Qur'an reading

Qur'an reading is the reading (tarteel, tajwid, or taghbir) aloud, reciting, or chanting of portions of the Qur'an. It is not considered music by Muslims and when recited the style is structurally dissimilar from music (even secular Arab music). 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 Muhammad, though first recorded in the eighth century CE. The most popular reading is that of Hafss on the authority of `asim. Qur'an reading may be based on one to three tones only. 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.
Recitation is obligatory to be done at dawn according to the Quran.
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.
==Reciting Ways==
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. 154/762) 
* 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.Bewley, Aishah. "The Seven Qira'at of the Qur'an", Aisha Bewley's Islamic Home Page
==List of notable recitors==
Listed below are some notable recitors of the Qur'an:
*Muhammad Rif'at
*Mustafa Ismail
*AlSheikh Abd Al-Basit Abd Al-Samad
*AlSheikh 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
== Recitation styles ==
Pani patti style of recitation.
== Recitation Maqams (Locations)==
* 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 ==
* Online Quran Project
* Khutbah
===Other religions===
*Torah reading and cantillation in Judaism
*Sermon, in Christianity
*Bible study (Christian), private or small group reading predominantly in Protestant Christianity
==Source==
*Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
==External links==
*Online Quran teaching 
*Online Quran Project can be viewed with tajweed font for the Quran text.
*Learn Quran by online Quran Teachers
*Learn Quran with Tajweed online
*Learn Quran online
*Listen to Quran with translation Listen to Quran recitation while you are reading translation in your own language.(50+ Translations)
*how Muslims pray - why Muslims pray Full Quran (Qur'an) Recitation (MP3) by Saad Al Ghamidi
*Guided Ways Technologies: Read the Quran in Arabic along with its various Translations Quran reading and (phonetic) live-search Engine]
*http://www.quran-voice.com/quran.php Recitors and their readings, in Arabic, (redirects to http://quran.maktoob.com/quran.php)
*About Tajweed Explanation of Tajweed
*Example of Qur'an recitation - Surah Maryam (Chapter Mary) Flash
*Islam Way: Recitors List List of various reciters
*Multimedia Qur'an: Qur'an Reading Tutorial Basics of Qur'an Reading
*Reading Quran: Blog
*Recite.TV: Listen to the Quran Recitation
*The Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet
==References==
 
Category:Chants
Category:islam
Category:Qur'an