In this article, written by the Dutch orientalist Frederik Leemhuis, a brief report is presented about the gradual formation of the readings (qarā’āt) of the Qur’ān. Then, the course of development of the readings in different historical periods is reviewed along with the most significant books in this respect. In conclusion, the accepted criteria on determining the obvious and the isolated recurrent (mutawātir) readings are touched upon.
The writer studies the historical development of the establishment and prevailing of the readings of the fourteen reciters in different regions of the Muslim world in the process of punctuation and diacritical marking of the Qur’ān.
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