Qāriʾ

A qāriʾ (Arabic: قَارِئ, Arabic pronunciation: [qaːriʔ], plural قُرَّاء qurrāʾ) is a person who recites the Quran with the proper rules of recitation (tajwid). While in modern times the term refers primarily to professional reciters, historically the qurrāʾ represented an elite class of scholars and early Muslim settlers who played a pivotal role in the administration and political history of the early Rashidun Caliphate.

Although it is encouraged, a qāriʾ does not necessarily have to memorize the Quran, just to recite it according to the rules of tajwid with melodious sound.

Ibn al-Jazari (1350–1429) is considered one of the most prominent scholars in the science of Quran recitation. He was a leading authority who systematized and documented the ten canonical recitations. Earlier, Abu Bakr Ibn Mujāhid (d. 936) had formalized the system of seven readings. Both scholars contributed to the preservation and transmission of Quran recitation through established chains of oral transmission tracing back to the Prophet Muhammad.

The quadrumvirate of Al-Minshawi, Abdul Basit, Al-Hussary, and Mustafa Ismail are generally regarded as prominent Egyptian Quran reciters of modern times who have an outsized impact on the Islamic world.

Notable Quran reciters

Early Islamic period (7th century)

Seven canonical reciters and transmitters

  1. Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi (d. 736)
    • Hisham bin Amar
    • Ibn Dhakwan
  2. Ibn Kathir al-Makki (665–737)
  3. Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud (d. 745)
  4. Abu Amr al-Basri (690–771)
  5. Hamzah az-Zaiyyat (d. 772)
  6. Nafiʽ al-Madani (689–785)
  7. Al-Kisa'i (d. 804)
    • Al-Duri (767–860)
    • Al-Laythi (d. 854)

8th–18th century

Contemporary and modern reciters

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Egypt

Reader is referred to as Shaykh al-Maqâriʾ (Arabic: شيخ المقارئ, lit. 'Scholar of the Recitation Schools').

India

Indonesia

Iran

Kuwait

Lebanon

Oman

Pakistan

Palestine

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

References

  1. ↑ Sallabi 2007, p. 473.
  2. ↑ Nikolaos G. Chrissis, Mike Carr (2014). "A Damascene Eyewitness to the Battle of Nicopolis: Shams al-Din Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833/1429)". Contact and Conflict in Frankish Greece and the Aegean, 1204–1453 Crusade, Religion and Trade between Latins, Greeks and Turks. Ashgate Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 9781409439264.
  3. ↑ Semaan, Khalil I (1968). Linguistics in the Middle Ages: Phonetic studies in early Islam. Brill. p. 34.
  4. ↑ Qāri Izhār Ahmad Thānawi (21 January 2019). "The Great Imām of Qirā'ah: Muhammad Ibn al-Jazari". ilmgate.org. Darul Uloom Deoband. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Christopher Melchert, Ibn Mujāhid and the Establishment of Seven Qur'anic Readings, Studia Islamica, No. 91. (2000), pp. 5-22.
  6. ↑ Dutton, Yasin (2012). "Orality, Literacy and the 'Seven Aḥruf' Ḥadīth". Journal of Islamic Studies. 23 (1): 1–49. ISSN 0955-2340.
  7. ↑ Taha Shoeb (2 Feb 2018). "Khalaf from Hamzah – A look at the features of recitation of al-Qur'an by Shahzada Husain Bhaisaheb". thedawoodibohras.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Ejaz Taj (6 Sep 2018). "A Meeting with the Egyptian Giants, al-Minshāwī, al-Huṣrī, Muṣṭafā Ismāʿīl and ʿAbdul-Bāsit ʿAbdus-Ṣamad". islam21c.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Best Quran Recitation Competition for Students Planned in Egypt". iqna.ir. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Frishkopf, Michael (28 Dec 2009). "Mediated Qur'anic Recitation and the Contestation of Islam in Contemporary Egypt". In Nooshin, Laundan (ed.). In Music and Play of Power in the Middle East. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0754634577. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020.
  11. ↑ صفحة القارئ عبد الباسط عبد الصمد - موقع تلفاز القرآن الكريم, archived from the original on 2019-11-08, retrieved 2019-11-08
  12. ↑ Hawting, Gerarld R. (15 December 1983). "ABŪ MŪSĀ AŠʿARĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 1. pp. 346–347.
  13. ↑ Sahih Muslim 793e In-book reference: Book 6, Hadith 280. USC-MSA web (English) reference: Book 4, Hadith 1735
  14. ↑ A. Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Quran, Leiden, pp. 209-11, Leiden 1937
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Sahih al-Bukhari 3758". sunnah.com. Retrieved 2026-10-20.
  16. ↑ Saylan, Nesrişah (2023-03-23). "Übey B. Ka'b'ın Kıraat İlmindeki Yeri Ve Ona Atfedilen Kıraatlerin İncelenmesi". Ordu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Sosyal Bilimler Araştırmaları Dergisi (in Turkish). 13 (1). Ordu University: 559–572. doi:10.48146/odusobiad.1161301. ISSN 1309-9302.
  17. ↑ Madelung, W. (1997). The Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64696-3.
  18. ↑ Ayar, Kenan (2005-02-01). "Mâlik B. El-Hâris El-Eşter'in İlk Dönem Siyasi Hadiselerdeki Rolü". Dinbilimleri Akademik Araştırma Dergisi (in Turkish). 5 (1). Yavuz ÜNAL: 37–93. ISSN 1303-9199.