Abu Ubaid al-Qasim ibn Sallam al-Khurasani al-Harawi ( ar, أبو عبيد القاسم بن سلاّم الخراساني الهروي, Abū ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām al-Khurāsānī al-Harawī; c. 770–838) was an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
philologist and the author of many standard books on
lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretica ...
,
Qur’an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...
ic sciences,
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
, and
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh.
The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
.
He was born in
Herat
Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
, the son of a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
slave. He left his native town and studied philology at the
Basra school under many famous scholars such as
al-Asmaʿi
Al-Asmaʿi (, ''ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Qurayb al-Aṣmaʿī ''; -828/833 CE), or Asmai; an early philologist and one of three leading Arabic grammarians of the Basra school. Celebrated at the court of the Abbasid caliph, Hārūn al-Rashīd, as p ...
(d. 213/828),
Abu ʿUbayda (d. c.210/825), and
Abu Zayd al-Ansari
Abū Zayd Sa’īd ibn Aws al-Anṣārī (; died 830 CE/215 AH) was an Arab linguist and a reputable narrator of hadith. Sibawayh and al-Jāḥiẓ were among his pupils.
His father was Aws ibn Thabit also a hadith narrator, while his grandfather ...
(d. 214 or 215/830–1), and at the
Kufa school under
Abu ʿAmr al-Shaybani (d. c.210/825),
al-Kisaʾi
Al-Kisā’ī () Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Uthman (), called Bahman ibn Fīrūz (), surnamed Abū ‘Abd Allāh (), and Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī ibn Hamzah of al-Kūfah ( d. ca. 804 or 812) was preceptor to th ...
(d. c.189/805), and others.
He was the first to develop a recorded science for
tajwid
In the context of the recitation of the Quran, ''tajwīd'' ( ar, تجويد ', , ' elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation ('' ...
, giving the rules of tajwid names and putting it into writing in his book called ''al-Qirā'āt.'' He wrote about 25 reciters, including the 7 mutawatir reciters. He made the reality, transmitted through reciters of every generation, a science with defined rules, terms, and enunciation.
He wrote extensively on the originally revealed, but now missing and lost, verses from the Qur’an.
Selected works
*Kitab al-Amwal (The Book of Revenue)
*Kitab Al-Nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh (The Book of Abrogation)
*Kitab Fada’il-al-Qur’an (The Excellent Qualities of the Holy Quran)
References
770s births
838 deaths
9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century Muslim scholars of Islam
Shafi'is
People from Herat
Arab Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Quranic exegesis scholars
Hadith scholars
Arab people of Greek descent
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