What is the tajweed ?

The word tajweed –التَّجْوِيدُ– comes from the Arabic verb jawada –جَوَّدَ– which means in English  ‘proficiency’ or ‘doing something well’ .

This science, that we also call –عِلْمُ التَّجْوِيدِ– , the Tajweed science (3ilm atajweed), has been developed in order to make sure that Muslims all over the world recite the sayings of Allah -The most High- in the most beautiful and right way. And to do so, the rules were set up to make sure that every letter is pronounced by giving it a precise articulation and recite it as it was revealed to the Prophet Muammad ﷺ.

Three levels or reciting ways exist in tajweed:

• ATahqîq (التَّحْقِيقُ )[taḥqīq], which is the slowest recitation that encourages to reflect upon the words and meanings and that allows to hear the tajweed rules very clearly;

• AlHadr (الحَدْرُ )[hadr], which is a quick recitation, very close to the speech rhythm, often used to make revision cessions, the muraja3a –مُرَاجَعَة-;

• ATadwouir ( التَّدْوِيرُ ) is a recitation in between alhadr and al tahqiq, not too slow and not too quick.

Why did the rules of tajweed have been made?

The propagation of Islam around the world made various populations in contact with the Quran. Among them Arab tribes which had their own dialect, and also non Arab people who didn’t know Arabic language at all and thus didn’t know how to pronounce certain letters or words. Scholars decided to find a way to transmit the Quran as it was revealed by Jibril -3aleyhi salam- to the Prophet ﷺ saw in order to preserve it. That is how they came up with written rules which everyone can refer too : the tajweed rules. They were and still are transmitted from a generation to the next.

What are the tajweed rules?

The tajweed rules incompus several areas such as:

• the knowing of the points of articulations of the letters;

• the knowing of the caracteristics of the letters;

• the knowing of the tajweed rules : al-ahkam ;

• the knowing of the wuquf, the places in which it is allowed to make a pause;… .

As a conclusion, it is important to precise that the study of the science of tajweed is compulsory for the Muslims but not for each individuals. It is what we call fard kifâya. It means that if a part of the community knows it, it excuses the others.

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لا إِلَهَ إِلا أَنْتَ أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ الله