28 Authorized Recitations
Qira’at ( قراءات ) refers to the different canonical methods of reciting the Quran. These variations encompass differences in pronunciation, intonation, meanings, verse counts, and, in the more extreme cases, differences in the words and phrases used.
Historically these differences took root after the death of the prophet when Islam expanded to new lands. Various communities learned to recite the Quran in their respective regions, and over time, this led to slight differences in recitation. In the 3rd/9th century, the scholar Abu Bakr Ibn Mujahid (d. 936 CE) played a crucial role in standardizing these recitations. He selected seven reciters from various regions whose recitations were widely recognized and respected. These seven reciters were:
Nafi‘ al-Madani (Medina d. 169/785)
Ibn Kathir al-Makki (Mecca d. 120/737)
Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala’ (Basra d. 148/770)
Ibn ‘Amir ad-Dimashqi (Damascus d. 118/736)
‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud (Kufa d. 127/744)
Hamzah az-Zaiyyat (Kufa d. 156/772)
Al-Kisa’i (Kufa d. 189/804)
After Ibn Mujahid’s time, scholars recognized the existence of other legitimate recitations that were not included in the original seven. The scholars Abu ‘Amr ad-Dani (d. 1053 CE) and Abu Shamah (d. 1267 CE) documented additional recitations to encompass these. The recitations of three additional reciters were eventually recognized, bringing the total to ten. These additional reciters were:
Abu Ja‘far al-Madani (Medina d. 130/747)
Ya‘qub al-Hadrami (Basra d. 205/820)
Khalaf al-Bazzar (Kufa d. 229/843)
Four more recitations were recognized in later centuries, particularly by the efforts of scholars like Ibn al-Jazari (d. 1429 CE). These included:
Al-Hasan al-Basri (Basra d. 110/728)
Al-A‘mash (Kufa d. 148/765)
Ibn Muhaisin (Mecca d. 123/740)
Yahya al-Yazidi (Basra d. 202/817)
In addition, each of the ten canonical reciters had two primary students, known as “rawis,” who transmitted from their teacher’s recitation style. Here is an overview of each reciter and their two main proponents:
THE SEVEN RECITERS AND THEIR PROPONENTS
Ibn ‘Amir ad-Dimashqi
Hisham (Ibn Ammar)
Ibn Dhakwan (Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Bashar)
Ibn Kathir al-Makki
Al-Bazzi (Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Bazzi)
Qunbul (Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Makhzumi)
‘Asim ibn Abi al-Najud
Hafs (Hafs ibn Sulayman)
Shu‘bah (Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash)
Abu ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ala’
Ad-Duri (Hafs ibn Umar ad-Duri)
As-Susi (Salih ibn Ziyad as-Susi)
Hamzah az-Zaiyyat
Khalaf (Khalaf ibn Hisham al-Bazzar)
Khallad (Khallad ibn Khalid)
Nafi‘ al-Madani
Warsh (Uthman ibn Sa’id al-Qutbi)
Qalun (Isa ibn Mina)
Al-Kisai
Al-Duri (Hafs ibn Umar ad-Duri)
Abu al-Harith (Luhay ibn Khalid al-Baghdadi)
THE THREE ADDITIONAL RECITERS AND THEIR PROPONENTS
Khalaf al-Bazzar
Ishaq (Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Maruzi) Idris (Idris ibn Abd al-Karim al-Haddad)
Abu Ja‘far al-Madani
Ibn Wardan (Isa ibn Wardan)
Ibn Jummaz (Sulayman ibn Jummaz)
Ya‘qub al-Hadrami
Ruways (Abu al-Hasan al-Ruways)
Rawh (Rawh ibn Abd al-Mu’min)
THE FOUR ADDITIONAL RECITERS AND THEIR PROPONENTS
Al-Hasan al-Basri
Salih ibn Ayyub
Abu al-‘Aliyah
Ibn Muhaisin
Al-Mutawakkil ibn Harun
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman
Yahya al-Yazidi
Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ayyash
Hafs al-Kufi
Al-A‘mash
Yahya ibn Waththab
Abu Shu‘aib al-Shaibani
# | Reciter | Full Name | Died (AH/CE) | Recitation Region | Transmitter #1 | Transmitter #2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ibn ‘Aamir | ‘Abd Allaah ibn ‘Aamir Yahsabī | 118/736 | Shām (Damascus) | Hishaam ibn ‘Ammaar (153-245 AH) | Ibn Dhakwaan (173-242 AH) |
2 | Ibn Kathīr | ‘Abd Allaah ibn Kathīr Daaramī | 120/737 | Makkah | al-Bazzī (170-250 AH) | Qunbul (191-295 AH) |
3 | ‘Āsim | ‘Āsim ibn Abī ’n-Najūd Asadī | 128/744 | Kūfah | Hafs ibn Sulaymān (90-180 AH) Hafs | Shu’bah Abū Bakr ibn ‘Ayyāsh (95-193 AH) |
4 | Abū ‘Amr | Zabbān Abū ‘Amr ibn ‘Alā’ Māzanī | 154/770? | Basrah | Dawrī Hafs ibn ‘Umar (died 246 AH) Duri | Mūsa Sālih ibn Ziyād as-Susi (died 261 AH) Susi |
5 | Hamzah | Hamzah ibn Habīb Zayyāt | 156/772 | Kūfah | Khalaf ibn Hishām (150-229 AH) | Khallād ibn Khālid (died 220 AH) |
6 | Nāfi‘ | Nāfi‘ ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Laythī | 169/785 | Madīnah | ‘Īsā ibn Mīnā’ (120-220 AH) Qalun | ‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd (110-197 AH) Warsh |
7 | Kisā’ī | ‘Alī ibn Hamzah | 189/804 | Kūfah | Layth ibn Khālid (died 240 AH) | Dawrī – Hafs ibn ‘Umar |
8 | Khalaf | Khalaf ibn Hishām | 229/843 | Baghdad/Kūfah | Abū Ya’qūb (died 286 AH) | Abū ‘l-Hasan (died 292 AH) |
9 | Ya’qūb | Ya’qūb Hadramī | 205/820 | Basrah | Ruways (died 238 AH) | Rūh (died 235 AH) |
10 | Abū Ja’far | Abū Ja’far Makhzūmī | 130/747 | Madīnah | Ibn Wardān (died 160 AH) | Ibn Jammāz (died 170 AH) |
11 | Hasan al-Basrī | Hasan ibn Yasār | 110/728 | Basrah | Shujā‘ Balkhī (120-190 AH) | Dawrī (died 246 AH) |
12 | Ibn Muhaysin | Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān | 123/740 | Makkah | Bazzī (170-250 AH) | Ibn Shanbūdh (died 328 AH) |
13 | Yazīdī | Yahyā ibn Mubārak | 202/817 | Basrah | Sulaymān ibn Hakam (died 235 AH) | Aḥmad ibn Faraj Darīr (died 303 AH) |
14 | ‘A‘mash | Sulaymān ibn Mihrān Asadī | 148/765 | Kūfah | Shanbūdh (300-388 AH) | Muṭawwa‘ī (died 371 AH) |
14 RECITERS X 2 PROPONENTS = 28 DIFFERENT READINGS
It is worth pointing out that many of the recognized readings (Qira’at) were based on the reciter’s personal ijtihad (independent reasoning) rather than pure taqlid, repeating exactly their teacher’s recitation without discretion. Each trained reciter exercised their own judgment in their reading style, expressing their interpretation rather than strictly transmitting their teacher’s recitation. Consequently, each reciter’s reading is attributed to their own judgment and expertise, similar to how a jurist’s view is attributed to themselves rather than to their teacher.
According to Harvard Professor Shady H. Nasser, as stated in his book Transmission of the Quran, on page 77:
“Early Muslim scholars did not look at the variant readings of the Qur’an as divine revelation. They attributed the Qur’anic variants to human origins; either to the reader’s ijtihad [“independent reasoning”] in interpreting the consonantal outline of the Qur’an or simply to an error in transmission. This position changed drastically in the later periods, especially 5th/11th century where the canonical Readings started to be treated as divine revelation, i.e. every single variant reading in the seven and ten eponymous Readings was revealed by God to Muhammad.”
This distinction is important because it shows that the basis of each reciter’s reading is their ijtihad, not necessarily a continuous tradition from their teacher. Since each teacher had two primary students, and each of those students used their discretion in recitation, this resulted in a total of 28 different authorized recitations.
Contrary to what most people may assume, these 28 different qiraat do not only vary in vowel markings (tashkīl) but also consist of differences in the dotting of letters (nuqāṭ) and even occasional variation in prefixes, suffixes, prepositions, and words as well.
For example, comparing Ḥafs ʿan ʿĀṣim and Warš ʿan Nāfiʿ
(Ḥafs) رواية ورش عن نافع | رواية حفص عن عاصم (Warsh) | Ḥafs | Warsh | verse |
---|---|---|---|---|
يَعْمَلُونَ | تَعْمَلُونَ | you do | they do | Al-Baqara 2:85 |
مَا تَنَزَّلُ | مَا نُنَزِّلُ | We do not send down... | they do not come down... | Al-Ḥijr 15:8 |
لِيَهَبَ | لِأَهَبَ | that I may bestow | that He may bestow | Maryam 19:19[47] |
قُل | قَالَ | he said | Say! | Al-Anbiyā' 21:4 |
كَثِيرًا | كَبِيرًا | mighty | multitudinous | Al-Aḥzāb 33:68 |
بِمَا | فَبِمَا | then it is what | it is what | Al-Shura 42:30 |
نُدْخِلْهُ | يُدْخِلْهُ | He makes him enter | We make him enter | |
عِندَ | عِبَٰدُ | who are the slaves of the Beneficent | who are with the Beneficent | al-Zukhruf 43:19 |
While the change of voice or pronouns in these verse may seem confusing, it is very common in the Quran[50][51] and found even in the same verse.[52] (It is known as iltifāt.)
Q.2:85 the "you" in Hafs refers to the actions of more than one person and the "They" in Warsh is also referring to the actions of more than one person.
Q.15:8 "We" refers to God in Hafs and the "They" in Warsh refers to what is not being sent down by God (The Angels).
Q.19:19 (li-ʾahaba v. li-yahaba) is a well known difference, both for the theological interest in the alternative pronouns said to have been uttered by the angel, and for requiring unusual orthography.[47]
Q.48:17, the "He" in Hafs is referring to God and the "We" in Warsh is also referring to God, this is due to the fact that God refers to Himself in both the singular form and plural form by using the royal "We".
Q.43:19 shows an example of a consonantal dotting difference that gives a different root word, in this case ʿibādu v. ʿinda.
The second set of examples below compares the other canonical readings with that of Ḥafs ʿan ʿĀṣim. These are not nearly as widely read today, though all are available in print and studied for recitation.
Ḥafs ʿan ʿĀṣim and several other canonical readings
Ḥafs | Other reading | Ḥafs | Other readings | verse |
---|---|---|---|---|
وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ | [Abū ʿAmr] وَأَرْجُلِكُمْ | and (wash) your feet [accusative] | and (wash) your feet [genitive] | Al-Māʾidah 5:6 |
عَلِمْتَ | [al-Kisāʾī] عَلِمْتُ | [Moses] said, "You have already known | [Moses] said, "I have already known | al-Isrāʼ 17:102 |
تُسَٰقِطْ | [Yaʿqūb] يَسَّٰقَطْ | [the tree] will drop | [the trunk] will drop | Maryam 19:25 |
يَبْصُرُوا۟ | [Ḥamza] تَبْصُرُوا۟ | He said, "I saw what they did not see | He said, "I saw what you did not see | Ṭā Hā 20:96 |
فُتِحَتْ | [Ibn ʿĀmir] فُتِّحَتْ] | has been opened | has been opened wide | Al-Anbiyā' 21:96 |
نَطْوِى ٱلسَّمَآءَ | [Abū Ǧaʿfar] تُطْوَى ٱلسَّمَآءُ | We will fold the heaven | will be folded the heaven | Al-Anbiyā' 21:104 |
جُدُرٍۭ | [Ibn Kaṯīr] جِدَارٍۭ | from behind walls | from behind a wall | Al-Hashr 59:14 |
Q.5:6 The variant grammatical cases (wa-arjulakum and wa-arjulikum) were adopted for different exegetical views by Sunni and Shīʿi scholars, such that in wudu the feet were either to be washed or rubbed, respectively.[53] The reading of Abū ʿAmr was shared by Ibn Kaṯīr, Šuʿba ʿan ʿĀṣim and Ḥamza.
Q.17:102 and Q20:96 are examples of verbal prefix or suffix variants (the latter also read by al-Kisāʾī).
Q.21:104 is an example of active-passive variants.
Q.21.96 is an example of a verb form variant, with Ibn ʿĀmir reading the more intensive verb form II.
Q59.14 is an example of singular-plural variants (also read by Abū ʿAmr).
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