Analysis of the Narratives Regarding the Seven Readings (Sab`ah Ahruf) of the Qur'an in the Shia Hadith Heritage

Mahmood Karimi

Mohsen Deimehkar

Tradition regarding the revelation of the Quran in seven harfs is one of the famous traditions in the Sunni hadith collections which has been transmitted through some early hadith collections by some Imami hadith scholars such as Muhammad ibn Hassan Saffar, Muhammad ibn Masud Ayashi, Shaykh Muhammed ibn Ibrahim Numani, and Shaykh Saduq Imami, in terms of revelation, reading and interpretation of the Quran in seven letters and seven types. At first these traditions seem to be in conflict with the tradition narrated by Zurara and Fudail ibn Yasar in al-Kafi saying the Quran has been revealed in one harf (reading), but looking deep into the different traditions of the sab`ah ahruf (seven readings) in Imami hadith collections and according to some lexical and fiqh al-hadith sources, the textual evidence of the traditions of the sab`ah ahruf (seven readings) and formation of hadith family, in spite of their weak documents it can be assumed that the Quran revealed by Allah in one text and reading. However it has been made easy by God and His messenger for those who want to learn the Quran in their own accents. At the same time, the Holy Quran includes seven kinds of verses, every one of them encompassing seven inner layers. The author of the present paper first makes an analysis of the initial issuance of the traditions and then verifies views presented by narrators of this hadith like Shaykh Saduq, Ayashi, Majlisi and Shaykh Hurr Amili in Imami hadith sources.

Key Words: Imami Hadith Collections, the Sab`ah Ahruf (Seven Readings), Sahiha Zurarh, Inner Layers of the Quran, the Words and Accents, Dissimulation.

Comparison between the Shia Attitude to the Ibrahim’s Sacrifice and That of Jewish, Christian, and Sunni Muslim Tradition: A Critical Review of Firestone’s Article

Gholamreza Reisian

Samaneh Abrishami

Rabbi Reuven Firestone, American Orientalist, in his article: Merit, Mimesis, and Martyrdom: Aspects of Shi'ite Meta-historical Exegesis on Abraham's Sacrifice in Light of Jewish, Christian, and Sunni Muslim Tradition makes a comparison between Judaism, Christianity and Islam,