How Many Versions of the Qur’an Are There?

There is one book Muslims call the Qur’an, and there is more than one canonical way it is read. Sahih al-Bukhari 4992CloseNarrated `Umar bin Al-Khattab: I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said (to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).Sahih al-Bukhari 4992 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says it was revealed in seven ways. Sunni scholarship later counted seven, then ten, readings. The two readings most often printed, Hafs and Warsh, do not say the same thing at every verse.

Key points

• Sahih al-Bukhari 4992CloseNarrated `Umar bin Al-Khattab: I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said (to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).Sahih al-Bukhari 4992 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says the Qur’an was revealed to be recited in seven different ways, and that a person may recite the easier one. Muslims call those ways ahruf. They are not the same list as the later seven readings.
• Ibn Mujahid, in the tenth century, limited the canonical readings to seven. Later scholars added three and counted ten. A reading had to have a sound chain, match the Uthmanic consonantal text, and fit Arabic grammar.
• Hafs ‘an ‘Asim is the printed text most Muslims have. Warsh ‘an Nafi‘ is printed in parts of North and West Africa. At Qur’an 2:184Close[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of other days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers good [i.e., excess] - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.Qur’an 2:184 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source Hafs has one poor person fed, and Warsh has needy persons fed.
• At Qur’an 2:132CloseAnd Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."Qur’an 2:132 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source the consonants of the verb differ and the English sense does not. Most differences between these two readings are length, accent, or pause, not a new sentence.
• Saheeh International, on this site, is an English translation of the widespread printed Qur’an. It is not a second Qur’an and not a Warsh text. Muhammad Muhsin Khan is the English for Bukhari. An English translation is not a reading.
• The collection, the burned copies, and the manuscripts are Has the Qur’an Been Changed?. The long quotations of the collection hadith are Who Wrote the Qur’an? How It Was Compiled.

Seven ways

Umar and Hisham differed over how to recite al-Furqan. The Prophet said each way had been revealed. Sahih al-Bukhari 4992CloseNarrated `Umar bin Al-Khattab: I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said (to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).Sahih al-Bukhari 4992 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source (1), Muhammad Muhsin Khan, then gives the sentence this page is using:

This Qur’an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).

Sahih al-Bukhari 4992 · Muhammad Muhsin Khan

Sunni hadith

The Arabic on sunnah.com uses ahruf for those ways. Yousef Wahb, writing for Yaqeen Institute, treats the later readings as a systematized reflection of that concession, not as the same thing as the seven ahruf (4). He also says many scholars hold that some of the ahruf were not included in Uthman’s codex. Sahih al-Bukhari 4987CloseNarrated Anas bin Malik: Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to `Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were Waging war to conquer Arminya and Adharbijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to `Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur'an) as Jews and the Christians did before." So `Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, "Send us the manuscripts of the Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you." Hafsa sent it to `Uthman. `Uthman then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, `Abdullah bin AzZubair, Sa`id bin Al-As and `AbdurRahman bin Harith bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. `Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the dialect of Quraish, the Qur'an was revealed in their tongue." They did so, and when they had written many copies, `Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsa. `Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt.Sahih al-Bukhari 4987 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source, on the compilation page, is the order to write one official form and burn the other materials. A permission to recite in seven ways, and a later written standard, are both in the Sunni reports.

Seven readings, then ten

Marcin Grodzki describes the Sunni count after Ibn Mujahid, who died in 936: first seven readings, then ten, all from the Uthmanic family (3). Most of the differences are the length of a vowel, accent, assimilation, a pause, or the hamza. He says only two of those systems are still generally printed. Hafs ‘an ‘Asim is the one treated as the standard. Warsh ‘an Nafi‘ is regional. Qalun is the other well-known transmitter from Nafi‘.

Wahb’s account of the same history is the one a Muslim teacher is likely to give. Ibn Mujahid was the first to limit the canonical readings to seven, in Kitab al-Sab‘a. The number seven was confused with the seven ahruf, and later scholars added Abu Ja‘far, Ya‘qub, and Khalaf, making ten. Ibn al-Jazari’s test for a reading is a sound chain of transmission, agreement with the Uthmanic consonantal text, and Arabic grammar. A reading that fails the test is irregular. The seven readers Wahb lists are Nafi‘ of Medina, Ibn Kathir of Mecca, Abu ‘Amr of Basra, Ibn ‘Amir of Damascus, ‘Asim of Kufa, Hamza, and al-Kisa’i. Warsh and Qalun transmit Nafi‘. Hafs transmits ‘Asim. Wahb says the common printed readings today are Nafi‘, in parts of North and West Africa, and ‘Asim, through the East.

Grodzki says Hafs became primary in the sixteenth century, when the Ottomans adopted that text, and that a commission under King Fuad in Egypt produced the printed standard from it in the early twentieth century. Wahb calls the common claim that the Ottomans imposed Hafs historically unverified. He says a survey of works from the Ottoman period does not show a rule that religious posts required the Hafs reading. Both sentences are on the record. This page does not pick a slogan.

Among the seven readings, not as a Hafs-versus-Warsh pair, Grodzki notes Qur’an 5:6, where one case ending has the worshipper wash the feet and another has the worshipper wipe them. He says that difference shows up in Sunni and Shi‘i practice. The verse link here is the widespread printed text, which is the Hafs side of the site’s English.

Where the wording differs

Grodzki compares printed editions. His Hafs English is Ali Quli Qarai’s, in Reynolds (2018). His Warsh English is The Noble Qur’an as Transmitted by Warsh (Damascus and Beirut, 1998). The two differences checked for this page are these.

• Hafs reads a ransom of feeding one needy person — Qur’an 2:184Close[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of other days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers good [i.e., excess] - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.Qur’an 2:184 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source
• Warsh reads a ransom of feeding needy persons — Qur’an 2:184, Warsh readingCloseThe Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim version reads: (Those who find it straining, shall be liable to atonement by feeding a needy person) Whereas the Warš version reads: (Those who find it straining, shall be liable to atonement by feeding needy persons)Qur’an 2:184, Warsh reading · Marcin GrodzkiOpen source

Saheeh International, which is the English on the Hafs link, says “feeding a poor person.” Grodzki’s gloss of that reading is “feeding a needy person,” and his gloss of Warsh is “feeding needy persons.” Ibn al-Jazari says the plural was also read by Ibn ‘Amir and Abu Ja‘far, not only by Warsh. Both Hafs and Warsh use the same consonants for the phrase Saheeh renders “those who are able.” A different vocalization of those consonants, which companion reports associate with Ibn Abbas, Aisha, Ali, and others, is not the Warsh reading. Grodzki marks it as non-canonical, citing Arthur Jeffery.

• Hafs reads that Abraham instructed his sons — Qur’an 2:132CloseAnd Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."Qur’an 2:132 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source
• Warsh reads that Abraham enjoined this, with no change in the English sense — Qur’an 2:132, Warsh readingCloseWhereas the Warš version reads (which yields no change in the English translations): (Abraham enjoined this [creed] upon …)Qur’an 2:132, Warsh reading · Marcin GrodzkiOpen source

Grodzki, citing al-Dani, says the Medinese copies had one spelling of that verb and the Iraqi copies the other. The same Warsh spelling is also Ibn ‘Amir and Abu Ja‘far. In that paper he also gives Qur’an 85:22 as a case difference: Hafs, “in a preserved tablet”; Warsh, “preserved in a tablet.”

A difference at Qur’an 3:146, and a difference at Qur’an 2:125, are not listed. They were not in the paper read for this page. The popular claim that Warsh changes the “able to fast” phrase into a different word is the non-canonical vocalization above, not the printed Warsh text.

The collection that produced one consonantal standard, and the manuscripts, are Has the Qur’an Been Changed?. Uthman’s order to burn the other copies is Sahih al-Bukhari 4987CloseNarrated Anas bin Malik: Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman came to `Uthman at the time when the people of Sham and the people of Iraq were Waging war to conquer Arminya and Adharbijan. Hudhaifa was afraid of their (the people of Sham and Iraq) differences in the recitation of the Qur'an, so he said to `Uthman, "O chief of the Believers! Save this nation before they differ about the Book (Qur'an) as Jews and the Christians did before." So `Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, "Send us the manuscripts of the Qur'an so that we may compile the Qur'anic materials in perfect copies and return the manuscripts to you." Hafsa sent it to `Uthman. `Uthman then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, `Abdullah bin AzZubair, Sa`id bin Al-As and `AbdurRahman bin Harith bin Hisham to rewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. `Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then write it in the dialect of Quraish, the Qur'an was revealed in their tongue." They did so, and when they had written many copies, `Uthman returned the original manuscripts to Hafsa. `Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, and ordered that all the other Qur'anic materials, whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies, be burnt.Sahih al-Bukhari 4987 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source, quoted on the compilation page.

Why this site quotes Saheeh International

The Qur’an quotations on this site use Saheeh International (2). Square brackets in that English are the translators’ additions, as in the “message [i.e., the Qur’ān]” of Qur’an 15:9CloseIndeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e., the Qur’ān], and indeed, We will be its guardian.Qur’an 15:9 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source on Has the Qur’an Been Changed?. The verse links open Quran.com with the Saheeh translation selected, so the Arabic and that English are on the source page. Saheeh is a translation of the widespread printed Arabic, which Grodzki identifies as Hafs ‘an ‘Asim. It is not Warsh, and it is not an eighth reading.

Bukhari quotations use Muhammad Muhsin Khan’s English on sunnah.com. Sahih Muslim quotations are attributed to Abdul Hamid Siddiqui. The page for Sahih Muslim 1050CloseAbu Harb b. Abu al-Aswad reported on the authority of his father that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari sent for the reciters of Basra. They came to him and they were three hundred in number. They recited the Qur'an and he said: You are the best among the inhabitants of Basra, for you are the reciters among them. So continue to recite it. (But bear in mind) that your reciting for a long time may not harden your hearts as were hardened the hearts of those before you. We used to recite a surah which resembled in length and severity to (Surah) Bara'at. I have, however, forgotten it with the exception of this which I remember out of it:" If there were two valleys full of riches, for the son of Adam, he would long for a third valley, and nothing would fill the stomach of the son of Adam but dust." And we used so recite a surah which resembled one of the surahs of Musabbihat, and I have forgotten it, but remember (this much) out of it:" Oh people who believe, why do you say that which you do not practise" (lxi 2.) and" that is recorded in your necks as a witness (against you) and you would be asked about it on the Day of Resurrection" (xvii. 13).Sahih Muslim 1050 · Abdul Hamid SiddiquiOpen source does not print a translator’s name, and the note on the preservation article says so. An English translation is a help for a reader who does not have the Arabic in front of them. It does not add a version of the Qur’an. Where Hafs and Warsh differ, the bullets above name the reading. The preview holds the English. The Arabic stays on the source page.

A Shia reader

The seven and the ten are a Sunni canon. Grodzki, citing Abu al-Qasim al-Khu’i, says Shi‘i scholars do not treat Ibn Mujahid’s seven readings as mutawatir, a transmission so widely attested that it is taken as fixed from the Prophet. Which Muslims Accept Which Hadith? is the label for a Sunni hadith, including Bukhari 4992. Sunni and Shia is the disagreement about leadership. A reader who sets the Sunni reading-lists aside still has the Qur’an both communities recite, and the preservation reports on the other page that rest on Bukhari and Muslim are marked there as Sunni.

Frequently asked questions

How many versions of the Qur’an are there?

Sahih al-Bukhari 4992CloseNarrated `Umar bin Al-Khattab: I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, "Who taught you this Sura which I heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) taught it to me." I said, "You have told a lie, for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) has taught it to me in a different way from yours." So I dragged him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and said (to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)), "I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way which you haven't taught me!" On that Allah's Apostle said, "Release him, (O `Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!" Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "It was revealed in this way," and added, "Recite, O `Umar!" I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) then said, "It was revealed in this way. This Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).Sahih al-Bukhari 4992 · Muhammad Muhsin KhanOpen source says seven ways. The later Sunni count is seven canonical readings, then ten. Two of them, Hafs and Warsh, are the ones generally printed. That is not “many different books,” and it is not “no difference in the words.”

Are there different versions of the Qur’an?

The printed Hafs and Warsh texts differ at Qur’an 2:184Close[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of other days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]. And whoever volunteers good [i.e., excess] - it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew.Qur’an 2:184 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source: one needy person, or needy persons. They also differ in the spelling of the verb at Qur’an 2:132CloseAnd Abraham instructed his sons [to do the same] and [so did] Jacob, [saying], "O my sons, indeed Allāh has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except while you are Muslims."Qur’an 2:132 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source, without an English change. Companion copies and missing verses are Has the Qur’an Been Changed?.

What is a qira’at?

A qira’a is one of the canonical readings: a transmitted way of reciting the Uthmanic consonantal text, with its own vowels and, in some places, its own words. Wahb distinguishes that system from the seven ahruf in Bukhari 4992. Grodzki says the seven, and then the ten, all belong to the Uthmanic family.

What is the difference between Hafs and Warsh?

Hafs transmits ‘Asim and is the ordinary printed Qur’an. Warsh transmits Nafi‘ and is printed in parts of North and West Africa. At Qur’an 2:184 the ransom is singular in Hafs and plural in Warsh. Most of their other differences do not change the English sentence.

Keep reading

• Has the Qur’an Been Changed?
• Who Wrote the Qur’an? How It Was Compiled
• Which Muslims Accept Which Hadith?
• What Are Hadith and Sira?
• Has the Bible Been Changed?
• The Islamic dilemma
• What Is the History of Islam?
• Who Was Muhammad?