What the readings change

In the codex of Ibn Mas‘ūd the verse reads an lā yattawafa (“to not compass”) by adding lā (“not”). Instead of the Qur’ān’s an yattawafa (“to compass”), Ibn ‘Abbās and Anas Ibn Mālik read an lā yatatawafa (“that he should not compass”).

The reading of the Qur’ān means that if a Muslim is to compass the two hills near the east side of the Ka’ba, Safā and Marwa, there is no sin on him. Whereas, according to the reading of Ibn Mas‘ūd, if the Muslim does not compass them, there is no sin on him. (See the critical analysis of Q 2.158, page 213.)

Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b read “then (let him fast) another successive number of days,” adding the word mutatābi‘āt (“successive”). According to the reading of Ubayy, the substituted fast should be done in a successive manner, contrary to the reading of the current Arabic Qur’ān that allows for breaks. Further, the condition is repeated by Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b later when he read the verse, “...and he who cannot find (anything to bring), then let him fast three days...” (Q 2.196) as “And he who cannot find (anything to bring), then let him fast three days successively (mutatābi‘āt),” adding the word mutatābi‘āt as well.

The word miskīn (“a poor man”) appears in the singular in the Qur’ān; whereas, another group read masākīn (“poor”) in the plural. This difference in reading the word leads to a religious legal difference.

Question: Should one feed a single poor, indigent person or several?

The reading in the current Arabic Qur’ān is “...but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them.” (Yusuf Ali trans.; Palmer translation does not include the third phrase fight you.) A group of readers read the above rendered words with an alif (long “a” sound) wa lā tuqātilūhum...yuqātilūkum...qātalūkum (“but fight them not...they fight you...they fight you”). Others read it as wa lā tuqatilūhum... yuqatilūkum...qatalūkum (“but kill them not...they kill you...they kill you”).

Reading it the first way forbids initiating the fighting. The second reading forbids killing, or it could be understood to permit fighting on the condition that bloodshed is avoided.

Ibn Mas‘ūd and others read “good from your Lord during the pilgrimage…,” adding the phrase “during the pilgrimage.” This addition clearly authorizes engaging in commerce, which is contrary to what is found in the Qur’ān. This verse does not speak clearly about the permissibility of engaging in commerce during the pilgrimage. Ibn ‘Abbās read the verse with the addition as well.

In the codex of Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b the word al-basharu (“mankind”) is used instead of al-nāsu (“Men”; literally “the people”) found in the current Arabic Qur’ān. Ibn Mas‘ūd read “The people were one single nation, but they disagreed,” adding fa-ikhtalafū (“but they disagreed”). This addition clarifies the verse because it explains the reason behind Allah’s sending of the prophets. Therefore, the context becomes “Mankind was one single nation, but they disagreed, so Allah sent Messengers” .

The codex of Ibn Mas‘ūd presents the verse in a variant form: “and they were so shaken and shaken again until…”, by adding thumma zulzilū (“then they were shaken”).

In the Palmer translation, the word “great,” found in the current Arabic Qur’ān, is omitted from the verse. However, this word is included in the Yusuf Ali translation: “They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: “In them is great sin, and some profit, for men…”

This verse has two issues regarding the variant readings for this adjective:

1. The readers collectively read ithmun kabīrun (“great sin”), whereas Ibn Mas‘ūd as well as others read it ithmun kathīrun (“numerous sins”).

2. In the codex of Ibn Mas‘ūd ithmahumā aktharu (“the sin of both is more numerous”) is used instead of akbaru (“greater”) found in the Qur’ān. The codex of Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b’ reads ithmahumā aqrabū (“the sin of both is nearer”) instead.

The word kabīrun (“great”) is an adjective that describes size rather than number, whereas, the word kathīrun (“numerous”) is an adjective that describes number rather than size. Finally, aqrabū (“nearer”) gives an entirely different meaning.

Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b uses a variant reading using two substitutions in this verse:

He substitutes the first verb yakhāfā (“[they] both fear”) in the Qur’ān with yaz. unnā (“[they] both think”).

He also substitutes the dual form z. annā (“[they] both thought”) for the plural khiftum (“ye [plural] fear”).

The difference between the current and Ibn Ka‘b’s reading is that the intended two people (main subject) in his reading are the ones who are thinking, whereas in the current Arabic Qur’ān’s reading the intended people are the ones who might fear. Note that Palmer erroneously translates “ye cannot keep,” but the Arabic states that “they both cannot keep.”

The exegetes disagreed concerning the meaning of “the middle prayer”:

It is the dawn (al-fajr) prayer.

It is the noon (al-z. uhr) prayer.

It is the afternoon (al-‘asr) prayer.

It is the sunset (al-maghrib) prayer.

‘A’isha, the third wife of Muhammad, wrote in her Qur’ān: “Observe the prayers, and the middle prayer and the afternoon prayer; and stand ye attent before God,” by adding wa salāt al-‘asr (“and the afternoon prayer”). She said that she heard it from Muhammad. There were others who read this verse according to ‘A’isha’s reading. Among them is Hafsa, the daughter of ‘Umar and ‘Ubayd Ibn ‘Umayr.

The majority of the readers read natlūhā (“we recite them”) with a nūn (sound of “n,”) where the subject in the verse is Allah and the person addressed is Muhammad. However, it is also read with a ya’ (sound of “y”) in the singular yatlūhā (“he recites them”). This reading apparently means that Gabriel would recite it to Muhammad.

The sources mention two readings of Ibn Mas‘ūd that are different in form and expressions:

1. Adding yawm al-sā‘a (“the day of the hour [of judgment]”) thus reading “will not stand the day of the hour except….”

2. Adding yawm al-qiyāma (“judgment day”) and al-majnūn ([“the mad one”]) thus reading “will not stand the day of judgment except as stand one who is mad….”

Most readers read Kutubihi (“His books”) in the plural. But some readers read it in the singular, or Kitābihi (“His book”). Between these two readings is a grave doctrinal difference: Kutubihi (“His books”) means the books of the Law (Tawrāt or Pentateuch), the Psalms (Zabūr) and the Injīl and the Qur’ān; whereas Kitābihi (“His book”) means only the Qur’ān.

Ibn Mas‘ūd read, “The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, and he believeth as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in His book, His meeting, and His messengers,” hence, repeating the verb “believeth,” adding “His meeting,” using the singular for “His book.”

The current Arabic Qur’ān reads yūsawirukum (“fashions you”). This verse was read by one of the readers as tasawarakum (“he imagined you to be”) in the past tense. The difference in this reading, thus, has led to a difference in the intended meaning. One reading means that Allah creates man and the other means that he knows the man’s image.

The readers render this verse in different ways:

Ibn Mas‘ūd: “Indeed its hidden meanings are with Allah [alone]. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: ‘We believe in it [the Book].” It is also told that he read, “Indeed its true hidden meanings are with Allah [alone]. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: ‘We believe in it [the Book].’”

Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b, Ibn ‘Abbās, and ‘A’isha: “but no one knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And says those who are firmly grounded in knowledge: ‘We believe in it [the Book].’”

Notice that in Arabic, wa yaqūlu (“[and he or they] say”) is used in the codex of Ka‘b instead of wa yaqūlūna (“[and they] say”) of the current official Qur’ān. Notice also that the word order is not the same.

It is told that in the codex of Ibn ‘Abbās the verse is read, “Its hidden meanings are not knowable, but those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: ‘We believe in it [the Book].’”

Notice the effect of the diacritical marks on the meaning here. The verse in the codex of Ibn ‘Abbās has wa mā yu‘lamu (“it is not knowable”) instead of ya‘lamu (“[he] knows”) that is found in the Qur’ān today. The differences in these texts show that the readers took the meaning and worked the verse according to their linguistic tastes.

Some read the word yarawnahum (“[they] saw [them]”) with the third person ya, meaning that the crowd of Muslims saw the enemy crowd as twice their number. Others read it tarawnahum (“you saw them”) with the second person ta, meaning the address is to all Muslims and the hum (“them”) refers to all the idolaters.” The difference leads to a difference in meaning.

Question: Is the subject of the verb “the Muslims” or is the subject “their enemies”?

The majority of the readers read the verb zuyyina (“[it was made] Seemly”) in the passive with the subject missing. Hence, a disagreement ensued as to the identity of the subject. Some said that the one adorning is Allah, and others said that it is Satan. Some of the readers, however, read zayyana…hubba (“he adorned...the love”) where the pronoun refers to Allah as the subject. The difference in the two readings results in two understandings with regard to the identity of the one making the adornment. In the reading of the Qur’ān, zuyyina (“it was made fair or seemly; it was adorned or beautified”) the stylist could be Allah or Satan, whereas in the second reading, zayyana (“he adorned”) the stylist is definitely Allah.

The Qur’ān reads shahida Allahu (“God bears witness”). It contains a verb and a subject, where Allah testifies to himself. There is more than one reading of this verse. The most prominent include these two variant readings:

shuhida Allahu (“it is testified that Allah”) where the verb is in the passive. Here it is testified that Allah is one without identifying the subject.

shuhadā’a Allahi (“Allah’s testifiers”) where the phrase describes (as an adjective) the wa al-mustaghfirīn (“and who ask for pardon”) Hence, the text is read “the patient, the truthful, the devout, and those who ask for pardon at the dawn[:] Allah’s testifiers...” (Q 3.17-18). Therefore, the ones who pray for forgiveness are the testifiers.

Ibn Mas‘ūd read, “The religion before Allah is H. anfīya.” He replaces the current Arabic Qur’ān’s “Islām” with H. anfīya. (See the comment on Q 3.67, page 290.) Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b said that the transmitted reading from Muhammad is “the religion before Allah is al-H. anfīya, not Judaism, not Christianity and not Magian,” adding “not Judaism, not Christianity and not Magian.”

Question: Why was the rest of the verse omitted in the Qur’ān? And who made the decision to omit it?

Ubayy Ibn Ka‘b read “and kill the prophets and those from among men, who bid what is just….” The expression bi-ghayri haq (“without right”) is perplexing; the killing of prophets is never justified. Hence, Ubayy’s removal of the phrase saved the verse from unnecessary wording.