Learning Tajweed Rules Online
Part (1)
learning Tajweed Rules Online
INTRODUCTION
As-salaamu-a-laykum
I praise Allah (SWT) the Most High and send blessings upon the best of creation. We pray that you are in the best of health and Imaan. Love for Quran is always looking at ways of improving and moving forward. This booklet is an attempt to look at the subject of Tajweed. This is a very humble effort to address this topic at a very basic level.
What is Tajweed?
The word “tajweed” means to improve, make better. Tajweed of the Holy Qur’an is the knowledge and application of the rules of recitation so the reading of the Qur’an is as the Prophet Mohammed peace and blesings be upon him, recited.
Tajweed
The Word Tajweed is from the root word “Jawdah” which means
“Quality”. Tajweed means “Improving,” or “to make something better.”
The word Tajweed linguistically means ‘proficiency’ or ‘doing something well’. When applied to the Qur’an, it means giving every letter of the Qur’an its rights and dues. When we recite Qur’an and observe the rules that apply to each letter in different situations, we are giving the letter its right and by observing essential characteristics of each letter, we give its due.
The Qur’an was revealed with Tajweed rules applied to it. In other words, when the angel Jibrael (AS) recited the words of Allah to Prophet Muhammad (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam) he recited them in a certain way and showed Prophet Muhammad (Sallaho Alaihe Wassallam)
History of Tajweed
At the time of the Prophet (SAW) there was no need for people to study Tajweed
because they talked with what is now known as Tajweed so it was natural for them. When the Arabs started mixing with the non-Arabs as Islam spread, mistakes in Qur’an recitation started appearing, so the scholars had to record the rules. Now, because the everyday Arabic that Arabs speak has changed so much from the Classical Arabic with which the Qur’an was revealed, even Arabs have to study Tajweed.
PRONUNCIATION KEYS
The additional signs we see these days in Arabic on top or bottom of the Alphabets are the pronunciation keys. Muslims were the first to come up with the concept of pronunciation keys, it helped Non-Arabs to pronounce the words properly following some simple pronunciation rules (i.e. the same concept is adapted these days in modern dictionaries).
Initially when the Holy Quran was compiled in a shape of a book we did not had these additional signs that we see these days, in fact even the dots we see on the alphabets “baa”, “taa”, “thaa” and other alphabets were not present and Arabs would pronounce the words
without any difficulty but as more and more Non-Arabs embraced Islam, the need was felt to retain the pronunciation of the words. This is when the additional signs and dots were added to it to help out Non-Arabs pronounce the words while retaining the correct Pronunciation.
The purpose of Tajweed
The Qur’an is the word of Allah, and its every syllable is from Allah. Its recitation
must be taken very seriously. The purpose of the Science of Tajweed in essence is to make the reciter proficient in reciting the Qur’an, observing the correct pronunciation of every letter with the rulings and characteristics which apply to each letter, without any exaggeration or deficiency. And so through this the reciter can recite the Qur’an upon the way of the Prophet (pbuh). as he received it from Jibreel who received it from Allah (SWT) in the Classical Arabic dialect that it came down in.
what is the importance of tajweed?
There are over 70 rules of Tajweed, you can study all of them easily from the comfort of your home at Firdaws Academy.
The ruling of reading Quran with Tajweed:
Muhammad bin Al-Jazaree the great Qur’an and Hadeeth scholar of the 9th Century (Hijri) says in his famous poem, detailing the rules of Tajweed: “And applying Tajweed is an issue of absolute necessity, whoever doesn’t apply Tajweed to the Qur’an, then a sinner is he.” So he regarded it as an obligation and he regarded leaving it as a sin. And the majority of scholars agree that applying the Tajweed rules of Qur’an are an individual obligation upon every Muslim who has memorized or read part of or all of the Qur’an. That is because the Qur’an was revealed with the Tajweed rules applied to it and the Prophet (SAW) recited it back to Jibreel in that way and the Companions of the Prophet (SAW) read it in that way, so it is an established Sunnah.
Benefits of learning Tajweed Rules
The benefits of learning Tajweed are many as reflected in some of the
following Ahadeeth:
• The reciters of the Qur’an will be in the company of the noble and
obedient angels ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, relates that the Prophet
(SAW) said: “Verily the one who recites the Qur’an beautifully,
smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and
obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty,
stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE
that reward.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
- You will be from the best of people
‘Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet
(SAW) said: “The best of you are the ones who learn the Qur’an and
teach it to others” [Al-Bukhari] - There are ten rewards for each letter you recite from the Quran
“Whoever reads a letter from the Book of Allah, he will have a
reward. And that reward will be multiplied by ten. I am not saying
that “Alif, Laam, Meem” is a letter, rather I am saying that “Alif” is a
letter, “laam” is a letter and “meem” is a letter.” [Tirmidhi states this
is saheeh] - The Qur’an will lead you to Paradise!
The Qur’an is an intercessor, something given permission to
intercede, and it is rightfully believed in. Whoever puts it in front of
him, it will lead him to Paradise; whoever puts it behind him, it will
steer him to the Hellfire.” [An authentic hadith found in AtTabaraanee, on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood]
Mushaf Tajweed-Quran Flash
Learning Tajweed Rules Online
Seeking Refuge (Isti’athah)
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
What is the meaning of Isti’thah?
I seek refuge in Allah from the cursed Satan
What time should we recite it?
Isti’thah is required at the time of reciting the Ouran. (only once)
Manners of seeking refuge
Seeking refuge silently
1- If the reader is reading silently or alone. 2- At the beginning of the prayer.
Seeking refuge loudly
- If the reader is reading loudly and others are listening to his
- If the reading is done by turn in a classroom, the first reader seeks refuge out loud and the rest do it
Note:
lf the reading is cut off by coughing, sneezing or explaining any rules related to the Quran, then there is no need to repeat
the seeking of refuge.
Sying Basmalah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
What is the meaning of Basmalah?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
What time should we recite it?
- If you start from the beginning of any Surah, (except Surah At-Tawbah as this Surah was revealed to cancel the peace treaty) you have to say Basmalah.
- If you start from the middle of any Surah, you have the choice to say the Basmalah or
The Rules of Noon and Meem Mushaddad
Method of pronunciation:
If a Meem or a Noon has a Shaddah, the reciter must make a Ghunnah (or Nasal sound) of 2 (beats) on it.
Examples: أمّ-أنّ
Note: if the reader stops on a word ending with Noon or Meem Mushaddad, the Gunnah for the Meem or Noon Mushadad still have to be applied.
The Rules of Noon Saakin and Tanween
What is the meaning of Noon Saakin and Tanween?
Noon Saakin: A Noon without Harakah or with a Sukoon above it.
Tanween: A Noon Saakinah which comes at the end of nouns. It is pronounced but not written.
Noon Saakin is a letter whilst Tanween is a symbol
1- Izhaar
2- Idghaam
3- Iqlaab
4- Ikhfaa
1- Izhaar
What is the meaning of Izhar?
Izhaar means to make clear.
lzhaar Letters: Throat letters
ء – ه – ع – ح – غ – خ
Method of pronunciation:
If a Noon Saakin or a Tanween is followed by any of these six throat letters, the Noon Saakin or the Tanween is pronounced clearly without Ghunnah.
Examples of lzhaar:
وينئون – أنعمت – من ألف
2-Idghaam
What is the meaning of Idghaam?
Idghaam means to skip or to merge.
ldghaam is divided into 2 types:
1- ldghaam with Ghunnah
2- ldghaam without Ghunnah
ldghaam with Ghunnah
The Letters for ldghaam with Ghunnah: ي-ن-م-و
Method of pronun ciation:
If the Noon Saakin or the Tanween is followed by any of these four letters, the reciter should Skip the Noon Saakin or the Tanween and pronounce the following letter with Ghunnah (from the nasal cavity).
.
Examples of ldghaam with Ghunnah: من يعمل
ldghaam without Ghunnah
The Letters for ldghaam without Ghunnah: ل-ر
Method of pronunciation:
If Noon Saakin or the Tanween is followed by any of these two letters, the reciter should Skip the Noon Saakin or the Tanween and pronounce the following letter without Ghunnah.
Examples of ldghaam without Ghunnah: إن لم
3-Iqlaab
What is the meaning of Iqlab?
Iqlaab means to convert
Iqlaab letter: ب
Method of pronunciation:
If a Noon Saakin or Tanween is followed by “ب”, it is
Converted into hidden Meem and the reciter should makea GHunnah.
Examples of Iqlab: أنبئهم
4-Ikhfaa
What is the meaning of Ikhfaa?
Ikhfaa means to hide
Ikhfaa letters: Any letter other than the letters of Izhaar, lqlaab or ldghaam
Method of pronunciation:
If any letter other than the letters of Izhaar, lqlaab or ldghaam follows Noon Saakin or Tanween, the reciter should hide the Noon Saakin or Tanween and make Ghunnah.
If the Noon Saakin or Tanween is followed by a heavy letter, the sound of Ghunnah should also be heavy. If the Noon Saakin or Tanween is followed by a light letter, the sound of Ghunnah should also be light.
In order to pronounce the lkhfaa correctly, place your tongue at the point of articulation of the lkhfaa letter and pronounce the Ghunnah
Examples of Ikhfaa: من جاء
The Rules of Meem Saakinah
- Ikhfaa Shafawy
- Idghaam Shafawy
- Izhaar Shafawy
1-Ikhfaa Shafawy
What is the meaning of Ikhfaa shafawy?
Ikhfaa shafawy means to hide
Ikhfaa shafawy letters: ب
Method of pronunciation:
If meem Saakin followed by ب , the reciter should hide the meem Saakin and make Ghunnah.
It is called Shafawi because it is pronounced from the lips. The word Shafawi refers to lips in Arabic.
Examples of Ikhfaa Shafawy: أنتم به
2-Idghaam Shafawy
What is the meaning of Idghaam shafawy?
Idghaam Shafawi means to merge.
Idghaam shafawy letters: م
Method of pronunciation:
If Meem Saakin is followed by “g” then Meem Saakin will merge with the next Meem and will be pronounced with Ghunnah. This should be in two separate words.
Examples of Idghaam Shafawy: لهم مغفرة
3-Izhaar Shafawy
What is the meaning of Izhaar Shafawy?
Izhaar Shafawi means to make clear.
Idghaam shafawy letters: Any letter other than the letters of Ikhfaa shafawy, or ldghaam shafawy.
Method of pronunciation:
If the Meem Saakin is followed by any letter other than “ ب – م “, it has to be pronounced clearly without Ghunnah.
Examples of Izhaar Shafawy: تمسون
Laam Shamsyiah & Qamaryiah
There are two rules for ( ل ) when the definite article ( is attached to an indefinite word.
- .Izhaar
- Idgaam
Izhaar means to make clear.
Izhaar letters: ابغ حجك وخف عقيمه
Laam Qamaryiah
Method of pronunciation:
If Laam Saakin is followed by one of the letters above, then Laam is pronounced. The Alif (t) in the definite article becomes Hamza-tul-WasI, it is pronounced with Fathah at the beginning of the word but it is not pronounced when joining the words.
Example: الحق
Laam shamsiyah
ldghaam which means to merge
Idphaam Letters: The rest of the letters.
طب ثُمَّ صِلْ رُحْمًا تَفُزْ ضِفْ ذَا نِعَمْ *** دَعْ سُوءَ ظَـنٍّ زُرْ شَرِيفًـا لِلْكَـرَمْ
The first letter in every word in this couplet.
Method of pronunciation:
If Laam Saakin is followed by one of these letters, then the Laam is not pronounced and the letter after Laam will have Shaddah. The the definite article is called Hamza-tul-Wasl, it is pronounced with Fathah at the beginning of the word but not pronounced when joining the words
Qalqalah
Oalqalah means:
Making an echo or jerking sound at the articulation point of the letter.
It also Means vibration; it is the vibration of sound at the end of the pronunciation of a letter.
It can be stated as a state between a Saakin (letter with Sukoon sign on it) and Mutaharrik (letter with Movement).
The letters of Oalqalah: قطب جد
Method of pronunciation:
If any Qalqalah letters is Saakin (either the letter has a Sukoon or is Saakin because of stopping), the reciter should make Qalqalah.
Types of Qalqalah
- Minor
This occurs when the letter of Qalqalah is in the middle of a word, or at the end of a word that you are not stopping on.
Example: – أطعمهم
- Medium
This occurs when the letter of Qalqalah is at the end of a word, the letter of Qalqalah doesn’t have Shaddah and you are stopping on that word.
Example: الفلق
- Major
This occurs when the letter of Qalqalah is at the end of a word, the letter of Oalqalah has Shaddah and you are stopping on that word.
Example: الحقّ
Note: Qalqalah is only pronounced when the letter is Saakin (either the letter has the Sukoon sign or is assigned a sukoon because of stopping).
Heavy and Light Letters
There are three types of Arabic letters regarding the heaviness and lightness.
1 – Heavy letters: خص ضغط قظ
Method of pronunciation:
The reciter should raise the back of the tongue when pronouncing these letters. The heavy letters have the quality of Isti’laa 2 “rising high”. Because while pronouncing them, a part of the tongue (mostly the back part) rises up to the roof makes the letter sound heavy.
2- Light letters:
All the letters other than the heavy letters and the temporary heavy and light letters
Method of pronunciation:
The reciter should lower the back of the tongue when
pronouncing these letters. The Light Letters have the quality of Istifaal “falling down”, by lowering the tongue when pronouncing the light letter.
3-Letters that are sometimes light and sometimes heavy.
Alif Madd
The quality of Alif Madd being heavy or light depends on the letter
preceding Alif Madd. If the letter before Alif Madd was light, so Alif Madd should accordingly take a light sound. And if the letter before Alif Madd was heavy, so Alif Madd should accordingly take a heavy sound.
Alif Madd
It depends on the preceding letter. If the letter before Alif Madd is light, Alif Madd should be pronounced light. But if the letter before Alif Madd is heavy, then Alif Madd should be prounounced heavy.
Laam in the word Allah
- If there is a Fatha or a Dhamma before the word of Allah orAllahum, then laam in Allah will be heavy.
Example: هوَ الله
- If there is a kasrah before the word Allah, then the Laam inAllah or Allahum will be light.
Example: لله
The Ghunnah for the Ikhfaa
1- Heavy Ghunnah
2- Light Ghunnah
First: The Heavy Ghunnah
If the Noon Saakina or the Tanween is followed by one of the heavy
letters ( ),خ ص ض غ ط ق ظthe Sound of Ghunnah should also be heavy:
Example: من طغى
Second: The Light Ghunnah
If the Noon Saakin or the Tanween is followed by a light letter, the sound
of Ghunnah should be light.
Example: من جاء
Al-Madd
- Al-Madd means: Long.
Conventionally, it may be defined as to make the Madd letters long under
some conditions.
The way of pronunciation
Al-Madd can be prolonged from two to six beats depending upon its
kind.
Types of Madd: –
• Madd Tabee’ee
• Madd Al-Badal
• Madd Ewadh
• Madd Aaridh Li-Ssukoon
• Madd Al-Leen
• Madd Waajib Muttasil
• Madd Jaa’ez Munfasil
• Madd Laazim
Madd Tabee’ee
Madd Tabee’ee means the natural Madd. The natural Madd is simply
one of the Madd letters اor وor ى not followed by a Hamzah ( )ءor a Saakin letter. The natural Madd is prolonged two beats.
Example: – لا
Madd Al-Badal
Madd Al-Badal can simply be defined as (every Hamza preceding a
Madd letter). Madd Al-Badal, if not followed by a Saakin letter or Hamzah, is prolonged only 2 beats.
Example:- ءامنوا
Madd ‘Ewadh
‘Ewadh means: compensation. Madd ‘Ewadh is the replacement of a
Tanween Fathah present at the end of a word while stopping at it, with an Alif
Madd. Madd ‘Ewadh is prolonged two beats.
Example:- غفوراً
Madd ‘Aridh Li-Ssukoon
Madd Aridh Li-Ssukoon means “temporary Madd for stopping ”.
If a Madd Tabee’ee is followed by a letter at the end of a word, which has been
made Saakin temporarily because the reader has to stop at the word, the reader
should prolong the Madd Tabee’ee to be Madd Aridh Li-Ssukoon.
Madd Aridh Li-Ssukoon can be prolonged 2,4 or 6 beats.
Example: – العالمين
Note: This Madd only exists if the reader stops on that word. If the
reader does not stop on it, it should be considered as a Madd Tabee’ee
(2 beats).
Madd Al-leen
Leen means “easy”.
The Leen letters:- A Waaoo ( )وor Yaa’ ( )ىSaakin preceded by a letter with a
Fathah.
When should we do this Madd?
If one of the Leen letters is followed by a letter at the end of a word, which has
been Saakin due to stop, the reader should prolong the Leen letter. The reader
can choose to prolong it 2,4 or 6 beats.
Example:- بيت
Madd Waajib Muttasil
Waajib means “Mandatory” and the Muttasil means “Joined”.
If a Madd letter [ اor وor ] ىis followed by a Hamzah ( ),ءwhich is
present in the same word, the reader should prolong it 4-5 beats.
Example:- جاء
Madd Jaa’ez Munfasil
Jaa’ez Means “permitted”. Munfasil means “Seperated”.
If a Madd Letter [ اor وor ] ىpresent at the end of a word is followed
by a Hamzah ( )ءwhich is present in the beginning of the next word, the reader is supposed to prolong the Madd letter 4-5 beats which is Madd Jaa’ez Munfasil.
Examples:- لما ءامنوا
Madd Lazim Kalimee Muthaqqal
If a Madd Letter is followed by a Mushaddad letter, the reader is
required to prolong the Madd letter.
It must be prolonged for 6 beats.
Example:- الصاخَة
Madd Laazim Kalimee Mukhaffaf
If a Madd letter is followed by a Saakin letter, which is present in the
same word, the reader is required to prolong the Madd letter.
It Must also be prolonged no less than 6 beats.
Examples:- this is the only case in the Quran
آلآنَ
Madd Laazim Harfee Muthaqqal
If a Madd letter is followed by a Mushaddad letter, the reader is
required to prolong the Madd letter.
This Madd must be prolonged for 6 beats.
Examples:- عسق
Madd Laazim Harfee Mukhaffaf
If a Madd letter is followed by a Saakin letter, both of them being present in the same letter, the reader is required to prolong the Madd letter.
This Madd must be prolonged 6 beats.
Examples:- حم عسق
