Rules of Tajweed

- 1 - Created by Asif Nawaz

www.tanzilulquran.net

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Introduction to Tajweed

Definition of Tajweed:

“Tajweed ( ) is an Arabic word meaning correct

pronunciation during recitation.”

Tajweed is an Arabic word for elocution, (meaning to improve,

to make better, to embellish) meaning proper pronunciation

during recitation, as well as Qur'an recitation at a moderate

speed. It is a set of Tajweed rules which govern how the Qur'an

should be read

There are ten (tawātur) schools of Qur’an Recitation, the most

prevalent of which is the recitation of Imam 'Asim as

transmitted by Imam Hafs.

It is a set of rules which dictate how the Qur'an should be

read. It comes from the root word 'ja-wa-da' meaning to

make well, make better or improve.

Tajweed of the Holy Qur'an is the knowledge and

application of the rules of recitation to the reading of the

Qur'an as the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), recited.

Allah orders: “Pronounce the Quran carefully (with

tarteel).”

According to verified sources the Messenger said: “Study

the Quran with the Arabic melody and sounds.”



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Importance of Tajweed:

Allah Ta’ala says in the noble Qur’an,

“And recite the Qur’an with Tarteel (in a slow pleasant tone and

style).”

The Prophet Muhammad ( ) has said:

“Indeed Allah desires that the Qur’an be recited in the manner it

was revealed.”

When asked about the meaning of Tarteel, Ali (Radhiallaahu

Anhu) replied,

“It means that the Qur’an should be recited with Tajweed and

with due observance to the rules of Waqf (pausing or stopping at

the end of the verse).”

The Qur’an is in Arabic language and Arabic language is very

sensitive language.

The Qur'an can lose its meaning if the letters are not pronounced

correctly. Due to the vastness of the Arabic language, any small

mistake in pronunciation of a letter or word may change the

meaning of that word. For example, the word ‘Qalb’ (with q)

means heart, if read ‘Kalb’ (with k), it will mean a dog’

So just as how in any other language we learn pronunciation of

letters and words, for example, in English we learn that ‘ph’

stands for ‘f’ (as in phone) and not pone. Similarly, in the

Arabic language, we also have to learn pronunciation of letters

and words, which we term as ‘Tajweed’.

We should remember that from the time and generation of the

Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) till now, no one has ever

denied this fact that Tajweed is definitely important. It is only

now in our generation that people have lost respect and

forgotten the status of Tajweed.

May Allah give us the ability to read the Qur’an correctly so that

we may earn the mercy of Allah Ta’ala.



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Manners of Reading Qur`an:

Purity of body and cloths and place (Wadu).

Seeking refuge from the rejected Satan and reading

the Basmalah.

Avoiding cutting off reading to talk with people.

Understanding of the origin of the words.

Presence of the heart while reading (Through this the

reader should throw away other thoughts while

reading the Qur’an.).

Humbleness and crying when reading(When reciting

the Holy Qur'an, one should create an expression of

fear and absolute respect to the greatness of the

words of Allah Ta'ala, as if to say that the reciter is

in the presence of his Creator.).

The Holy Qur'an must be read for the pleasure of

Allah Ta'ala and for His happiness.

The Holy Qur'an must be read with proper

pronunciation, knowing and applying the basic rules

of Tajweed.

Rules for Recitation of The Qur'an:

Only ritually clean (tahir) persons can recite the Qur'an.

The Qur'an can be touched by a person who is ritually clean

after ablution (wudu').

The Qur'an can be recited from one's memory in a state of

sitting, standing, walking or reclining with or without wudu'.

A menstruating woman is allowed to recite an ayah by breaking

it into two parts and exercising a pause in between if she is

teaching the Qur'an to people. Such a person is not allowed to

recite an ayah without introducing a break.



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Rules of Tajweed:

Bold Letters



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The Rules of the letter ( ر) ('RA')

Raa has some exceptions. It may be bold or soft:

1. Tafkheem (thick/bold) 2. Tarqeeq (soft/thin)

Tafkheem: To produce this sound the back of the tongue

rises in the mouth. This elevation of the

tongue produces a thick or heavy sound.

1. It is bold when it has fatha or Dhumma upon it.



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2. When it carries a sukoon and the letter before it

carries a fattah or dammah.

3. When it carries a sukoon and the letter before it carries

a Kasrah and the letter after the Raa is Bold

letter that Doesn’t carry a kasrah then Raa will

be Bold.

E.g.

4. When it (Raa) carries a sukoon and the letter before it carries

a helping Kasrah (not the original)

Tarqeeq (soft/thin):

Raa will be soft when:

1. when it carries a Kasrah.

2. When it carries a sukoon and the letter before it carries

an original Kasrah in the same word.

e.g

3. When it (Raa) carries a sukoon (due to stopping) and the

letter before it is and the letter before it is Yaa

e.g



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The Rule of Laam ل (Laam) The letter Laam can also be pronounced as Bold or Soft.

1. The letter Laam in the name of Allah هللا will be bold when it

is preceded by Fatha or Dhumma.

E.g

,

2. The letter Laam in the name of Allah هللا will be Soft when it

is preceded by Kasrah

e.g.

Harakaat (movements) There are three Harakaat (movements) in Arabic:

Fatha or zabr ( ).

Kasrah or zer ( , ).

Dhumma or pesh ( , )

Sukoon (jazm) Link sign: If a letter is without a Harkat sign is call Saakin (resting)

letter, and a sign ( ) appears on this letter is called sukoon or

jazm. E.g



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Silent Letters:

The letters having no sign on them are called silent letters.

Since they do not produce any sound of their own therefore,

they should be overlooked.

Tanveen:

Double Fatha, double Kasra and double dhumma are called

noon tanveen. It means a single Harkat (movement) with a

hidden noon saakin. Instead of writing a Harkat and noon

saakin separately, the respective Harkat sign is doubled. Thus

letter noon saakin is sounded but not written.

Noon Saakin and Tanween A noon saakin () and tanween are considered the same because

the sound of a tanween sounds just like a noon saakin. Because

of this similarity, the two take the same rules.

Ghunnah (nasal sound)

A Ghunnah is the making of a sound from the nasal.

or

Saying the voice of noon and meem completely into the

nose for a while is called ghunnah, whereas Ikhfaa mean hiding

the voice of noon and meem partially into nose.



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Maddah Letters There are three Madda letters:

1. Alif Madda ( ):

When is followed by a letter which has Fatha sign on it.

When Alif has no movement and the letter before Alif has a

Fatha/zabr on it, then Alif is called Alif Madda. Alif Madda will

be prolonged for two seconds.

E. g

Standing Fatha :

It is also equal to Alif Madda and will be prolonged for 2

seconds.



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2. Wao Madda :

When Wao has a sakoon/Jazm and the letter

before Wao has Dhummah/pesh on it, then it is called

Wao Madda and will be prolonged for two seconds.

Standing Dhummah/pesh : It is equal to Wao Madda and will be prolonged for 2

seconds.

Yaa Madda :

When Yaa has a Sakoon and letter before Yaa has a

Kasrah/zer on it, then it is called Yaa Madda and it will

be prolonged for two seconds.

Standing Kasrah/zer :

It is equal to Yaa Maddah and will be prolonged for 2

seconds.



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Leen Letters There are two Leen Letters:

Wao and Yaa

1. Wao Leen :

When Wao has a Sakoon/Jazm on it and the letter

before Wao has Fatha/zabr on it, then it is called Wao leen.

2. Yaa Leen :

When Yaa has a Sakoon/Jazm on it and the letter

before Yaa has Fatha/zabr on it, then it is called Yaa

leen.

Note (We shall discuss all types of MADD in our next

lessons)



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Qalqalah Letters (Echo) Qalqalah mean echo sound or jerking sound.

When we read Qalqalah letters, then there should be a bounce

on the letter.

There are five Qalqalah letters:

These letters are arranged into two words.

When these letters come in The Quran with Sakoon ( ), we

make an echo (bouncing) sound after Sakoon by opening the

lips. We shall pronounce them with more force when there is a

shaddah ( ) on the letter and little lighter when there is

Sakoon/Jazm.

e.g.

Shaddah

If a tashdeed ( ) sign appears over a letter, then that letter

is said twice. The firs time having Sukoon and the second time

with Harkat. A letter having tashdeed sign is called Mushaddad.

If tashdeed sign appears over noon or meem, then noon and

meem be recited with ghunnah.



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Idgham (merging)

Idgham /merging mean to mix up one thing into

another. When two letters having a similar point of articulation

or similar kind, appears side by side first letter with Sakoon and

second letter with tashdeed then in such cases the letter with

Sakoon will merge (suppressed or not pronounced)with second

letter.

For example:

The rules of Noon Saakin and Tanveen

There are four rules of noon Saakin and noon Tanveen:

1. Izhaar (Saying clearly)

2. Idghaam (Merging or mixing)

3. Iqlaab (Converting or changing)

4. Ikhfaa (Hiding)



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1. Izhaar:(Saying clearly) To pronounce the letters from their makhraj (point of

pronunciation), clearly and distinctly, without any changes.

If any throat letter comes after noon

Saakin or noon Tanveen then it (noon) will be read without

ghunnah (Nasal sound).

2. Idghaam (Merging or mixing) It is also called Idghaam e Yarmaloon. There are six

yarmaloon letters .

These letters are arranged into a word ( ).

When any Yarmaloon letter comes after noon

Saakin or noon Tanveen then Idghaam rule will apply.

The Idghaam rule is divided into two categories:

1. Idghaam with Ghunnah: There are four letters that make up this sub group of

Idghaam. These four letters are , when any one of

these letters followed by noon Saakin or Tanveen then there

will be partial or incomplete Idghaam (Idghaam with

Ghunnah/nasal sound).

Examples:

2. Idghaam without Ghunnah:



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Idgaam without Ghunnah is also called complete

merging or complete Idghaam. The sound of noon will

disappear completely in case of complete merging.

When one of these two letters ( ) followed by noon

Saakin or Tanveen then there will be complete merging.

Examples:

NOTE

The rule of Idghaam will be applied on a provided it is the

last letter of the word. If it appears in the middle of a word,

then there will be no Idghaam

There are only 4 such words in the entire Quran to which this

rule applies.

1) 2) 3) 4)

3. Iqlaab (Converting or changing) The changing of noon Saakin and noon

Tanveen into Meem when followed by a Baa , with the

observance of the ghunnah.

It can be defined as:

If letter comes after noon Saakin or Tanveen then noon

is changed into Meem with nasal sound.

Examples:



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There are three things necessary for Iqlaab:

Changing the noon Saakin and Tanveen into Meem.

Hiding this Meem by closing lips and then separating with

Baa .

Observing a ghunnah while hiding the Meem.

Note(This rule occurs when a small meem ( pot no sraeppa (م

of an Empty Noon (ن), whenever this happens you will find

that the letter immediately after will be a baa (ب))

4. Ikhfaa (Hiding)

If after noon Saakin or noon Tanveen any other letter

appears except the six throat letters, Yarmaloon letters and

the letter Baa, then the noon Saakin or Tanveen be recited

with Ikhfaa. We will hide the sound (voice) of noon into nose

for a while.

Ikhfaa appears whenever a Tanveen or Noon Saakin is

followed by any of the 15 letters below:

ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك Examples:

…

Note (The tongue should be a small distance from the two top

incisors when hiding the noon)



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The Rules of Meem Saakin م It means a Meem free from any vowel, and which has a

fixed Sukoon when continuing reading and when stopping.

There are three rules for Meem Saakin:

1. Izhaar e Shafwi

2. Idghaam e Shafwi

3. Ikhfaa e Shafwi

1. Izhaar e Shafwi:

If any letter, except Meem and Baa comes after

Meem Saakin , then it (Meem) read normally without

any Ghunnah.

2. Idghaam e Shafwi:

If two Meem comes together at the same time then

these are merged to one another and Idghaam will take place

with nasal sound.

If Meem is followed by Meem Saakin then م), merge them

together and read them with Nasal sound.

3. Ikhfaa e Shafwi: If letter Baa comes after Meem Saakin , then we

hide the sound of Meem into Baa and Ikhfaa will take place with

nasal sound.

If Baa comes after Meem Saakin, then the pronunciation of

Meem will be hidden with nasal sound.

Examples:



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MADD (Prolongation)

We already discussed about Maddah and Leen

letters now we are going to read Madd. Madd depends upon

Maddah letters.

Madd means to prolong the sound of a vowel.

Madd sign indicates to prolong (stretch) the Maddah letters

(Alif, Wao and Yaa) or Leen letters (Wao and Yaa).

There is several kind of Maad, but we should understand the

basic Madds:

1. Madd e Muttasil (long Madd)

2. Madd e Munfasil (short Madd)

3. Madd e arith Waqfi

4. Madd e Lazim

1. Madd e Muttasil (long Madd)

The MADD in which after Maddah letters, the next

letter is Hamzah in the same word is called MADD e Muttasil or

long MADD. It is prolonged from 2 to 6 measures of Harakaat

(4 to 6 seconds)

2. Madd e Munfasil (short Madd)

The MADD in which after Maddah letters, the next

letter is Hamzah in the beginning of the next letter is called

Madd e Munfasil. It is optional and may be prolonged from 4 to

5 measures of Harakaat (4 to 5 seconds)



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3. Madd e Aarith Waqfi The Madd in which after Maddah or Leen letter, the

Harkat of the last letter of the word changed into a sukoon

which is temporary due to stopping, is called Madd e Aarith

Waqfi. It is optional and may be prolonged from 4 to 5 measures

of Harakaat (4 to 5 seconds).

4. Madd e Lazim The Madd in which after Maddah letter, there is an

original sukoon or shaddah in the Same word or in the staring of

next word is called Madd e Lazim. It is prolonged from 2 to 6

measures of Harakaat (4 to 6 seconds).



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The Rules of Stopping (Waqf) Definition:

'To stop on the last letter of a complete word, which is

disconnected from the word after it, and giving the last letter a

sukoon and by breaking the breath, then taking a new breath to

read the next word.'

(Jami-ul-waqaf)

The proper way to stop in a word is by putting a sukoon ( ) on

the last letter of the word. If there is a harkat ( ) or

tanween ( ) on the last letter of a word before a stop, that

letter is made into a sukoon.

E.g.



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How to Pause (Waqf) If a pause is made at any word for any reason, in most case the

last letter of a word must be made saakin.

Exception:

Double Fatha and the letter

If a pause id made over a tashdeed letter at the end of a word, its

harkat will drop, but the letter must be pronounced with the

force in order to distinguish between a sukoon and a tashdeed.

There are many other punctuation marks that generally appears

in the middle or end of a verse. The detail of this is beyond the

scope of this course. As a general rule for the beginner, make a

pause whenever on find such marks namely,

Exception:

Will be read as

If it is a tanween before Alif then the last word is

pronounced as an Alif.

Will be read as

If the last letter is a 'taa marbutah' or circle Taa (), it is

read as 'ha' ()

Will be read as

If the last letter of a word contains a 'hamzah' ( ), the

harkat on hamzah is changed into a sukoon ( ), and the

hamzah is read clearly. A common mistake when

stopping at a hamzah is not to indicate the presence of

the hamzah at all.

Will be read as



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Rule of Noon Qutni

When the hamzah al-wasl, conjunctive hamzah appears

after a Tanveen for continuous recitation the Tanveen

should be converted into Nun maksur and the letter with

Tanveen retains a single harakah. This Nun is called Nun

Qutni.

An Arabic rule, in some instances if there is a letter with

Tanveen and next letter is Hamzah then the Tanveen is

written into two separate components:

1. Tanveen will change into corresponding single vowel

2. A tiny Noon with Kasrah is written under Hamzah.

The Rule of Ana:

If anywhere in the Quran the word Anaa

appears, it will be read as Notice the second Alif

which was connected to the is ignored



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SAJDA-E-TILAWAT Significance and Fazeelat of Sajdah e Tilawat:

Abu Huraira reported that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:

When a person while reciting the Quran reaches the point of

Sajdah in the surah and he does a sajdah then the Shaitaan cries

and separates himself from that person and wails” O Disaster!

When he was commanded to do Sajdah, he performed sajdah,

thus for him there are the gardens of jannah. When I was

commanded to do sajdah I did not do sajdah, and for me there is

The Fire.” (Sahih Muslim).

There are 14 places in the Quran where if one comes to that

point while reciting, one should do Sajdah (prostration).

HOW TO PERFORM A SAJDA-E-TILAWAT

Sajda e Tilaawat will be performed like a normal Sajda. Wudhu

is a condition.

1. Face the Qiblah and without raising the hands;

2. Recite Takbeer (Allahu Akbar), whilst going down in the

Sajda position;

3. In Sajda, recite Subhaana rabbiyal a'alaa (3 times);

4. Thereafter, you may go from the Sajda position into

Tashahhud position (reciting AllahuAkbar like normal)



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The Sajdah-e-Tilaawat is now complete. There is no need for

Salaam.

Rules of Tajweed

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