The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 383
Date of Revelation CHAPTER 25 AL-FURQAN (Revealed before Hijrah) The preponderance of scholarly opinion regards this Surah of Meccan origin. According to Ibn 'Abbās and Qatādah, however, vv. 69-71 belong to the Medinite period. ‘Umar, as reported by Bukhārī, Muslim, and Baihaqi, on one occasion heard Hishām bin Ḥakīm recite this Surah in Prayer. Hishām had recited it in a manner which ‘Umar thought was different from that in which he had heard the Holy Prophet recite it. He was exasperated and had almost assaulted Hishām, but restrained himself with great effort. Hishām had hardly finished his Prayer when ‘Umar caught hold of him and asked him from whom he had learnt to recite the Surah in the way he had done. Hishām replied that he had learnt it from the Holy Prophet himself. Upon this 'Umar took him to the Prophet and related the whole incident. The Prophet asked Hishām to recite the Surah again and when he did so exactly in the manner to which ‘Umar had taken strong exception, the Holy Prophet said, "It is precisely in this form that the Surah has been revealed. " Then the Holy Prophet asked ‘Umar to recite the portion concerning which there was difference of opinion between the two and when ‘Umar did so, the Prophet told him that he was also right, and added that the Quran had been revealed in seven different readings or dialects and told him to recite it in the manner in which he found it easy to do so (Qadir). This incident shows that variations in the readings of the Quran in which some prejudiced western orientalists and Christian missionaries pretend to have found a basis for casting doubts upon the purity of the Quranic text were merely differences in the pronunciation and dialects of the various Arab tribes and such differences of enunciation abounded in the Arabic language. Arabia, in the Holy Prophet's time, was surrounded on all sides by powerful nations which were superior to and different from the Arabs in culture and civilization. On one side of Arabia was situated Abyssinia, on the other Iran and its third side was adjacent to the Jews and the Arameans while on the fourth side India was its immediate neighbour. It was impossible that the language of a people surrounded on all sides by such powerful and highly cultured nations should have remained unaffected. Under their impact differences of dialect and pronunciation naturally arose among different Arab tribes. Some of them could easily pronounce certain letters while others could not do so. One tribe pronounced a certain letter in one way, the other in another. Some Arab tribes, for instance, could pronounce the letter "" with 2297