Page 139 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

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other classical scholars whose methods of recitation were just as authentically
(mutawaatir) recorded as the famous seven. A list of the ten scholars of Qur’aanic
recitation whose methods were best preserved is as follows:

1. Aboo ‘Amr ibn al-‘Alaa (d. 771 CE/154 AH) of Basrah

2. Ibn Katheer (d. 738 CE/119 AH) was among the students of the sahaabah of
Makkah.

3. Naafi‘ (d. 786 CE/169 AH) was originally from Isfahaan, and his recitation, as
transmitted by Warsh (d. 812 CE/196 AH), was of Madeenah.

4. Ibn ‘Aamir (d. 737 CE/118 AH) was the chief judge (qaadi) of Damascus
during the reign of al-Waleed ibn ‘Abdul Maalik, who, along with the other
Umayyad caliphs, made that city his capital.
5. ‘Aasim (d. 746 CE/128 AH) of Koofah was the narrator of the dominant
recitation in current use. His narration, as transmitted by Hafs, is the most
common method of narration used in the Muslim world today with the
exception of Africa.

6. Hamzah (d. 773 CE/156 AH) of Koofah.
7. Al-Kisaa’ee (d. 805 CE/189 AH) of Koofah was one of the foremost
grammarians. He played a major role in the formulation of Arabic grammar
rules.

8. Aboo Ja‘far (d. 750 CE/132 AH) of Madeenah.
9. Ya‘qoob (d. 820 CE/204 AH) of Basrah.

10.Khalaf (d. 844 CE/229 AH) of Baghdaad.

At the same time that scholars of hadeeth laid down conditions to determine
the authenticity of statements or actions attributed to the Prophet (r), scholars of
Qur’aanic recitation also formulated conditions to facilitate critical analysis of the
existing recitations. For any given recitation to be accepted as authentic (saheeh),
it had to fulfill three conditions. If any of the conditions were missing, such a
recitation was classified as shaath (unusual). The first condition was that the
recitation have an authentic chain of narration; that is, that the chain of narrators
had to be unbroken, that the narrators were known to be righteous, and that they
were known to possess good memories. It was also required that the recitation be

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