Warsh Recitation of the Quran

Warsh Recitation of the Qur’an!

Here is an explanation of what Warsh is. Warsh is one of the recitations of the Quran.
The most common Quran recitation (qira’a) is known as Hafs.
All of the recitations mentioned below are valid and go back to the Prophet (Sallahu alaiyhi wa salam).

Here is a story that shows the validity of the differences:

Umar radhiallaahu anhu said: “I heard Hishaam ibn Hakeem reciting Soorat al-Furqaan in a manner different from that in which I used to recite it and the way in which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught me to recite it. I was about to argue with him whilst he was praying, but I waited until he finished his prayer, and then I tied his garment around his neck and seized him by it and brought him to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, I heard this man reciting Soorat-al-Furqaan in a way different to the way you taught it to me.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him, ‘Recite it,’ and he recited it as I had heard him recite it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘It was revealed like this.’ Then he said to me, ‘Recite it,’ so I recited it and he said, ‘It was revealed like this.’ This Qur’aan has been revealed in seven different ways, so recite it in the way that is easiest for you.’”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2287; Muslim, 818)

Most likely when you open up your mushaf (Quran) you will be reading Hafs.

Here are the different recitations available. The wording is the same but the pronounciation is different.

Take a look at Surah Ma’un (107) warsh mushaf:

Keep in mind that most of the tashkeel (vowels, etc) were included later on in order to aid recitation, so what you are seeing above is a helpful manual that you can use if you are memorizing according to this qira’at.

Click here to listen: Surah Ma’un recited by Abdul Basit in WARSH

Here is a list of 7 different qira’at (keep in mind there are more):

1. Hafs from ‘Aasim
2. Warsh from Naafi’
3. ad-Dooree from Aboo ‘Aamir
4. as Soosee from Abu ‘Aamir
5. al-Bizzee from Ibn Katheer
6. Qaaloon from Naafi’
7. Shu’bah from ‘Aasim

More details on the different chains leading back to the Prophet

Here is some more MP3 other warsh recitations Quran recitations (requires uTorrent or another torrent downloader software)

If you want to see the Warsh recitation of the Quran, load the link for QuranFlash.com and then go to “Book Type” and then select the last book.

In the end don’t worry too much about this topic, it’s very technical and it only applies to you if you are deep into memorizing quran.