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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.