The History of Ijazah: From the Companions to Online Classrooms

The history of ijazah is the story of one unbroken method: a student recites the Quran to a qualified teacher, the teacher listens and corrects every letter, and then grants permission to recite and teach it onward. It began when the Prophet ﷺ reviewed the Quran with Jibril and taught it to his Companions, grew into a formal system of chains and written certificates over the following centuries, and today continues in live online classrooms. When you start your Ijazah journey, you are stepping into a practice that is over fourteen centuries old.

Below, you will see how the ijazah developed era by era, how the word itself came to mean what it does, and why the core of the method never changed.

The Prophetic Roots: Reading to a Listener

The Quran was revealed to be recited, and it was taught from mouth to ear. Jibril reviewed the whole Quran with the Prophet ﷺ every Ramadan, and twice in the final year of his life (Sahih al-Bukhari). That pattern, a complete reading to a listener who confirms it, is the seed of every ijazah.

The Prophet ﷺ also taught his Companions directly and pointed them to trusted teachers. He said, “Take the Quran from four,” naming ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, Salim the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, Mu’adh ibn Jabal and Ubayy ibn Ka’b (Sahih al-Bukhari). He listened to Ibn Mas’ud recite Surah an-Nisa, and he was commanded to recite Surah al-Bayyinah to Ubayy (Sahih al-Bukhari). Teaching went both ways: the teacher recited to the student, and the student recited to the teacher.

The Prophet ﷺ also said, “The best of you are those who learn the Quran and teach it” (Sahih al-Bukhari). That one sentence explains why the chain never broke: every learner was expected to become a teacher.

The Companions and the Successors

After ‘Uthman sent standard copies of the mushaf to the main cities around 30 AH, later scholars report that a reciter accompanied each copy. Whether or not every detail of those reports is precise, the principle is clear: a written copy was never considered enough without a teacher who had received the recitation orally.

In each city, teaching circles formed in the mosques. A good example is Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, who taught the Quran in Kufa for many years. In Sahih al-Bukhari, after he narrates the hadith about learning and teaching the Quran, he adds that this hadith is what kept him in his teaching seat. In the next century, great imams such as ‘Asim in Kufa and Nafi’ in Madinah became the reference points of recitation in their cities.

How the Word “Ijazah” Got Its Meaning

In Arabic, ijazah means permission or authorization. It took on its technical sense in the sciences of hadith, where scholars listed the ways a student could receive knowledge from a teacher:

Hadith scholars debated whether a permission granted without a full reading was valid for narrating texts. For the Quran, the scholars of recitation held a stricter line: a reliable recitation ijazah comes after the student has actually read the required portion to the teacher. That is still the standard today.

Use the timeline below to follow the main milestones, from the first review with Jibril to today’s online classes.

Standardization: Readings, Routes and Written Certificates

By the fourth century AH, many readings were circulating, and teachers needed clear reference points. Ibn Mujahid (d. 324 AH) of Baghdad recorded seven famous readings in his Kitab al-Sab’ah. Later, al-Dani’s al-Taysir and al-Shatibi’s poem (al-Shatibi died in 590 AH) became the core texts for the seven readings, and Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833 AH) wrote al-Nashr on the ten readings, laying out the routes (turuq) through which each reading reached his time.

This is why a modern ijazah names not only a riwayah, such as Hafs ‘an ‘Asim, but often a route too, such as al-Shatibiyyah. Over the same centuries, the permission increasingly came in a written document listing the student, the teacher, the portion read and the chain of teachers back to the Prophet ﷺ. If you want to understand what such a document contains, our article on what an ijazah means is a good starting point.

Print, Radio and Recordings

The twentieth century brought printed mushafs in standard editions and complete recorded recitations by master reciters. These tools helped millions learn, and many teachers ask students to listen to a reliable recording before class.

Yet none of this replaced the ijazah. A recording cannot hear you, so it cannot correct you. The ijazah remained what it had always been: proof that a qualified human listener heard your recitation and approved it.

The Online Classroom: Same Method, New Room

Today, students in every time zone recite to teachers by live video. Many contemporary teachers and scholars accept this because the teacher hears the student directly and in real time, letter by letter, just as in a mosque circle. Some prefer in-person reading where it is available, so if this matters to you, ask your teacher how they view it.

What has not changed is the substance. A modern Ijazah student still:

1. Builds sound tajweed and fluent reading first.
2. Reads the entire required portion to one qualified teacher.
3. Is tested on difficult areas, such as the similar verses (mutashabihat) that confuse even strong reciters.
4. Receives a document naming the riwayah, route and full chain.

Many students now take a shorter first step before committing to the whole Quran, as explained in our comparison of partial ijazah vs full ijazah. Our online Ijazah course follows this traditional path in Hafs ‘an ‘Asim with a connected sanad, in 30-minute one-to-one lessons.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the ijazah system start?

Its roots go back to the Prophet ﷺ, who reviewed the Quran with Jibril and taught it orally to his Companions. The word ijazah became a formal technical term later, in the early centuries of hadith scholarship, and written ijazah documents became common over the following centuries.

Is the ijazah only for the Quran?

No. Ijazahs have long been given in hadith collections, classical texts and other Islamic sciences. In the Quran, the ijazah certifies that you recited correctly to a teacher in a specific riwayah and may teach it.

Who was the first person to receive a Quran ijazah?

There was no document called an ijazah in the first generation. The Companions learned directly from the Prophet ﷺ, and some, like Ibn Mas’ud and Ubayy ibn Ka’b, were named by him as teachers to learn from, which is the same idea in its original form.

Is an online ijazah valid?

Many contemporary scholars accept a recitation done live by video, since the teacher hears and corrects every letter in real time, exactly as in person. What matters is that you read the full portion to a qualified teacher with a sound sanad. Our Ijazah program with a connected sanad follows that standard.

How long does an ijazah take today?

It depends on your starting level, whether you recite from memory or from the mushaf, and how many classes you take each week. A free level assessment is the best way to get a realistic estimate for your situation.

Madraset El Quran Academy

Editor@madrasatelquran.com

Madraset Elquran Academy is a world-class platform for learning Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies, recognized globally for its excellence. As one of the leading online Quran schools, we offer personalized one-on-one sessions with expert native Egyptian tutors, providing high-quality education for learners of all levels.

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