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The Basic Rules Of Tajweed
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The Islamic Bulletin
The Basic Rules Of
Tajweed (Hafs)
Recitation
______________________
UNDERSTANDING THE LETTERS
There are over seventy rules of tajweed
but below are some of the basic
principles.
_______________________________
Makhraj- Origin
The 29 Arabic letters originate from 17
places in the mouth giving each letter a
distinct sound. During recitation the
sound of each letter must be pronounced
clearly.
Sifat-Attributes
Each letter is pronounced in a particular
way; some are soft or sharp with abrupt
or soft endings
.
Tanween-Nunation
When there is a double
fatha
or double
kasra
, you
add the ‘n’ sound to the letter.
Saakin-Vowel Omission
When you add a
Sukoon
on
a letter, it’s called
Saakin
.
For example,
Noon Saakin
. An Arabic syllable can
be open (ending with a vowel) or closed
(ending with a consonant). Closed
syllables are denoted by
Sukkon
.
So
Noon
Saakin
is the letter
Noon
without
a vowel ending.
Mushaddad-Gemination
A letter with a
Shadda
on top
is called
Mushaddad
.
The consonant is
doubled. Instead of writing the letter
twice, Arabic places a W-shaped sign
called
Shadda
, above it.
Huroofe Halaqi-Throat Letters
The following letters are called
huroofe
halaqi
because they originate from the
halaq
(throat):
ھء ع غح خ
THE SOUNDS
Ikhfa
Ikhfa
means to pronounce the letter with
a light sound from the nose and is
applied when any of the following letters
appear after a
noon
saakin
or
tanween
:
ش س ز ذ د ج ث ت
ك ق ف ظ ط ض ص
_______________________________
Ghunna
When the letter noon has
a
shadda
or a
meem
,it is
pronounced through the nose.
_______________________________
Noon Saakin & Tanween
When there is a
noon
saakin
or
tanween
the following rules apply:
Izhar:
If
hurrofe halaqi
appears after
noon saakin
or
tanween
, there is no
nasal sound.
Idgham:
If
نو ل مر ي
appear incorporated
with
noon saakin
or
tanween
it is
pronounced with a nasal sound.
Qalb:
If the letter
Baa
( ب )appears after
the
noon saakin
or
tanween
, the
letter
noon
( ن )is changed into
meem
and is recited with a nasal sound.
Ikhafa:
There is a light nasal sound when
the following letters appear after the
noon
saakin
and
tanween
:
ش س ز ذ د ج ث ت
ك ق ف ظ ط ض ص
Meem Saakin
The following rules are applied
with
meem saakin
:
Izhar:
If
hurrofe halaqi
appears after
meem saakin
, there is no nasal
sound, except for letters
baa
(ب) and
meem
.
Idgham:
If
mem saakin
appears
after another
meem
appear, they are
incorporated.
Ikhfa:
When the letter
baa
(
ب ) appears after
meem saakin
there
will be a slight nasal sound.
SPECIAL LETTERS
Ra
The letter
Ra
can be
pronounced in a strong
sounding ‘full mouth’ or in a light sounding
’empty mouth’.
Pronounced with full mouth when:
Ra
has
fatha
or a
dhamma
There is a
fatha
or a
dhamma
before a
Ra
saakin
There is a
fatha
or a
dhamma
and a
shadda
on
Ra
Pronounced with empty mouth when:
Ra
has a
kasra
below it
There is a
kasra
before a
Ra
saakin
There is a
kasra
and a
shadda
on
Ra
There is a
Yaa Saakin
before a
Ra
and you decide
to stop in the sentence
Laam
The letter
Laam
can also
be pronounced with a full mouth or an
empty mouth.
Full mouth:
fatha
or a
dhamma
appears before the word Allah(
ﷲ
) The
laam
in Allah (
ﷲ
) is pronounced with
a full mouth.
Empty mouth:
kasra
appears before
the word Allah (
ﷲ
). The
laam
in
Allah(
ﷲ
) is pronounced with empty
mouth.
Elongation (Maad)
The following vowels elongate the
consonant that precedes them:
that has a
fatha
Alif Saakin
before it
Waaw Saakin
has a
dhamma
before it
Yaa Saakin
has a
kasra
before it.
Waaw Saakin
and
Yaa
Saakin
has a
fatha
before it
.