Editing Quran (section)

=== Variant readings ===
{{See also|Qira'at|Ahruf|Seven readers|Ten recitations}}
[[File:Qur'an folio 11th century kufic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Page of the Quran with vocalization marks]]
The variant readings of the Quran are one type of textual variant.<ref>{{harvnb|Rippin|2006}}:{{Bulleted list|"Written Transmission," by [[François Déroche]], pp. 172–87.|"Recitation," by Anna M. Gade, pp. 481–93}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Small| first = Keith E.| publisher = Lexington Books| isbn = 978-0-7391-4291-2| title = Textual Criticism and Qur'an Manuscripts| date = 2011 |pages=109–111}}</ref> According to Melchert (2008), the majority of disagreements have to do with vowels to supply, most of them in turn not conceivably reflecting dialectal differences and about one in eight disagreements has to do with whether to place dots above or below the line.<ref name=Melchert>{{cite journal|last=Melchert|first=Christopher|title=The Relation of the [[Ten recitations|Ten Readings]] to One Another|journal=Journal of Quranic Studies|year=2008|volume=10|issue=2|pages=73–87|doi=10.3366/e1465359109000424}}</ref> Nasser categorizes variant readings into various subtypes, including internal vowels, long vowels, [[gemination]] (''[[shaddah]]''), [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]] and [[Alternation (linguistics)|alternation]].<ref name=nasser>{{cite book|last=Hekmat Nasser|first=Shady|title=The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Quran: The Problem of Tawatur and the Emergence of Shawdhdh|year=2012|publisher=Brill Academic Pub|isbn=978-90-04-24081-0}}</ref>

It is generally stated that there are small differences between readings. However, these small changes may also include differences that may lead to serious differences in Islam, ranging from the definition of God{{efn-lr|Qira’at: All except for ʻAsem, Al-Kesa’i, Yaʻqub and Khalaf in one of his narrations read [māliki yawmi-d-dīn(i)] as ''{{verse||4}} King of the Day of Judgement.}} to practices such as the [[wudu|formal conditions of ablution]].<ref name="Combat">{{cite book |last1=Al-Hurr al-Amili |first1=Muhammad |title=Combat with the Self |year=2003 |publisher=Saqi Books (November 8, 2003) |isbn=978-1904063148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p3g5I3nORiUC |author1-link=Al-Hurr al-Amili |access-date=19 July 2024 |archive-date=9 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009193156/https://books.google.com/books?id=p3g5I3nORiUC |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first Quranic manuscripts lacked marks, enabling multiple possible recitations to be conveyed by the same written text. The 10th-century Muslim scholar from [[Baghdad]], [[Abu Bakr Ibn Mujāhid|Ibn Mujāhid]], is famous for establishing seven acceptable textual readings of the Quran. He studied various readings and their trustworthiness and chose seven 8th-century readers from the cities of [[Mecca]], [[Medina]], [[Kufa]], [[Basra]] and [[Damascus]]. Ibn Mujahid did not explain why he chose [[seven readers]], rather than six or ten, but this may be related to a prophetic tradition (Muhammad's saying) reporting that the Quran had been revealed in seven ''[[ahruf]]''. Today, the most popular readings are those transmitted by [[Hafs|Ḥafṣ]] (d. 796) and [[Warsh]] (d. 812) which are according to two of Ibn Mujahid's reciters, [[Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud]] (Kufa, d. 745) and [[Nafiʽ al-Madani]] (Medina, d. 785), respectively. The influential standard [[History of the Quran#1924 Cairo edition|Quran of Cairo]] uses an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and a set of additional symbols for minute details and is based on ʻAsim's recitation, the 8th-century recitation of Kufa. This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran.<ref name=rippin /><ref name=melchert2>{{cite journal|last=Melchert|first=Christopher|title=Ibn Mujahid and the Establishment of Seven Qur'anic Readings|journal=Studia Islamica|year=2000|issue=91|pages=5–22|doi=10.2307/1596266|jstor=1596266}}</ref> Occasionally, an early Quran shows compatibility with a particular reading. A Syrian manuscript from the 8th century is shown to have been written according to the reading of [[Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi]].<ref name=dutton>{{cite journal|last=Dutton|first=Yasin|title=An Early Mushaf According To The Reading Of Ibn ʻAmir|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2001|volume=3|issue=2|pages=71–89|doi=10.3366/jqs.2001.3.1.71}}</ref> Another study suggests that this manuscript bears the vocalization of [[homs|himsi]] region.<ref name=rabb>{{cite journal|last=Rabb|first=Intisar|title=Non-Canonical Readings of the Qur'an: Recognition and Authenticity (The Ḥimṣī Reading)|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2006|volume=8|issue=2|pages=88–127|doi=10.3366/jqs.2006.8.2.84}}</ref>

According to [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] vocalization markers indicating specific vowel sounds ([[Arabic diacritics|''tashkeel'']]) were introduced into the text of the Quran during the lifetimes of the last [[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]].<ref name="Ibn Taymiyyah" />