The Quran in the Hafs ‘an ‘Asim riwaya

Hafs ‘an ‘Asim is the reading of ‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud, one of the seven canonical readers, as transmitted by his stepson Hafs ibn Sulayman al-Asadi (709–796; 90–180 AH), a Kufan teacher of the Quran who also taught in Baghdad and Mecca. It is by far the most widespread riwaya today: most Muslims recite the Quran, and most copies are printed, according to Hafs.

From ‘Asim to Hafs

‘Asim (d. 745; 127 AH), a Successor (tabi‘i), followed Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami as the leading reader of Kufa. He learned the Quran from al-Sulami, a student of ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, Ibn Mas‘ud, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and Zayd ibn Thabit, and from Zirr ibn Hubaysh, a student of ‘Uthman and Ibn Mas‘ud. According to a report preserved by the biographers, ‘Asim taught Hafs the reading he had received from al-Sulami, going back to ‘Ali, and taught his other transmitter, Shu‘ba, the reading he had from Zirr, going back to Ibn Mas‘ud.

Hafs, a cloth merchant (al-bazzaz), grew up in the household of ‘Asim, who had married his mother, and read the whole Quran with him several times. Early authorities regarded him as the best authority on his teacher's reading; Yahya ibn Ma‘in called his the sound transmission of ‘Asim's reading.

Distinctive features

Hafs is taught today through the route of the Shatibiyya. In it he gives the joined and separated madd a medium length (4 to 5 counts), recites the basmala between surahs except between al-Anfal and al-Tawba, and reads Māliki yawmi d-dīn (1:4) with a long alif, like al-Kisa’i. A few features set him apart:

• a single imala (a vowel inclined towards "i"): majrāhā (11:41);
• four short pauses without taking breath (sakt), including ‘iwajā (18:1) and man rāq (75:27);
• huzuwan and kufuwan pronounced with a waw where all other readers have a hamza.

Spread

Adopted as the official reading of the Ottoman Empire, it displaced other readings, notably that of Warsh in Egypt. The 1924 Cairo edition, which became the model for printed copies of the Quran, and later the editions of the King Fahd Complex in Medina completed its dominance. It is recited almost everywhere, except in the Maghreb and parts of Africa, where Warsh, Qalun or al-Duri prevail.

Most of the great contemporary reciters read according to Hafs, among them Mahmoud Khalil Al-Husary, Abdul Basit Abdul Samad, Muhammad Siddiq al-Minshawi, Mishary Rashid Alafasy, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais and Saad Al-Ghamdi.