Examining the Context of Issuance and Meaning of the Traditions on the Revelation of the Qurʾan in One Letter and Evaluating Their Use in Rejecting Multiple Readings

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Mohammad Allah-Moradi Ghavidelan ¹

Seyyed Reza Moaddab ²

¹ PhD Student of Qur'an and Hadith Studies, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

² Professor, Department of Qur'an and Hadith Studies, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

10.22067/jquran.2025.92543.1817

Abstract

Understanding the context of issuance is a crucial factor in interpreting hadiths, particularly Shiʿi traditions, which were often transmitted within an intellectual environment dominated by Sunni beliefs. Among such traditions are reports asserting that the Qurʾan was revealed in one letter, whose interpretation plays a significant role in evaluating the issue of multiple Qurʾanic readings.
This study seeks to determine whether these traditions aim to deny the existence of variant readings altogether or were issued in response to a misinterpretation of the Seven Letters (sabʿat aḥruf) traditions. Using a descriptive–analytical method, the research examines the chains of transmission, contexts of issuance, and the validity of citing these traditions to negate variant readings. The findings indicate that the traditions concerning revelation in one letter were issued in reaction to a prevalent view among Sunni jurists and hadith scholars of the second Islamic century, who—relying on Seven Letters traditions—permitted substituting Qurʾanic words with their synonyms during recitation. Accordingly, these traditions do not appear to reject variant readings absolutely, and citing them to deny all differences in Qurʾanic readings is not persuasive.

Keywords

Traditions of Qurʾanic revelation

Seven Letters

Single Letter

context of issuance

variant readings

Subjects

• Quran and Hadith Studies

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