Juz'

During medieval times, when it was too costly for most Muslims to purchase a manuscript, copies of the Qurʼān were kept in mosques and made accessible to people; these copies frequently took the form of a series of thirty parts (juzʼ). Some use these divisions to facilitate recitation of the Qurʼān in a month—such as during the Islamic month of Ramadan, when the entire Qurʼān is recited in the Tarawih prayers, typically at the rate of one juzʼ a night.

Subdivisions

Most Juz' are named after the first word of the first verse of the Juz'. Each Juz' is divided into two Hizb (lit. "two groups", plural: Aḥzāb). Therefore, there are 60 Hizbs in the Quran.

Each Hizb is subdivided into four quarters called Maqraʼ (lit. "reading"), making eight quarters per Juz'. There are 240 Maqraʼs in the Quran. The Maqraʼ are often used as practical sections for review when memorizing the Quran.

The most commonly memorized Juz' is Juzʼ Amma, the 30th Juz', containing chapters (Surahs) 78 through 114, with most of the shortest chapters of the Quran.