The Science & Art of Qira'a: An Introduction (1)

So lately, I decided to read up a little on why the Qura'n had different sounds from different people! In fact, and this may be new information to many Muslims [including myself until very recently], different 'readings' of the Qura'n may have different wordings in different verses. This may and may not affect meaning, depending on the verse.

Since I wanted to keep a record of all I learned, I decided to share every bit of information I reached here. Most info. I got was through videos and articles and I begin here step-by-step just like I actually started. The information is organized in the form of short paragraphs for ease of viewing. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

NOTE: The information I share here takes in mind that some readers may not be familiar with the Arabic language terminology used and so there is some Arabic and lots of translation done as best as I could.

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-First, we must understand what is meant by the Arabic words 'qira'a' and 'rewaya'. Dr. Ayman Roushdy Sowaid, a professor in the science of reading the Qura'n, explains:

"In the age of Tabe'een (literally translated as 'Followers' about the next few generations after the death of the prophet PBUH), there arose readers of the Qura'n. They were called readers (in Arabic qari and plural qora'a) not because they read the Qura'n in a method of their own invention but because each of them had an isnad (chain of narrators) up to the prophet PBUH on how to read the Qura'n. Therefore, much like the four famous Imams of the Sunni Sect (for those unaware; those are in historical order: Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafe'ei and Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah be pleased with all of them), there arose ten readers of the Qura'n. Their readings were transferred to us through a process called tawator [explanation of this term follows later on] and those were the readings that were called The Ten Readings Transferred Through Tawator (in Arabic, Al-Qira'at Al-Ashr Al-Motwatera). "

Dr. Ayman is one of the most prominent names in the science of Qura'n reading and he also was a regular guest on a show that was concerned with the rules that the Qura'n should be recited with [ahkam al tilawa] on Ikra TV Channel.

He obtained his Ph.D in the Arabic Language from Um-ul-Qura University in KSA. He has 8 ijazat of the Holy Qura'n [the meaning of the word 'ijaza', plural 'ijazat', is explained later on. Suffice to say now that having one ijaza is considered an extremely high achievement in the life of a qari and is more than enough for many qari's].

-Each of the ten readers had a rawi (the ten we're talking about, each had two). In layman terms, a rawi, plural rowah, is a narrator who narrated the reading of that reader, not to the accuracy of a word but to that of a letter and the specific way it should be pronounced. The ten readers with their rawi's are as follows:

1) Imam Nafe'e Al-Madani with his rawi's Kaloon and Warsh.
2) Imam Ibn Katheer Al-Makkei with his rawi's Konbol and Al-Bezeyy.
3) Imam Abu Amr Al-Basrey with his rawi's Al-Doory and Al-Soosey.
4) Imam Ibn Aamer Al-Shamey with his rawi's Hisham and Ibn Thikwan.
5) Imam Aasem Al-Koufey with his rawi's Haffs and Sho'ba.
6) Imam Hamza Al-Koufey with his rawi's Khalaf and Khallad.
7) Imam Al-Kasa'ay Al-Koufey with his rawi's Abu-Al-Harith and Haffs-Al-Doory.
8) Imam Abu Ja'afar Al-Madani with his rawi's Ibn Wardan and Ibn Jamaz.
9) Imam Yacoub Al-Basrey with his rawi's Rowais and Rawh.
10) Imam Khalaf Al-Boghdadey with his rawi's Ishak and Idrees.
For more information on the above 10 Imams and their rawi's such as their full names and dates of death, etc. please check this link [English].

-A good question to ask at this point is: Did anyone else know any other reading? The answer is yes. At the time those ten readers appeared, different readings existed as well. However, because only those ten had authentic chains that go to the prophet PBUH, those were the ten that stayed and lingered to our present day. Any other reading that differs from those ten readings is reffered to as 'qira'a shatha' or 'weird/unauthorized reading'. I shall try to explain what I know of those in later posts inshAllah.

-How do the different readings differ? Well to start, we must understand that the smallest building block of the Qura'n is the letter. Again, in very simple terms, every Arabic letter [of a total of 28 letters] must have one of four 'movements' (in Arabic, harakat, singular haraka). Those being:
1) Fath...Adding the sound of the letter 'alef' ('ah') to the letter.
2) Kasr...Adding the sound of the letter 'ya' ('ee') to the letter.
3) Dam...Adding the sound of the letter 'waw' ('oo') to the letter.
4) Sukoon...Simply put: To pronounce the letter as it is with none of the above additions.

Of course a linguist would much better explain this than myself! Our current purpose, however, is the readings so we return to those:
The readings differ regularly in the pronunciations of the letters through the haraka. And frequently, we will also find variation in the letters themselves so that a letter present in a word in a verse in one reading will be replaced by a different letter in another. Or a letter is added, etc.

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I will stop here today. I will continue inshAllah as soon as I find time and effort in me. On my next post, I will share some interesting videos to explain some more interesting concepts in the science of qira'a and continue from where we stopped. I will also try to share with you examples of the variations between different qira'as.

Until then, take care of yourself and may Allah SWT bless you!