The prophet instructed us to read Quran with a beautiful voice, therefore, learning the types of Tajweed rules is important for a good recitation of the Quranic verses.
Our beloved prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said:
“Verily the one who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)
What are the types of tajweed rules? There are different types of tajweed rules and they include Noon Sakinah and Tanween, Izhaar, Idghaam, Iqlaab, Ikhfaa, Noon and Meem Mushaddad, Meem Sakinah, Ikhfaa Shafawy, Idghaam Shafawy, and Al-Madd.
If you want to learn the different types of tajweed rules and how to use them, then keep reading.
What is the importance of Tajweed?
Learning the tajweed rules helps you read correctly because as you know the meaning of the word can completely change if you dropped a letter or read it wrong. Therefore, learning tajweed is important if you don’t want to make a mistake while reciting the Quran.
The prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said:
“Verily the one who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of the noble and obedient angels. And as for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its verses, then he will have TWICE that reward.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)
Shaykh Zakaria Al-Ansari said: “It is imperative for a Muslim to learn the rules of recitation that preserve the meaning and function of words since failure to do so is blameworthy.”
Ali Hanafi said, “Correct rules of recitation must be learned to avoid changes in meaning and function. It is preferable for a Muslim to learn the rules which preserve meaning and make it clearer since a great deal of hardship is involved in mastering all the rules of correct recitation.”
What is Tajweed literally and technically?
The literal meaning of the word Tajweed in Arabic is “doing something well” or “proficiency”. Tajweed are the rules that are made to make the recitation of the holy Quran easy, it helps you read the verses correctly without making any mistakes. It helps you read the verses of the Quran correctly and pronounce each letter how it is supposed to be pronounced. This in turn will help you understand the meaning of the verses you read easily.
What are the different Tajweed rules with examples?
There are many tajweed rules but the Islamic scholars have divided the rules into the following basic tajweed rules:
1. Noon and Meem Moshaddadah.
From its name this rules apply when finding any of the two letter noon (ن) and meem (م) with a shaddah on it to be written as (نً / مً ) while including Ghunnah of 2 beats.
Examples:
أجلهنَّ
حملهنَّ
فأتمهنَّ
2. Al Qalqalah.
tajweed qalqalah refers to making a vibration sound at the end of pronunciation of the following letters: Qaaf (ق), Ttaa(ت), Baa(ب), Jiim(ج) or Daal(د). And you apply this rule when you find sukoon or shaddah on the letter and the rule include minor, medium, and major.
Here’s an example of the tajweed rule Qalqalah is surah falaq:
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ ١
Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ٢
from the evil of whatever He has created,
وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ٣
and from the evil of the night when it grows dark,
وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّـٰثَـٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ ٤
and from the evil of those ˹witches casting spells by˺ blowing onto knots,
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ٥
and from the evil of an envier when they envy.”
3. Noon Sakinah and Tanween:
Among the tajweed rules is the rule of Noon Sakinah and Tanween. When you find the mark of sukoon on the letter noon (ن) or when you find the tanween then this rule is applied. Notice that tanween refers to pronouncing noon Sakinah at the end of the word without writing it, it is written as (اً). The rule includes Izhaar, Idghaam, Iqlaab, and ikhfa rule.
Examples:
أَنعَمْتَ
مَنْهَاجر
عليمٌحكيم
صِرَاطًامُسْتَقِيمًا، صحُفـاً مُّطَهَّرة، وُجُوهٌيَوْمَئِذٍ.
أَنْلَوْ، مِنْرَّبِّه / وَيْلٌلِّلْمُطَفِّفين
مِنبَعْدِ، سَمِيعًابَصِيرًا
فأنذرتُكم، ماءًثجّاجًا، قومًاطاغين، ولمنصبر
4. Meem Sakinah.
When you find the letter meem (م) with the mark of sukoon on it then one of the following rules is applied, Ikhfaa Shafawy, Idghaam Shafawy, and Izhar Shafawy.
Examples:
أَفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَم بِهِۦ جِنَّةٌۢ
وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ ٱلْبَنَٰتِ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ ۙ وَلَهُم مَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
وَكَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَمَا بَلَغُوا۟ مِعْشَارَ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمْ فَكَذَّبُوا۟ رُسُلِى
5. Prolongation (Al Madd).
This rule refers to pronouncing the letter by giving it from 2 to 6 beats based on its type.
Examples:
قَالَ الَّذِي عِندَهُ عِلْمٌ مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ءامَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ
عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ
وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا
رَّضِيَ اللَّـهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ رَبَّهُ
فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا
6. Heavy and light letters.
The pronunciation of the Arabic letter is divided into heavy letters and light letters.
7. Laam Shamsyiah & Qamaryiah.
The tajweed rule of Laam Shamsyiah & Qamaryiah includes two rules and they are Izhar and Idgaam.
8. Hamzah.
There are two types of Hamzah one of them can be found in any place in the world and it’s called Hamza-tul Oata. While the other one is only found at the beginning of the word and is dropped when continuing the reading, its name is Hamzah-tul Wasl.
What is the purpose of Tajweed?
The purpose of the Science of Tajweed, in essence, is to make the reciter proficient in reciting the Quran, observing the correct pronunciation of every letter with the rulings and characteristics which apply to it, without any exaggeration or deficiency. Through this, the reciter can recite the Quran according to the way of the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) who received it from Jibreel who received it from Almighty Allah in the Classical Arabic language.
Each Arabic letter has a Makhraj (an exit or articulation point from which it originates) and Sifaat (attributes or characteristics). Knowing the Makhraj and Sifaat of each letter is an important part of Tajweed. Sometimes two letters have very similar exits, which makes mixing them up easy. So, if a person does not know the attributes of each letter, he may change the meaning of the words in Quran recitation. Observing the rules of Tajweed in reciting prevents the reciter from making mistakes in reciting the Quran.
What are the three types of Tajweed?
There is only one type of tajweed, and it include more than 70 rules, you can learn them all on your own or you an enroll yourself with a professional tutor to learn tajweed lessons in correct order and easily. There are also many tajweed rules with pictures on the internet that you can use to revise what you’ve learned.
What are the types of Madd in Tajweed?
The word Madd refers to stretching the sound of the letter, which means to extend your pronunciation of the letter. For example, the word غفور, the letter ‘و’ has a Madd sign which means that you should extend the pronunciation of the ‘و’ letter to become “غفووور”.
Another example is the word “سماء”, the Madd is on the letter “ا” so the word will be pronounced as “السمااااء”. Now you try, how will you pronounce the word “رحيم” with the Madd on the letter “ي”,…, yes you’re right, it will become “رحيييم”.
The Madd letters are three, they are (ا , و , ي), to apply the tajweed rule, Madd the letters shouldn’t have any vowels written on them, and the letter that comes before them shouldn’t be a hamza. But that’s not all, there are some rules and they are as follows:
- The Madd letter “أ” should be silent (doesn’t have any vowels) and the letter before it should have the Fatha sign.
- Madd letter “و” should be silent and the letter before it should have the Dammah sign.
- The Madd letter “ي” should be silent and the letter before it should have the kasra sign.
If you didn’t find those three rules then the Madd doesn’t apply in this case.
Then, what are the types of Madd? There are two main types of Madd and they are:
- Madd Asli (Natural Madd).
- Madd Far’ee (Secondary Madd).
1- Natural Madd.
This type of tajweed rule Madd occurs only if the previous letter to any of the three Madd letters is Hamza or Sukoon. And its length is two harakats.
Here are some examples:
قَالَ
أَمْثَالُكُمْ
أَعْمَالُهُمْ وَقَالُوا
لِإِيلافِ
الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ
وَقِيْلَ
تُبْصِرُوْن
يُوْسُفُ
بُوْرِكَ
يُوْصِيْكُمُ
خَالِدِيْن
2- Secondary Madd.
It’s a type of Madd added to the natural Madd for some reason.
Conclusion.
Learning the tajweed rules helps you read correctly because as you know the meaning of the word can completely change if you dropped a letter or read it wrong. Therefore, learning tajweed is important if you don’t want to make a mistake while reciting the Quran.
The literal meaning of the word Tajweed in Arabic is “doing something well” or “proficiency”. Tajweed are the rules that are made to make the recitation of the holy Quran easy, it helps you read the verses correctly without making any mistakes. It helps you read the verses of the Quran correctly and pronounce each letter how it is supposed to be pronounced. This in turn will help you understand the meaning of the verses you read easily.
There are two main types of Madd and they are:
- Madd Asli (Natural Madd).
- Madd Far’ee (Secondary Madd).
Ready to learn tajweed in a serious way? Check out our collection of Tajweed courses for Adults here (suitable to all levels) and our Tajweed courses for kids here. If you like the article, please share it with others who may find it helpful as well.