Message #20064

[Zainab_M]

As-Salaam Alaikum Wa Rehmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu, dear brother.

Sorry for the late response as Sister Ruhi was busy and I hadn't switched on the notifications of this thread.

First off, the Noble Quran does NOT say anything about qirat nor 7 qirats nor anything else in this regard. 

Secondly, qirat is simply the style of recitation of the Noble Quran, that is, recitation with the Arabic phonetics accompanying the alphabets.  The purpose is to make pronunciations easier.  Qirat literally means “beautiful recitation.”   It’s obvious that the style and accent / intonation of reciting the Quran by different communities cannot be identical and Allah never said that it should.  We should only try our best to improve our pronunciations as much as we can.   But one needs to remember that the Noble Quran is the Book of guidance, not a book of songs, AstaghfarAllah.  Even hostile non-Muslims have to admit that there is only ONE Quran and qirat has nothing to do with the contents of the Noble Quran which remains original and unchanged regardless of the style or intonation of the recitation.  

But traditionalists always try to spin matters either by saying false things about Allah Almighty through the man-written Hadith Qudsi or by forging the name of the Final Messenger (pbuh).  They say "Allah has revealed the Quran with different Qirat for the different dialects of Arabic language."  And from this arises the concept of seven qirat of the Quran cited as the qirats of Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Asim, Hamza, Ibn Amir, Nafe and Al-Kasai.  [Frankly, apart from Ibn Kathir I haven't read the work of any other and Ibn Kathir too is full of absurdities].  Therefor, after finishing reading the entire Quran, the students move to the second stage of learning the seven qirat which is supposed to have several stages.  In the process, these people pay no attention to the actual contents of the Noble Quran which is full of Divine Instructions, wisdom, principles and guidance incumbent upon us to learn and implement in our daily lives.  Instead, they simply learn the recitations like a parrot (as if they are learning to sing) and take their rules from the Hadith.  That's how much time they waste on comparatively insignificant matters while the actual Message of the Noble Quran remains largely ignored.  I'm not saying qirat is not important.  Like I said, one should try to recite as best as they can, within their capability.  But nothing is more important than understanding the Words of Allah Almighty so that we can follow His Instructions throughout our life.  Once we leave this dunya, it will be too late.  Unfortunately many folks don't understand. And the Noble Quran is the original Divine Guidance not only for the Arabs but for entire humanity.