Abu Sa'id Uthman Ibn SaâÂÂid al-Qebá¹Âi, better known as Warsh (110-197AH), was a significant figure in the history of Quranic recitation (qira'at), the canonical methods of reciting the Qur'an. Alongside Qalun, he was one of the two primary transmitters of the canonical reading method of Nafiâ al-Madani. Together, their style is the most common form of Qur'anic recitation in the generality of African mosques outside of Egypt, and is also popular in Yemen and Darfur despite the rest of Sudan following the method of Hafs. The method of Warsh and his counterpart Qalun was also the most popular method of recitation in Al-Andalus. The majority of printed Mushafs today in North Africa and West Africa follow the reading of Warsh.
Warsh 'an Naafi' is one of the main canonical methods of reciting the Qur'an. The recitations of the Quran, known in Arabic as Qira'at, are conducted under the rules of the Tajwid Science. It is attributed to Imam Warsh who in turn got it from his teacher Nafiâ al-Madani who was one of the transmitters of the seven recitations. The recitation of Warsh 'an Naafi' is one of two major recitation traditions. The second is Hafs 'an 'Asim.
Imam Warsh (110-197AH) was born Uthman Ibn SaâÂÂid al-Qibá¹Âi in Egypt. He was called Warsh, a substance of milk, by his teacher Naafi' because he was light skinned. He learned his recitation from Naafi' at Medina. After finishing his education, he returned to Egypt where he became the senior reciter of the Quran. He died in 812CE.
The recitation of NÃÂfiÿ was preferred by MÃÂlik ibn Anas and his student ÿAbd AllÃÂh ibn Wahb, and it remained the standard recitation of Medina for an extended period. However, according to Ibn al-Jazarë, in the 8th century it was still practiced by only a "select few" in Africa.
The transmission of the Warsh recitation to the western Islamic lands is associated with GhÃÂzë ibn Qays al-Andalusë (), who traveled from Córdoba to Medina and studied directly with Warsh. He is reported to have carefully reviewed and corrected his muṣḥaf, comparing it thirteen times with the original copy of ImÃÂm NÃÂfiÿ. Because Al-Andalus was a major center of learning, its scholarly authority influenced the Maghreb; when Andalusian scholars adopted the Warsh recitation, it subsequently spread throughout North and West Africa.
According to Dr. ÿAbd al-HÃÂdë, in 234 AH when Imam Saḥnà «n ibn Saÿëd was appointed as Qadi in Qayrawan, he used his official power to favor the recitation of NÃÂfiÿ. Since the MÃÂlikë school is based on the "Practice of the People of Medina," Saḥnà «n believed that the QurþÃÂnic recitation used in the courts and mosques should also be the "Recitation of the People of Medina" (NÃÂfiÿ).
Because fiqh and qirÃÂþÃÂt were traditionally taught together, the rise of the MÃÂlikë school as the dominant legal authority in the Maghreb had direct consequences for recitational practice. Once MÃÂlikë fiqh became the law of the courts and the state, the recitation of NÃÂfiÿ naturally came to be treated as the "official" mode of QurþÃÂnic recitation in mosques and educational institutions.
Historically, the Warsh qirÃÂþah was also prevalent in Egypt until the Ottoman period in the sixteenth century, after which the recitation of Ḥafá¹£ gradually became the dominant and officially adopted reading.
The qirÃÂþah of Warsh is widely recited in North and West Africa. It is the dominant recitation in Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and much of West Africa, including Senegal, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, among others. It is also used in some regions of Sudan (notably Darfur and Dongola), Egypt, Libya, Chad, Tunisia.
Muṣḥafs according to the Warsh recitation are printed in several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Syria, and Qatar. According to Maḥmà «d Khalël al-Ḥuá¹£arë (), he was the first qÃÂriþ to produce a complete audio recording of the QurþÃÂn according to the Warsh qirÃÂþah. Warsh's recitation was also the qira'ah taught in MaḥaáºÂra Educational system.
Among the most popular tafsër works written in Warsh ÿan NÃÂfiÿ qirÃÂþah are by ÿAbd al-RaḥmÃÂn al-ThaÿÃÂlibë, ÿAbd al-Ḥamëd ibn BÃÂdës, and Abà « Bakr al-JazÃÂþirë.
In the modern period, the Kingdom of Morocco has officially recognized the riwÃÂyah of Warsh as part of the countryâÂÂs religious and cultural heritage. It has also influenced phonological structure of some words in Algerian Arabic (Darja).
Warsh recitation also played a formative role in shaping how many African languages were written in Arabic script (ÿAjami). Because Warsh was the standard taught in local QurþÃÂnic schools, its orthographic conventions, including unique characters and diacritic, became a ready âÂÂpool of formsâ for scholars when adapting Arabic script to represent sounds not found in Classical Arabic.
In Hausa, Fulfulde, and Tuareg ÿAjami systems, features such as the Warsh dot for and other graphical variants were adopted to encode vowel and consonant distinctions absent in the Arabic linguistic system.
Sufi orders such as the TijÃÂnëyya and QÃÂdiriyya also transmitted ÿAjami texts in Warsh-derived orthography, and this influence persists in modern publications, such as the Fulfulde Bible (Deftere Allah), which retains elements of the Maghribë-style scripts associated with the Warsh tradition.
The Warsh 'an Naafi' recitation of the Quran differs from Hafs 'an Asim in some orthography. The majority of differences do not affect the meaning. Yet in some cases the differences change the implications of the verse. In verse 2:184 Hafs recites the verse to be "... a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person...". On the other hand, Warsh reads it "... a ransom [as substitute] of feeding poor people..." Other variants that go beyond orthography include :