Haneefah Umm Nusaybah

Tajweed Booklet 1

Complied

By:

Quranic Arabic

Course

1

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 Muhammed ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص recited.

Linguistic definition: Betterment

Applied definition: Articulating every letter from its articulation point and giving the letter its rights (the

required characteristics that never leave it) and dues (the letters that are present in the letter some of the

time and not present at other times) of characteristics.

ITS PRINCIPLES

The knowledge of Tajweed is contingent on four matters:

1. Knowledge of the articulation points of the letters

2. Knowledge of the characteristics of the letters

3. Knowledge of what rules change in the letters due to the order of letters

4. Exercising the tongue and a lot of repetition.

External matters upon reading the Quran

Purity of body, clothes, and place.

Seeking refuge from the rejected, Satan, and reading the Basmalah.

Avoiding cutting off reading to talk with people/distractions

Stopping at a verse of warning and seeking protection with Allah, and stopping at a verse of

mercy and asking The Merciful for His Bounty.

Humbleness and tranquility when reading.

Imam An-Nawawi (RahimahuAllah) said: Crying when reading the Qur’an is a characteristic of those

who know Allah (know Him through His names and Characteristics) and the feelings of the righteous.

2

TYPES OF QURANIC MISTAKES

1. Obvious and clear mistakes (لحن جلي ظاهر) 2. Obscured and hidden mistakes ( مستتر خفيلحن )

Occurs in the pronunciation and pierces the

reading

Of two types:

Occurs in the pronunciation and affects the

accuracy of the reading

Occurs in the makeup of the word, or in

letters, or vowels

Changing a dhammah to a fatha or

pronouncing ط as a ت

1. Only heard by those

knowledge in Tajweed rules

Leaving out an

Idgham

2. Only heard by skilled reciters

Repetition of the letter ر

Reading kasra as a ي

3

THE ISTI’AATHA & THE BASMALAH

The meaning of: االستعاذة (Al-Isti’aatha) is “asking for refuge, or protection” When the reader says:

" ,” he is seeking the protection and refuge with Allah from Satan

before starting reading.

He who says, “bismillah" has said the basmalah. The proper way to say the basmalah is

It is necessary to read it before the beginning of every Surah of the Qur'an with the exception of Surah At-

Tawbah, which is also called “Baraa’ah.”

BEGINNING A SURAH WITH THE ISTI’AATHA AND THE BASMALAH

If the reader wishes to start his reading at the beginning of a Surah, he needs to seek refuge, say the

basmalah and then start reciting the Surah. There are four ways of doing this.

1. Cutting all three off from each other meaning seeking refuge, stopping, saying the basmalah, stopping, and then starting the Surah.

2. Joining all three with each other seeking refuge, saying the basmalah, and starting the Surah all in one breath (without stopping).

3. Joining the basmalah and the beginning of the Surah This means seeking refuge, then stopping, then saying the basmalah and the beginning of the Surah in one

breath.

4. Joining seeking refuge with the basmalah This means the seeking refuge and the basmalah are joined with one breath, then the reader stops then

starts the Surah.

4

THE BASMALAH BETWEEN TWO SURAHS

cutting off all from each other قطع الجميع .1

The reader finishes the Surah, then stops and takes a breath, reads the basmalah, stops and takes a breath,

then reads the beginning of the next Surah. As in the following example:

joining all of them together وصل الجميع .2

The reader ends the Surah, joining it with the appropriate vowels with the basmalah, and then continuing

with the same breath the reader joins the basmalah with the beginning of the next Surah. As in:

3. Joining the basmalah with the beginning of the Surah

In this way, the reader finishes the last verse of the Surah, stops and takes a breath, then reads the

basmalah joining it in the same breath and proper vowels with the beginning of the next Surah. As

in:

4. NOT Allowed: Joining the basmalah with the end of the Surah, then stopping, then starting the

next Surah.

This incorrect way leads the listener to imagine that the basmalah is the last ayah of the Surah that was

just finished. Here, the reader would join the end of the Surah with the basmalah, then stops and takes a

breath, then starts reading the next Surah. This is not allowed.

5

THE ARTICULATION POINTS

The articulation point of a letter is the place the letter is emitted, meaning a sound that comes out of the

mouth relying on a specific place of articulation or an approximate one. Using the correct articulation

point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly.

Five general areas of the throat and mouth have within them the specific or general articulation points of

the Arabic letters.

The empty space in the mouth and throat It has one articulation point for the three lengthened letters, which are alif with a fatha before

it, yaa with a kasrah before it, and wow with a dhammah before it.

The Throat It has three articulation points for six different letters, which are pronounced from the

deepest, middle, and closest part of the throat.

The Tongue

It has ten articulation points for eighteen letters.

The Two Lips The lips have two articulation points for four letters.

The nasal passage From the hole of nose towards the inside of the mouth, here there is one articulation point,

that of the Ghunnah.

6

THE EMPTY SPACE IN THE THROAT & MOUTH

The empty space in the mouth and throat is a place and an articulation point at the same time. The three

madd (lengthened) letters originate from this general area, these letters are:

1. The alif preceded by a letter with a fat-hah

2. The wow with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a dhammah

3. The yaa with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a kasrah

These three madd letters do not have a specific place that they are pronounced from, unlike all the other

letters; instead, these letters finish articulating with the stopping of the sound.

The madd letters are lengthened two counts if they are not followed by a hamzah or a sukoon.

THE ARTICULATION POINTS OF THE THROAT

There are three places of articulation in the throat; each place has two letters emitted from therein.

1. The deepest part of the throat

The deepest part of the throat is the furthest away from the mouth and the closest to the chest. Two letters

are articulated from here. They are the hamzah and the haa .

2. The middle part of the throat

The middle part of the throat lies in between the beginning and the end of the throat. The two letters that

are emitted from here are ha and ‘Ayn .

3. The closest part of the throat (closest to the mouth)

The closest part of the throat is the beginning of the throat, or the closest to the mouth. Two letters are

articulated from this area, they are ghayn and khaa .

7

THE TEETH

THE TONGUE

There are four areas of the tongue used for articulation. The deepest part, the middle, the sides, and the

tip.

8

Deepest part of the tongue

Two letters are in the deepest part of the tongue. They are ق and ك.

The qaaf lies opposite to the roof of the mouth (soft palate).

The kaaf lies opposite the roof of the mouth (hard palate). The kaaf is “under” the qaaf a little, meaning

closer to the mouth and farther from the throat than the qaaf.

Middle of the tongue

Three letters use the middle of the tongue for their articulation. They are , , and the

These three letters are articulated from the middle of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the roof

of the mouth. This means the middle of the tongue collides with the roof of the mouth when these letters

are articulated (without a vowel), and the middle of the tongue separates with strength from the roof of

the mouth when the letters have a vowel on it.

The yaa here is not the madd letter yaa (which is from the empty space in the throat and mouth). The

madd letter yaa is a yaa saakinah preceded by a kasrah, NOT a fatha. When the yaa saakinah is preceded

by a fatha, this currently discussed articulation point is used.

The Side of the tongue

Two letters use the side of the tongue for articulation. They do not use the same part of the side of the

tongue, rather the uses the posterior two thirds of the side (or edge) of the tongue, and the

uses the anterior one third (closest to the mouth) portion of the side of the tongue.

The letter

This letter is articulated from the one or both sides of the tongue and from the molars and the gum area

next to the molars. The posterior one third of the side of the tongue is used for this letter. This letter can

be articulated from one side (right or left) of the tongue alone, or from both sides of the tongue

simultaneously.

Has the characteristic of compression of the sound, as well as heaviness, so the deep part of the

tongue raises up when pronouncing it and compresses the sound at the same time.

9

The letter

This letter has the widest articulation points of all the Arabic letters. It is articulated from the anterior one

third of the sides of the tongue until the sides end at the tip, and what lies opposite to them of the gums of

the two top front incisors, the two top lateral incisors, the two top canines, and the two top

premolars. The articulation of this letter is then in the shape of an arc, with both sides until the tongue

ends at the tip meeting up with gums of all the mentioned teeth. It is to be noted that it is a fine line of the

sides of the tongue that meets up with the gums, and it does not include the top of the tongue. The

articulation of the laam is an upward movement, not a forward movement like “L” is in English.

The Tip of the Tongue

The letter

This letter is articulated from the tip of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the gum of the two

front top incisors. Is articulated a bit forward on the gums from the place of the .

This letter is not always pronounced clearly, and the articulation point is only applied when it is

pronounced clearly, namely when it has a vowel on it, or if it has a sukoon on it and is followed by one of

the following six letters:

The letter

This letter is emitted from the tip of the tongue with the top of the tip and what lies opposite to it of the

gums of the two front top incisors. The tip with the top of the tip need to strike the gums to produce this

sound correctly. There should be no rolling of the tongue when pronouncing this letter.

The letters

These letters are pronounced from the top side of the tip of the tongue and the gum line of the two front

upper incisors. The gum line is exactly where the gum meets the teeth. The part of the tongue used in

these letters is a small part of the top of the tip, not farther than the very tip area.

10

The letters

These three letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue and the plates of the two front top incisors, at a

point just above the two front lower incisors. There is a little space left in between the tip of the tongue

and the plates of the teeth when pronouncing these letters. The term “plate” refers to the long axis of the

tooth, and in this case, the long axis that is on the internal side, rather than the external side of the teeth.

These letters are also called letters, which means, “whistle”. They are called that due to the

accompany whistle type sound heard when they are emitted properly.

The letters

These letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue (from the top side of the tip) and the bottom edges of

the two top front incisors.

THE TWO LIPS

The letter

The articulation point of the is between the inside of the lower lip and the tips (or edges) of the

two top front incisors. This means that there is a meeting of these two parts of articulation to make the

correct sound of this letter.

The letters

There are three letters that are articulated from the two lips, but they do not all share the same mechanism

in articulation.

The unlengthened is articulated by forming a circle of the two lips without the two lips meeting

completely.

The is articulated by closing the two lips together

The letter is articulated by closing the two lips together, but a stronger closing than the meem.

11

THE RULES OF NOON SAAKINAH & TANWEEN

Noon saakinah is a noon free from any vowel. It remains unchanged in its written form and as

well as in pronunciation when continuing to read after it and when stopping on it. Noon saakinah occurs

in the middle of the word and at the end of the word. The noon saakinah can have a sukoon on it, as in

, or can be written with no vowel on it, as in . Either way, it is considered a noon saakinah.

The tanween is a term for an extra noon saakinah not used for emphasis, found at the end of a word when

continuing the reading, but absent in the written form (the noon of the tanween is pronounced but not

written), and abandoned in pronunciation when stopping. The tanween can be accompanying a fathah, a

dhammah, or a kasrah, as in .

Note: The Noon saakinah can be in the middle of a word or at the end of the word; the tanween is only at

the end of a word.

When there is a noon saakinah or tanween, we need to look at the next letter following the noon saakinah

or tanween. The letter that follows determines how the noon is pronounced, depending on the rule that is

applied. There are four rules of tajweed applied to the noon saakinah and tanween. The rules are applied

to the noon saakinah in the same way that they are applied to the tanween. The four rules are:

12

AL-ITHHAAR

Linguistic Definition: clear or obvious.

Applied definition: Pronouncing every letter from its articulation point without a nasal sound on the

clear letter.

In other words, when this rule is applied to the Noon saakinah or tanween, the Noon is pronounced

clearly, and articulated from its articulation point.

There are six letters which when immediately followed by the Noon saakinah or tanween, they cause the

Noon to be pronounced clearly. These letters are the “throat” letters, or the six letters, which are

articulated from the throat .

An example of this would be Ayah 18 of Surah Abasa:

.

The first word of the ayah ends with a Noon saakinah, and is followed by a hamzah. The third word of

the ayah ends with a tanween kasrah, and is followed by the letter . Both the hamzah and the

Khaa are of the six letters that cause the Noon saakinah and tanween to be said clearly, in other words,

with an .

The last ayah of surah Al-Ikhlaas has an example of the Ithhaar with tanween.

.

An example of a Noon saakinah in the middle of a word, followed by one of the letters is found in

the second ayah of Al-Kawthar:

In summary, when the Noon saakinah or tanween are followed by any of the six letters

, the is then pronounced clearly.

13

AL-IDGHAAM

Linguistic definition: merging or inserting.

Applied definition: the meeting of a non-voweled letter with a voweled letter, so that the two letters

become one emphasized letter.

In the idghaam of Noon saakinah and tanween, the Noon is a saakin (non-voweled) letter on the end of a

word, and the first letter of the next word is one of the letters that cause the Noon to merge or insert into

it, partially or completely.

The letters that cause this Idghaam or merging are all the letters in the group . This means if a

Noon saakinah or tanween are at the end of a word, and the letter or , or or

or , or is the first letter of the next word, the then merges into this next letter.

There are two subdivisions of the Idghaam:

1. Which is a complete merging, which is merging without any nasalization.

2. Which is an incomplete merging, or idghaam with nasalization.

1. The or complete merging of the Noon saakinah or tanween into the first letter of the next

word, is done when the Noon saakinah or tanween are at the end of a word and are followed by a

or a as the first letter of the next word. The Noon completely merges into the or and

there is no nasal sound from the Noon. When there is this type of Idghaam, the Noon is not pronounced

whatsoever. The reciter is to proceed from the letter before the Noon or the letter with the tanween,

directly to the first letter of the next word.

Examples of this are:

In this ayah, there is a tanween dhammah on the letter followed by a as the first letter of the

next word. The reciter should go directly from the dhammah on the (which is the last letter on the

first word) to the ,which is the first letter of the next word.

14

The idghaam or merging of the Noon saakinah or the tanween is complete into the which becomes

emphasized (doubled) because of this merging. This doubling of the is represented by the shaddah

over the letter.

The same process takes place whether the Noon saakinah is actually a written such as the next

following examples, or an unwritten in the case of the tanween.

2. Or idghaam (merging) with a nasal sound.

In this category there are four letters, the , and , or if we put them in a word,

the letters of the word .

When there is a Noon saakinah or tanween at the end of a word, and the first letter of the next word is one

of the four letters in the word , the Noon merges into the next letter, with a prolonged nasalization

accompanying this merging.

Examples of :

In this above ayah, there are two occurrences of , the first one with a Noon saakinah at the end

of the first word of the ayah. This is followed by a , which is the first word of the next

word. The as far as an articulating letter is not pronounced, instead we directly go from the letter

before the , which is a , to the , and hold the sound with an accompanying

nasalization.

15

The second occurrence of idghaam in this ayah is in the last two words. The next to the last word ,

ends with a tanween and the first letter of the next following word is a . The Noon of the tanween

then merges into the with an accompanying nasalization.

Other examples are:

The idghaam of the Noon saakinah and tanween can only occur between two words. If there is a

Noon saakinah in the middle of a word followed by one of the idghaam letters, there is no merging,

instead the is pronounced clearly (with Ithhaar).

In the Qur’an, this only occurs with the Noon saakinah followed by a or a , and in only

four words.

This is called: (absolute clearness).

Exceptions to the rule of (merging)

The first case is in ayah 27 of surah Al-Qiyaamah:

.

The second word of this ayah ends with a Noon saakinah, and the first letter of the next word is a

. Under normal circumstances, there would be , or an idghaam without a ghunnah,

since the is one of the letters that cause an when it follows a

saakinah. However, in this ayah, there is a brief breathless pause, known in Arabic as a between

16

the word , and the next word . This short pause without a breath prevents the saakinah

of the word from meeting with the of the following word . There is therefore, no

idghaam, or merging, of the Noon saakinah with the here. If you look at the ayah, you will see a

small letter above the word . This indicates to the reciter that there is a .

The next two examples involve the individual separate letters that start some different surahs. These

letters are read as if each letter is written out, for example in surah Al-Qalam,

The first letter , is recited just as you would read the word . This word ends with a

Noon saakinah. If we were to join this individual letter, recited as the word with the next following

word, we notice that the next word starts with a . Usually if there is a

saakinah followed by a , the rule applies. In this case, however, Hafs ‘an

‘Aasim by the way of Shatabiyyah, does not make an , but instead recites the saakinah

clearly, then recites the next word. It is preferred and most common, to stop on the end of the individual

letter , but continuing is allowed.

In regards to the following example, the Noon saakinah at the end of the individual separate letter

in the first two ayaat of surah Ya-Seen:

The second separate letter of the first ayah is the letter , which ends with a

saakinah. The first word of the second ayah starts with the letter . If we

were to join the first and second ayah together, there would be a saakinah (the last letter of the

word ) meeting with the letter . Normally there would be an , but as above

Hafs ‘An ‘Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah, does not make an idghaam when joining these two aayaat

17

together; instead the saakinah of the word is recited clearly (Ithhaar), then the next word,

the letter is read with the accompanying vowel.

These are the exceptions to the idghaam rule for the Noon saakinah and tanween.

AL-IQLAAB

Applied definition: the changing of noon saakinah or the tanween into a , when followed by a

with the observance of a lengthened nasal sound on the letter .

If the letter follows a Noon saakinah in the same word, or between two words, it is then required

that the reader changes the Noon saakinah or tanween into a hidden meem, with a nasal sound.

The Noon saakinah is changed into a meem in pronunciation, not in the written word.

Note: Most copies of the Quran have a very small meem written over or under the noon, or the second

line of the tanween fatha, kasrah or dhammah is replaced by a small meem.

The hidden meem is not pronounced by leaving a small space between the lips but by closing the lips and

holding the meem, then opening them with the . This is the correct way of “hiding” the meem.

Examples of the Iqlaab:

In the example above, the Noon saakinah is the last letter of . The next word starts with the letter

. The is then changed in pronunciation to a , and this is held then the

lips are separated pronouncing the letter .

18

In this example, the Noon saakinah is in the middle of the word and followed by the letter . The

Noon saakinah is changed into a just as in the previous example.

These two different ayaat are examples of the tanween being followed by the letter . The Iqlaab, or

changing of the Noon saakinah or the tanween into a , is done in the same way as the other

examples.

Note: The little can be seen written over all of these examples. The little takes the place of

the second dhammah, fat-h, or kasrah of the tanween.

19

AL-IKHFAA

Linguistic definition: hiding or concealment

Applied definition: The pronunciation of a non-voweled letter stripped of any shaddah, characterized

somewhere between an and an with a nasal sound remaining on the first letter, in this case the

Noon saakinah and the tanween.

The letters of the for the Noon saakinah and tanween are all the remaining letters in the Arabic

alphabet after we remove the letters that cause , and .

There are 15 letters in the Arabic alphabet, all causing , or hiding of the Noon saakinah and

tanween; they are:

If a Noon saakinah or tanween is followed by any of these 15 letters, we hide the .

The Ikhfaa can take place between two words or in the middle of a word. To hide the our

tongue does not touch the teeth or gum, instead our tongue moves close to, but not at, the articulation

point of the next letter, which is the letter causing the (hiding). We then hold this sound with an

accompanying nasalization. There is no difference in the Ikhfaa whether it is a written that is

being hidden or a tanween.

Incorrect ways of pronunciation of the Ikhfaa:

Keeping the tongue at the articulation point of the Noon during the Ikhfaa and prolonging the

sound with a nasalization.

Letting the back portion of the tongue rise up to the roof of the mouth and resting it there.

The tongue should not be touching the roof, gums, or teeth, but should be close to the articulation point of

the next letter.

20

Examples of the of the Noon saakinah and tanween:

In this example above, there is a Noon saakinah in the middle of the second word, followed by the letter

, which is one of the letters of . We don’t let our tongue touch the articulation point of

the , but instead put our tongue in a position close to, but not touching the articulation point of

the letter , and hold this sound with nasal sound.

In this example there is a tanween at the end of the second word, followed by a as the first letter

of the next following word. The is one of the letters that causes hiding of the Noon saakinah and

tanween. The technique is similar to that described above, except our tongue should get close to the

articulation point of the instead of the .

This ayah has a Noon saakinah as the last letter of the first word, it is followed by a , which is one

of the letters that causes hiding of the Noon saakinah. Again, as previously stated, we do not let our

tongue go to the articulation point of the , but instead bring our tongue close to, but not touching,

the , and hold the sound with an accompanying nasal sound for the appropriate period of time.

This concludes Tajweed Booklet 1