What is Tajweed

Tajweed when related to the Holy Quran, means recitation of the Holy Quran in the way the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recited the Quran. Tajweed in general means �to make it fine�. As the Holy prophet was the only person who produced the rightist pronunciation of the Almighty�s words in the Holy Quran. It is therefore imperative to learn Tajweed to apply the same to read the Holy Quran for getting exact pronunciation and meanings of the Quran words.

The word Tajweed linguistically means 'proficiency' or 'doing something well'. It comes from the same root letters as the word 'Jayyid' in Arabic (meaning 'good'): Jeem, Waw and Daal. When applied to the Quran, it means giving every letter of the Quran its rights and dues of characteristics when we recite the Quran and observing rules that apply to those letters in different situations. We give letters their rights by observing essential characteristics of each letter that never leave it. And we give them their dues by observing the characteristics of each letter that are present in them some of the time and not present at other times.

The Quran was revealed with Tajweed rules applied to it. In other words, when the angel Jibreel (alaihis salaam) recited the words of Allah to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) he recited them in a certain way and he showed the Prophet (pbuh) the ways in which it was permissible to recite the Quran. So it is upon us to observe those rules so that we recite it in the way it was revealed.

At the time of the Prophet (pbuh) there was no need for people to study Tajweed because they talked with what is now known as Tajweed so it was natural for them. When the Arabs started mixing with the non-Arabs as Islam spread, mistakes in Quran recitation started appearing, so the scholars had to record the rules. Now, because the everyday Arabic that Arabs speak has changed so much from the Classical Arabic with which the Quran was revealed, even Arabs have to study Tajweed.

The purpose of Tajweed

The Quran is the word of Allah, and its every syllable is from Allah. Its recitation must be taken very seriously. 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 each letter, without any exaggeration or deficiency. And so through this the reciter can recite the Quran upon the way of the Prophet (pbuh) who received it from Jibreel who received it from Allah (subhanahu wa ta'aala) in the Classical Arabic dialect that it came down in.

Arabic letters each have a Makhraj - an exit or articulation point - in the mouth or throat from which they originate and they also each have Sifaat - attributes, or characteristics - particular to them. 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 there is a danger that he will change the meaning of the words in Quran recitation. Observing the rules of Tajweed in reciting protects the reciter from making mistakes in reciting the Quran.

Why Learning Tajweed is Necessary

Learning Tajweed is necessary because the glorious Islam expanded in just a few decades of its inception to most part of the world. The people belonged to different regions in the world and so did their languages. Even alphabets of the languages were different. The Holy Quran is for the entire world and uptil the Day of Judgment. With the spread of Islam, Arab and Non-Arab were mixed together but they had much difference in their languages and accents. Even most of the Arabs can not read the Holy Quran with Tajweed. At that time it was feared that in the absence of Tajweed, if the original spoken words of the prophets are not preserved, it might lead to distortion of pronunciation in the days to come. It was therefore necessary that Tajweed rules should be scientifically outlined on uniform basis for Arabs and Non-Arabs for preserving the same wording, sounds, accent, pronunciation and meanings. It is necessary both for Arabs and Non Arabs to learn Tajweed and apply the Tajweed Rules while reading Holy Quran