History of Qirat

A Brief History of the Science of the Pronounciation of the Quran

In the first hundred years after the prophet (peace be upon him) islamic
knowledge spread very rapidly through the region and was taken up by many
non-arab speakers.

Those groups of scholars who had been taught the correct pronounciation going
back to the companions (of the prophet) realised that if they didn't do
something then the people would lose the knowledge of how the quran should be
pronounced. Some of these scholars were:

Aasim ibn Najuud: his kunya was Abu Bakr, and he was the sheikh of recitation
in Kuufa (Iraq). The chain of those instructing him in recitation went back
to Abdullaah ibn Mas`uud, and Ali ibn Abii Taalib may God be pleased with
them both. He also was in the company of other scholars who had similar lines
of transmission in terms of reciting the quran. Bear in mind that the prophet
instructed the muslims to recite quran as he recited it, and they took this
very seriously indeed.

He passed away rahimahullaah in the year 127 hijrii.

Following him was Hafs ibn Sulaymaan alAsadii from the tribe of bani Asad and
his kunya was Abu `Amr. He was raised by Aasim.

This is the Hafs of whose scholarship/recitation we have in our hands today,
in the printings from Egypt and Saudi.

He passed away in 180 hijrii.

Following HafS we have AshShaaTibii. He is from amongst the most famous of
those who gathered the different recitations prevalent in the muslim world.
He travelled to Balansia (Valencia) in AlAndalus and showed/suggested the
book (Attayseer fii qiraa'aat assab`) "The making easy of the seven
recitations" to Abuu `Amr adDaanii from memory.

He passed away in 590 hijrii.

Of course there are many other famous scholars in the recitation of the quran
from this region and others. Their knowledge was entirely gained from
learning the exact recitation of their teacher and these chains of
transmission go back to the companions.

So what type of knowledge were they passing on?

In terms of pronounciation they taught:

Makhaarij and Sifaat alHuruuf, or exactly how the letters were pronounced.
They taught the placement of the front, middle and back of the tongue, the 5
places where the sound was made in the mouth/throat, the position of the tip
and edges of the tongue, the exact nature of the sound that was produced in
terms of 5 main attributes and their opposites.

The rules of pronounciation of the raa' in terms of tafkheem and tarqeeq,
which is the placement of the tongue in either the upper mouth or the front
of the mouth depending on the surrounding letters. There are a number of
rules such as if the raa' is saakin and before it is a kasra aSlii (in the
same word), and after it is one of the letters of isti`laa' (Saad, Daad etc)
which is not maksuur, then it is pronounced with tafkheem (the tip of the
tongue further up inside the mouth, making more of a 'hollow' sound).

The rules of pronounciation of the laam in terms of tafkheem and tarqeeq (see
above)

The pronounciation of meem mushaddada and nuun mushaddada were taught, in
terms of ghunna (nasalisation)

The pronounciation of meem saakina of which there are three variants, idhgaam
asshafawii, ikhfaa' asshafawii and idhhaar asshafawii

The pronounciation of nuun assaakina and tanween in terms of idghaam, idhhaar,
iqlaab and ikhfaa'.

Ikhfaa is 'hiding' of the nuun, or pronouncing it near the point of
pronounciation of the following letter, with ghunna.

Iqlaab is when the nuun is pronounced as a meem as a consequence of the
following baa'.

Idghaam (in respect to the nuun) is the assimilation of the nuun with the
following letters, sometimes with ghunna and sometimes not.

Idhhaar is clear prnounciation of the nuun and extra clarity should be used if
followed by a waaw or faa'.

the pronounciation of laam atta`reef in respect of Idhhaar and Idghaam

The rules of pronounciation with laam alfi`l in terms of idhgaam and idhhaar.

The pronounciation of idghaam in terms of the quality of the sound it makes
(idghaam almutamaathil, idghaam almutajaanis, makhraj aTTaa' wa attaa' wa
addaal wa Dhaa' wa adhdhaal wa aththaa' wa almeem wa albaa', idhgaam
almutaqaarib and mawaaDi`ahaa).

The rules of madd, of which there are very many, categorised in qaSr, almadd
alaSlii, almadd alfar`ii, madd waajib muttaSil, madd jaa`iz munfaSil, madd
alladhee sababuhu lissukuun, (`aariD assukuun and almadd allaazim and almadd
allaazim alkalamii and almadd allaazim alHarfii (muthaqqilan and
mukhaffifan), almuduud almulHaq (madd aSSila, inc SilatalKubraa
SilatuSSughraa) madd albadal (aSlii) and many more types

The seven types of alif

The subtle stops

Hamzatul waSl and qaT`

Stopping and starting of which there are many types

AlIshmaam wa aRawm

They also taught those ayats/words where the above rules where NOT completely
followed, and this of course is very important too.


The tajweed scholars of the period wrote books and long tracts of poetry that
were memorized by all serious recitors of quran. The poems encapsulated all
of the rules I have mentioned and also incorporated examples. This is how
recitation was taught after the era of the scholars I mentioned.

After time, scholars and scribes started trying to make it easier for the
people by making marks around the quranic script that indicated when the above
rules were to be applied. Of course, they could only show the most prominent
rules, but these were a great help (I can assure you!).

Many people today know these signs as a small meem indicating iqlaab of the
nuun and tanween, a staggered tanween to indicate ikhfaa, a shadda over the
initial letter to indicate idghaam, various symbols for madd etc etc.

I hope that clarifies things for some and can provide some sort of albeit
extremely brief reference.