Alif and the Harmony of Script, Sound, and Meaning in the Qur'an: An Analysis of Ḥażf, Ziyādah, and Ibdāl Ḥurūf
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15408/sjsbs.v13i1.54243Keywords:
Alif, Rasm 'Uthmānī, Ḥażf, Ziyādah, Ibdāl, Qirā'āt, Tajwīd, Derrida, Qur'anic OrthographyAbstract
This article examines the function of the Arabic letter alif in the Qur'anic text through the lens of three orthographic mechanisms: ḥażf (deletion), ziyādah (addition), and ibdāl (substitution). Drawing on classical works of Qur'anic orthography (rasm 'Uthmānī), recitation sciences (qirā'āt and tajwīd), and Jacques Derrida's deconstructive hermeneutics, the study analyzes selected examples from Surah al-Fātiḥah and Surah al-Baqarah where identical words are written differently across the Qur'anic corpus. The analysis demonstrates that these orthographic variations are not arbitrary but function as a unified system in which script, sound, and meaning interact dynamically. The article argues that alif, as the most frequent letter in the Qur'an, serves as a nodal point where orthographic presence and absence, phonological realization and silence, and semantic stability and openness converge. Through Derrida's concepts of différance, traces, and aporia, the study interprets these phenomena as evidence that the Qur'anic text deliberately preserves interpretive possibilities that resist closure. The findings contribute to Qur'anic studies by demonstrating that the orthography of the muṣḥaf is not merely a technical convention but an integral dimension of the text's meaning-generating capacity. The study concludes that the harmony between script, sound, and meaning in the Qur'an operates through a logic of supplementarity rather than correspondence, inviting continuous engagement with the text's semantic potential.
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