Ten qiraat mean the ten readings of Quran which the scholars have approved in their researches, and all these readings were received from Prophet Muhammad –peace and blessings be upon him- then passed down to his companions, then to the followers.
Why there are ten qiraat?
Allah the Almighty said: ( it was descended by The honest spirit to your heart for you to be one of the warners , in a clear Arabic tongue).
And because the ancient Arabs had several dialects or languages, Quran was revealed in different readings, as Prophet Muhammad -Peace and blessings be upon him- said: (This Quran was revealed in seven letters, all of them are healer enough, so read as you have learned), and the word “seven letters” means seven languages from the ancient Arabic languages. That means that there are seven Arabic languages in Quran, and that was to facilitate reading Quran for each reader because it was in the language he had learned.
Prophet Muhammad -peace and blessings be upon him- and the Khalifas after him were sending the companions who were Quran memorizers, to the countries which Muslims had conquered to teach people the Quran reading, where every one was teaching Quran in the reading he had learned, and from here the ten qiraat spread out.
What are the ten qiraat?
They are the readings of the following imams;
Nafie Ibn abd al-Rahman Ibn Abi Naim Al-Madani
Abdullah Ibn Kathir Al-Dary Al-Makki.
Abu Amr Ibn Alaa Al-Bassri.
Abdullah Ibn Amr Al-Yahsbi Al-Shami.
Asim Ibn Abi Al-Najood Al-Asadi Al-Kufi.
Hamza Ibn Habib Al-Zayat Al-Kufi.
Abu Al-Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Hamza Al- Qasaiy Al-Nahawi Al-Kufi.
Abu Jaafar Yazid Ibn Al-qaqaa Al-Madani.
Yaqoub Ibn Ishaq Al-Hadrami Al- Basri.
Khalaf Ibn Hisham.
We should mention that these ten are divided to seven fixed readings and three complementary readings. And each one of them, has two narrators, so there are twenty narratives for Quran.
The difference between qiraat and narratives:
Qiraat are ten readings of Quran, and the differences between them either in the pronunciation of a word without any difference in its meaning, or a difference in pronunciation of a word with difference in its meaning without any antagonism.
But the Narratives are the different ways that the narrators read Quran after the readers.
Are the ten qiraat considered a distortion of Quran?
Of course NOT, the multiplicity of qiraat is not a distortion of Quran, as Allah the Almighty said: { We have revealed the remembrance, and We are its preservers}. Allah -the Almighty- confirmed that He preserves Quran till the day of resurrection.
All the ten qirraat are received from Prophet Muhammad –peace and blessings be upon him- and he didn’t deny any of them, so the ten qiraat have only one source, it is one book revealed from one God to one Prophet. And each qiraa of the ten qiraat had been confirmed and identified and there wasn’t any variation or innovation or disagreement over any of them.
Furthermore, all the ten qiraat are integrated in the meanings, and there isn’t any contradiction between them, So where is the distortion?
