Ijazah course: recite the Quran for a certified sanad

What an ijazah is

The Quran has always been passed on from teacher to student by recitation. An ijazah (permission) records that link: a teacher who holds an ijazah listens to you recite, corrects you until your recitation is sound, and then certifies it. The certificate lists the sanad (chain): your teacher, their teacher, and so on, back to the Prophet ﷺ. Our ijazah course is in the riwayah of Hafs ‘an ‘Asim, the recitation used in most of the world; see qira'at for how riwayat work.

Requirements before you start

• Fluent reading from the mushaf, without hesitation.
• Sound tajweed: correct makharij, noon and meem rules, madd, heavy and light letters, and stopping. If you are not there yet, start with our tajweed course.
• For an ijazah from memory: complete hifz, with strong revision.
• Commitment: regular lessons over many months. An ijazah cannot be rushed.

Your first lessons include a placement, so your teacher can tell you honestly whether to begin the ijazah recitation now or strengthen your tajweed first.

How the ijazah course works

1. Placement: you recite a few passages and the teacher assesses your reading or memorisation.
2. Recitation from start to end: you recite the whole Quran to your teacher, from Al-Fatihah to An-Nas, a portion each lesson.
3. Correction: every mistake is corrected and re-recited, including fine details of tajweed and stopping.
4. Completion: when the whole Quran has been recited soundly, your teacher grants the ijazah with their sanad.

How long it takes depends on your pace and on how much correction is needed. Reciting the 604 pages of the Madinah mushaf, before any repeated passages:

Pace	Approximate time
1 page a lesson, 5 days a week	about 121 weeks
2 pages a lesson, 5 days a week	about 60 weeks
3 pages a lesson, 5 days a week	about 40 weeks

Lessons are one-to-one and 30 minutes long, in UK time, at the same fees as every course: from £25 to £55 a month (see pricing). Many ijazah students take five lessons a week.

Surah ijazah and full ijazah

A full ijazah covers the whole Quran. Some students begin with a shorter ijazah in a single surah, such as Al-Fatihah, or in Juz Amma, to have their recitation checked closely before committing to the full course. Tell us your goal when you book.

Qira'at pathway

After an ijazah in Hafs, some students go on to study other riwayat, such as Warsh or Shu‘bah, and eventually the ten qira'at. That is specialist study; read more in qira'at. For recitation quality, see also how to recite Quran beautifully and our teaching standards. Terms such as sanad and riwayah are explained in the Quran glossary.