Tajwid

printed with colored letters to facilitate tajwid. In the context of the recitation of the Quran, or ( , ) is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation, known as . In Arabic, the term is derived from the verb ( ), meaning enhancement or to make something excellent. Technically, it means giving every letter its right in reciting the Quran. is a system by which one learns the pronunciation of Quranic words as pronounced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The beginning of the system of was when the early Islamic states or caliphates expanded in the third century of Hijra (9th century / 184–288 AH) under the Abbasid Caliphate, where errors in pronunciation increased in the Quran due to the entry of many non-Arab Muslims into Islam. So the scholars of the Quran began to write the rules of intonation. It is said that the first person to collect the system of in his book was ( 770–838 CE) in the third century of Hijra.

printed with colored letters to facilitate tajwid.]] In the context of the recitation of the Quran, or ( , ) is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation, known as . In Arabic, the term is derived from the verb ( ), meaning enhancement or to make something excellent. Technically, it means giving every letter its right in reciting the Quran. is a system by which one learns the pronunciation of Quranic words as pronounced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The beginning of the system of was when the early Islamic states or caliphates expanded in the third century of Hijra (9th century / 184–288 AH) under the Abbasid Caliphate, where errors in pronunciation increased in the Quran due to the entry of many non-Arab Muslims into Islam. So the scholars of the Quran began to write the rules of intonation. It is said that the first person to collect the system of in his book was ( 770–838 CE) in the third century of Hijra.

History

The history of Quranic recitation is tied to the history of , as each reciter had their own set of tajwid rules, with much overlap between them. Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam (774–838 CE) was the first to develop a recorded system for tajwid, giving names to the rules of tajwid and putting it into writing in his book called al-Qiraat. He wrote about 25 reciters, including the 7 mutawatir reciters. He made the reality, transmitted through reciters of every generation, a system with defined rules, terms, and enunciation. Abu Bakr Ibn Mujāhid (859–936 CE) wrote a book called "The Seven of the Recitations". He is the first to limit the number of recitations to the seven known. Imam Al-Shatibi (1320–1388 CE) wrote a poem outlining the two most famous ways passed down from each of seven strong imams, known as . In it, he documented the rules of recitation of Naafi’, Ibn Katheer, Abu ‘Amr, Ibn ‘Aamir, ‘Aasim, al-Kisaa’i, and Hamzah. It is 1173 lines long and a major reference for the seven qira’aat. Ibn al-Jazari (1350–1429 CE) wrote two large poems about and . One was Durrat Al-Maa'nia ( ), in the readings of three major reciters, added to the seven in the , making it ten. The other is ( ), which is 1014 lines on the ten major reciters in great detail, of which he also wrote a commentary.

Religious obligation

Knowledge of the actual rules is a community duty ( ). There is a difference of opinion on the ruling for individuals. Sheikh Zakariyya al-Ansari stated that it is sinful to recite in a way that changes the meaning or changes the grammar. If it does not change these two things, then it is not sinful, even if it is a clear error.

Qur'an and hadith on tajwīd

The central Quranic verse about is verse 73:4: "...and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation." The word ( ), as used in this verse, is often also used in hadith in conjunction with its command. It means to articulate slowly, carefully, and precisely. Abu Dawud's hadith collection has a chapter heading titled "Recommendation of (reciting with) in the Qur'an." It begins with the narration: "The Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said: One who was devoted to the Qur'an will be told to recite, ascend and recite carefully ( ) as he recited carefully when he was in the world, for he will reach his abode when he comes to the last verse he recites (Sunan Abi Dawud 1464)." This narration describes the importance of the manner of recitation and its positive effects in the afterlife. The next narration describes the importance of prolongation ( ): "Qatadah said: I asked Anas about the recitation of the Qur'an by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He said: He used to express all the long accents clearly ( ) (Sunan Abi Dawud 1465)." This narration also shows that even the companions of the prophet used some terms which are still used today in rules.

Thickness and thinness

The emphatic consonants , known as letters, are pronounced with a "heavy accent" ( ). This is done by either pharyngealization /ˤ/, i.e. pronounced while squeezing one's voice box, or by velarization /ˠ/. The remaining letters – the  – have a "light accent" ( ) as they are pronounced normally, without pharyngealization (except , which is often considered a pharyngeal sound).  ( ) is heavy when accompanied by a or and light when accompanied by a kasrah. If its vowel sound is cancelled, such as by a or the end of a sentence, then it is light when the first preceding voweled letter (without a ) has a kasrah. It is heavy if the first preceding voweled letter is accompanied by a fatḥah or ḍammah. For example, the at the end of the first word of the Sūrat "al-ʻAṣr" is heavy because the  ( ) has a fatḥah: ( ) is only heavy in the word . If, however, the preceding vowel is a kasrah, then the in is light, such as in the Bismillah:

Nūn sākinah and tanwīn

Nūn sākinah refers to instances where the letter nūn is accompanied by a sign, some cases of which involve tanwīn s nun with a sukun. There are then four ways it should be pronounced, depending on which letter immediately follows: Pronunciation: /sˤɪɾɔːtˤ alːaðina ʔanʕamta/ Pronunciation: /wa ʔãmbatat mɪn kulːɪ zawd͡ʒɪ̃m bahiːd͡ʒ/ Pronunciation (dropped nūn indicated by dashes): ʔaʃhadu ʔa-lːaː ʔilaːha ʔɪlː ɔlˤːɔːhu wa ʔaʃhadu ʔanːa muħamːada- ɾasuːlu lˤːɔːh/ Pronunciation: /mɪ̃[ŋ] ʃaɾːi maː xɑlɑqə/

Mīm sākinah

The term mīm sākinah refers to instances where the letter mīm is accompanied by a sukun. There are then three ways it should be pronounced, depending on which letter immediately follows: ("labial merging") when followed by another mīm (usually indicated by a ): the mīm is then merged with the following mīm and includes a ghunnah; ("labial concealment"): the mīm is suppressed (i.e. lips not fully closed) when followed by a , with a ; Consider the mīm that is suppressed in the fourth verse of the chapter Al-Fil: ("labial clarity"): the mīm is pronounced clearly with no amendment when followed by any letters other than those already listed. The biggest bounce is when the letter is at the end of the word and is accompanied by a , such as the end of the first verse of : In most of the cases, the vowel that must be used before the alif waṣlah is obvious (the short or long vowel before alif waṣlah); but if it is preceded by a word ending on a sukun, then these are the rules: 1 In the case of Tanwin and alif waṣlah, the intrusive kasrah between them is not graphically represented. 2 Plural mim is the ending of هُمْ or كُمْ as noun suffixes and تُمْ as a verb suffix, which normally end as /hum/, /kum/ and /tum/ respectively. But in some cases /hum/ becomes /him/; nevertheless, it continues as /him-u/. These three always take a damma /-u/. 3 مِنْ is an exception to this, which always takes a fatha /-a/ if it be conjoined with the next word.

Ishmam

"Ishmam" refers to what is seen in verse 11 of Chapter 12 (Yusuf (surah)). The word "تَأْمَنَّا" ("trust us") originates from "تـأمـنُـنَـا". The first nun is non-voweled due to the noons merging together to form "تَأْمَنَّا". In pronouncing this word, the recitor rounds their lips in an imitation of the dhummah after pronouncing the shaddah. The "ishmam" is not heard, but is seen, and is one of the rarest tajweed rules in the entire Qur'an.

Analogous and related fields

Elocution, the analogous modern Western study. , the analogous classical Western study. , Hindu Vedic recital study. Phonetics Cantillation

Notes

Books and journals

Tajwid: The Art of Recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Dr. Abdul Majid Khan, Tughra Books 2013. http://www.tughrabooks.com/books/detail/tajwid-the-art-of-the-recitation-of-the-quran Foundation of Tajweed "Theory and Practice of Tajwid", Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, IV, Leiden, Brill, 2007 (or still in press)

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