The Connection Between Etymology, Variant Readings, and Interpretation of the Qurʾān; A Case Study of "bādiya/ bādiʾa r-raʾyi" in Verse 27 of Surah Hud

Document Type : Research Article

Author
Mohammad Ali Khavanin Zadeh
Department of Quran and Hadith Studies, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran/ Karaj, Iran
10.30497/qhs.2025.247373.4062
Abstract
The pronunciation of hamza is one of the factors influencing the variant readings of the Qurʾān, often manifesting in the “reading principles” (ʾuṣūl al-qirāʾāt) and sometimes in the “specific variants” (farš al-ḥurūf). One example that demonstrates the impact of lexical and, particularly, etymological differences of the hamzated words on the variant readings is the word bādiya/ bādiʾa in Q 11:27. Abū ʿAmr al-Baṣrī reads it as bādiʾa, with hamza, while other Readers read it without hamza as bādiya. Scholars of the variant readings attribute this difference to the etymology of the word, considering the reading bādiʾa to represent the hamzated root b-d-ʾ, while bādiya reflects the defective root b-d-w. They also suggest that the reading bādiya may still derive from the hamzated root, arguing that a hamza with fatḥa, preceded by a consonant with kasra, may have been substituted by yāʾ. The research question is whether the etymological explanation provided by the scholars of the variant readings is a priori, meaning the Readers read the word with or without hamza based on the etymologal differences, or whether this explanation is a later development, with scholars seeking to justify the two readings through morphological and etymological analysis, while it may be that this variant reading is purely phonetic, where a hamzated word is read with a full articulation of hamza (taḥqīq) or with lightening of hamza (taḫfīf). An examination of the views of early exegetes reveals that some did not accept Abū ʿAmr’s reading at all, while others attempted to explain it in a way that connected it to an older interpretation, widely accepted by most exegetes, which understood it as derived from buduww, meaning “to become apparent.” A reverse effort is seen in some of the scholars of the variant readings, who attempt to interpret both readings as having the same meaning, derived from ibtidāʾ, meaning “the beginning of a matter,” and consider the issue as part of the “reading principles.”
Keywords
bādiya/ bādiʾa r-raʾyi
etymology
Qurʾānic interpretation
variant readings of the Qurʾān
reading principles (ʾuṣūl al-qirāʾāt)
specific variants (farš al-ḥurūf)
Subjects
The Holy Qurʾān.
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