Harun ibn Musa

Abu Abdullah Harun ibn Musa al-'Ataki al-A'war (d. 170AH/786AD) was an early convert from Judaism to Islam and a scholar of the Arabic language and Islamic studies.[1] He converted while living among the Azd tribe, and was later attributed to the tribe.[2] He was affiliated with the Basran school of Arabic grammar. A specialist in lexicography, al-A'war contributed significantly to the study of Qira'at, or variant readings of the Qur'an,[3] and is the first formal compiler of the different recitation styles.[2][4][5][6][7] His most active period, during which his work was marked by new developments in lexicographical studies concerning the Qur'an, was from 752 until his death.[8]

Ibn Musa was also one of the seven teachers of Sibawayh, the ethnically Persian father of Arabic grammar, though like other Qur'an readers he was quoted by Sibawayhi less frequently than pure grammarians, with only five quotes in the infamous Kitab.[1][9] Additionally, he was a student of Ibn Abi Ishaq and Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala'.[1]

  1. ^ a b c M.G. Carter, Sibawayh, pg. 21. Part of the Makers of Islamic Civilization series. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004. ISBN 9781850436713
  2. ^ a b Ignác Goldziher, Schools of Koranic commentators, pg. 26. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006.
  3. ^ Monique Bernards, "Pioneers of Arabic Language Studies." Taken from In the Shadow of Arabic: The Centrality of Language to Arabic Culture, pg. 214. Ed. Bilal Orfali. Volume 63 of Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2011. ISBN 9789004215375
  4. ^ Michael M. J. Fischer and Mehdi Abedi, Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition, pg. 20. Part of the New Directions in Anthropological Writing series. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. ISBN 9780299124342
  5. ^ Michael M. J. Fischer and Mehdi Abedi, "Qur'anic Dialogics: Islamic Poetics and Politics for Muslims and Us." Taken from The Interpretation of Dialogue, Volume 0, Issues 226-50436, pg. 129. Ed. Tulio Maranhao. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. ISBN 9780226504339
  6. ^ Frederick M. Denny, "Exegesis and Recitation." Taken from Transitions and Transformations in the History of Religions: Essays in Honor, pg. 117. Eds. Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa, Frank E. Reynolds and Theodore M. Ludwig. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1980. ISBN 9789004061125
  7. ^ Salo Wittmayer Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews: High Middle Ages, 500-1200, pg. 243. Volume 6 of A Social and Religious History of the Jews. New York City: Columbia University Press, 1958.
  8. ^ Monique Bernards, Pioneers, pg. 209.
  9. ^ Kees Versteegh, Arabic Grammar and Qurʼānic Exegesis in Early Islam, pg. 161. Volume 19 of Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1993. ISBN 9789004098459