Ayman Rushdi Suwaid: The Qur’an was preserved in writing and by listening, and it is the most precise book in the world

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Video duration 50 minutes 41 seconds 50:41

Professor of Tajweed and Qur’anic readings, Dr. Ayman Rushdi Sweid, in the “Sharia and Life in Ramadan” program, continued to talk about the Holy Qur’an, its virtues, the efforts to preserve it in writing and transmit it audibly frequently, and its various readings and how they began to appear.

After discussing in the previous episode the Caliph Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, collecting the Qur’an and the reason for doing so after the death of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the manner in which it was completed, the doctor discussed in this episode the efforts of Caliph Othman bin Affan in transcribing and distributing this Qur’an.

Caliph Othman formed a committee of those who knew how to write among the Quraysh, and its head was the Ansari companion Zaid bin Thabit. They copied several copies of the Qur’an, then Othman ordered that they be sent after proofreading to the main cities, namely Mecca, Kufa, Basra, the Levant, and Bahrain. He kept two copies in the city, one of which was the one in which he was martyred while reading. .

According to Dr. Ayman Rushdie, Muslims were told to display the Qur’anic copies in your hands to those authenticated copies. Whatever agreed, keep it and whatever disagreed, burn it. In this way, Caliph Uthman preserved the written Qur’anic text from alteration, distortion, and change.

The professor of Tajweed and Qur’anic readings pointed out that after that, scholars - in order to preserve the Qur’anic text from the effects of time - resorted to what could be called written photography, as they photographed those Qur’ans through written description, by describing what was in the Qur’ans that was contrary to what people were accustomed to. From dictation.

Auditory memorization

Concerning the auditory memorization of the Qur’an, the doctor pointed out that this began with the Companions listening to the Prophet’s reading in the audible prayers and while he was reciting it to them, as he used to hear it from some of them, such as Abdullah bin Masoud. Then the Companions taught it to the Followers and the Followers taught it to those who followed them, and the matter continued until it reached us in this era. .

He pointed out that there are four narrations that are widespread in reading, the first of which is Hafs on the authority of Asim, which is in most of the Islamic world, and the two narrations of Qalun and Warsh on the authority of Nafi, which are widespread in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and African countries, then the narration of Al-Duri on the authority of Abu Amr Al-Basri, which spread in Hadramaut in Yemen and then was transmitted. To Sudan.

He explained that these four narrations are the ones that all Muslims recite now, while the rest of the ten recitations are recited by imams of recitations in different countries, pointing out that the number of readers of any of them in one generation is not less than 100 readers.

Dr. Ayman praised Egypt in terms of the spread of the Qur’an among its people and their service to it. He said that it is the country that the Qur’an has entered since the Islamic conquest and has never left it. In his estimation, it is “the nest of the Qur’an, the center of reading, and the nation’s reference for reading the Qur’an,” adding: “You will not find reading in A country where the end of the matter will come to Egypt.”

The professor of Tajweed and Quranic readings stressed that the Qur’an enjoyed accuracy and precision in a way that no other book in the world had, pointing out that this precision included everything, including the method of reading and the provisions of pauses, extension, and intonation.

Reasons for readers' errors

Regarding the mistakes that some readers make, Dr. Ayman mentioned that among the reasons for them are lack of proficiency and being influenced by the dialect if the reader is Arab or the language if he is non-Arab, as well as the familiarity and habit of making mistakes, adding that treating this is by referring to what the nation has written down in their books regarding the provisions of intonation and compliance. According to what is agreed upon by the readership of the era.

Regarding naming the recitations after late scholars, the doctor explained that this is because Muslims in the early ages were preoccupied with conquests, and that this ratio is an inherent ratio and not an invented ratio, so the role of the imams of the recitations was to accurately transmit it and teach it to people.

In this context, Dr. Suwaid pointed out that Imam Nafi’ recited to 70 of his followers and Qalun recited to him for 20 years, then Imam Nafi’ sat with him to read during his lifetime.

The professor of Tajweed and Qur’anic readings believes that the minimum acceptable for reading by the general public is that its letters be sound and free of clear melody. As for the precise rulings, they are more complete for the reading of the average Muslim, and are required by imams of mosques and teachers of the Qur’an.

Dr. Ayman praised the competitions held for memorizers of the Qur’an, as he believes that they have prompted Muslim children to turn to the Holy Qur’an and learn it, pointing out that he has seen their impact in expanding the circle of mastery of memorization and recitation among Muslims in the world.

Source: Al Jazeera