Qur'an reading

Qur'an reading is the reading (tarteel, tajwid, or taghbir) aloud, reciting, or chanting of portions of the Qur'an. The reciter is called a muqri' , tālī, murattil, mujawwid, or most commonly a qari. (Touma 1996, p.153-154)
Recitation should be done according to rules of pronunciation, intonation, and caesuras established by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, though first recorded in the eighth century CE. The most popular reading is that of Hafs on the authority of `asim. Similarly, each melodic passage centers on a single tone level, but the melodic contour and melodic passages are largely shaped by the reading rules, creating passages of different lengths whose temporal expansion is defined through caesuras. Skilled readers may read professionally for mosques in cities.
The Qur'an is marked with twenty-six symbols, circles, rectangles, dashes and letters, some in color. These are written above, below, or beside the letters of the alphabet. They indicate the pronunciation of consonants, whether the blending of neighboring or adjacent consonants is allowed, and where recitation pauses and caesuras are forbidden and possible (ibid, p. 155). In this last respect their function is analogous to that of Biblical cantillation marks, but unlike these they do not constitute a word-for-word notation of musical motifs.

Ways of recitation

There are 7 Mutawatir (a transmission which has independent chains of authorities so wide as to rule out the possibility of any error and on which there is consensus) ways of reading (or Qira'at) and 3 Mashhur (these are slightly less wide in their transmission, but still so wide as to make error highly unlikely) as listed below:
Mutawalatir

• Nafi' (d. 169/785)
• Ibn Kathir (d. 120/737)
• Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala' (d. 154/770)
• Ibn 'Amir (d. 154/762)
• 'Asim (d. 127/744)
• Hamza (d. 156/772)
• al-Kisa'i (d. 189/904)

Mashhur

• Abu Ja'far (d. 130/747)
• Ya'qub (d. 205/820)
• Khalaf (d. 229/843)

However, the most common is Hafs on the authority of 'Asim, which have been used all over the world of Islam.^[1]

List of notable recitors

Listed below are some notable recitors of the Qur'an:

• Muhammad Rif'at
• Mustafa Ismail
• Sheikh Abd Al-Basit Abd Al-Samad
• Sheikh Syed Sadaqat Ali (Pakistan)(Pupil of Sheikh Abd Al-Basit Abd Al-Samad)
• Sheikh Ali As-Suwaisy
• Sheikh Ahmed Amir
• Sheikh Mohamed Mahmoud Buheiri
• Sheikh Mohamed Salamah
• Sheikh Mohamed Siddiq El-Minshawi
• Mustafa Özcan Güneşdoğdu
• Qari Shakir Qasmi
• Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais
• Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim
• Sheikh Mishary Rashid Al-Afasy
• Hajjah Maria Ulfah
• Saad Al-Ghamdi
• Sheikh Ali bin Abdur Rahman Al Hudhaifee
• Sheikh Ahmed Ali al Ajmy
• Sheikh Maher al Muaiqly

Recitation styles

Pani patti style of recitation.

Recitation maqamat (modes)

• Makam Bayati or Bayat 
• Makam hijaz or hujaz or hicaz 
• Makam Nahavand or nihavend
• Makam ajam or acem 
• Makam sika  or siqa makam
• Makam saba 
• Makam Rast

See also

Islam portal

• Khutbah
• Torah reading and cantillation in Judaism
• Sermon, in Christianity
• Bible study (Christian), private or small group reading predominantly in Protestant Christianity

References

1. Bewley, Aishah. "The Seven Qira'at of the Qur'an", Aisha Bewley's Islamic Home Page

Further reading

• Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.

Learning to read online

Recently there is a growing trend to learn 'Quran Reading' via Internet. Most of these online Quran academies have their tutors based in developing countries and the students are from North America, Australia and EU countries. Examples;

• Quran Focus Academy 
• Read Quran Online