In Islam, Qira'at, which means literally the readings, terminologically means the method of recitation. Traditionally, there are 10 recognised schools of qira'at, and each one derives its name from a famous reader of Qur'an recitation.

According to hadith literature, the Qur'an is revealed in seven ahruf (the plural of harf). The most famous of those hadiths is reported in the Muwatta compiled by Malik ibn Anas.

Malik Ibn Anas has reported:

Suyuti, a famous 15th century Islamic theologian concludes his discussion of this hadith:

Many reports contradict presence of variant readings:

The meaning of this hadîth is explained as: (pp. 31)

Bilal Philips writes that the Qur'an continued to be read according to the seven ahruf until midway through Caliph 'Uthman's rule when some confusion arose in the outlying provinces concerning the Qur'an's recitation. Some Arab tribes had begun to boast about the superiority of their ahruf and a rivalry began to develop. At the same time, some new Muslims also began mixing the various forms of recitation out of ignorance. Caliph 'Uthman decided to make official copies of the Qur'an according to the writing conventions of the Quraysh and send them along with the Qur'anic reciters to the major centres of Islam. This decision was approved by Sahaabah and all unofficial copies of the Qur'an were destroyed. Uthman burned the unofficial copies of the Quran. Following the distribution of the official copies, all the other ahruf were dropped and the Qur'an began to be read in only one harf. Thus, the Qur'an which is available throughout the world today is written and recited only according to the harf of Quraysh.