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Muhammad Salim Muhaysin

Died
1422 AH
Born in
-

Muhammad Salim Muhaysin (1347–1422 AH / 1929–2001 CE) was an Egyptian scholar of Quranic recitation, readings (qira’at), and Arabic literature, best known for his linguistic study al-Qira’at wa-Atharuha fi ‘Ulum al-‘Arabiyya (The Variant Readings and Their Impact on the Arabic Language Sciences).

Early life and education

Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Salim ibn Muhaysin was born on 11 February 1929 in the village of al-Rawdah, located in the Faqus district of the Sharqia Governorate, Egypt, into a religious and modest family. He memorized the Quran in his youth and perfected its recitation before pursuing formal studies at al-Azhar.

Muhaysin pursued an extensive curriculum in Islamic disciplines, Arabic, and Quranic readings. He studied the minor ten canonical readings through the Shatibiyya, Abu ‘Amr al-Dani's al-Taysir, and Ibn al-Jazari's al-Durrah, and mastered the major ten readings via Ibn al-Jazari's al-Nashr fi al-Qira’at al-‘Ashr. He earned the Higher Certificate in Readings from al-Azhar in 1948 and the Certificate of Specialization in Readings and Quranic Sciences from its Institute of Readings in 1953. He later completed a bachelor's degree (licence) in Islamic and Arabic sciences at al-Azhar University in 1967, followed by a master's degree with distinction in 1973 and a doctorate with first-class honors in 1976 in Arabic literature from the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University.

Teachers

Muhaysin studied Quran memorization under Muhammad al-Sayyid ‘Azab, and vocalization (tajwid) under Muhammad Mahmud and Mahmud Bakr. He received theoretical training in variant readings from ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Qadi and Mahmud Da‘bis, and practical application under ‘Amir al-Sayyid ‘Uthman. He learned Quranic orthography (rasm) and vocalization markers (dabt) from Ahmad Abu Zayt Har, and studied verse counting (‘add al-ay) and the grammatical justification of readings (tawjih al-qira’at) under Mahmud Da‘bis. In jurisprudence, he studied under Ahmad ‘Abd al-Rahim and Mahmud ‘Abd al-Da’im, and took legal theory (usul al-fiqh) from Yasin Suwaylim.

Scholarly contribution and death

Muhaysin contributed significantly to the pedagogical and biographical literature of Quranic recitation, authoring biographical works such as Mu‘jam Huffaz al-Qur’an ‘abr al-Tarikh (Dictionary of Quran Memorizers Across History), which catalogs Quranic transmitters from the era of the Prophet's Companions onward. He died in 1422 AH (2001 CE).

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List of Works

  • al-Qiraat wa Atharuha fi Ulum al-Arabiya

    This two-volume linguistic study examines the influence of the ten canonical variant Quranic readings on Arabic phonetics, morphology, syntax, dialectology, and rhetoric. It classifies variant readings by grouping linguistic analogies and parallels together, drawing its core material from the ten canonical readings transmitted via the Nashr path of Ibn al-Jazari.

  • Mujam Hufaz al-Quran Abr al-Tarikh

    This biographical dictionary of Quran memorizers and reciters highlights the lives and examples of figures preserved across biographical literature. Its alphabetically arranged entries span historically from the generation of the Prophet's Companions onward.

  • al-Hadi Sharh Tayyibat al-Nashr fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr

    This multi-volume work is a line-by-line commentary on Tayyibat al-Nashr fi al-Qiraat al-Ashr, the didactic thousand-verse rajaz poem by Ibn al-Jazari that codifies the ten major transmissions of Quranic readings. It decodes the text's poetic shorthand and mnemonics while exploring the underlying causes, rationales, and grammatical justifications for the variant readings.