Qira'ah ita ce, galibi, hanyar furta kalmomi da ake amfani da ita wajen karatun Alkur'ani. Waɗannan hanyoyi sun bambanta da harufan (ahruf) guda bakwai ko salo guda bakwai da aka saukar da Alkur'ani a kansu. Harufan bakwai an rage su zuwa guda ɗaya, na Quraishawa, a zamanin Khalifa 'Uthman lokacin da ya umarci a rubuta Alkur'ani a yaren Quraishawa, a raba shi zuwa cibiyoyin Musulunci na lokacin. Saboda haka, yanzu babu sai salon Quraishawa, kuma dukkan hanyoyin karatu an gina su ne a kan wannan salo. An tabbatar da dukkan hanyoyin zuwa ga Annabi (ﷺ) ta hanyar wasu daga cikin sahabbai waɗanda suka fi shahara da karatun Alkur'ani. Wato, waɗannan sahabbai sun karanta Alkur'ani ga Annabi (ﷺ) ko a gabansa, kuma ya amince da shi. Daga cikinsu akwai: Ubayy ibn Ka'b, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zaid ibn Thabit, Ibn Mas'ud, Abu ad-Darda', da Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. Yawancin sauran sahabbai sun koya daga waɗannan malamai. Ibn 'Abbas, babban mai tafsirin Alkur'ani a cikin sahabbai, ya koya daga duka Ubayy da Zaid.

A qiraa’ah is, for the most part, a method of pronunciation used in the recitations of the Qur’aan. These methods are different from the seven forms or modes (ahruf) in which the Qur’aan was revealed. The seven modes were reduced to one, that of Quraysh, during the era of Caliph ‘Uthmaan when he ordered that the Qur’aan be copied in the Qurayshee dialect and distributed among the Islaamic centers of the time. Hence, only the Qurayshee mode remains today and all of the methods of recitation are based on this mode. The various methods have all been traced back to the Prophet (ﷺ) through a number of the sahaabah who were most noted for their Qur’aanic recitations. That is, these sahaabah recited the Qur’aan to the Prophet (ﷺ) or in his presence and received his approval. Among them were the following: Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Ibn Mas‘ood, Aboo ad-Dardaa’, and Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aaree. Many of the other sahaabah learned from these masters. Ibn ‘Abbaas, the master commentator of the Qur’aan among the sahaabah, learned from both Ubayy and Zayd. 30

A cikin tsara ta gaba ta Musulmi, wadda ake kira at-Taabi‘oon, an samu malamai da yawa waɗanda suka koyi hanyoyi daban-daban na karatun Alƙur’ani daga sahabbai, suka kuma koyar da su ga wasu. Cibiyoyin karatun Alƙur’ani sun bunƙasa a Madina, Makka, Kufa, Basra, da kuma ash-Shaam (Siriya ta Yanzu), har karatun Alƙur’ani ya zama ilimi mai zaman kansa.31 Zuwa tsakiyar karni na takwas bayan haihuwar Annabi Isa, akwai malamai masu fice da yawa, dukkansu ana ɗaukarsu ƙwararru a fagen karatu. Yawancin hanyoyin karatunsu an tabbatar da ingancinsu ta hanyar silsilar masu ruwaito amintattu, waɗanda ke ƙarewa a Annabi (ﷺ). Hanyoyin da kowane matakin silsilarsu ke da masu ruwaito da yawa ana kiransu mutawaatir, kuma ana ɗaukarsu mafi inganci. Hanyoyin da masu ruwaito a kowane matakin silsila suka yi kaɗan, ko ɗaya kawai, ana kiransu shaath.

Among the next generation of Muslims, referred to as the taabi‘oon, there arose many scholars who learned the various methods of recitation from the sahaabah and taught them to others. Centers of Qur’aanic recitation developed in Madeenah, Makkah, Koofah, Basrah, and ash-Shaam (Greater Syria), leading to the evolution of Qur’aanic recitation into an independent science.31 By the mideighth century CE, there existed a large number of outstanding scholars, all of whom were considered specialists in the field of recitation. Most of their methods of recitation were authenticated by chains of reliable narrators, ending with the Prophet (ﷺ). Those methods on each level of their chain were called mutawaatir and were considered to be the most accurate. Those methods in which the number of narrators were few or one on any level of the chain were referred to as shaath.

Sai dai, wasu malaman zamani na gaba sun fara aikin zaɓar wasu adadin malaman zamanin da ya gabata a matsayin mafi shahara da daidaito cikin karatu.

However, some of the scholars of the following period began the practice of designating a set number of individual scholars from the previous period as being the most noteworthy and accurate reciters.

Zuwa tsakiyar karni na goma miladiyya (karni na shida hijira), ya zama al'ada sananniya a iyakance adadin manyan mahardata zuwa bakwai, domin wannan adadi ya yi daidai da adadin yarukan da aka saukar da Alqur'ani a cikinsu. Haka nan, a wannan zamani an rage adadin makarantun shari'ar Musulunci (mazhabobi) zuwa sanannun hudu bayan wani lokaci da suka yi yawa. Wanda ya fara iyakance adadin mahardata ingantattu zuwa bakwai shi ne malamin Iraki, Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid (d. 936 miladiyya), sai wadanda suka rubuta littattafai a kan qira'a bayan sa suka bi sawunsa. Wannan iyakancewa ba ta nuna daidai malamai na zamanin farko na karatun Alqur'ani ba. Akwai wasu da yawa da suka kai matsayin bakwai din, kuma akwai wasu da suka fi su daraja. A gaskiya, rarraba malamai rarraba ce ta yadda aka kiyaye hanyoyin karatunsu sosai. Saboda haka, sanannun bakwai din su ne malaman farko daga zamani daban-daban wadanda hanyoyin karatunsu suna da mafi yawan sarkokin masu ruwaya, tare da ruwayoyi da yawa a kowane mataki na sarkar. Duk da haka, akwai sauran malaman zamanin farko wadanda hanyoyin karatunsu an rubuta su da inganci da yaduwa (mutawatir) kamar yadda aka rubuta sanannun bakwai din. Ga jerin malaman karatun Alqur'ani goma wadanda hanyoyin karatunsu aka fi kiyayewa:

By the middle of the tenth century CE (6th century AH), it became a popular convention to limit the number of best reciters to seven, since this number coincided with the number of dialects in which the Qur’aan was revealed. Similarly, during this period the number of schools of Islaamic law (math-habs) were reduced to the famous four after a period in which there were many. The first to limit the number of authentic reciters to seven was the ‘Iraaqi scholar, Aboo Bakr ibn Mujaahid (d. 936 CE), and those who wrote books on qiraa’ah after him followed suit.32This limitation is not an accurate representation of the classical scholars of Qur’aanic recitation. There were many others who were as good as the seven and a number who were greater than them. In fact, the classification of scholars was really a classification of how well their methods of recitation were preserved. Hence, the famous seven were those early scholars from different generations whose methods of recitation had the most chains of narrators with many narrations on each level of the chain. However, there were other classical scholars whose methods of recitation were just as authentically (mutawaatir) recorded as the famous seven. A list of the ten scholars of Qur’aanic recitation whose methods were best preserved is as follows:

1. Abū ‘Amr ibn al-‘Alā (d. 771 CE/154 AH) na Basrah

1. Aboo ‘Amr ibn al-‘Alaa (d. 771 CE/154 AH) of Basrah

2. Ibn Katheer (d. 738 CE/119 AH) yana cikin almajiran sahabbai na Makkah.

2. Ibn Katheer (d. 738 CE/119 AH) was among the students of the sahaabah of Makkah.

3. Naafi‘ (d. 786 CE/169 AH) asalinsa daga Isfahaan ne, kuma karatunsa, kamar yadda Warsh (d. 812 CE/196 AH) ya ruwaito shi, na Madeenah ne.

3. Naafi‘ (d. 786 CE/169 AH) was originally from Isfahaan, and his recitation, as transmitted by Warsh (d. 812 CE/196 AH), was of Madeenah.

4. Ibn ‘Aamir (d. 737 CE/118 AH) shi ne babban alkali (qaadi) na Damascus a zamanin al-Waleed ibn ‘Abdul Maalik, wanda, tare da sauran halifofin Umayyawa, ya mayar da wannan birni babban birninsa.

4. Ibn ‘Aamir (d. 737 CE/118 AH) was the chief judge (qaadi) of Damascus during the reign of al-Waleed ibn ‘Abdul Maalik, who, along with the other Umayyad caliphs, made that city his capital.

5. ‘Aasim (d. 746 CE/128 AH) na Koofa shi ne mai ruwaitar karatun da ya fi yaɗuwa a yanzu. Ruwaitarsa, kamar yadda Hafs ya ruwaito ta, ita ce hanyar ruwaita mafi yawan amfani da ita a duniyar Musulunci a yau, sai dai a Afirka.

5. ‘Aasim (d. 746 CE/128 AH) of Koofah was the narrator of the dominant recitation in current use. His narration, as transmitted by Hafs, is the most common method of narration used in the Muslim world today with the exception of Africa.

6. Hamzah (d. 773 CE/156 AH) na Kufa.

6. Hamzah (d. 773 CE/156 AH) of Koofah.

7. Al-Kisaa'ee (ya rasu a 805 CE/189 AH) na Kufa yana daga cikin manyan masana nahawun Larabci. Ya taka muhimmiyar rawa wajen kafa ka'idojin nahawun Larabci.

7. Al-Kisaa’ee (d. 805 CE/189 AH) of Koofah was one of the foremost grammarians. He played a major role in the formulation of Arabic grammar rules.

8. Abu Ja‘far (d. 750 CE/132 AH) na Madina.

8. Aboo Ja‘far (d. 750 CE/132 AH) of Madeenah.

9. Ya‘qoob (d. 820 CE/204 AH) na Basrah.

9. Ya‘qoob (d. 820 CE/204 AH) of Basrah.

10. Khalaf (d. 844 CE/229 AH) na Baghdad

10.Khalaf (d. 844 CE/229 AH) of Baghdaad

A lokaci guda da malaman hadisi suka kafa sharuɗɗa don tabbatar da ingancin maganganu ko ayyuka da aka danganta ga Annabi (r), malaman karatun Alƙur'ani suma sun tsara sharuɗɗa don sauƙaƙa binciken karatuttukan da ake da su. Domin karatun kowane nau'i ya zama karbabbe (saheeh), dole ne ya cika sharuɗɗa uku. Idan wani daga cikin sharuɗɗan ba ya nan, to irin wannan karatun ana kiransa shaath (wanda ba a saba ba). Sharadi na farko shi ne karatun ya kasance yana da sahihiyar silsilar isnadi; wato silsilar masu ruwaitawa ta kasance ba ta katsewa ba, masu ruwayar sun zama sanannun mutane masu adalci, kuma an san su da ƙwarewar riƙe abin da suka ji. Haka kuma ana buƙatar karatun ya kasance ana isar da shi ta hannun adadi mai yawa na masu ruwaitawa a kowane mataki na silsilar da ke ƙasa da matakin sahabbai (sharaɗin tawaatur). Ruwayoyin da suke da sahihiyar silsila amma ba su cika sharaɗin tawaatur ba, ana karɓar su a matsayin bayanin tafsiri daga sahabbai, amma ba a ɗaukar su a matsayin hanyoyin karanta Alƙur'ani. Ruwayoyin da ma ba su da sahihiyar silsila kwata-kwata kuma ana kiransu baatil (ƙarya), a ƙi su gaba ɗaya.

At the same time that scholars of hadeeth laid down conditions to determine the authenticity of statements or actions attributed to the Prophet (r), scholars of Qur’aanic recitation also formulated conditions to facilitate critical analysis of the existing recitations. For any given recitation to be accepted as authentic (saheeh), it had to fulfill three conditions. If any of the conditions were missing, such a recitation was classified as shaath (unusual). The first condition was that the recitation have an authentic chain of narration; that is, that the chain of narrators had to be unbroken, that the narrators were known to be righteous, and that they were known to possess good memories. It was also required that the recitation be conveyed by a large number of narrators on each level of the chain of narration below the level of the sahaabah (the condition of tawaatur). Narrations which had authentic chains but lacked the condition of tawaatur were accepted as explanations (tafseer) of sahaabah, but were not considered as methods of reciting the Qur’aan. As for narrations which did not even have an authentic chain of narration, they were classified “baatil” (false) and rejected totally.

Sharadi na biyu shi ne cewa bambance-bambancen karatun su dace da sanannun tsarin nahawun Larabci. Tsarin da ba a saba da su ba kuwa, ana tabbatar da su ta hanyar kasancewarsu a cikin wasu nassoshi na nathari ko waka na zamanin kafin Musulunci. Sharadi na uku ya bukaci karatun ya dace da rubutun ɗaya daga cikin kwafin Alkur'ani da aka rarraba a zamanin Halifa 'Uthman. Saboda haka, bambance-bambancen da suka samo asali daga wurin sanya digo (misali ta‘lamoon da ya‘lamoon) ana ɗaukar su a matsayin karɓaɓɓu, matuƙar an cika sauran sharuɗɗan. Idan ba a sami wata hujja da ke goyon bayan wani tsari da ba a saba da shi ba, to karatun wannan tsari za a rarraba shi a matsayin shaath. 33