Tajweed Class - 1

Introduction

   What is Tajweed?

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 of characteristics when we recite the Qur’an and observing the rules that apply to those letters in different situations.

The Qur’an was revealed with Tajweed rules applied to it. In other words, when theangel Jibreel ((AS)) recited the words of Allah to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) he recited them in a certain way and he showed the Prophet (SAW) the ways in which it was  permissible to recite the Qur’an. So it is upon us to observe those rules so that we recite it in the way it was revealed.

Tajweed ( ﺗﺠﻮﻳﺪ ) is an Arabic word meaning correct pronunciation during recitation. 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.

****TarTeel**** 

 The word is used in Surah Muzammil :

 أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا

 'And recite the Qur'an in slow measured rhythmic tone'

(Al Qur'an ; 73:4)

The Arabic word translated as 'slow, measured rythmic' is TarTeel. The tafseer of the above ayat according to Ibn Kathir is 'recite the Qur'an slowly, making the letters clear, for this is an assistance in understanding and pondering the meaning of the Qur'an.'

 ****The Necessity  of Tajweed ****

 Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) said in the explanation of this aayah: “at-Tarteel is Tajweed of the letters and knowing where to stop (correctly)”.[An-Nashr of Ibn Al-Jazaree 209:1]

And of the rights of reciting correctly is reciting it the way it was revealed. There are various Ahadeeth also showing us the importance of Tajweed. Umm Salamah was asked about the recitation of the Prophet (SAW) and she described it as a recitation ‘clearlydistinguished letter by letter’.[Tirmidhi]

Sa’eed bin Mansoor relates in his Sunan that a man was reciting the Qur’an to

Abdullah bin Mas’ood and he recited “Innamas sadaqaatu lil fuqara-i wal masaakeen”, so Ibn mas’ood said: “This was not how the Messenger of Allah (SAW) recited it to me!” So the man asked, “How did he read it to you oh Aba Abdir-Rahman?” So he said “Lil Fuqaraaaa-I wal masaakeen”, he elongated the word Fuqaraa and the knowledge of the different lengths of elongation (mudood) is also from the rules of Tajweed.

The most important part of Tajweed is learning about correct positions of the organs of speech and the manner of articulation. The Qur'an can lose its meaning if the letters are not pronounced correctly.

E.g

ﻛﻠﺐ Dog	The first letters are similar in pronunciation, but if not pronounced correctly will change the word/meaning completely
ﻗﻠﺐ Heart

**** Definitions ****

Tajweed linguistically - to improve and make better

Tajweed technically - the correct recitation of the Qur'an that is achieved by giving each letter its due (using the organs of speech) through:

• The vowel movements - Harakaat
• Prescribed point of exit (where the sound of each letter should come from) - Makhrij
• The manner of articulation (the characteristics of the letters and recitation) - Sifat