Ahruf

According to Islamic tradition, the Quran was revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (Jibril) in seven ahruf (Arabic: أَحْرُف, romanized: aḥruf, singular: ḥarf), translated variously as "styles", "ways", "forms" and "modes". Islamic scholars agree that the ahruf were styles used by the early Muslims to recite the Quran.

The Islamic Caliph Uthman compiled the Quran using one of the ahruf during the 7th century, and the other ahruf fell out of use. The ahruf are distinct from the qira'at, which are methods of pronouncing the Quran that also go back to Muhammad according to the Hadith.