Indexed OCR Text

THE
HISTORY
OF
TAJWID
وَرْزُالْقُرآن ◌ِوَسَلَ أَ
M. SALEEM GAIBIE
al-Tanzil
INSTITUTE OF OURANIC SCIENCES

The
History
of
Tajwid
M. Saleem Gaibie

First Print 2025
By al-Tanzil Institute of Quranic Sciences
Cape Town
Western Cape
South Africa
info@al-tanzil.co.za
Any part of this book may be reproduced for
teaching purposes provided that no
changes are made to it.
al-Tanzil
INSTITUTE OF QURANIC SCIENCES

Contents
System of Transliteration
1
Foreword
2
Tajwid: The Oral Period
3
The Oral Dimension of the Qur'an
3
The Relationship between the Oral and the Written
6
Qur'anic Pedagogy during this Milieu
7
Orality: Describing the Qur'anic Recitation of the Prophetic
14
Orality: The Companions and Qur'anic Recitation
18
Orality: The Successors and Qur'anic Recitation
19
Foreign Elements Entering Into Islam
21
The Earliest Writings on Qira'at
24
Tajwid - Early Codification
27
Tajwīd's Inextricable Link to Qirā'āt
32
Tajwid is Interconnected with Arabic
33
The Usage of the term "Tajwid"
36
A Synopsis of the Early Developments in Tajwid
41
Tajwid: Its Audience, Content and Orthoepic-phonetic Terminologies
.........
45
Transmission versus Ijtihād
.............
48
Bibliography
54

System of Transliteration
Nr
Arabic
English
Nr
Arabic
English
1
أ
n
17
2
ب
b
18
ع
C
3
ت
t
19
غ
gh
4
ث
th
20
ف
f
5
ج
j
21
ق
q
6
J
ḥ
22
ك
k
7
خ
kh
23
لـ
1
8
1
d
24
m
9
ذ
dh
25
ن
n
10
1
r
26
h
11
ز
Z
27
9
W
12
س
S
28
ي
y
13
ش
sh
29
ā
14
ص
S
30
ويْ
ī
15
ض
31
;Ó
ū
16
ط
t
32
أيْ
ay
33
أَوْ
aw
N.B. Arabic words are italicised except in 3 instances:
1- When possessing a current English usage.
2- When part of a heading or table/diagram.
3- When the proper names of humans.
The "al" of the Arabic lam al-ta'rif is occasionally omitted to maintain flow of the English.
1

Foreword
This booklet was part of my MA thesis. I have extracted it from the thesis and edited
it for students and teachers of tajwid and Qira'at.
It is imperative for any student embarking on the study of any science, that he/she
also studies the history and developments which took place in that particular science.
By understanding the history of a science, and the developments which occurred in it,
one has a better appreciation for the science and is better equipped to engage and
navigate it.
Though much has been written on the history of many sciences, I was surprised to
find very little written on the history of tajwid, even in the Arabic language. I pray
that this booklet benefits many, especially those who love to recite the Qur'an as it
was revealed to the Prophet &
; with tajwīd.
M. Saleem Gaibie
2

Tajwid: The Oral Period
The Oral Dimension of the Qur'an
Pre-Islamic Arabia had an oral culture. This means that their culture was
predominantly transmitted orally, with writing being used in restricted areas. A
dominant feature of an oral culture is that the people are illiterate, which the Qur'an
alludes to when it states:
﴿هُوَ الَّذِى بَعَثَ فِى الْأُمِّيِّنَ رَسُولًا مِنْهُمْ يَتْلُواْ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَتِهِ، وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَبَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن
€@
كَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ لَفِى ضَلَلٍ مُّبِينٍ
"It is He who sent among the unlettered a messenger from among themselves". (Sūrat al-Jumu'ah:
2).
Committing things to memory was another common feature amongst such a culture
due to them not having written records to consult, hence the famous statement: "their
gospels are in their hearts" (أَنَا جِيلُهُم فِي صُدُورِهِم)' and the Prophet Muhammad
saying: "such a book has descended upon you which cannot be washed away by
water" (alji aluk y) i.e. it does not require writing to preserve it for water can wash
away the ink. These are indicative that they preserved information in their memories.2
This does not mean that literacy did not exist; literacy and illiteracy coexisted, very
similar to European society up until the nineteenth century. Graham writes that:
"one should not overestimate the actual dispersion of literacy, especially
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when it was still a
substantially restricted capacity in European society as a whole. Literacy
and illiteracy coexisted well into the industrial revolution. It is now very
hard for those of us raised in highly literate societies in the mid-twentieth
century to recognize that historically, even in Europe, the majority of the
population until the past hundred years or so have been unable to read
1 Suyūtī, al-Durr al-Manthūr. 573; Zurqānī, Manāhil al-'Irfan: 1/195.
2 Ahmad, Musnad: 4/162, 163, 266; al-Țabarānī, Mu'jam al-Kabīr. 17/358-359; al-Bayhaqī, Sunan al-Kubrā: 9/20;
Zurqānī, Manāhil al-'Irfan: 1/195.
3

and write ... Even in early nineteenth century England, in the workplace
and public houses, reading aloud - often of news and politics rather than
religion - continued to be an important means of dissemination of
printed material to the illiterate or semiliterate (a function today of radio
and television for the same groups)." (Graham, 1987: 42).3
In this oral milieu, it was to be expected that the Qur'an also be of an oral nature. The
very first revelation is indicative of the Qur'an's oral/aural character, "igra" (read).
The word "qara'a" (to read, to recite) and its derivatives appear more than 80 times
throughout the Qur'an e.g. qur'an al-fajr. The imperative and recurring "qul" (say)
introduces more than 300 statements; statements that are meant to be proclaimed
aloud. The verb "tala", alongside "tilawah", (to recite, to follow) occurs frequently,
more than 63 times. Furthermore, the hadith legacy mentions thousands of various
traditions encouraging the recitation of the Qur'an. (Graham, 1987: 91).
In addition to its oral character, the Qur'an was written from the earliest stages of
Islam, even as a new and inexperienced community while being persecuted by the
Quraysh of Mecca. In the story of the conversion of 'Umar
to Islam, he found a
parchment at the house of his sister upon which the Qur'an was written.4 It was the
regular practice of the Prophet Muhammad e
that upon the descent of revelation,
he would call for one of his numerous scribes to write down the latest verses of the
Qur'an.5 It was also commonplace that the Companions
wrote the Qur'an, for
the Prophet
forbade them from writing the Qur'an together with non-Qur'anic
material on the same sheet.6 Furthermore, the Prophet
himself refers to a written
3 The same could be said about ancient Greece. Orality was the norm well into the fifth century B.C.E and only
later did it share a platform with written culture, not becoming widespread in the capital, Athens, until the last
third of the century. (Graham, 1987: 34).
4 Ibn Hisham, Sīrah: 1/343-346.
5 Al-Tirmidhī, Sunan: 3086; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak: 2/221; al-Bayhaqī, al-Dalā'il: 7/153.
6 Muslim, Şahīņ: 4/2298; Zurqānī, Manāhil al-'Irfan: 1/231.
4

codex (mushaf) when he related that those who recite without the aid of a mushaf
would receive reward of 1000 degrees while those who recite using a mushaf would
attain double the reward.7 The Prophet
also forbade the Companions
to
Ese
travel into enemy lands with a copy of the Qur'an.8 It was common for the
Companions
to have their own personal codices of the Qur'an. The works
written in the masahif genre9 is indicative of their personal codices as well as personal
codices of the Successors.10 If they did not document the Qur'an in their personal
capacities, then the communal collection which took place during the caliphates of
Abu Bakr and 'Uthman wes would not have been possible.11
Teaching from a mushaf was not uncommon during that period. While in Kufa, Ibn
Mas ud age was known to dictate from a mushaf when he taught the Qur'an.12 One of
the 10 eponymous Readers, Abu Ja'far (d. 106/724), had a mushaf when he read to
'Abd Allah ibn 'Ayyash (d. 78/697).13 The Damascenes would go to the mosque of
Damascus and correct their mașahif (yușliņūn mașahifahum) according to the qira'ah
of 'Ațiyyah ibn Qays (d. 121/739).14 Hamzah (d. 156/773) used to go to A'mash (d.
148/765) with a mushaf and mark it according to how A'mash read to him.15 Those
who came to the circle of Kisa'i (d. 189/805), would mark their masahif based on how
7 Suyūtī, al-Itqān: 1/338.
8 Mālik, Muwatta': 1/574; Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: hadith 2990. See 'Asqalānī, Fath al-Bārī: 6/155.
9 See See Ibn al-Nadīm, al-Fihrist: 38-39. Kitab al-Maşāhif of Abu Bakr al-Sijistānī (d. 316) is the most popular
book in this genre.
10 See Kitab al-Mașāḥif of Abū Bakr al-Sijistānī for numerous examples of personal codices.
11 Motzki summarizes several academic views and their arguments regarding the collection of the Qur'an and
concludes that "Western studies dealing with the issue of the collection of the Qur'an make clear that premises,
conclusions and methodology of these studies are still disputable. Whether their alternative views on the history of
the Qur'an are historically more reliable than the Muslim tradition on the issue thus remains an open question.
(Motzki, 2001: 15).
12 Ahmad, Musnad: 1/309; Abū Ya'lā, Musnad: 1/172-173.
13 Ibn Mujahid, al-Sabah: 58.
14 'Ațiyyah ibn Qays was a Successor took over the seat of teaching Qur'an in Damascus after the demise of Abū
al-Dardā'. Abū Zur'ah, Tārīkh: 1/346; Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghāyat al-Niņayah: 1/514.
15 Dhahabī, Ma'rifat al-Qurrā' al-Kibār. 1/118.
5

he recited to them; marking the places of starting and stopping as well.16 Schoeler
mentions that these kind of reports
"show that very early on, written Qur'an texts were used in recitations,
something Sellheim doubted. In lectures teaching the Qur'an, written
copies obviously functioned as hypomnemata, the text of which was
corrected and revised through sama'. Somewhat later, there appeared
people called mușhafiyun in the field of Qur'an reading, a group
comparable to suņufiyun in other sciences, those who received their
knowledge exclusively from notebooks (suhuf) in circulation instead of
"heard/audited" transmission (ar-riwayah al-masmū'ah, samā'). Abū
Hātim as-Siğistānī (d. 255/869) among others warns against trusting
these people: "do not learn the Qur'an from those who have only read
codices!" There could not be any better evidence for the fact that also in
the field of Qur'an reading, "merely written" transmission was common
practice, if frowned upon." (Schoeler, 2006: 80).
The Relationship between the Oral and the Written
The idea of having the Qur'an written as a scriptural codex was not out of the
ordinary at all, especially considering that it was previously "preserved on tablets"
(Sūrat al-Burūj: 21-22). (Nelson, 2001: 1). The 'Uthmanic codification became the
textus receptus of this idea. Though the transmission of the Qur'an remained oral, it
was not restricted to it.
"Technically, the scripture given to Muhammad presumably could have
been passed on from the outset primarily as a written text, but it was not,
or at least not alongside and as an adjunct to its memorization and
recitation. While the revelations were considered to be part of God's
16 Ibn al-Jazarī, Ghayat al-Niņayah: 1/538.
6

'Arabic kitab', this in no way conflicted with or detracted from their
fundamental character as divine words meant to be learned by heart,
chanted aloud, and orally transmitted." (Graham, 1987: 89).
Furthermore, there are numerous verses in the Qur'an which refer to it as a written
document or "al-kitab" (al-Baqarah: 2; al-An'ām: 7; al-Waqi'ah: 78), yet it was, and
still remains, a predominantly oral text. Graham writes that:
"The written word of its scripture has always been secondary to a strong
tradition of oral transmission and aural presence of scripture that far
surpasses that of Judaic or Christian usage. In Islam, the functions of the
holy book as an oral text have predominated over its functions as a
written or printed one. As an English Arabist put it long ago, "from the
first to the last the Koran is essentially a book to be heard, not read. For
countless millions of Muslims over more than thirteen centuries of
Islamic history, 'scripture', al-kitab, has been a book learned, read and
passed on by vocal repetition and memorization ... the book of holy writ
(kitab) in Islam is ultimately not a written or printed document, but a
holy 'reciting', or 'recitation', which is precisely what the word qur'an
means." (Graham, 1987: 79-80).
Qur'anic Pedagogy during this Milieu
This section analyses Qur'anic pedagogy and transmission during this early period.
Schoeler draws a comparison between early Islamic pedagogy and antecedent
Alexandrian teaching methods and lectures, identifying structural similarities between
the two systems. Islam placed more emphasis on sama' i.e. "heard/aural"
transmission.17 Additionally, Islam made a distinction between sama' (the teacher
17 This might seem like something insignificant, but the printing press and the availability of digital books have
displaced aural reading with silent reading. Marshal Mcluhan stated that "Print gradually made reading aloud
pointless." Aural reading generally requires an audience and involves face-to-face interaction, as opposed to silent
7

reads loud) and gira'ah (the student reads to the teacher).18 Furthermore, the
Alexandrian system had a rudimentary system of isnad - if any - as opposed to Islam
which demanded that sources be named. (Schoeler, 2006: 48).
Verse 16 of Surat al-Qiyamah instructs the Prophet Muhammad to remain silent and
listen attentively whenever Gabriel came with revelation:
﴿لَا تُحَرِّكْ بِهِ، لِسَانَكَ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ" )
€
Move not your tongue with it, [O Muhammad ], to hasten with recitation of the Qur'an.
Ibn 'Abbas de explains that after listening to the revelation, the Prophet de would
then recite it back to Gabriel &De.19 Thus, he grasped revelation via sama' (listening to
it) and via qira'ah (reading). Furthemore, there are two words that appear in the
hadith legacy which depict how the Prophet
received revelation from Gabriel:
‘āraļāh (yu'āridunī) and dārasah (fayudārisuhū):
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صُ أَجْوَدَ النَّاسِ، وَكَانَ أَجْوَدَ مَا يَكُونُ فِي رَمَضَانَ حِينَ يَلْقَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ، وَكَانَ جِبْرِيلُ يَلْقَاهُ فِي كُلِّ لَيْلَةٍ
مِنْ رَمَضَانَ، فَيُدَارِسُهُ الْقُرْآنَ.
The Messenger of Allah
was the most generous of all the people, and he used to be more
generous in the month of Ramadan when Jibril used to meet him. Jibril used to meet him every
night in Ramadan to revise the Qur'an together.20
Fatimah was reported:
أَسَرَّ إِلَىَّ: "إِنَّ جِبْرِيلَ كَانَ يُعَارِضُنِي الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ سَنَةٍ مَرَّةً، وَإِنَّهُ عَارَضَنِي الْعَامَ مَرَّتَيْنِ، وَلاَ أُرَاهُ إِلاَّ حَضَرَ أَجْلِي."21
reading. The print and digital culture transitions from an oral/aural interaction to a visual and purely mental
process, removing vocalization completely. See Graham, Beyond the Written Word: 19-44.
18 This distinction between gira'ah and sama' is still maintained in present-day Islamic pedagogy when texts are
being studied between students and teachers, especially in hadith sciences.
19 Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 4/203-204; Muslim, Șaķī: 4/1904; Ahmad, Musnad: 44/10.
20
Șaķīķ al-Bukhārī: hadith 3220.
21 Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa al-A‘thamī explains:
"Each of the above hadiths describes these recitations between Archangel and Prophet using the term Mu'arada.
Mu'ārada (i)les) is from Mufa'ala (delas), meaning that two people are engaged in the same action. For example
muqatala ("blas): to fight each other. Thus Mu'arada indicates that Jibril would read once while the Prophet
listened, then vice versa. This general practice continues to this day. A few of the Companions were in fact privy to
8

The Prophet
secretly told me: "Every year Jibril used to revise the Qur'an with me once only,
but this year he has done so twice. I do not deem it except that my death is approaching."22
These two words are from the third scale, which signify a dual action i.e. Gabriel
recited to the Prophet f
and the likewise the Prophet
recited to Gabriel
le as
well.23
This very same methodoly - gira'ah and sama' - was employed when the Prophet
taught the Qur'an. The Prophet Muhammad
read the Qur'an to whomsoever
he invited to Islam. His Companions
regularly listened to his recitation,
including during the daily salah.24 He was instructed by Allah to recite to Ubayy ibn
Kab
,25 Likewise, the Prophet
listened to their recitation of the Qur'an, as in
the case of Ibn Mas ud age when he requested the latter to recite to him.26 This
manner of learning Qur'anic recitation was referred to as "talaqqi" (oral reception).
Ubayy
we said to 'Umar
that he learned the Qur'an from the Prophet
via
talaqqī, who grasped it from Gabriel ale via talaqqī:
إِنِّي تَلَقَّيْتُ الْقُرْآنَ مِمَّنْ تَلَقَّهُ مِنْ جِبْرِيل
"I learned the Qur'an via talaqqī from him from grasped it via talaqqī from Jibril
">27
this Mu'arada between the Prophet and Jibril, such as 'Uthman [Ibn Kathir, Fada'il, vii:440], Zaid b. Thabit, and
'Abdullah b. Mas'ūd."
See The History of the Qur'anic Text: 54-55. See also al-Ahruf al-Sabah wa Manzilat al-Qira'āt minha by Dr
Hasan Diya' al-Dīn 'Itr: 267; Magalāt al-Kawtharī: 6; al-Tibyan li ba'd al-Mabahith al-Muta'alliqah bi al-Qur'an by
Țāhir al-Jazā'irī: 124-125.
22 Șaķīņ al-Bukhārī: hadith 3623, 3624.
23 Sībaway, al-Kitab: 4/68.
24 For numerous examples and occasions in which the Prophet Muhammad recited the Qur'an, refer to al-A'thamī,
The History of the Qur'anic Text: 60.
25 Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 5/36, 6/175; Muslim, Șaķīķ: 1/550.
26 Bukhārī, Şaķīķ: 6/45; Muslim, Șaķīķ: 1/551.
27 Ahmad, Musnad: 35/41-42; Hakim, Mustadrak: 2/225. See also Tajwid al-Lafth fi Qira'at al-Qur'an by Husayn
al-Matīrī: 136.
9

Verse six of Surat al-Naml emphasises that the Prophet
received the Qur'an via
talaqqī ( wa innak la-tulaqq al-Qur'an):
﴿ وَإِنَّكَ لَتْلَقَى الْقُرْءَانَ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ عَلِيمٍ ﴾﴾
And indeed, [O Muhammad], you receive the Qur'an from One, Wise and all-Knowing.
Nelson writes that "Tajwid and qira'at are both essentially oral in their
transmission ... the significance of tajwid and qira'at for Qur'anic studies are largely
ignored by Western scholars, except as they apply to the written text of the Qur'an."
(Paraphr. Nelson, 2001: xviii). She states further that
" ... to Western Qur'anic scholars the Qur'an has been largely defined by
its written tradition ... Consequently, the emphasis in Western scholarship
has been on those aspects of the Qur'an which manifests a written
tradition, such as tafsir, lughah (philology), balaghah (rhetoric), rasm
(orthography), and so forth." (Nelson, 2001: xviii)
Denny echoes these sentiments stating that "Typical Western disregard for the latter
is simply a product of blindness both to Muslim practices and the Qur'an's special
nature which emphasizes orality." (Denny, 1989: 6). Regarding its transmission,
Schoeler recognises that the natural manner of Qur'anic transmission was via qira'ah.
(Schoeler, 2006: 50).28 Graham has a few descriptions like "vocally transmitted text"
and "recited, phonetic text". (Graham, 1987: 88, 98). Nelson states that "The
transmission of the Qur'an and its social existence are essentially oral." (Nelson, 2001:
xiv). Though this process of oral transmission is a seemingly straightforward one
involving qira'ah and sama' (listening and reading), it consists of multiple complex
disciplines which secure accuracy in transmission as well as detail. Each of these
disciplines developed into independant sciences within the first few centuries of Islam.
They include:
28 Due to this, Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam has a chapter heading encouraging the practice of 'ard of the
Qur'an i.e. presentation or recitation of the qurra'to their teachers. See Sallam, Fada'il al-Qur'an: 2/188.
10

. Transmission of Qur'anic readings/ Qira'at - this entails that the reading was
learned from a previous authority with a transmission chain (sanad) linking
him to the Prophet Muhammad
These Qur'anic readings would
incorporate dialectical variances and differences in expression allowed by the
seven ahruf. (Dutton, 2011). The systems of gira'āt stem from the phonetic
pool of the ahruf. (Nelson, 2001: 3).29
· Correct Arabic phonology/ tajwid - this discipline regulates correct oral
rendering of the Qur'an, which is the basis of all recitation. (Nelson, 2001:
13). All the gira'at mentioned in the previous point adhere to the rules of
tajwīd. (Gade, 2006: 483; Graham, 1987: 116).
. 'Uthmanic Orthography/rasm - all readings must comply with the
'Uthmanic script.30 (Gade, 2006: 483; Graham, 1987: 116). Graham notes that
the copy of the written text
"exists as a support to the orally transmitted and recited text,
not a determinant of it. Because the written codification of
the authorative text under 'Uthman took place before the
development of an Arabic orthography that could indicate
with true precision how a text actually is to be read, the
written mushaf could never stand alone. When 'Uthman sent
out copies of his new Qur'an text to the major cities of the
young empire, he sent them with knowledgable reciters who
could teach the text of the mushaf. To read read the bare,
unpointed text, one had to know it already by heart, or very
nearly so." (Graham, 1987: 98).
29 The confrontations between 'Umar, Hisham, Ubayy de
and others in the hadiths of the seven ahruf show that
each one of them recognised that the Qur'an was being recited differently to how they had grasped it. Secondly,
the hadith always concludes that, despite their Qur'anic recitation differing one from the other, these readings were
all taught to them and stemmed from the Prophet Muhammad
.(أَقْرَأَنِيهَا رَسُولُ اللهِ) صُ
30 Suyūtī, al-Itqān: 1/278.
11

The pointing of the 'Uthmanic masahif, indicates that the Qur'anic text still
maintained its orality.31 There was always "primacy of the oral text over the
written one - but always alongside it, not in competition with it." (Graham,
1987: 110). Thus, the reading of the written text was governed by the oral
tradition which naturally conformed with correct Arabic phonology, as
mentioned previously. Even with millions of copies of the Qur'anic text being
printed nowadays32, it still maintains its orality based upon the reading
tradition of one of the 10 eponymous Readers.
· Stopping and starting/ waqf wa ibtida' - in the 'Uthmanic codices the places
of stopping were not marked, unlike in the printed copies of the Qur'an
presently. Students would grasp where to stop and start from their teachers.
This practice was initiated and practised by the Prophet
when he
instructed that the Companions should not mix a verse of chastisement with
a verse of mercy or a verse of mercy with a verse of chastisement.33 The
Companion, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar
, related that it was the practice of the
Companions that they learned the appropriate places of stopping.34 This
practice is clear in the methodolgy of Kisa'i mentioned previously when he
taught the Qur'an.
31 The pointing of the text initially comprised of dots below or above the consonants to distinguish them from
similar shaped consonants in the Arabic script as well as dots to indicate the vowels (harakat). See Graham,
Beyond the Written Word: 98.
32 The manner in which the Islamic world produced the printed version of the Qur'anic text was certainly unique,
contrary to the procedure followed by Western text-critical scholarship. They based their orthography on the rules
of rasm and the science of dabt (literally means the science of precision, referring to the manner of dotting or the
diacritics of the Qur'anic script) as codified by authorities like Danī (d. 444/1052) and Ibn Najah (d. 496/1103),
instead of relying on the manuscripts or manuscript fragments available. The Qur'anic text produced by Egypt in
1342/1923-1924 was universally recognized as the most authoritative text printed. Gotthelf Bergsträsser declared on
the Egyptian print "that all of the textual scholarship of the West could not have brought forth a more exact or
critical edition than that produced by these leading exponents of the highly oral and highly mnemonic Islamic
'science of readings". (Graham, 1987: 97). It was this print that was used by Saudi Arabia to print their version of
the text in 1950. See al-'Awfi, Muhammad Salim: Tatawwur Kitabat al-Mushaf al-Sharif wa Taba'atihi.
33 Ahmad, al-Musnad: 35/41-42; Dānī, al-Muktafa fi al-Waqf wa al-Ibtidā': 131.
34 Hākim, al-Mustadrak: 1/35; Dānī, commentary on al-Khāqāniyyah: 2/423.
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· Verse ennumeration/ 'add al-fawasil - unlike in the present printed copies of
the Qur'an, the 'Uthmanic codice did not have the verses marked. The
Successor, Abū 'Abd al-Rahman al-Sulamī relates that Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy and
'Uthman
would teach them 10 verses per session.35 The Successor and
eponymous Reader, 'Aşim des, amongst the other eponymous Readers, would
count the verses on their fingers when teaching.36 As each Islamic centre
differed in their qira'at, they differed in their count of the verses.37 Nowadays,
the verses in most prints are marked and numbered according to the
narration of Hafs who follows the verse enumeration of the Kufis. 38
35 Dānī, commentary on al-Khāqāniyyah: 2/264; Ahmad, al-Musnad: 5/410; Hākim, al-Mustadrak: 1/557.
36 Dānī, al-Bayān fi 'Add Ay al-Qur'an: 48-49.
37 See al-Bayān fi 'Add Ay al-Qur'an of Danī for more details.
38 According to the Kufis there are 6236 verses in total. The qurra' in Homs tally 6232 verses, Damascus counts
6227 while others say 6226, Basra totals 6204, Mecca counts 6210 while Medina has two opinions: 6214 and 6217.
See al-Qawl al-Wajīz fi Fawāsil al-Kitab al-'Azīz of Mukhallalātī for details.
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.39
Orality: Describing the Qur'anic Recitation of the Prophetic
This section surveys words which describe the recitation of the Prophet Muhammad
from hadith literature. There are primarily 10 words which recur in various
narrations:40
1) Tartil - this signifies a slow or pacing recitation. It also means clarity. Thus, it
would suggest a clear, distinct and slow-paced recitation.41
In Surat al-Muzzammil: 4, the instruction is given to recite the Qur'an with tartil
(rattil al-Qur'ān tartīlā):
﴿وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا ﴾﴾
And recite the Qur'an with a slow, measured recitation.
Hafsah wos relates that he (the Prophet Muhammad
recited a sūrah with tartil
until it seemed longer than it (actually) was:42
عن حفصة أنها قالت : .. وكان يقرأ بالسورة فَيُرَتِّلُهَا حتى تكون أطول من أطول منها ...
The Prophet S
furthermore encouraged recitation with tartil when he stated: "recite
with tartil, as you recited with tartil in the worldly life" (rattil kamā kunta turattil fi
al-dunya).43
2) Tarassul - this is a synonym for tartil i.e. a slow and pacing recitation. 44
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman &
, relates that he (the Prophet Muhammad
recited
slowly (mutarassil). When he passed a verse of praise, he praised (Allah), when he
39 These descriptions will not include those hadiths which encourage the Qur'an to be recited melodiously, to
adorn one's recitation with the Qur'an, to recite loudly or softly since these matters are not within our area of
focus.
40 While these words are repeated in numerous reports, I will restrict myself to mentioning only one hadith to
demonstrate its appearance.
41 Tajwid al-Lafth fi Qira'at al-Qur'an: 74-78.
Imam Shafi'i > mentions that the least degree of tartil is to recite swiftly without distinction (ibanah) between the
letters. See Kitab al-Umm: 2/250.
42 Muwatta' of Malik: 1/199; Sahih Muslim: 1/507; Sunan al-Tirmidhi. 1/399.
43 Ahmad, Musnad: 11/404; Abu Dawud, Sunan: hadith 1462; Tirmidhī, Sunan: hadith 2914.
44 Tajwid al-Lafth fi Qira'at al-Qur'an: 85-86.
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passed a verse (advising) asking (from Allah), he asked (from) Allah and when he
passed a verse (advising) to seek protection (from Allah), then he sought protection:45
عن حذيفة بن اليمان قال : .. يقرأ مُتَرَسّلًا، وإذا مر بآية فيها تسبيح سبح، وإذا مر بسؤال سأل، وإذا مر
بتعوذ تعود ...
3) Tafsir - a clear recital. Said ibn Jubayr (d. 95/714), amongst others, have
given the explanation of "tartil' to be "tafsir" i.e. with clarity:46
Yahya ibn Mamlak said: "I asked Umm Salamah about the salah of the messenger of
Allah and his recitation ... she described the recitation (of the Prophet Muhammad
) as being with clarity so that each letter was distinct from the other".47
وعن يحيى بن مَمْلَك قال: سألتُ أم سلمة عن صلاة رسول الله وقِرَاءَتِه .. تَنْعَتُ قراءةً مفسَّرةً حرفًا حرفًا.
4) Madd - a recital in which the sound is lengthened.
Qatādah relates that Anas
was questioned: "How was the recitation of the
Prophet?" He replied: "It was lengthened." Then he recited bism-Allah-al-Rahman-al-
Rahim while he lengthened bism-Allah, he lengthened al-Rahman and he lengthened
al-Raķīm.48
وعن قتادة أنه قال: سئل أنس كيف كانت قراءة النبي؟ قال: كانت مَدًّا، ثم قرأ: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم يمد بـ: بسم
الله، ويمد ب: الرحمن، يمد بـ: الرحيم.
5) Waqf - it infers the stops/pauses in-between recitation.
Umm Salamah wy
was asked regarding the recitation of the Messenger of Allah
and she replied: "He divided his recitation verse by verse. He would say: 'bism-Allah-
45 Muslim, Şahīņ: 1/536; Tirmidhī, Sunan: 1/300; Abū Dāwūd, Sunan: 2/7; Ibn Mājah, Sunan: 2/162.
46 See Tajwid al-Lafth fi Qira'at al-Qur'an: 93-94.
47 Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 2/93-94; Tirmidhī, Sunan: 5/43; Abū Dawūd, Sunan: 2/274.
48 Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 6/195.
Besides describing the recitation of the Prophet Muhammad, Anas also demonstrated where the sounds were
lengthened. In some reports the word "sawt" (sound) is explicitly mentioned. See Tajwid al-Lafth fi Qira'at al-
Qur'an: 94; al-Adā' al-Qur'ānī fi al-Hadith al-Nabawī wa al-Āthār. 55.
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al-Rahman-al-Rahim', then pause; thereafter he would say 'al-hamd li-Allah rabb al-
'ālamīn' then pause; thereafter 'al-Rahman al-Rahim' then pause.49
وعن أم سلمة أنها سئلت عن قراءة رسول الله فقالت: كان يقطع قراءته آية أية، يقول: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، ثم
يقف، ثم يقول: الحمد لله رب العالمين، ثم يقف، ثم يقول: الرحمن الرحيم، ثم يقف.
6) The "seven abruf - the Prophet Muhammad's
recitation incorporated
the "seven ahruf.
Ibn 'Abbas 4og relates that the Messenger of Allah
said: "Gabriel taught me to
read in one harf. Then I continued requesting him to increase it until it reached seven
aļruf.50
وعن ابن عباس أن رسول الله قال: أقرأني جبريل على حرف، فلم أزل أستزيده حتى انتهى إلى سبعة أحرف.
7) Tarji' - it infers that the Prophet Muhammad
recited beautifully (tahsin
al-şawt).51
'Abd Allah ibn Mughaffal age relates: "I saw the Prophet reciting while he was on his
she-camel, or his camel, and he was reciting Surat al-Fath - or from Surat al-Fath -
an easy recitation with "tarji".52
49 See Tirmidhi, Sunan: 6/427.
Other reports of Umm Salamah wos describing the recitation of the Prophet
suggest clarity in recitation when
she uses the words "harfan harfan" and "kalimatan kalimatan" or a slow and pacing recitation described her as
“bațï'ah".
See Ahmad, Musnad: 44/324; Ibn Sa'd, al-Țabagāt al-Kabīr. 1/323; al-Bayhaqī, Sunan al-Kubrā: 2/77; Ibn Abī
Shaybah, Muşannaf. 2/52; al-Țabarānī, Mu'jam al-Kabīr. 23/392; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak: 1/323.
50 See Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 4/113, 6/185; Muslim, Șaķīķ: 2/202.
51 The word "tarji" literally means to repeat. Thus, one of the interpretations of what is meant by "tarji" here is
that the Prophet
repeated certain letters or verses. Some argue that the reason it sounded as if he was
repeating these letters or verses was due to the movement of the camel which he was riding at the time of his
recitation. However, that would mean that his application of "tarji" is not intentional, but coincidental; it would
then not be proper to describe the Prophet's
recitation of the Qur'an as being with "tarji". Another
interpretation given for "tarji" is that it is a slower, more distinct pace than tartil. See al-Ada' al-Qur'anī fi al-
Hadith al-Nabawī wa al-Āthār. 98-99.
52 See Bukhārī, Șaķīķ: 6/195; Muslim, Șaķīķ: 2/193.
16