How Can Different Qiraat Preserve the Same Statement?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

Across the qirat, there are 4 readings for 40:26.

I can see that the general meaning is the same, but the exact wording yet differs, so when it is said “Pharaoh said… “, which of the 4 did he use, or how were all 4 of these different wordings said?

Answer

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.

All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all beings, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad.

I pray you are well.

The general rule with the canonical variant recitations is that all of it was said by the people quoted. However, Allah Most High quotes certain aspects or certain parts of their statement in one surah, for example, or in one variant recitation, and others in another.

The purpose here is to focus on what is relevant and to explore the meanings the Quran conveys through other recitations.

In the verse you mentioned, it seems like Pharaoh initially told these people that he was Afraid Musa would change their religion, or that corruption would spread in the land, and then he changed it to a decisive statement that corruption would spread in the land.

This would be through people following him, and that, in and of itself, would be seen as corruption by the Egyptians. [Ibn Ashur, al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir]

This suits the context of the verse, seeing as he was a coward and he wanted their support and permission in his plan to kill Musa, peace and blessings be upon him. And Allah knows best.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.