بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Qur’aan, the Seven Dialects (Ahruf)
and the Ten Methods of Recitation (Qira’aat)[1]
The Qur’aan was revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم.
The Qur’aan is the uncreated Speech of Allaah.
Allaah spoke to the Angel Jibraa’eel who in turn transmitted the Qur’aan orally
to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
The Seven Ahruf
The Qur’aan was revealed in Seven Ahruf or
dialects. (The meaning of the word was the same but the word was different). In
the hadeeth:
It is said that the Ahruf were according to the
dialect of seven tribes – Quraysh, Hudhayl, Tameem, Hawaazin, Thaqeef, Kinaanah
and Yemen. This is one of the miracles of the Qur’aan.
When some people started arguing over the
differences ‘Uthmaan told Zayd bin
Thaabit to make a written copy of the Qur’aan under the dialect of Quraysh to
stop arguments and preserve the Qur’aan. Especially as many non-Arabs were
accepting Islaam and needed a standard mushaf to learn from.
The Qur’aan was written in a script that had no
dots or vowels and so this made it possible for some of the dialects to
maintain the way the Qur’aan was recited according to the dialects. This
probably contributed in part to the Ten Methods of Recitation (Qira’aat) found
today.
The Ten Qira’aat
Each Qiraa’ah has its own special rules of
recitation (tajweed) and is named after the reciter (Qaaree) who was famous for
that method of recitation.
The Qur’aan is learned orally from one person
to another (teacher to student).
‘Uthmaan
had five copies of the Qur’aan written and sent each copy with a
Companion who was a Qur’aan teacher to different parts of the Muslim lands.
They were sent to Madeenah, Makkah, Syria, Koofah and Basra. The written mushaf
needed a teacher to read it and teach the people. Reading the Qur’aan by itself
is not enough.
Qur’aan schools were established and ten
Qaarees became famous for their recitations. They had many students who then
passed on these particular Methods of Recitation. Each Qaaree had two Raawees
(narrators). Each narrator was known for their Riwaayah.
The Reciters - Qarees
1.
Naafi’
2.
Ibn Katheer
3.
Aboo ‘Amr
4.
Ibn ‘Aamir
5.
‘Aasim *
6.
Hamzah
7.
Al Kisaa’ee
8.
Aboo Ja’far
9.
Ya’qoob
10. Khalaf
Reciter/
Qaaree
|
Narrator/
Raawee 1
|
Narrator/
Raawee 2
|
|
1
|
Naafi’
|
Qaaloon
|
Warsh
|
2
|
Ibn Katheer
|
Al Bazzee
|
Qunbul
|
3
|
Aboo ‘Amr
|
Ad Dooree
|
As Soosee
|
4
|
Ibn ‘Aamir
|
Hishaam
|
Ibn Dhakwaan
|
5
|
‘Aasim *
Died 127 AH
|
Shu’bah
|
Hafs
Died 180 AH
|
6
|
Hamzah
|
Khalaf
|
Khalaad
|
7
|
Al Kisaa’ee
|
Abul Haarith
|
Ad Dooree
|
8
|
Aboo Ja’far
|
Ibn Wardan
|
Sulaymaan bin Jamaaz
|
9
|
Ya’qoob
|
Ruways
|
Rawh
|
10
|
Khalaf
|
Ishaaq
|
Idrees
|
Today Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim is the most widespread
and easiest Riwaayah to learn. About 95% of the Muslim world today recites
according to his Method of Recitation.
His chain of narration goes back to the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم
Hafs was one student of ‘Aasim. So the Riwaayah
is called:
‘Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim.
On the page after Suratun Naas of the Madinan
Mushaf you will see:
رواية هذا المصحف ومصطلحات رسمه وضبطه وعد آيه
كتب هذا المصحف الكريم وضبط على ما يوافق رواية حفص
بن سليمان بن المغيرة الأسدي الكوفي لقراءة عاصم بن
أبي النجود الكوفي التابعي عن أبي عبد الرحمن عبد
الله بن حبيب السلمي عن عثمان بن عفان و علي بن أبي طالب و زيد
بن ثابت و أبي بن كعب عن
النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم
Here it will list the chain of narration of
this mushaf back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم .
1.
Hafs bin Sulaymaan bin al Mugheerah al Asadee al Koofee (His full name,
Father’s name, Grandfather’s name, Family name, country) who heard from
2.
‘Aasim bin Abee an Nujood al Koofee the Taabi’ee who
heard from
3.
Abee
‘Abdir Rahmaan ‘Abdullaah bin Habeeb as Sulamee who heard
from
4.
‘Uthmaan bin ‘Affaan and
5.
‘Alee bin Taalib and
6.
Zayd bin Thaabit and
7.
Ubayy bin Ka’b from
8.
The
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
The other Riwaayahs also have chains back to
the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. However, they are
not very common today. For example,
1.
Warsh an Naafi’ is
recited in Algeria, Morocco, parts of Tunisia, West Africa and Sudan (3%)
2.
Qaloon an Naafi’ is
recited in Libya, Tunisia and parts of Qatar (0.7%)
3.
Ad Dooree ‘an Aboo
‘Amr is recited in Parts of Sudan and West Africa (0.3%)
4.
Ibn ‘Aamir is
recited in parts of Yemen (1%)
5.
Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim
throughout the Muslim world (95%)
