Features of Quranic Recitation in the Kufa School - An Analytical Study

Abstract

The Arabs were interested in the science of Quranic recitations, and the city of Kufa had a significant share. It was filled with jurists, scholars, and commentators, and was home to three prominent Quran reciters: Asim ibn Abi al-Najud, Hamza al-Zayyat, and al-Aksa'i. In this research, we will discuss the characteristics of Quranic recitation at the Kufa school, which was the hometown of Imam Ali (peace be upon him). Its people possessed an inherited grammatical talent. We will explore the most important features of this venerable Quranic school among the Ahl al-Bayt and their sciences in Quranic recitations. The reciters of this school adopted the approach of the Imams (peace be upon them), from Imam Ali (peace be upon him) to Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (peace be upon him). They also worked on other rulings, and grammarians compiled a group of books that were used to understand the science of Quranic recitations, including the books of the Three Reciters and the grammarians who branched out from them, such as Ibn Mujahid. We then turn to the three Kufa reciters to whom the Quranic recitations are attributed and for which they became famous in the Islamic world