Qur'an

The Qur'an ({{lang-ar|أَلْقُرآن}} al-qur'ān literally "the recitation"; also called Al Qur'ān Al Karīm or "The Noble Qur'an"; or transliterated Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. It is a tenet of Islam that the Qur'an is the literal word of God in Arabic and the culmination of God's revelation to mankind, revealed to Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, over a period of 23 years through the angel Jibril (Gabriel).

Qur'an recitation

The very word Qur'an is usually translated as "recital," indicating that it cannot exist as a mere text. It has always been transmitted orally as well as textually.

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To even be able to perform salat (prayer), a mandatory obligation in Islam, a Muslim is required to learn at least some suras of the Qur'an (typically starting with the first sura, al-Fatiha, known as the "seven oft-repeated verses," and then moving on to the shorter ones at the end).

Related Topics:
Salat - Sura - Al-Fatiha

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A person whose recital repertoire encompasses the whole Qur'an is called a qari' (قَارٍئ) or hafiz (which translate as "reciter" or "memorizer," respectively). Muhammad is regarded as the first hafiz. Cantillation (tilawa تلاوة) of the Qur'an is a fine art in the Muslim world.

Related Topics:
Qari' - Hafiz - Tilawa

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Schools of recitation

There are several schools of Quranic recitation, all of which are permissible pronunciations of the Uthmanic rasm. Today ten canonical recitations of the Qur'an and four uncanonical exist. For a recitation to be canonical it must conform to three conditions:

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• It must match the rasm, letter for letter.
• It must conform with the syntactic rules of the Arabic language.
• It must have a continuous isnad to Prophet Muhammad through tawatur, meaning that it has to be related by a large group of people to another down the isnad chain.

Ibn Mujahid documented seven such recitations and Ibn Al-Jazri added three. They are:

Related Topics:
Ibn Mujahid - Ibn Al-Jazri

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• Nafi` of Madina (169/785), transmitted by Warsh and Qaloon
• Ibn Kathir of Makka (120/737), transmitted by Al-Bazzi and Qonbul
• Ibn `Amer of Damascus (118/736), transmitted by Hisham and Ibn Zakwan
• Abu `Amr of Basra (148/770), transmitted by Al-Duri and Al-Soosi
• `Asim of Kufa (127/744), transmitted by Sho`bah and Hafs
• Hamza of Kufa (156/772), transmitted by Khalaf and Khallad
• Al-Kisa'i of Kufa (189/804), transmitted by Abul-Harith and Al-Duri
• Abu-Ja`far of Madina, transmitted by Ibn Wardan and Ibn Jammaz
• Ya`qoob of Yemen, transmitted by Ruways and Rawh
• Khalaf of Kufa, transmitted by Ishaaq and Idris

These recitations differ in the vocalization (tashkil تشكيل) of a few words, which in turn gives a complementary meaning to the word in question according to the rules of Arabic grammar. For example, the vocalization of a verb can change its active and passive voice. It can also change its stem formation, implying intensity for example. Vowels may be elongated or shortened, and glottal stops (hamzas) may be added or dropped, according to the respective rules of the particular recitation. For example, the name of archangel Gabriel is pronounced differently in different recitations: Jibrīl, Jabrīl, Jibra'īl, and Jibra'il. The name "Qur'ān" is pronounced without the glottal stop (as "Qurān") in one recitation, and prophet Ibrāhīm's name is pronounced Ibrāhām in another.

Related Topics:
Arabic grammar - Stem - Hamza - Gabriel - Ibrāhīm

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The more widely used narrations are those of Hafs (حفص عن عاصم), Warsh (ورش عن نافع), Qaloon (قالون عن نافع) and Al-Duri through Abu `Amr (الدوري عن أبي عمرو). Muslims firmly believe that all canonical recitations were recited by the Prophet himself, citing the respective isnad chain of narration, and accept them as valid for worshipping and as a reference for rules of Sharia. The uncanonical recitations are called "explanatory" for their role in giving a different perspective for a given verse or ayah. Today several dozen persons hold the title "Memorizer of the Ten Recitations," considered to be the ultimate honour in the sciences of Qur'an.

Related Topics:
Hafs - Warsh - Qaloon - Al-Duri - Abu `Amr - Isnad - Sharia - Ayah

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