Variant Proper Names in Quran Closer to Hebrew Bible

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ 

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

الصلاة والسلام عليك يا سيدي يا رسول الله

The standard reading of the Holy Quran in our time is Hafs. This reading is prevalent throughout the Muslim world, with the exception of the Maghreb region where it competes with the Warsh and Qalun readings, and in parts of Sudan and the Horn of Africa where it competes with the Duri reading.

From this we can surmise that Allah Most High has favored this particular reading, Hafs, and caused it to become widespread in the Ummah; just as I believe Allah Most High has favored the Hanafi school in jurisprudence and caused it to become the most widely followed school in the Muslim world.

No one should construe this as a rejection or invalidation of the other legitimate readings of the Quran such as Warsh, Qalun, Duri, etc., or the other Sunni schools of jurisprudence, namely, Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali.

Some heretics deny the multiplicity of valid readings of the Quran. The antichrist Rashad Khalifa and the radical reformist Javed Ghamidi and their deluded followers, along with many other Hadith-rejecters believe that the Hafs reading is exclusively divine while all others lack authenticity and should not be considered Quran.

Yet we know that all the multiplicity of readings of the Quran, based on tawatur (mass transmission), are divine and originally revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who said:

أَقْرَأَنِي جِبْرِيلُ عَلَى حَرْفٍ فَلَمْ أَزَلْ أَسْتَزِيدُهُ حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ

“Gabriel read the Quran to me upon one mode of recitation, so I did not cease to ask him to increase (modes of recitation) until he reached seven modes of recitation.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Among the notable variations within the various readings of the Holy Quran are the orthographical differences in some of the proper names.

In the Hafs reading, the names of the Angels Gabriel and Michael are rendered:

جِبْرِيل

Jibreel

مِيكَال

Meekaal

But there are variations in some of the other variant readings, such as Shu’bah, which renders these names:

جَبْرَئِل

Jabra’il

مِيكَئِيل

Meekaa’eel

The Shu’bah reading for the names of the Archangels Gabriel—Jabra’il—and Michael—Meekaa’eel—are closer to the Hebrew:

גַּבְרִיאֵל

Gabriy’el

מִיכָאֵל

Miyka’el

In the Old Testament, the names of these Archangels in appear only in the Book of Daniel, solidifying the case for that particular text being a prophetic work and divine in origin.

In the Hafs and most other readings, the name of the Patriarch Abraham is rendered:

إِبْرَاهِيم

Ibraaheem

But in the Hisham reading, the name Abraham is rendered:

إِبْرَهَم

Ibraahaam

This too is closer to the Hebrew as it appears in the Bible:

אַבְרָהָם

Abraham

The name of the Prophet Elisha is rendered in the Hafs reading:

الْيَسَع

Alyasa’

But in the readings from Hamzah, such as Khalaf, is rendered:

الَّيْسَع

Allaysa’

And this is closer to the Hebrew as it appears in the Bible:

אֱלִישָׁע

Eliysha’