SÖZLÜ KOMPOZİSYON, YAZILI KOMPOZİSYON VE YEDİ HARF HADİSİ
Orality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’
Yazar: İnce, Nazife Nihal
Dergi: Atatürk Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 0 No. 42, 2014
Anahtar kelimeler: Harf/Ahruf, Readings, Mushaf, Multiformity ; Harf, Kıraat, Mushaf, Çok biçimlilik

ÖZKur’an-ıKerim’in yedi harf uzere (‘alāsab‘ati aḥruf ) indirildiğini bildirenmeşhur hadis, islamiyetin erken donemlerinde Kur’an metnine ait belirli sayıakikıaat farklıılarıı meşu, daha doğusu normal, kabul edildiğni gosterir.İlamiyet’in ilk donemlerinde var olan bu serbestliğn daha sonra halife Osman’ı(r.a.), sahabenin de onayııalarak MuslumanlarıKur’an metninin tek yazıbiciminde (rasm) birleşirme kararıla daraltıdığıgoruş geleneksel alimler arasıdahakimdir. Her ne kadar bu yazı bicimi bilinen yedi, on v.b. bircok kıaatşkline acı olsa da sıılayııolduğna hukmedilmişir.Bu makalede, yedi harf hadisi hakkıdaki ceştli yorumları yanısıa hadis,tefsir, kıaat literaturunde yer alan standart dışıkıaatlere dair referanslarıda elealarak bu metinsel ceştliliğn halife Osman’ı (r.a.) kararıdan onceki ve sonrakidurumu hakkıda net bir fikir oluşurmayıamaclıoruz. Aynızamanda, sozlukompozisyon araşımalarıı (bilhassa Homer geleneğ ile ilgili araşımaları)verilerini Kur’ā metniyle ilgili bilgilere uygulamak suretiyle klasik kaynaklardanası bir tablonun ortaya cıtığııgostermeyi hedefliyoruz. Bu doğultuda,başangıta var olan cok bicimli sozlu kıaati, (bu ornekte ‘yedi harf ’) bir sozlukompozisyon orneğ olarak; sonradan ileri seviyede tek bicimli yazıımetin halinegetirilen (er-resm el-‘Osmāīveya el-maṣāḥif el-‘Osmāiyye olarak bilinen)Kur’ā metnini, belirli bir seviyede cok bicimlilik devam etse de(yedi, on v.b.kıaatler gibi), bir yazııkompozisyon orneğ olarak onereceğz. Son olarak buincelemelerin ışığıda cağaşAvrupa-Amerikan Kur’ā bilimleri calışalarııdeğrlendireceğz.Anahtar Kelimeler: Harf, Kıraat, Mushaf, Cok bicimlilik.ABSTRACTOrality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’The well known ḥadīth that the Qur’ā was revealed according tosevenaḥruf (‘alāsab‘ati aḥruf) indicates that a certain amount of variation in thetext of the Qur’ā was considered legitimate, indeed normal, in the earliest days ofIslam. The dominant view among traditional scholars is that this initial allowancewas then reduced by the decision of the Caliph ‘Uthmā, with the agreement ofthe Companions, to unify the community on one textual skeleton (rasm), albeitallowing for various ‘readings’ (qirā’ā), such as those of the Seven, the Ten, etc.,within the confines of this rasm.In this article, we consider the various traditional interpretations of the‘seven aḥruf ’ ḥadīth, alongside the numerous references to non-standard variantreadings in the ḥadīth, tafsīr and qirā’ā literature, to gain a clearer idea of thenature of this textual variation both before and after ‘Uthmā’s decision. At thesame time, we aim to apply the insights gained from orality studies (particularlywork done on the Homeric tradition) to show how the picture outlined in thetraditional sources suggests an oral recitation (qur’ā) with an initial degree ofmultiformity (in this instance, ‘seven aḥruf ’), such as is characteristic of oral texts,which is then presented in a written version (known as al-rasm al-‘Uthmāīoral-maṣāḥif al-‘Uthmāiyya) which has a much greater degree of uniformity, suchas is characteristic of written texts, although a degree of multiformity is neverthelessmaintained (the Seven/Ten Readings, etc.). Finally, we consider the course of recentEuro-American scholarship on the Qur’ā in the light of these observations.Keywords: Harf/Ahruf, Readings, Mushaf, Multiformity.

Orality, Literacy and The ‘Seven Ahruf Hadith’The well known ḥadīth that the Qur’ān was revealed according to sevenaḥruf (‘alā sab‘ati aḥruf) indicates that a certain amount of variation in the text of the Qur’ān was considered legitimate, indeed normal, in the earliest days of Islam. The dominant view among traditional scholars is that this initial allowance was then reduced by the decision of the Caliph ‘Uthmān, with the agreement of the Companions, to unify the community on one textual skeleton (rasm), albeit allowing for various ‘readings’ (qirā’āt), such as those of the Seven, the Ten, etc., within the confines of this rasm.In this article, we consider the various traditional interpretations of the ‘seven aḥruf’ ḥadīth, alongside the numerous references to non-standard variant readings in the ḥadīth, tafsīr and qirā’āt literature, to gain a clearer idea of the nature of this textual variation both before and after ‘Uthmān’s decision. At the same time, we aim to apply the insights gained from orality studies (particularly work done on the Homeric tradition) to show how the picture outlined in the traditional sources suggests an oral recitation (qur’ān) with an initial degree of multiformity (in this instance, ‘seven aḥruf’), such as is characteristic of oral texts, which is then presented in a written version (known as al-rasm al-‘Uthmānī or al-maṣāḥif al-‘Uthmāniyya) which has a much greater degree of uniformity, such as is characteristic of written texts, although a degree of multiformity is nevertheless maintained (the Seven/Ten Readings, etc.). Finally, we consider the course of recent Euro-American scholarship on the Qur’ān in the light of these observations