e Quran, now recognised.

In the Quran compiled by the order of the Khalif Osman there were no
vowel-points, but when men of other countries embraced Islam they found
great difficulty in mastering Arabic. Khalid bin Ahmad, a great grammarian,
then invented the short vowels and other diacritical marks. The seven
famous "Readers" whose names have been given to the various modes of
reading, are Imam Nafi of Madina, Imam Ibn-i-Kasir of Mecca, Imam Abu 'Umr
of Basra, Imam Hamza of Kufa, Imam Ibn 'Amir of Syria, Imam 'Asim of Kufa,
Imam Kisae of Kufa.[44] These learned men affixed different vowel-points in
many places in the Quran, and thus slight differences of meaning arose. In
India the "qira,at--reading,--of Imam 'Asim is followed by both Sunnis and
Shia'hs. There are three readings of lesser note allowable when reading the
Quran privately, but not when reading any part in a liturgical service.
During the month of Ramazan the Quran is repeated every night in the
mosque, it being so arranged that one-thirtieth part shall be recited each
night. The Imam of the mosque, or public Reader, (Qari) who commences
according to one of the seven recognised readings (qira,at), must keep to
the same all the month. As he has to recite without a book this involves a
great exercise of the memory. A good Hafiz will know the whole seven
varieties. The various readings thus introduced, though {44} unimportant in
their nature,[45] amount to about five hundred in number. The following are
a few illustrations. In the second Sura Abu 'Umr reads: "Nor shall ye be
questioned concerning that which _they_ have done;" but 'Asim reads: "That
which _ye_ have done." This is caused by putting two dots above the line
instead of below it. Again 'Asim reads: "_Enter ye_ the gates of hell"
(Sura xxxix. 73), but Nafi reads: "_Ye will be made to enter_ hell,"--that
is, by a slight change the passive is substituted for the active voice.
These are fair samples of the rest. No doctrine, so far as I know, is
touched, but the way in which Tradition records the Prophet's anticipation
of the difficulty is instructive to the student of Islam. At times, too,
fierce disputes have arisen between the followers of the seven famous
Readers whose names I have given above. In the year 935 A.H., Ibn Shanabud,
a resident of Baghdad, ventured to introduce some different readings in his
recital of the Quran. The people of Baghdad, not knowing these, were
furious, and the Khalif was