Tajweed vs Qirat: What Is the Difference?

Tajweed vs Qirat: What Is the Difference?

Tajweed means the rules for reciting the Quran correctly. They cover where each letter comes from, how long each sound lasts and where to stop. A qira'ah is an established way of reciting that teachers passed down, one to another. Every qira'ah has its own Tajweed. Learn Tajweed first, then a reading.

Here are the two side by side:

What Is Tajweed?

The word tajweed means doing something well. As a Quran term, it means saying every letter from its own place, with all its qualities. That is how Murshid al-Qari, a modern English guide, defines it. Ibn al-Jazari's classic Tajweed poem puts it this way: Tajweed is giving each letter its right.

Tajweed covers where the letters come from and their qualities. It covers stretching a sound (madd), humming (ghunnah), echoing (qalqalah) and where to stop. The types of Tajweed rules have a guide of their own. The Tajweed guides on this site follow Hafs from Asim.

What Is a Qira'ah (Reading)?

Qira'ah means a reading. In Quran study, it means one established way of reciting the Quran. Teachers passed it on to their students in a chain that reaches the Prophet, peace be upon him. The plural is qirat, also spelled qira'at or qiraat.

It is one Quran. The ten readings use the same Uthmani script and agree on most of the text. They differ at set points, and most of the differences are in sound. Quran.com's guide says the vast majority have no effect on meaning.

Here are two small examples. In Surah Ad-Duha, ayah 1, the Hafs reading says وَٱلضُّحَىٰ (wad-duha), with a plain long aa at the end. Some readings end it with a sound between 'a' and 'i'. That is called imalah. In Surah Al-Fatiha, ayah 4, the Hafs reading says مَـٰلِكِ (maaliki), with a long aa. Other readings say maliki, with a short a. Both fit the same spelling, and the two meanings go together: Master and King of that Day.

Two more words help here. The imam, or qari, is the reader the reading is named after. A rawi is a narrator who passed that reading on. So 'Hafs from Asim' means that Asim is the imam and Hafs is the narrator.

The Ten Qirat and Their Twenty Narrators

The ten qirat that are commonly taught are the ones Ibn al-Jazari lists in his book an-Nashr. He took ten imams and two narrators from each, so there are 20 narrators in all. Ibn al-Jazari lived from 751 to 833 AH, which is about 1350 to 1429 CE. He also wrote the Tajweed poem al-Jazariyyah.

Ibn Mujahid, who died in 324 AH, was the first to limit the list to seven. Those seven are Nafi, Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Ibn Amir, Asim, Hamza and al-Kisai. The last three are Abu Jafar, Yaqub and Khalaf. The table shows the narrators in the order Ibn al-Jazari gives them:

Two names appear twice. Khalaf narrates Hamza's reading, and he is also the tenth imam, with a reading of his own. Ad-Duri narrates from both Abu Amr and al-Kisai. Spellings of these names vary in English, so your teacher may write them in other ways.

Which Qirat Are Used Today?

Hafs from Asim is very widely used across the world today. Quran.com's guide says many people only ever hear this reading. Many printed copies of the Quran follow it.

Other readings are used in particular places. Warsh from Nafi is widely used in parts of North and West Africa. The same guide names the reading of Nafi in North Africa as one example.

We give no percentages. No source we checked gives a firm share for each reading. The guide also says the ten are equally authoritative ways to recite, even if some are known mainly to specialists.

How Do Tajweed and Qirat Work Together?

Every qira'ah has its own Tajweed. A reader of Warsh uses Tajweed, and so does a reader of Hafs. Most differences between readings sit in the rules of recitation. Examples are how long a madd is held and how idgham works. Others are whether a hamzah is kept or made lighter, and imalah.

So the rules you learn for Hafs are right for Hafs. If you move to another reading, some rules change, and a teacher shows you which ones.

One scholar wrote about both. Ibn al-Jazari wrote the Tajweed poem al-Jazariyyah and the book an-Nashr on the ten readings. Before an-Nashr covers the readings chapter by chapter, it explains where the letters come from and their qualities. It also explains how to recite and where to stop.

Where Do Scholars Differ?

The ten readings are widely accepted. Scholars differ on a few related points. We label them here so you know which ones are open questions:

• How wide the chain is for the last three. Some scholars call all ten 'mutawatir', which means passed on by so many people that error is not possible. Others call the last three 'mashhur', or well known, with a chain that is a little less wide.
• Whether ten is a fixed number. Ibn al-Jazari set three tests for a sound reading. It must fit Arabic grammar. It must fit one of the Uthmani copies of the Quran. And it must have a sound chain. He wrote that a reading that passes is sound. This holds whether it comes from the seven, the ten or other accepted imams. Some later scholars asked for a wider chain, and he gives his reasons for not agreeing.
• The seven ahruf and the seven readings. The Prophet, peace be upon him, spoke of seven ahruf on which the Quran was sent down. Scholars hold several views on what they were. Ibn al-Jazari quotes Ibn Taymiyya on this. He says no respected scholar holds the seven ahruf to be the seven readings of Ibn Mujahid.

These are matters for scholars. For a student, the advice stays the same. Learn with a teacher who holds an ijazah in the reading you study. Our guide on what an ijazah is explains it.

Who Should Learn Which, and in What Order?

Here is a simple order. It is general advice, and a teacher can adjust it for you:

• Step 1: Read the Arabic letters smoothly. Noorani Qaida is the usual first book.
• Step 2: Learn Tajweed with a teacher, starting with the main rules in the Hafs reading. Our Tajweed course is for this step.
• Step 3: Learn one reading well. For most readers, that is Hafs from Asim. Ask your teacher about an ijazah in it.
• Step 4: If you want more, add other readings one at a time. Learn each one from a teacher who holds an ijazah in that reading.

Quran.com's guide says it is more than enough to learn one reading through a trusted teacher. Learning all ten is a choice for students who want deeper study. If the reading used in your region is not Hafs, ask your teacher which one to start with.

Learn the Qirat With a Teacher

Our Ten Qirat course online is for readers who already recite with good Tajweed. It is taught live and one to one, in classes of 30 minutes. You learn the ten accepted readings one at a time. Your Qari holds an Ijazah in each reading they teach, so ask us which readings are open now.

Learning all ten readings takes several years. You earn an Ijazah in a reading, with a Sanad, by reciting the whole Quran in that reading without mistakes.

Not sure of your level? A free trial class will show you. It lasts 30 minutes. You recite in Hafs from Asim, and the Qari checks your Tajweed and how smoothly you read. No card is needed.