The Tariq of Misir-The Maslak of Shei̇kh Ataullah in our qiraat tradition: Its usool, preferences and its comparison with schools

The science of Qiraat was taught with the infirād method until the fifth century and was not subjected to any numerical limitation. However, from the fifth century onwards until the ninth century, the method of indirāj was adopted based on qiraat al-sabʿ and from the ninth century onwards on qiraat al-asharah. The introduction of the qiraat al-ʿasharah system in the teaching of qiraat occurred with the popularization of Ibn al-Jazari's (d. 833/1429) al-Nashr fi al-qirā'āti al-ʿashr. However, as a result of the indirāj method, the increase in the number of tarīqs of qiraʿāt wajihs brought along problems such as telfīq and terkīb, which necessitated tahrīrāt studies. Ibn al-Jazari's al-Nashr and its verse version Ṭayyibat al-Nashr, which are among the main works that shaped the Ottoman period's Qiraat education, paved the way for the research of Tahrîrât and the emergence of different Qiraat professions. In this context, among the professions that emerged in Ottoman Qiraat education, the Shaykh Atāullah profession is one of the most widely taught Qiraat education and teaching methods in Istanbul and Anatolia today. Shaykh Atāʿullah's profession differs from other professions in terms of usul and farshu'l-hurūf. While the profession adopted the principle of license in its approach to the varieties of qiraat at the stage of ashruʿ al-suqrā, this principle was also adopted by Ārif al-Hifzī's (d. 1238/1822) Mughni al-ḳurrā fī sharḥi Muḫtāru al-iḳra, ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Paluvī's (d. 1173/1759) Zubdat al-ʿirfān fī wujūhi al-Ḳur'ān, and Mullā Mehmed Emin Efendi's (d. 1275/1859) ʿUmdat al-ḫullān fi iḍāḥi Zubdat al-ʿirfān. In the ashru'l-kubrā stage of the profession, the principle of azimah was sometimes preferred in Ahmad al-Rushdī's (d. 1217/1802) Murshid al-ṭalabah ilā iḍāḥi wujūhi baʿḍi āyāti al-Ḳur'āniyya and Mehmed Emin Efendi's Zeḫr al-erīb fī iḍāḥi al-jamʿ bi al-taḳrīb. In cases where Shaykh Atā'āʿu'llāh acted with the principle of azimah in the ashru'l-kubrā stage of his profession, Yūsufefendizāda ʿAbdullah Hilmi's (d. 1167/1754) al-I'tilāf fī wujūhi al-iḫtilāf and Mustafa al-Izmīrī's (d. 1154/1741) Bedā'iʿ al-burhān ʿalā ʿUmdat al-ʿirfān were consulted, and this situation was supported with examples. This shows that the qiraat preferences of these scholars partially overlap with the ashru al-kubrā stage of Shaykh Atā'ālāh's profession. The reasons underlying the survival of the Atāʿu'llāh profession, especially compared to the professions based on the azimah principle, are examined. The question of why the professions of I'tilāf and Mutkīn could not survive in Qiraat education compared to the professions of Sheikh Atāʿu'llāh and Sūfī, which are thought to adopt the principle of license, despite the fact that they act on the principle of azimah. In the case of the Shaykh Atāʿu'llāh profession, considering the fact that this profession historically emerged later than the other professions, it was determined that it did not exhibit a puritanical approach towards the principle of license and in some cases it also applied the principle of azimah.