rules but not transmitted through Tawātur.
➋ With an authentic chain and in accordance with the Arabic language, but differing from the ʿUthmānic script.
➌ With an authentic chain and consistent with the ʿUthmānic script, but in conflict with Arabic grammar.
➍ With an authentic chain but containing interpretive additions, not Qur’anic wording.
➎ With a weak chain, regardless of whether it conforms to the rules or not.
➏ Without any chain at all, regardless of its consistency with the rules.
✔ Example:
A Qirāʾah lacking an authentic chain or proper linguistic consistency is called shādhah or even fabricated, and it is impermissible to recite.
(al-Muḥtasab, 1/247; al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabʿ, p. 278; al-Nashr, 1/16; al-Itqān, 1/77)
✿ Sharʿī Status of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
✔ Consensus of the Ummah:
All scholars agree that Qirāʾāt Shādhah are not part of the Qur’an.
ʿAllāmah Ibn Ḥazm (رحمه الله):
“It is impermissible to write a Qirāʾah Shādhah in the Muṣḥaf or recite it as Qur’an.”
(al-Muḥallā, 4/255)
ʿAllāmah Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (رحمه الله):
“Scholars have forbidden prayer behind someone reciting Qirāʾah Shādhah.”
(al-Tamhīd, 8/293)
✿ Authority of Qirāʾāt Shādhah
Some scholars accept Qirāʾāt Shādhah as explanatory statements (tafsīr)—like ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) and other Companions did.
✔ Conditions for Acceptance as Hadith:
- It must have an authentic chain.
- There should be no strong opposing evidence.
- There should be no abrogation of that Qirāʾah.
✿ Qirāʾāt Shādhah and Atheistic Objections
✔ Claim by the Atheists and Orientalists:
Orientalists and atheists, such as Goldziher and Arthur Jeffery, have objected based on Qirāʾāt Shādhah. They claim that the existence of these recitations suggests variations in the Qur’anic text.
✔ Reality:
The only accepted recitations of the Qur’an are those that:
- Are established through authentic chains from the Prophet ﷺ.
- Conform to Arabic grammar.
- Align with the ʿUthmānic script.
✔ Clarification of Objections:
- Explanatory Additions:
Sometimes Companions or Tābiʿīn added interpretive words alongside Qur’anic verses, but these were not part of the Qur’anic text.
Example: In the Muṣḥaf of ʿĀʾishah (رضي الله عنها), an explanatory note about Ṣalāh al-ʿAṣr was included.
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Masājid wa Mawāḍiʿ al-Ṣalāh, Ḥadīth: 1427) - Abrogated Recitations:
Some recitations had been abrogated, but certain Companions, unaware of this, continued to recite them.
Example: Abū al-Dardāʾ (رضي الله عنه) reciting an abrogated Qirāʾah of Sūrah al-Layl.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Kitāb al-Tafsīr, Ḥadīth: 4944) - Weak and Fabricated Narrations:
Some recitations are based on weak or fabricated chains, such as the recitations of Ibn Lusaymīʿ.
(al-Nashr, 1/16)
✿ Summary:
✔ Qirāʾāt Shādhah lack the criteria to be considered part of the Qur’an; hence, the Ummah unanimously agrees that they are not Qur’anic.
✔ It is impermissible to recite them as part of the Qur’an or in prayer.
✔ The majority of scholars accept a Qirāʾah Shādhah as a ḥadīth only if it has an authentic chain and does not conflict with stronger evidence.
