[1][2] The Quran was revealed in seven ahruf or letters, and the letters are not only in writing but also in pronunciation, meaning, vowel, endowment signs, and brevity due to the different accents and dialects of the Arabs who recited the Qu'ran.
[3] The Qu'ran was only revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, but his companions included a diverse population of Arabic speakers, and thus, differences in recitations arose.
[4] Most of these ten recitations are known by the scholars and people who have received them, and their number is due to their spreading in the Islamic world.
[5][6] However, the general population of Muslims dispersed in most countries of the Islamic world, their number estimated in the millions, read Hafs's narration on the authority of Aasim, which is more simply known as the Hafs' an Aasim style of recitation.
[10] When the ten recitations were scientifically stabilized, after an increase of three other readings added to the Ahruf and the recitations of the Seven readers by Imam Ibn al-Jazari, the total became ten readings, and these three added readings are the readings of these Imams:[11][12] The ten proven and verified recitations of the Imams Qāriʾs of the Quran are in order:[19] For each of the ten recitations, there are two reading versions or riwaya, which counts twenty confirmed riwayaat:[20]