Tajweed

Quran is a sacred book of Allah. We should, therefore, read it with proper rules and regulations. People often wonder why they should recite the Qur’an with specific rules. They should understand the significance of reciting the Quran in the manner our Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) did. We all appreciate the person who reads the Quran melodiously and with the right pronunciation.

For learning the correct Quran recitation, learning Tajweed is very important. Tajweed teaches us how to read the Quran correctly. Quran is a gift for us so we should read it correctly. It is the most important miracle of our Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). This is the reason we should read it correctly as proper recitation offers the reward. There are many Hadith about Reading the Quran with the rules of Tajweed. Tajweed means reciting the Quran with perfect pronunciation. The Arabic alphabets should be pronounced in the right way. Even every letter should be pronounced properly.

Tajweed: It’s the importance

One of the many miracles of the noble Qur’an is that regardless of the number of times it is recited, one never gets tired nor bored with its recitation. Allah Ta’ala says in the noble Qur’an, “Indeed the believers are those who tremble with fear when Allah is remembered, and when the verses of the Qur’an are recited before them it increases their belief; and upon Allah, they have complete trust.” (8:2) One of the salient points mentioned in this verse is that when a believer recites the noble Qur’an in the correct manner, it increases his faith and belief in Allah. Reciting the Noble Qur’an in the correct manner means to recite it with Tajweed.

The necessity of Learning Tajweed:

Since the Qur’an emphatically commands us to recite the Qur’an with Tarteel, we have to recite it with Tajweed. Tajweed is not like all other subjects which we are able to separate from the Qur’an but instead Tajweed and Qur’an work hand in hand. According to some scholars, the verse, ‘Verily my people have renounced the Qur’an’ (25:30) has two interpretations. Firstly, it could mean that they had renounced the Qur’an by not believing in it and practicing upon it. And secondly, it could mean that they used to recite the Qur’an in such a disgusting manner that it sounded like senseless and meaningless jabbering.’ Reading the Qur’an without Tajweed could also be included in the second interpretation. The Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) has said, ‘The Qur’an will either testify in your favor or against you.’ Hence, if we fail to observe the requirements of the noble Qur’an during our recitation, the Qur’an will testify against us. If we are unacquainted with these prerequisites, we are compelled to acquire the laws of Tajweed. Due to the vastness of the Arabic language, any small mistake in pronunciation of a letter or word may change the meaning of that word. For example, the word ‘Qalb’ (with q) means ‘heart’, if read ‘Kalb’ (with k), it will mean a ‘dog’. So just as how in any other language we learn the pronunciation of letters and words, for example, in English, we learn that ‘ph’ stands for ‘f’ (as in phone) and not pone. Similarly, in the Arabic language, we also have to learn the pronunciation of letters and words, which we term as ‘Tajweed’.

Some people read so much of the Qur’an but because they do not know the correct pronunciation of the letters, they change the letters, which then changes the words which eventually leads to the changing of the sentence and meaning of the Qur’an. We should remember that from the time and generation of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) till now, no one has ever denied this fact that Tajweed is definitely important. It is only now in our generation that people have lost respect and forgotten the status of Tajweed. We get some people nowadays who spend hours and hours reciting the Qur’an thinking that they are getting and attaining great rewards. But because their pronunciation of letters is incorrect, a very big problem arises. It sounds very small when we say, ‘I am only pronouncing a letter incorrectly.’ But did this thought ever cross our minds that when a letter changes in a word, the word changes, and if a word changes in a sentence then the whole sentence changes, and eventually the meaning also changes?

The Qur’an is the word of Allah. If we change the word of Allah then Allah Ta’ala will definitely get angry with us and take us to the task. So from all this, we can see the importance of reading the Qur’an with Tajweed. May Allah give us the ability to read the Qur’an correctly so that we may earn the mercy of Allah Ta’ala.