Having graduated from the school of Ramadan, the most pressing lesson for the ummah is that of istiqamah. It is the second-most important command after iman. It is a command that made the Prophet’s hair turn white. Come take a look at the concept of istiqmah, its virtue and importance and 7 means to achieve and maintain it in the aftermath of Ramadan. From the mimbar of Masjid Tawheed. . .
7 Steps to Istiqamah After Ramadan
KHUTBAH: Celebrating Ramadan and Beyond
Celebrating Ramadhan & Beyond from machaudry on Vimeo.
Jumma Khutbah by Dr. Abu Zayd at the Islamic Center of Basking Ridge (www.icbri.org) on Friday, September 18, 2009.
Relevant Biographies in Qirā’āt Studies
Imām Nāfi‘ (d 169H): Originally from Isfahān, Abū Abdu’l-Raḥmān Nāfi‘b. Abdu’l-Raḥmān b. Abī Na‘īm al-Laythī al-Madanī was a prominent Qurʼānic scholar and native of Madīnah, who was a student of over seventy Successors, and the teacher of many illustrious personalities, including his two main transmitters Qālūn and Warsh, as well as Imām Mālik. He taught for seventy odd years, including leading prayers in the Prophet’s Masjid for sixty years, and became known as the leading authority in Qirā’ah in Madīnah. He was described as being extremely handsome in appearance, with intensely black skin, noble in character and diligent in worship. When he spoke he would exhume the fragrance of musk from his mouth, and when questioned about that, replied that he saw the Prophet in a dream reciting Qurʼān into his mouth and from that point on he began to use fragrance.
Imām Warsh (d 197H): Abū Sa‘īd ‘Uthmān b. Sa‘īd b. Abdullah al-Miṣrī, given the title Warsh by Imām Nāfi‘ due to his pale color, was born in Egypt in 110H, traveled to Madīnah to learn the Qurʼān from Nāfi‘ in 155H and returned to become the leading authority in Qirā’ah in Egypt until his death in 197H.
Imām Qālūn (d 220H): ‘Īsā b. Mīnā b. Wardān b. ‘Īsā al-Zarqī, he was a prominent student of Imām Nāfi‘ in Madīnah who gave him the title Qālūn due to his excellent recitation and would refer students to study with him in his own lifetime. He was described as being deaf to a great degree but could only hear the Qurʼān.
Imām al-Azraq (d 240H): Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf b. ‘Amrū Yasār al-Madanī al-Miṣrī was the leading student of Imām Warsh, who completed the Qurʼān twenty times with him and inherited the mantle of leadership upon his demise.
Imām ‘Āṣim al-Kūfī (d 127H): Abū Bakr ‘Āṣim b. Abi’l-Nujūd al-Kūfī was a prominent Successor (Tābi‘ī) and student of Abū Abd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (d 75H) and Zirr b. Ḥubaysh (d 83H). He inherited the mantle of leadership in Qurʼānic recitation in Kūfah after the demise of al-Sulamī. His students were many, including none other than Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (d 150H), Abū ‘Amrū b. al-‘Alā’, and Ḥammād b. Zayd, but the two most prominent students were Shu‘bah b. ‘Ayyāsh and Ḥafṣ b. Sulaymān. He was known for his adherence to the Sunnah, his mastery of the Qurʼān and his eloquence and mastery over language. He died in 127 H, and his last spoken words were verse 62 of Sūrah al-An‘ām.
Imām Shu‘bah b. ‘Ayyāsh (d193H): Abū Bakr b. ‘Ayyāsh b. Sālim al-Asadī al-Kūfī was born in 95H and was a seller of wheat by trade. He was a devoted student of Imām ‘Āṣim, he recited to Asim 3 times. Those who narrated ḥadīth from him included Abū Dāwūd and Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. He was an avid worshipper and was known to devote himself to the Qurʼān nightly for much of his life. On his deathbed, he consoled his weeping sister, “Do not grieve, for in this room I have finished the Qurʼān 18,000 times.” He died in 193H.
Imām al-Shāṭibī (d 590H): Abū Muḥammad al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh b. Khalaf al-Ru‘aynī al-Andalusī al-Shāṭibī, he was born in Shāṭibah in Andalūs in 538H and was a brilliant mind and scholar of a wide variety of fields, including Qurʼān recitation and ḥadīth studies. He would correct from his memory errors in the manuscripts of the Muwaṭṭa and Ṣaḥīḥayn collections of his students who would read to him. He moved to and settled in Egypt. He was known to shun speech except that which was beneficial and devoted his life to knowledge and learning. His students included Abu’l-Ḥasan al-Sakhāwī, al-Kamāl ‘Alī b. Shujā‘ah, Muḥammad b. ‘Umar al-Qurṭubī and others. He composed a poetic text entitled Ḥirz al-Amānī (commonly known as al-Shāṭibīyyah) on the seven modes of Qurʼānic reading that has enjoyed unparalleled renown and acceptance in the intellectual history of this ummah. Countless individuals of every academic level and region of the world have memorized that text, studied it, written commentaries on it, or served it in some other way over the years since its publication. To this day, most qirā’āt are transmitted and taught “by the route of al-Shāṭibīyyah.” Imām al-Shāṭibī lived for 52 years and died in Egypt in 590H.
References in the Qirā’āt
So you want to learn the qirā’āt (the various modes of Qurʼān readings)? Here is a synopsis of the literature on the subject, based upon my ongoing study.
- al-Sab‘ah fi’l-Qirā’āt of Ibn Mujāhid (d 324H): This leading Qurʼānic scholar traveled widely in the Muslim world and painstakingly documented the most authentic modes of reading in this seminal work— which coincidentally came out to seven in number. This work was met with global acclaim and catapulted these seven Imāms of recitation to fame. In fact, nearly all subsequent works were based upon this selection. The major criticism leveled against his work is twofold— firstly, that only seven readings were chosen, whereas the number of authentic readings is actually greater than that; and secondly, the selection of seven led to the confusion among the masses that these were synonymous with the seven aḥruf (“dialects”) referenced in the Prophetic narrations. The students of Ibn Mujāhid responded that he never intended such and happened by chance to uncover seven authentic readings from his research and study.
- Kitāb al-Tadhkirah fi’l-Qirā’āt al-Thimān of Abu’l-Hasan al-Ḥalbī (d 399H)
- Kitāb al-Muntahā fi’l-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr of Abu’l-Faḍl Muḥammad b. Ja‘far al-Khuzā‘ī (d 408H)
- Kitāb al-Tabṣirah of Makkī b. Abī Ṭālib (d 430H)
- Kitāb al-Rawḍah fi’l- Qirā’āt al-‘Iḥdā ‘Ashr of Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan al-Baghdādī (d 438H)
- al-Taysīr fi’l-Qirā’āt al-Sab‘ of Abū ‘Amrū al-Dānī (d 444H): this author presented Ibn Mujāhid’s seven modes of readings
- Kitāb Jāmi‘ul-Bayān fi’l-Qirā’āt al-Sab‘ of Abū ‘Amrū al-Dānī (d 444H)
- Kitāb al-Mustanīr fi’l-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr of Abū Ṭahir al-Baghdādī (d 496H)
- Ḥirz al-Amānī wa Wajh al-Tahānī (al-Shāṭibiyyah) of Imām al-Qāsim al-Shāṭibī (d 590H): versified al-Taysīr into 1173 lines, it remains the most widely studied text to this day on the modes of reading.
- Kitāb Sharḥ al-Shāṭibiyyah of al-Sakhāwī (d 643H)
- Kitāb Jamāl al-Qurrā’ wa Ikmāl al-Iqrā’ of al-Sakhāwī (d 643H)
- Kitāb Mufarridah Ya‘qūb of Abū Muḥammad al-Ṣa‘īdī (d 655H)
- al-Durrah al-Maḍḍyah of Ibn al-Jazarī (d 833H): Ibn al-Jazarī was the ground-breaking scholar of the Qurʼān who once and for all consolidated the knowledge of the readings in a comprehensive and complete manner. In al-Durrah, he composed a versified text, upon the pattern of al-Shāṭibiyyah in which he added three more authentic readings to the seven of Ibn Mujahid.
- al-Nashr fi’l-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr of Ibn al-Jazarī: This work is a comprehensive encyclopedic text that includes all authentic modes of recitation, including the three of his previous work and the seven of al-Shāṭibiyyah through additional chains not found in those works. This work is considered by many to be the greatest of all works in the modes of Qurʼānic readings, and the absolute standard in this field.
- Tayyibah al-Nashr fi’l-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr of Ibn al-Jazarī: This is a smaller work that is presents the key features of al-Nashr in verse form. It is more widely used than al-Nashr.
Contemporary Works:
- Variant Readings of the Qurʼān: A Critical Study of Their Historical and Linguistic Origins by Ahmad ‘Ali al-Imam: an excellent academic survey of the readings by a Muslim author, this is perhaps the only English work of this nature in circulation (excluding the works written by Orientalists, of course).
Remarks:
We can conclude that the authentic and acceptable readings are limited to the seven chosen by Ibn Mujāhid plus the three later added by Ibn al-Jazarī. All other readings found in the literature or among the people are considered to be irregular and inauthentic (shādh), whose origins are likely from the personal musḥaf collections of the Companions and early Muslims, who often included explanatory remarks and words by way of commentary and clarification. These irregular readings are not considered to be Qurʼān but still have a role in understanding Qurʼānic commentary and Arabic language.
The text of al-Shāṭibiyyah (which contains the seven authentic readings chosen by Ibn Mujāhid) and al-Durrah (which include an additional three authentic readings) complete the ten authentic readings, which are collectively referred to as al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr al-Ṣughrā (the Ten Lesser Readings). Ibn al-Jazarī’s other independent texts— al-Nashr and Tayyibah al-Nashr, establish the ten authentic readings independently from the former texts and are referred to as al-Qirā’āt al-‘Ashr al-Kubrā (the Ten Greater Readings).
