What is the difference between the Uthmanic Mushaf and the seven canonical recitations, and are there differences due to the reciters?
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The questioner:
He says: I have read and understood the revelation of the Qur'an to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and how his Companions collected it during his lifetime, as well as its collection during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Then it was collected a final time in a single recitation and a single script during the caliphate of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), and he sent it to the provinces: Makkah, Madinah, Basrah, Sham, and Kufah. Then he burned the other copies in the presence of the Companions. However, I did not understand the relationship of the reciters—Abu al-‘Ala, Ibn Kathir, Nafi’, Ibn ‘Amir, ‘Asim, Hamzah, and al-Kisa’i—to the Uthmanic Mushaf. Why was this Mushaf not relied upon, but rather the transmission? Are there differences due to the reciters? I ask for guidance. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
The reason for your difficulty is that you did not understand what is intended.
The presenter:
May Allah conceal [our faults].
The Shaykh:
The action of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and the consensus of the Companions with him on this noble action was not a restriction of people to a single recitation. The Qur'an was revealed in seven scripts, and the recitations are multiple. The mass-transmitted recitations are multiple, up to seven recitations, and it is said up to ten. However, the script is one; the letter and the script are one. As for the recitations, they are multiple. From this came the recitations of Nafi’, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala, Ibn Kathir, Hafs, al-Kisa’i, and Hamzah. These are multiple recitations, but they all return to a single script, which is the Uthmanic script. Yes.
He says: I have read and understood the revelation of the Qur'an to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and how his Companions collected it during his lifetime, as well as its collection during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Then it was collected a final time in a single recitation and a single script during the caliphate of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), and he sent it to the provinces: Makkah, Madinah, Basrah, Sham, and Kufah. Then he burned the other copies in the presence of the Companions. However, I did not understand the relationship of the reciters—Abu al-‘Ala, Ibn Kathir, Nafi’, Ibn ‘Amir, ‘Asim, Hamzah, and al-Kisa’i—to the Uthmanic Mushaf. Why was this Mushaf not relied upon, but rather the transmission? Are there differences due to the reciters? I ask for guidance. May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh:
The reason for your difficulty is that you did not understand what is intended.
The presenter:
May Allah conceal [our faults].
The Shaykh:
The action of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and the consensus of the Companions with him on this noble action was not a restriction of people to a single recitation. The Qur'an was revealed in seven scripts, and the recitations are multiple. The mass-transmitted recitations are multiple, up to seven recitations, and it is said up to ten. However, the script is one; the letter and the script are one. As for the recitations, they are multiple. From this came the recitations of Nafi’, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala, Ibn Kathir, Hafs, al-Kisa’i, and Hamzah. These are multiple recitations, but they all return to a single script, which is the Uthmanic script. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما الفرق بين مصحف عثمان، والقراءات السبع، وهل هناك اختلافات بسبب القراء؟ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.