Qiraat Dialectics in Islamic Religious Education: Tracing the History, Standardization, and Diversity of Al-Qur'an Readings
Abstract
This study aimed to explain how the plurality of qiraʾat can be reconciled conceptually with ʿUthmānic muṣḥaf standardization and translated into bounded pedagogical implications for Islamic Religious Education (PAI). A structured integrative literature review was conducted using publisher and journal portals, Crossref-indexed records, institutional repositories, and backward reference checking. The final analytical corpus comprised 25 sources, including peer-reviewed studies, authoritative Qur’anic-studies monographs, a classical qiraʾat source, and official Indonesian muṣḥaf-standardization material. Sources were appraised for authority, methodological transparency, verifiability, and relevance, then coded across five themes: transmission and canonization, Sabʿatu Aḥruf and Qiraʾat Sabʿah, ʿUthmānic rasm and reading plurality, qiraʾat pedagogy, and PAI implications. The synthesis showed that canonical qiraʾat constitutes a controlled plurality sustained through authoritative oral transmission and constrained by linguistic criteria and ʿUthmānic rasm; Sabʿatu Aḥruf and Qiraʾat Sabʿah are historically related but conceptually distinct. Existing educational evidence remains concentrated in specialist qiraʾat and tertiary contexts, leaving general PAI application underdeveloped. These findings support a staged PAI framework emphasizing conceptual accuracy, source verification, and respectful engagement with legitimate difference rather than claims of demonstrated classroom effectiveness. The review is limited by non-exhaustive searching, heterogeneous source types, and the absence of classroom data; future research should empirically test the proposed framework across diverse PAI settings.
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