Hafs Quran

The Hafs Quran, the most widely used Quranic recitation (qirāʾa) today, is not based on a single known early manuscript but rather on an oral transmission attributed to Hafs ibn Sulayman (d. 796 CE) from ʿAsim ibn Abi al-Najud (d. 745 CE). However, the Hafs transmission was later standardized into written form and became the dominant version in the Ottoman era.

Key Points:

1. Oral Transmission, Not a Manuscript-Based Text

   • The Hafs reading is traced back to Hafs ibn Sulayman, who narrated it from his teacher ʿAsim ibn Abi al-Najud.

   • This transmission belongs to the Kufan school of recitation, which means it follows a textual tradition that was circulating in Kufa, Iraq.

2. The 1924 Cairo Standardization

   • The Hafs Quran gained dominance due to the 1924 Egyptian Standard Edition, which was printed based on the Hafs recitation.

   • This version was chosen because it was widely used in Ottoman lands and aligned with the dominant grammatical rules of Arabic.

3. Relation to Early Manuscripts

   • The Hafs text does not exactly match any known early Quranic manuscript, including the Topkapi, Sana’a, or Samarkand manuscripts.

   • Early Quranic manuscripts show textual variations, and many align more with the Warsh, Ibn Kathir, or other readings rather than Hafs.

4. Uthmanic Archetype vs. Hafs Text

   • The claim that Hafs perfectly preserves Uthman’s recension is not historically verifiable, as variations exist even among early Uthmanic copies.

   • Hafs' version was one of many recitations that evolved, and it became dominant only much later in history.

Conclusion:

The Hafs Quran is based on an oral tradition traced to Kufa, not directly on any specific early manuscript. The modern written Hafs text became dominant through later standardization efforts, particularly in the 20th century. No early manuscript exactly matches the Hafs text.