[Uloom Al-Qur'an] The Qira'at and The Ahruf

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 03-19-2005

Assalamu Alykum wa rahmatullahi wa baraktuhu,

Here is some useful information which I wanted to share.

THE AHRUF
First there is the issue nof Ahruf (dialects/modes). The Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf, as is proved in many mutawaatir ahadith. This was because different tribes pronounced and spelled words differently. The forms matched the dialects of following seven tribes:
1.Quraysh
2.Hudhayl
3.Thaqîf
4.Hawâzin
5.Kinânah
6.Tamîm
7.Yemen

The revelation of the Qur'an in seven different ahruf made its recitation and memorization much easier for the various tribes. At the same time the Qur'an challenged them to produce a surah like it in their own dialect so that they would not complain about the incomprehensibility.

Regarding whether or not these ahruf have been preserved, there are three opinions, the strongest being that of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ash-Shatibee, Ar-Raazi, Ibn Katheer and Ibn Al-Jazaree and many others. They say that when Uthman rd was compiling the Qur'an, he had Zaid ibn Thabit record it without the vowelation and consonants to accomodate the different Ahruf. At some points where the ahruf differed greatly, they recorded it according to the Quraysh dialect. There are 4 benefits which show the Wisdom of Allah revealing the Qur'an in seven ahruf:

1. To facilitate the memorization of the Qur'an. The arabs did not all speak arabic in the same way. The ahruf eased the memorization and was significant in the preservation of the Qur'an.

2. To prove the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. For despite all the differences, the meaning of the Ahruf did not contradict one another, but rather were complimentary.

3. To prove the truthfulness of the Prophet Muhammad saws, for despite the fact that he was illiterate, the revelation of the Qur'an occured in different tribal dialects and different words, all of which consisted of the most fluent and eloquent speech of his time.

4. To honour the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad saws and show its superiority over all other nations.

THE QIRA'AT
Qira'at refers to the various manners of reciting the Qur'an. Each qiraa'a has its OWN rules of tajweed. In Murattal, it is not necessary to emphasize every vowel in clarity as it is in Mujawwad. Each qira'at is named after the Qari who was famous in reciting in that manner.
There are many different Qira'at, but Ibn Mujahid wrote a book on the seven most prominent. He did this on purpose to match the seven ahruf, but some people don't know that there are more than 7 qira'at. In fact, there are ten authentic Qira'at. For a qira'at to be authentic there are very detailed rules which we could discuss later if any wishes.
Here are the ten Qira'at with their famous Qaris:

1. Naafi' Al-Madanee. (Madinah)
Imam Malik recited in this manner. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal often recited in this manner.
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Qaloon and Warsh.

2. Ibn Katheer al-Makee. (Makkah)
Imam Shafi recited in this manner.
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Al-Buzzee and Qumbul.

3.Abu Amr al-Basri (Basra)
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Ad-Doori and As-Soosee.

4. Ibn Aamir ash-Shami (Syria)
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Hishaam and Ibn Thakwan.

5. Asim al-Kufi (Koofah)
Imaam Abu Hanifa recited in this manner. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal often recited in this manner.
The 2 Qaris who prserved this recitation are Shuba and Hafs

6. Hamzah Al-Kufi (Koofah)
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Khalaf (who also has his own Qira'at #10) and Khallaad.

7. Al-Kisaa'ee
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Al-Layth and ad-Doori (same one as before).

8. Abu Ja'far Al-Madanee (Madinah)
The two Qaris who preserved this recitation are Isa and Sulayman.

9. Yaqub ibn Al-Basri (Basra)
Imam Bukhari recited in this manner.
The 2 Qaris who preserved this recitation are Ruways and Rooh.

10. Khalaf (same one who preserved Hamzah's recitation, but this is his own method of reciation)
The 2 Qaris who preserved this reciation are Ishaq and Idris.

Today 95% of the world recites Hafs an Asim, 3% Warsh an Naafi, .7% Qaloon an-Naafi, .3% Ad-Doori an Abu Amr and 1% Ibn 'Aamir.

Please let me know if anyone found this informative.

**Khaldun** · 03-19-2005

JazzakAllah Khair brother, it certainly was a good read!

Just as a point of interest, I was watching this quran competion and this one student was reading strange, and no I dont mean strange as in a different qira, but strange in that none of the judges recognised the style!! when asked why he read like this, he replied I learned it from my teachers etc. but this was an unknown and not an authentic style so he was idsqualified I think

**WomanOfJihad** · 03-20-2005

SUBHANALLAH! this was indeed worth reading ... n learnt sumfin new ..

JazaKaLLahu Khairan bro..

**Umm Yoosuf** · 03-20-2005

Barakalaahu fee that was indeed very intresting. Masha Allah!

**Muhammad** · 04-12-2005

Jazakallah Khayr for this article, it was very interesting. Just to be clear: each of the tribes had their own style of recitation (eg. Naafi' Al Madani was a tribe) and then 2 Qaaris are famous for reading in this style (eg. Qaloon and Warsh). But I thought Qaloon and Qarsh are both different?

The part where you said: "They say that when Uthman rd was compiling the Qur'an, he had Zaib ibn Thabit record it without the vowelation and consonants to accomodate the different Ahruf. At some points where the ahruf differed greatly, they recorded it according to the Quraysh dialect"
does this mean that most of the Quran recorded by Uthman (ra) was without any vowels, but where it caused alteration of meaning, that is where they put them in in accordance with the Quraysh style? I thought that the different dialects all had the same meaning...

By the way, which style was that of Quraysh?
Last of all, please tell about the detailed rules you were speaking of, I am very curious now! Where did you get this info from?

Jazakallah Khayr for your help,

**Uthman** · 04-12-2005

Subhan'Allah that as a very informative article.

Now it's time to help brother Muhammad. I am also curious.

**Ibn Abi Ahmed** · 04-12-2005

Nice article Bro Ansar. :thnumbs_up

2. Ibn Katheer al-Makee. (Makkah)

Is that the one Shuraim and Sudais recite???

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 04-12-2005

Jazakallah Khayr for this article, it was very interesting.

glad you enjoyed it.

Just to be clear: each of the tribes had their own style of recitation (eg. Naafi' Al Madani was a tribe) and then 2 Qaaris are famous for reading in this style (eg. Qaloon and Warsh). But I thought Qaloon and Qarsh are both different?

They are both different, I suppose they each emphasized different aspects of An-Nafi Al-Madanee. But they both have the same original Qira'at.

The part where you said: "They say that when Uthman rd was compiling the Qur'an, he had Zaib ibn Thabit record it without the vowelation and consonants to accomodate the different Ahruf. At some points where the ahruf differed greatly, they recorded it according to the Quraysh dialect"
does this mean that most of the Quran recorded by Uthman (ra) was without any vowels, but where it caused alteration of meaning, that is where they put them in in accordance with the Quraysh style? I thought that the different dialects all had the same meaning...

They all have similar meanings. THe point is, that where they could accomodate more than one ahruf by avoiding extra markings, they would do so, but if only one could be accomodated, it would be the Qurayshi dialect.

By the way, which style was that of Quraysh?

Everyone recites today, mostly according to the Qurayshi dialect.

Last of all, please tell about the detailed rules you were speaking of, I am very curious now! Where did you get this info from?

Rules for a Qira'at to be authentic? One can study this information in any basic course on Uloom Al-Qur'an, but an excellent book to start with would be An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'aan by Abu Ammaar Yasir Qadhi.

**Muhammad** · 04-14-2005

Jazakallah Khayr for answering the questions Ansar, I am a bit clearer on the issue now.
I think its quite sad how very little of most of the other dialects are in use today, since 95% of the world recites in the Hafs-An-Aasim dialect. (I think this is the same style that Shuraim and Sudais use aswell, in answer to bro Ahmed's question - I think the Al-Makkee part in 'Ibn Katheer Al-Makkee' is referring to the location where the original tribe who used that dialect lived).
A good site to go to in order to listen to a wide variety of dialects is http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Recitor - although you cannot view all the different categories in the english version of the site. Its amazing how each has its own Tajweed and style!

**Uthman** · 04-14-2005

Yup! That's a great site and has many good recitors. Yes, very interesting, isn't it? All different styles and tajweed.

**Muhammad** · 05-01-2005

I found this link to a site discussing the Seven Ahruf and their conditions of acceptance etc. whilst on almaghrib forums:
http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Qur...at/hafs.html#3

I hope it is of help Insha'Allaah.

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 09-08-2005

After I had prepared this post based on Yasir Qadhi's book, it was also uploaded on the Bismikaallahuma site, in much more detail here:
The Ahruf of The Qur’aan
The Qira’aat of the Qur’an

EDIT links fixed.

**Khayal** · 09-10-2005

MashaAllah, it was very interesting and informative article.....

Jazak ALLAH khair :rose:

**Najiullah** · 04-19-2006

jazakullah

**hidaayah** · 04-19-2006

a very benefcial read Mashallah..jazakallah khairun

**Umm Safiya** · 04-19-2006

Barak Allâhu fîk.. Very interesting..
But I was wondering, how do I know which of the ten qira'at I recite?

**أحمد** · 04-20-2006

Originally Posted by Ms. Amira

Barak Allâhu fîk.. Very interesting..
But I was wondering, how do I know which of the ten qira'at I recite?

The most commonly recited sub-form of Recitation is in accordance to Hafs bin Sulaiman. However, there is a chance that you may be reciting in a slightly different style. Also as now we are working on getting people to teach more than one of the seven authentic Ahruf to more advance students of Tajweed, it will Insha-Allah become common knowledge of Recitation.

If anyone of you is in UK, Birmingham (Central Area) and wishes to learn Tajweed to a higher level; please FEEL FREE to send me an e-mail to [email protected] titled: TAJWEED!

**Umm Safiya** · 04-20-2006

So, if I recite in a slighty different style, does it matter then?
Is it the way you sound when you recite that defines which way you recite, or is it the rules you recite after that defines it?

**Khaldun** · 04-23-2006

No its not about the sound as such, its to due with the Tajweed rule and in some cases the words are substituted, however these are all authentic way of reciting the Quran as tought to us by the Prophet

**Ansar Al-'Adl** · 04-23-2006

To get an idea of the differences you can listen to the following to recitations of Surah Fatir [all recitations by Ali Al-Hudhaify]:
Hafs 'an Asim (#5 on list)
Qaloon 'an Naafi' (#1 on list)

As one can see, the different recitations are almost completely identical except for a few words which are pronounced differently. For example,
Hafs: wa hûwa al-azîz al-hakîm
Qaloon: wahwa al-azîz al-hakîm
Translation: And He is the AllMighty, the AllWise.

Here are some more samples for Surah Al-Mulk [all recitations by Ahmad Al-Me’serawe]:
Qumbul 'an Ibn Katheer Al-Makkee
Ad-Doori 'an Abu Amr Al-Basree
Khalaf 'an Hamzah Al-Kufi
Ibn Dhawkan 'an Ibn Aamir Ash-Shami
Abi Harith 'an Al-Kisaa'ee
Sulayman 'an Abu Ja'far Al-Madanee
Isa 'an Abu Ja'far Al-Madanee
Ishaaq 'an Khalaf

Again the main difference is just the different pronounciation of wa hûwa or wahwa, hal tarâ or hal tarî, a prolonged or shortened vowelization for one or two words, and so on.