The place of Abū Mansūr Muhammad al-Azharī's work Kitāb Maʿānī al-Qirāʾāt in the science of Qur'anic

This study aims to examine Abū Mansūr Muhammad al-Azharī's work Kitâb Ma 'ânī al-Qirâʾât and to reveal its significance and place within the science of qira'at. The thesis covers the fundamental concepts of qira'at, its historical development process, and the stages it underwent until the Ottoman period. The effects of qira'at differences on meaning, the process of standardizing qira'at, and modern academic studies on this topic are analyzed in detail. In the first chapter, the life of Abū Mansūr Muhammad al-Azharī, his scholarly personality, and the social, political, and intellectual environment of his time are discussed. His contributions to qira'at science, his madhhab and jurisprudential views are evaluated, and his position in the field of qira'at is determined. The place of Kitâb Ma 'ânī al-Qirâʾât in qira'at literature and the distinctive features of the work are analyzed. The second chapter examines the linguistic principles and the methodology of istishhâd (evidential citation) used by al-Azharī in qira'at studies. The study explores how he approached different qira'at readings based on linguistic principles such as samâ ' (oral transmission), qiyâs (analogy), and ijmâ ' (consensus). Additionally, the istishhâd methodology of the work is assessed through evidences drawn from the Qur'an, hadith, and Arabic poetry. The third chapter delves into the recitation methods discussed in Kitâb Ma 'ânī al-Qirâʾât. Key qira'at elements such as hamzah, saktah, naqil, imâlah, idghâm, and silah are identified, and al-Azharī's interpretations of these aspects are examined. Moreover, different reading styles of the qira'at imams and al-Azharī's analyses of these figures constitute a significant part of the study. The fourth chapter presents a systematic classification of qira'at variants and evaluates their historical origins in the context of dialectal differences. Qira'at variations are analyzed from a morphological (sarf) and syntactic (nahw) perspective, examining linguistic effects at both the word and sentence levels. The classification of qira'at variations in terms of verb and noun structures is provided, and the role of changes in dots, vowels, or letters within the science of qira'at is explained. In the conclusion, the significance of Kitâb Ma 'ânī al-Qirâʾât for the science of qira'at is emphasized, and its influence on subsequent works is discussed. Al-Azharī's contributions to the field of qira'at are evaluated, and recommendations are offered regarding future academic directions in this field.