How Many Ṭuruq of the Qur'anic Recitations Exist?

10-6-2026 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalamu alaikum I want a little clarification on turq of the Quran. A knowledgeable person in this field was asked if there are more ways than 80 turq of the Quran he's said yes there are thousands... He himself has ijazah in 80 turq or riwayat...Like are there thousands but only 80 are authentic and mutwatir or what? He also said a Muslim must believe in 80 turq or riwayat.. Please clarify on this. What should a Muslim believe?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad () is His slave and Messenger.

As for the statement mentioning "thousands," it should be understood as rhetorical hyperbole.

The scholars have permitted the use of expressions containing hyperbole, even where the literal meaning would ordinarily be impossible.

What has been authentically established regarding the ṭuruq (transmission paths), as stated by Ibn Al-Jazarī in his book Al-Nashr fi Al-Qirāʾāt Al-ʿAshr, is approximately one thousand transmission paths. The foundation of this number is eighty ṭuruq, as Ibn Al-Jazarī mentioned in his didactic poem Ṭayyibat Al-Nashr fi Al-Qirāʾāt Al-ʿAshr.

These eighty primary transmission paths later branch out, bringing the total number of ṭuruq to nearly one thousand, all of which are documented in Al-Nashr fi Al-Qirāʾāt Al-ʿAshr.

It should also be noted that riwāyāt (narrations) differ from ṭuruq (transmission paths). Whatever is transmitted from one of the ten Imams is called a qirāʾah (recitation). Whatever is transmitted from one of the Imam's principal transmitters (ruwāt) is called a riwāyah (narration). Whatever is transmitted from those who came after them, and so on down the chain, is called a ṭarīq (transmission path).

Accordingly, the mutawātir riwāyāt number twenty in total, since each of the ten Imams had two recognized transmitters. Therefore, there are not "thousands of narrations." Rather, it is the ṭuruq (transmission paths) that number approximately one thousand, as stated by Ibn Aal-Jazarī .

Allah Knows best