Talhin al-Nahwiyyin lil-Qurra
- Author died
- 1439 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat Al-Rayyan lil-Tiba'ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzi'
Talhin al-Nahwiyyin lil-Qurra (The Grammarians' Declaring the Quranic Reciters Ungrammatical) is a scholarly treatise by the Saudi linguist Yasin Jasim al-Muhaimid (d. 1439 AH / 2018 CE), Professor of Grammar and Morphology at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University, examining and refuting classical grammarians' grammatical censure (talḥīn) of canonical Qur'anic readings (qirāʾāt) .
Background and Purpose
In his introduction, al-Muhaimid notes that while grammarians frequently cited Qur'anic readings alongside classical Arabic speech, works of grammar and Qur'anic exegesis (tafsīr) contain explicit objections not only to non-canonical variants, but also to mass-transmitted (mutawātir) readings attributed to the leading canonical authorities . The author argues that no valid justification exists for rejecting readings transmitted with unbroken chains of transmission back to the Prophet ﷺ, maintaining that soundly transmitted readings must serve as the authoritative standard over grammatical rules rather than subordinating revelation to humanly formulated grammatical analogies .
Causes of the Grammarians' Censure
The book identifies several key motives and factors behind the grammarians' criticism of canonical reciters:
- Presumed superior precision: Certain grammarians maintained that linguists possessed greater accuracy and understanding in recording linguistic forms than the reciters themselves, a view reflected in statements by Ibn Jinni (d. 392 AH) and al-Zamakhshari (d. 538 AH) .
- Rigid adherence to grammatical systems: Grammarians frequently judged transmissions strictly against rules formulated within their own schools; for example, Basran grammarians rejected the separation of the annexed noun (al-muḍāf) from its genitive complement (al-muḍāf ilayh) in the reading of Ibn 'Amir, and coordinating with a genitive pronoun without repeating the preposition in the reading of Hamzah .
- Concealment of linguistic justification (tawjīh): In cases where a construction's rationale was not immediately apparent, some scholars hastily dismissed the variant as narrator error (wahm), as seen in critiques by Abu Ali al-Farisi (d. 377 AH), al-Farra' (d. 207 AH), and Abu Ja'far al-Nahhas (d. 338 AH) .
Scope and Method
The study outlines foundational concepts in the science of Qur'anic readings, detailing the three traditional criteria (arkān) required for a reading to be accepted as sound: an authentic chain of transmission, conformity with the Uthmanic codex, and compatibility with Arabic grammar in at least one valid aspect . The author cites early scholars who articulated these standards, such as al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), Ibn Khalawayh (d. 370 AH), Makki ibn Abi Talib (d. 437 AH), and Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833 AH) .
Al-Muhaimid recorded more than fifty instances in classical literature where canonical readings among the Seven were criticized by grammarians . To counter these criticisms, the work incorporates historical rebukes of such practices—such as that of Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH), who criticized scholars for accepting linguistic evidence from pre-Islamic and Bedouin poets while discarding divine speech—and provides detailed defenses of the most targeted reciters, particularly Ibn 'Amir al-Dimashqi and Hamzah al-Zayyat, documenting classical testimonies to their trustworthiness and precision .
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