Abu Sa'id Uthman Ibn Sa‘id al-Qutbi, better known as Warsh (110-197AH), was a significant figure in the history of

Quranic recitation In Islam, ''Qirāah'', (pl. ''Qirāāt''; ar, قراءات , lit= recitations or readings) are different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, Morphology (linguistics), morphological and syntactical forms permitted with recitation, reciting the h ...

(''qira'at''), the canonical methods of reciting the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

. Alongside Qalun, he was one of the two primary transmitters of the canonical reading method of Nafi‘ al-Madani. Together, their style is the most common form of Qur'anic recitation in the generality of African mosques outside of Egypt, and is also popular in Yemen and Darfur despite the rest of Sudan following the method of Hafs. The method of Warsh and his counterpart Qalun was also the most popular method of recitation in

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the Mus ...

. The majority of printed Mushafs today in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

and

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

follow the reading of Warsh. He died in 812CE.

Warsh recitation

Warsh 'an Naafi' is one of the main canonical methods of reciting the

. The recitations of the Quran, known in Arabic as

Qira'at In Islam, ''Qirāah'', (pl. ''Qirāāt''; ar, قراءات , lit= recitations or readings) are different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with reciting the holy book of Islam, the Quran. Differ ...

, are conducted under the rules of the

Tajwid In the context of the recitation of the Quran, ''tajwīd'' ( ar, تجويد ', , ' elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation (' ...

Science. It is attributed to Imam Warsh who in turn got it from his teacher Nafi‘ al-Madani who was one of the transmitters of the seven recitations. The recitation of Warsh 'an Naafi' is one of two major recitation traditions. The second is

Hafs 'an 'Asim Abū Amr Ḥafṣ ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Abi Dawud al-Asadī al-Kūfī ( ar, أبو عمرو حفص بن سليمان بن المغيرة الأسدي الكوفي), better known as Hafs (706–796 CE; 90–180 AH according to the I ...

History

Imam Warsh (110-197AH) was born Uthman Ibn Sa‘id al-Qutbi in Egypt. He was called Warsh, a substance of milk, by his teacher Naafi' because he was light skinned. He learned his recitation from Naafi' at

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

. After finishing his education, he returned to Egypt where he became the senior reciter of the Quran. In the 10th century, the Muslim scholar Ibn Mujāhid canonized the seven readings of the Quran including Warsh 'an Naafi'. However, only the transmission of Asim and Warsh remains influential. The Warsh 'an Naafi' recitation became widespread in North Africa, in large part because it was the preferred recitation of Imam Malik ibn Anas, whose Maliki school of jurisprudence predominated in that region of the world. In Medieval times, it was the main Quranic recitation in Islamic Iberia. The Warsh 'an Naafi' transmission represents the recitational tradition of Medina.

Comparison of Warsh and Hafs recitation

The

Warsh 'an Naafi' recitation Abu Sa'id Uthman Ibn Sa‘id al-Qutbi, better known as Warsh (110-197AH), was a significant figure in the history of Quranic recitation (''qira'at''), the canonical methods of reciting the Qur'an. Alongside Qalun, he was one of the two primar ...

of the Quran differs from

Hafs 'an Asim Abū Amr Ḥafṣ ibn Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Abi Dawud al-Asadī al-Kūfī ( ar, أبو عمرو حفص بن سليمان بن المغيرة الأسدي الكوفي), better known as Hafs (706–796 CE; 90–180 AH according to the I ...

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mo ...

. The majority of differences do not affect the meaning. Yet in some cases the differences change the implications of the verse. In verse 2:184 Hafs recites the verse to be "... a ransom

s substitute S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. History ...

of feeding a poor person...". On the other hand, Warsh reads it "... a ransom

of feeding poor people..."A.Brockett, ''Studies in Two Transmission of the Qur'an'', doctorate thesis, University of St. Andrews,Scotland, 1984, p.138 Other variants that go beyond orthography include : Another major difference between Hafs and Warsh recitation of the Quran is the pronunciation of the words. Modern Qurans have diacritical marks (known as Tashkil) and in some cases pronouncing the word differently could imply different meaning. Here are some examples:

References

{{Authority control 812 deaths Quran Quranic readings Warsh recitation

Warsh recitation

History

Comparison of Warsh and Hafs recitation

See also

Ten readers and transmitters

References