Question
Assalamu alaykum wa
rahmatullah.
The name of Prophet
Ibrâhîm (peace be upon him) is sometimes (e.g.,
Âli 'Imrân, 3:33;
Al-A'lâ, 87:19) written
with a regular yâ 
for
lengthening the vowel of the hâ and sometimes (e.g.,
Al-Baqara, 2:258) with a
small yâ . Could you please help me
understand this situation? Should it be considered as part of the mystery of
the Qur’an, compared to the spelling of words like salat or zakat, already
explained in some of your earlier replies? Are there other similar cases in
the holy Book? May Allah reward your effort in helping.
Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah
Answer
Wa alaikum assalaam wa
rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.
The name of Prophet
Ibrâhîm, peace be upon
him, is written in surah Al-Baqarah with the little letter ya'
,
and in the rest of the Qur'an with the regular letter
,
. The scribes of the
Prophet, wrote the word this way, with no
in
surah Al-Baqarah, and with a
in
the rest of the Qur'an. The scholars of writing then put in the small
to help the reader understand that the
letter is there. An interesting sideline
is that in the different qira'aat, Hishaam reads the name as:
with
fat-h on the letter
and
an alif instead of the
letter
in 33 places in the Qur'an, including all
of its occurrences in surah Al-Baqarah. Ibn Thakwaan reads the word "Ibrâhîm"
with an alif and a fat-h on the , ((,
as one of two allowed ways of reading that he has for this word, only in surah
Al-Baqarah, the other allowed way is like the rest of the reciters, with a
kasrah on the and following it, the letter
.
Ibn Thakwaan reads the word
Ibrâhîm with a
kasrah on the and
a
saakinah following it (),
throughout the rest of the Qur'an.
As to the reason for the two
different writings, it is as you said, one of the miracles of the Qur'an, and
one of the signs of its preservation even in minute details, exactly as it was
revealed and written down by the scribes of the Prophet,
, under his orders. And Allah knows best.
There are similar cases in
the Glorious Qur'an. We will try to cover them in the future, insha'
Allah.
Wa alaikum assalaam wa
rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.
