Introduction to Tajwīd

written by Ustādh Muḥammad Sharīf

Linguistic Definition

The word tajwīd (تجويد) is a maṣdar. It comes on the scale of جَوَّدَ يُجَوِّدُ meaning to improve or beautify something.

Technical Definition

To recite every letter correctly from its makhraj (place of origination) with all its qualities.

Purpose of Tajwīd

The objective of tajwīd is to recite the Qurʾān as it was revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ and to give every letter its due right. In other words, the aim is to recite the Qurʾān exactly as it was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ by the angel Jibrāʾīl, and likewise the way he ﷺ recited to the companions. Therefore, its recitation is preserved to this day.

Tajwīd is one of the early sciences which developed when Islam spread to the non-Arabs. Initially the Prophet ﷺ would recite to the companions as he was taught by Jibrāʾīl, and the companions would recite the way they were taught to their students, the next generation also known as the tābiʿīn. Most of the imāms of qirāʾah lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries Hijrī.

It has been related by Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr in his Sunan that a man was reciting the Qurʾān to ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) and he recited¹ إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ. Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said that this was not how the Prophet ﷺ recited to me. The man asked: “How did he recite it to you, O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān?” Thereafter Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) recited إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ with the elongation of the word لِلْفُقَرَاءِ.

The Ruling of Tajwīd

The ʿulamāʾ say that learning the science of tajwīd is farḍ kifāyah, meaning it is an obligation upon the community. Therefore, if someone from the community learns the science then it will suffice for everyone and the science will be preserved. However, to apply tajwīd is farḍ ʿayn, i.e., it is obligatory on anyone who wishes to recite the Qurʾān that they do so with tajwīd.²

The great Imām of qirāʾah and ḥadīth, Ibn al-Jazarī, mentions:

Ibn al-Jazarī also mentions the severity of not reading with tajwīd:

Allah ﷻ mentions:

Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) comments on the above verse saying: by the one in whose hands my soul is, indeed the rights of recitation are to make its ḥalāl lawful and its ḥarām unlawful, and to recite it as it was revealed by Allah ﷻ, and it is not to twist the words of Allah ﷻ and interpret it by other than its true interpretation.³

Allah ﷻ mentions in Sūrat al-Muzzammil:

Tartīl is explained by the following narration:

Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī notes that tartīl literally means to put together and arrange well the components of a word or speech and make them distinct.⁴

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī reports that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ passed by a person who was reciting a verse of the Qurʾān and weeping. He said to the people: “Have you heard the command of Allah وَرَتِّلِ الْقُرْآنَ تَرْتِيلًا (and recite the Qurʾān clearly with tartīl)? This is the tartīl this person is doing.”⁵

Its Subject

The science of tajwīd generally comprises the following three aspects:

• Makhārij al-Ḥurūf: articulation of the letters correctly
• Ṣifāt al-Ḥurūf: qualities of the letters
• ʿIlm al-Waqf: knowledge of how to stop correctly

In terms of qirāʾah, the following can be added:

• Qirāʾāt al-Mutawātirah: the ten styles of recitation
• Rasm al-Khaṭṭ: preserving the exact written form. For example, in the Qurʾān the word al-Raḥmān is written as الرَّحْمَٰنُ even though it could be written as الرحمان. The Qurʾānic spelling is adopted so as not to depart from the khaṭṭ (written structure) of the Qurʾān.

Virtues of Recitation

Approach to Studying the Qurʾān

When studying the Qurʾān, it is important to prioritise and implement the most important rules of tajwīd.

There are two types of mistakes: major and minor.

Major Mistakes

1. To recite one letter in the place of another: e.g., if someone reads كلب which means a dog instead of قلب which means a heart. Removing the quality of heaviness from a letter can change it into a different letter and alter the meaning.
2. To add a letter to a word: e.g., instead of الحمد للله, if you were to elongate the letters د and ه, it will be read as الحمدو لللهي; therefore you will be adding a و and a ي to the word.
3. To delete a letter from a word: e.g., instead of لم يولد, if you do not elongate the ي then you will be omitting a letter and recite it as لم يلد.
4. To recite a ḥarakah in the place of another: e.g.
5. To recite a ḥarakah in place of jazm

Minor Mistakes

• Missing out the rules of mīm sākin or nūn sākin and tanwīn, such as ikhfāʾ, iẓhār, idghām, iqlāb.
• Not stretching for the correct length, e.g., instead of elongating 3 ḥarakāt one elongates only one ḥarakah.
• Temporary qualities of letters, such as those that come into existence due to a reason, e.g., making a full mouth when there is fatḥah or ḍammah on top of ر.

Generally, any rule which does not cause a major mistake but affects the beauty of the recitation is a minor one.

Based on the above categorisation, one should prioritise what to learn and implement first. To begin with, one must eliminate all the major mistakes in their recitation and then move on to rectifying the minor ones.

Qurʾān recitation is a practical skill that one needs to develop. This is only possible by studying the Qurʾān with a teacher who can identify your mistakes and help you improve your recitation.

Etiquettes of Reciting the Qurʾān

To attain the maximum benefit from reciting the Qurʾān, one should observe the following:

• Perform wuḍūʾ: this is farḍ, as it is not permissible to touch the Qurʾān without wuḍūʾ.
• Use a miswāk to ensure the mouth is clean and free from odours, such as garlic.
• Show respect to the Qurʾān by placing it in a higher place than where you’re sitting.
• Sit facing the qiblah in a dignified manner.
• Apply perfume.
• Have the correct intention to please Allah.
• Read durūd upon the Prophet ﷺ.
• Recite taʿawwudh (اعوذ) and tasmiyah (بسم الله). It is wājib to recite taʿawwudh at the beginning of every recitation, as Allah says⁶: فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ (“So when you recite the Qurʾān, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled”). Saying the tasmiyah is sunnah before beginning a sūrah, except for Sūrat al-Tawbah.
• Try to recite with a melodious voice, as it has been narrated: زَيِّنُوا الْقُرْآنَ بِأَصْوَاتِكُمْ (“Beautify the Qurʾān with your voices”). (Abū Dāwūd)
• Recite in a manner that you are aware of Allah and that Allah is listening to you. Therefore, give your undivided attention.
• Read the Qurʾān correctly with tajwīd as explained above.
• When reciting the verses of mercy or Jannah, you should invoke Allah for Jannah. Similarly, when verses of punishment or Jahannam are recited, you should seek refuge from it. (Muslim and Aḥmad)

Footnotes

1. Qurʾān 9:60 ↩

2. Qārī Aymān Rushdī Suwayd al-Dimashqī, Introduction of al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah ↩

3. Narration of ʿAbd al-Razzāq brought by Imām Ibn Kathīr under the commentary of verse 2:121 ↩

4. Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt fī Gharīb al-Qurʾān, Kitāb al-Rāʾ, p.187 ↩

5. Qurṭubī ↩

6. Qurʾān 16:98 ↩