In the Science of Recitations: The Lives of the Ten Reciters

The Ten Readings are the pronunciation methods for the words of the Holy Quran, transmitted by the ten imams renowned for their precision and mastery, with an uninterrupted chain of narration back to the Prophet (peace be upon him). In our modern era, a writer stands out from many researchers in the field of Quranic readings, Professor Mohammed Sulaiman Al-Shazli, who has contributed to introducing the science of readings, and has read and translated for the Ten Readers from a historical perspective where methods of reading have varied. From this point, the discussion of the book "On the Science of Readings: The Lives of the Ten Readers" becomes a welcome return to our memory and Islamic heritage, justifiable in light of the current changes the Ummah is experiencing.

Al-Shazli writes in the science of readings with a deep historical awareness, understanding the historicity of historians and the nature of the texts transmitted by biographical works; he reveals a remarkable ability to comprehend, contextualize, and connect the readers and their biographies, which he draws attention to in the introduction of his book where he says: "And know that in the science of readings, where the threads of isnad intertwine and the paths of performance multiply, there are three terms: "Qira'ah" (Reading) is the mother, and it belongs to a specific reader, such as the reading of Yaqub Al-Hadrami, which bears his name. As for "Riwayah" (Narration), it is that same reading when it is transmitted to the narrator from the reader; like Ruwais and Rawh, the two most famous narrators of Yaqub, those two names that still echo in mosque mihrabs, carrying the name of the reader, just as a river carries the name of its source, as if the water has not changed, but the channel has. And as for "Tariq" (Path), it comes in the third rank, when another narrator receives from the first narrator, then from him, then from him, until the paths branch out without the origin of the isnad being shaken, just as channels branch out from the river and its tributaries, watering various distant lands."

In his discussion of the readers, Al-Shazli appears closer to a true historian who reconstructs the picture from scattered narrations, rather than a mere collector of readings at the limits of their narration. He sees a life in every name, a story in every isnad, and a river in every narration that came from a source and flowed to an outlet.

Based on this comprehensive epistemological conception of the science of readings, and after laying out the theoretical introductions to the work, the author begins by explaining the difference between Qira'ah, Riwayah, and Tariq, and clarifies the three pillars of Quranic reading. He briefly presents the history of the codification of this science, from the early scholars known for teaching readings, through Ibn Mujahid who contributed to systematizing and establishing its principles, and ending with Al-Dani, Al-Shatibi, and Ibn Al-Jazari, through whom the Ten Readings were completed. This is in the hope that researchers, memorizers, and specialists in the sciences of the Holy Quran will benefit from this book.