Readings · a Light

One missing letter changes the King into the Owner

In the fourth verse of al-Fatiha, recited in every prayer, the word describing God in relation to the day of judgement is read two ways. Hafs from Asim, the reading in most printed copies, has maliki with a long first vowel, meaning owner or master. Nafi of Madinah and Ibn Kathir of Makkah read it short, meaning king. Both are canonically transmitted, both were recited from the beginning, and the difference is a single alif that the earliest manuscripts did not write in either case. A king rules what is not his. An owner possesses it. The verse is recited both ways every day by hundreds of millions of people.

Surah al-Fatiha, verse 4

Source · The canonical readings differ: Hafs from Asim reads maliki with the alif, Nafi and Ibn Kathir read maliki without it.