The Ten Qiraat

Traditionally, there are 10 recognized schools of Qira’at, each transmitted by a well-known reciter (Qari) with an authentic chain of narration.

The Ten Qira’at are not like different voices and different styles, rather there are slight differences in pronunciation, letters, Harakat (signs), and sometimes even words, but all are considered valid and divinely revealed. It is like comparing two different books of the Quran and you find differences between them.

To know this clearly, we need to go back to the times of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Islamic history. People in the times of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) have their own dialect of their own tribe like any other language. Like in the case of English of British and American. It has differences in spelling and pronunciation. The same was the case for that time that they have a different dialect of Quraysh which was the tribe of Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a dialect of Yemen, a dialect of Kufa, a dialect of Madinah, and many more. These dialects have slight differences but without a change in the meaning.

At the time of the revelation of the Quran, the angel Jibril (alayhissalaam) came and recited the Quran to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and he recited back to him in one dialect. Then Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) requested the angel to increase the dialect and he did until seven completed. All these were the same in meaning but a change in pronunciation.

1) Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Jibril recited the Quran to me in one harf, and I recited it back to him, but I requested him to increase (the number of harf) and he continued to increase it for me until we stopped at seven ahruf.” Ibn Shihab az-Zuhri (d. 124 A.H.), one of the narrators of the hadith, said, “It has reached me that these seven ahruf are essentially one (in meaning), they do not differ about what is permitted or forbidden.”

2) ‘Ubayy ibn Ka’ab reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was once on the outskirts of Madinah (near the tribe of Banu Ghifaar) when Jibril came to him and said, “Allah has commanded that you recite the Quran to your people in one harf.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “I ask Allah’s pardon and forgiveness! My people are not capable of doing this!” Jibril then came again and said, “Allah has commanded you to recite the Qur’an to your people in two ahruf.”

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) again replied, “I ask Allah’s pardon and forgiveness! My people are not capable of doing this!” Jibril then came a third time and said, “Allah has commanded you to recite the Quran to your people in three ahruf.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied for a third time, “I ask Allah’s pardon and forgiveness! My people are not capable of doing this!” At last, Jibril came for the fourth time, and said, “Allah has commanded you to recite the Qur’an to your people in seven ahruf, and in whichever harf they recite, they would be right.”

3) ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated, “I was sitting in the masjid when I heard Hisham ibn Hakim recite Surah al-Furqan. I was almost about the jump on him in his prayer, but I waited until he finished, and then grabbed him by his garment and asked him, ‘Who taught you to recite in such a manner?’” He replied, ‘It was the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself!’ I responded, ‘You are mistaken, for indeed I learned this surah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and it was different from your recitation!’

Therefore, I dragged him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained to him that Hisham had recited Surah al-Furqan in a manner different from what he (peace and blessings be upon him) had taught me. At this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told me to let go of Hisham, and asked him to recite Surah al-Furqan. Hisham recited the Surah in the same way I had heard him before. When he finished, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘It was revealed this way.’ He then asked me to recite the same surah. When I had finished, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘It was (also) revealed this way. Indeed, the Quran has been revealed in seven different ahruf, so recite whichever one is easy for you.’”

In conclusion, the Quran was recited in seven different dialect that was allowed by Allah based upon seven different dialects at that time in the Arabian Peninsula. After the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Companions understood it and spread it to others as well. But the once Islam spread and people of different areas met, they found these differences. For this once Companion suggested to Khalifah Uthman Bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) to combine the Ummah on one Mushaf (Book). The Khalifah chose the Qurayshi dialect for the Ummah. Other Mushaf were forgotten. But the seven recitations remain in the society from the Qurayshi Mushaf in reading only not in the shape of books.

The Ten Qira’at is grouped into 2 categories

1) Mutawatir: The transmission which has independent chains of authorities so wide as to rule out the possibility of any error and on which there is the consensus of Scholars (Ulama’) of that time.

2) Mashhur: these are slightly less wide in their transmission, but still so wide as to make errors highly unlikely to happen.

There are 7 Mutawatir Qira’at

1) Nafi’ (d. 169/785) 

2) Ibn Kathir (d. 120/737)

3) Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala’ (d. 154/762)

4) Ibn ‘Amir (d. 154/762)

5) ‘Asim (d. 127/744)

6) Hamza (d. 156/772)

7) al-Kisa’i (d. 189/904)

There are 3 Mashhur

1) Abu Ja’far (d. 130/747)

2) Ya’qub (d. 205/820)

3) Khalaf Ashir (d. 229/843)

There are also the four Shadh Qira’at

The Ten Qira’at and Their Famous Narrators

Nafi’ Al-Madani (Madinah)

• Narrators: Qalun and Warsh

Ibn Kathir Al-Makki (Makkah)

• Narrators: Al-Bazzi and Qunbul

Abu ‘Amr Al-Basri (Basra)

• Narrators: Ad-Duri and As-Susi

Ibn ‘Amir Ash-Shami (Syria/Damascus)

• Narrators: Hisham and Ibn Dhakwan

Asim Al-Kufi (Kufa, Iraq)

• Narrators: Hafs and Shu’bah (Hafs is the most widely used today)

Hamzah Al-Kufi (Kufa, Iraq)

• Narrators: Khalaf and Khallad

Al-Kisa’i (Kufa, Iraq)

• Narrators: Ad-Duri and Abu Al-Harith

Abu Ja’far Al-Madani (Madinah)

• Narrators: Ibn Wardan and Ibn Jammaz

Ya’qub Al-Hadrami (Basra)

• Narrators: Ruways and Rawh

Khalaf Al-‘Ashir (Baghdad, Iraq)

• Narrators: Ishaq and Idris

Each Qira’ah has its unique characteristics in terms of pronunciation, elongation (madd), stops, and certain word variations. However, all are considered part of the Quran and have been preserved through oral transmission and scholarly documentation.