✿ Definition of the Science of Qirāʾāt
The science of Qirāʾāt is the discipline that discusses the different modes of reciting the words of the Noble Qur’an, taking into account the differences in pronunciation and the narrators of these recitations.
(al-Budūr al-Zāhirah: 7)
The subject of this science is the words of the Qur’an, focusing on how these words are pronounced and the conditions of their recitation.
(ʿInāyāt Raḥmānī: 1/13)
✿ Facilitation in Qirāʾāt within the Qur’an
Allah ﷻ, in order to make the recitation of the Qur’an easier for the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ, permitted the recitation of its words in various accepted modes. In the beginning, since people were not fully familiar with the style of the Qur’an, various dialects and rhetorical styles (such as the use of nouns and verbs, omissions, forward and backward placement of words, etc.) were allowed.
✿ Compilation of the Qirāʾāt in the Final Period
The Prophet ﷺ used to recite the Qur’an with Jibrīl (عليه السلام) every year during Ramaḍān. In the last year of his life, this review was conducted twice, an event known as the “ʿArḍah Akhīrah”. At this time, many recitations were abrogated, and only those recitations that were transmitted through Tawātur and have remained preserved until today were retained.
(al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Nasā’ī, Ḥadīth: 2794)
✿ The Great Achievement of Uthmān (رضي الله عنه)
During the caliphate of Uthmān (رضي الله عنه), differences in pronunciation and recitation were addressed by preparing seven copies of the Qur’an. These copies were written without diacritical marks and vowel symbols, allowing each reciter to recite according to their Qirāʾah.
Moreover, qualified reciters were sent along with these copies to the various regions to teach people the correct recitation. Through these efforts, the science of Qirāʾāt became an established discipline, with many scholars and reciters dedicating their lives to its preservation.
✿ Prominent Figures in the Science of Qirāʾāt
✔ Prominent Reciters Among the Companions:
From the Muhājirīn:
From the Anṣār:
✔ Prominent Reciters Among the Tābiʿīn:
From Madīnah: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Muslim ibn Jundub, Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī
From Makkah: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Rabāḥ, Ṭāwūs ibn Kaysān
From Basrah: Abū al-ʿĀliyah al-Riyāḥī, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn
From Kūfah: ʿAlqamah ibn Qays, Masrūq ibn al-Ajdaʿ, Rabīʿ ibn Khaytham
From Shām: Mughīrah ibn Shihāb, Yaḥyā ibn Ḥārith (رحمهم الله)
✿ Principles and Conditions of Accepted Qirāʾāt
Three essential conditions must be met for a Qirāʾah to be accepted:
➊ It must be in accordance with the ʿUthmānic script.
➋ It must conform to the rules of the Arabic language.
➌ It must have an authentic chain of transmission reaching back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Any recitation that lacks these three conditions is not considered part of the Qur’an.
✿ The Seven Mutawātir Qurrāʾ and Their Cities
✔ ʿAbdullāh ibn Kathīr al-Dārī (Makkah)
✔ Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (Madīnah)
✔ ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥuṣbī (Ibn ʿĀmir, Shām)
✔ Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlā’ (Basrah)
✔ Ḥamzah ibn Ḥabīb al-Zayyāt (Kūfah)
✔ ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd al-Asadī (Kūfah)
✔ Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ḥamzah al-Kisāʾī (Kūfah)
✿ Three Additional Reciters (Completing the Ten Qirāʾāt)
✔ Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī (Basrah)
✔ Khalaf ibn Hishām (Kūfah)
✔ Abū Jaʿfar Yazīd ibn al-Qāʿqāʿ (Madīnah)
✿ Further Expansion to Fourteen Recitations
Later scholars included four more reciters in addition to the ten, making fourteen:
✿ Compilation of Qirāʾāt and Major Works
ʿAllāmah Ibn Mujāhid (رحمه الله) (d. 324 AH) was the first to compile the seven well-known Qirāʾāt.
Subsequently, scholars compiled the ten Qirāʾāt and even the fourteen.
✿ Types of Qirāʾāt:
✔ Mutawātir Qirāʾāt: Those that meet the three essential conditions.
✔ Shādhah Qirāʾāt: Those that do not meet these conditions.
✿ Summary:
The science of Qirāʾāt is a great means of safeguarding the Noble Qur’an, transmitted generation after generation from the Prophet ﷺ to the Companions, then to the Tābiʿīn and their followers. The scholars and reciters of this Ummah devoted their lives to the preservation of this noble science—a mission that continues to this day.
The science of Qirāʾāt is the discipline that discusses the different modes of reciting the words of the Noble Qur’an, taking into account the differences in pronunciation and the narrators of these recitations.
(al-Budūr al-Zāhirah: 7)
The subject of this science is the words of the Qur’an, focusing on how these words are pronounced and the conditions of their recitation.
(ʿInāyāt Raḥmānī: 1/13)
✿ Facilitation in Qirāʾāt within the Qur’an
Allah ﷻ, in order to make the recitation of the Qur’an easier for the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ, permitted the recitation of its words in various accepted modes. In the beginning, since people were not fully familiar with the style of the Qur’an, various dialects and rhetorical styles (such as the use of nouns and verbs, omissions, forward and backward placement of words, etc.) were allowed.
✿ Compilation of the Qirāʾāt in the Final Period
The Prophet ﷺ used to recite the Qur’an with Jibrīl (عليه السلام) every year during Ramaḍān. In the last year of his life, this review was conducted twice, an event known as the “ʿArḍah Akhīrah”. At this time, many recitations were abrogated, and only those recitations that were transmitted through Tawātur and have remained preserved until today were retained.
(al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Nasā’ī, Ḥadīth: 2794)
✿ The Great Achievement of Uthmān (رضي الله عنه)
During the caliphate of Uthmān (رضي الله عنه), differences in pronunciation and recitation were addressed by preparing seven copies of the Qur’an. These copies were written without diacritical marks and vowel symbols, allowing each reciter to recite according to their Qirāʾah.
Moreover, qualified reciters were sent along with these copies to the various regions to teach people the correct recitation. Through these efforts, the science of Qirāʾāt became an established discipline, with many scholars and reciters dedicating their lives to its preservation.
✿ Prominent Figures in the Science of Qirāʾāt
✔ Prominent Reciters Among the Companions:
From the Muhājirīn:
- Uthmān ibn ʿAffān
- ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
- ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd
- Sālim Mawlā Abī Ḥudhayfah
- Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān
- ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās
- ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar
- Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām
- Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān (رضي الله عنهم)
From the Anṣār:
- Ubayy ibn Kaʿb
- Muʿādh ibn Jabal
- Zayd ibn Thābit
- Abū al-Dardā’
- Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (رضي الله عنهم)
✔ Prominent Reciters Among the Tābiʿīn:
From Madīnah: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Muslim ibn Jundub, Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī
From Makkah: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Rabāḥ, Ṭāwūs ibn Kaysān
From Basrah: Abū al-ʿĀliyah al-Riyāḥī, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn
From Kūfah: ʿAlqamah ibn Qays, Masrūq ibn al-Ajdaʿ, Rabīʿ ibn Khaytham
From Shām: Mughīrah ibn Shihāb, Yaḥyā ibn Ḥārith (رحمهم الله)
✿ Principles and Conditions of Accepted Qirāʾāt
Three essential conditions must be met for a Qirāʾah to be accepted:
➊ It must be in accordance with the ʿUthmānic script.
➋ It must conform to the rules of the Arabic language.
➌ It must have an authentic chain of transmission reaching back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Any recitation that lacks these three conditions is not considered part of the Qur’an.
✿ The Seven Mutawātir Qurrāʾ and Their Cities
✔ ʿAbdullāh ibn Kathīr al-Dārī (Makkah)
✔ Nāfiʿ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (Madīnah)
✔ ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥuṣbī (Ibn ʿĀmir, Shām)
✔ Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlā’ (Basrah)
✔ Ḥamzah ibn Ḥabīb al-Zayyāt (Kūfah)
✔ ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd al-Asadī (Kūfah)
✔ Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ḥamzah al-Kisāʾī (Kūfah)
✿ Three Additional Reciters (Completing the Ten Qirāʾāt)
✔ Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī (Basrah)
✔ Khalaf ibn Hishām (Kūfah)
✔ Abū Jaʿfar Yazīd ibn al-Qāʿqāʿ (Madīnah)
✿ Further Expansion to Fourteen Recitations
Later scholars included four more reciters in addition to the ten, making fourteen:
- Ḥasan al-Baṣrī
- Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥyiṣ
- Yaḥyā ibn Mubārak al-Yazīdī
- Abū al-Faraj al-Shanbūdhī
✿ Compilation of Qirāʾāt and Major Works
ʿAllāmah Ibn Mujāhid (رحمه الله) (d. 324 AH) was the first to compile the seven well-known Qirāʾāt.
Subsequently, scholars compiled the ten Qirāʾāt and even the fourteen.
✿ Types of Qirāʾāt:
✔ Mutawātir Qirāʾāt: Those that meet the three essential conditions.
✔ Shādhah Qirāʾāt: Those that do not meet these conditions.
✿ Summary:
The science of Qirāʾāt is a great means of safeguarding the Noble Qur’an, transmitted generation after generation from the Prophet ﷺ to the Companions, then to the Tābiʿīn and their followers. The scholars and reciters of this Ummah devoted their lives to the preservation of this noble science—a mission that continues to this day.
