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Ahmad Mukhtar Umar

al-Mujam al-Mawsui li-Alfaz al-Quran al-Karim wa Qiraatihi

Author died
1424 AH
Editions
King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Medina

al-Mu'jam al-Mawsu'i li-Alfaz al-Qur'an al-Karim wa Qira'atihi (The Encyclopedic Lexicon of the Words and Variant Readings of the Noble Qur'an) is a comprehensive specialized dictionary of Qur'anic vocabulary and variant readings compiled by the Egyptian linguist Ahmad Mukhtar Umar (d. 1424 AH / 2003 CE) with the assistance of a research team.

Purpose and Scope

The work is designed as an "encyclopedic lexicon" rather than an external topical encyclopedia, meaning that its approach originates from within the language by systematically examining Qur'anic words from multiple linguistic dimensions. These dimensions include root letters, bare and augmented derived forms, morphological templates, grammatical categories, contextual lexical definitions, and semantic field classifications.

Its encyclopedic character derives from three primary features:

  • Covering extra-linguistic information for proper names (a'lam), historical events, and geographical locations mentioned in the text (such as identifying Badr as a well between Mecca and Medina and noting the historical battle fought there in 2 AH).
  • Combining interpretive exposition with comprehensive indexing for verbs, nouns, functional particles (adawat), and independent pronouns.
  • Uniting the standard canonical vocabulary of the Qur'an with its variant readings (qira'at), including their linguistic analysis, exegesis, and source attribution.

Structure and Methodology

The work is structured into two interrelated component dictionaries:

Dictionary of Qur'anic Words

This section examines each word through its root, morphological pattern, grammatical class, contextual meaning, co-occurring terms, and assigned semantic domain.

Dictionary of Qur'anic Readings

This section links each variant reading directly to the corresponding Qur'anic word via serial numbering. The variant readings are organized alphabetically, with verbs presented before nouns, and their definitions are matched to the exact grammatical form of the recited variant.

The sources for the readings are categorized and cited using numerical codes:

  1. Works on the seven canonical readings.
  2. Works on the ten readings.
  3. Works on the fourteen readings.
  4. Works on anomalous readings (al-shawadhdh).
  5. General reference works.
  6. The compiler's earlier co-authored dictionary of readings (Mu'jam al-Qira'at al-Qur'aniyyah).

For transmission (riwayah), the authors relied solely on primary classical sources, while both classical and modern references were consulted for linguistic reasoning and grammatical explanation (dirayah). The readings were also extracted and cross-referenced from major classical lexicons and Qur'anic glossaries, specifically Lisan al-Arab by Ibn Manzur, Taj al-Arus by al-Zabidi, al-Mufradat fi Gharib al-Quran by al-Raghib al-Isfahani, and Basa'ir Dhawi al-Tamyiz by al-Fayruzabadi.

Publication and Electronic Version

The print edition of the lexicon was published in Riyadh in 2001 CE (1422 AH) by Sutoor. An electronic edition was developed alongside the text, allowing users to query words through nine search access points (root, grammatical type, pattern, semantic field, attested surface form, surah and verse, root of the reading, and semantic field of the reading) and retrieve up to 37 distinct data points for a single entry.

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