A comparison of Duri and Hafs narrations

The Qiraat by Âsım bin Bahdalah, which is acknowledged among the seven dialects (al-Ahruf al Sab'ah) and ten styles of reciting (Qiraat Ashar) of the Holy Quran, is the most commonly used one. This prevalence of the Âsım qiraat can be attributed to the fact that the chain of HIS narration dates back to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in several ways, and that his recitation style is plain. He is reported to have acquired his qiraat from Abu Abdurrahman as-Sulamî, Zirr ibn Hubaysh, Abu Amr Al-Shaybanî, who had acquired their qiraats from Alî ibn Abu Talib, Uthman ibn Affan, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. who had acquired their qiraats directly from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). As far as the qiraat by Abu Amr is concerned, it is the third most commonly preferred style of reading the Quran in the Islamic world today. Abu Amr is reported to have acquired his qiraat from Mücâhid b. Cebr, Saîd b. Cübeyr, Abdullah b. Abbas, Übey b. Kâ'b both of whom had acquired their qiraats from Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). While the narrators of Âsım bin Bahdalah were Hafs Ibn Suleiman and Shuba, those of Abu Amr were ad-Duri and es-Susi. In the present study, the differences in qiraats are approached and evaluated considering Hafs and Dûrî, who are the narrators of Âsım and Abu Amr, respectively. While the differences in qiraats of these two imams are dealt with mainly from a methodological viewpoint point of view, some grammatical and harakat (vowel point) differences and the effect of these differences upon 'meaning' are also examined in this study.