TAWJWEEDUL QURAN

CHAPTER (1) Common Mistakes in Tajweed

The most common mistakes are in the letters themselves, meaning using the wrong
articulation point for a letter, as well as improper timing of vowels (i.e. lengthening a
vowel longer than one vowel count), and natural lengthenings (making them shorter than
they should be). Each vowel over a letter receives one count. So a dhammah receives
the same timing as a kasrah, as does a fath, as long as these letters are not followed by the
medd letters (alif ; or a ya' with no vowel preceded by a
kasrah,
or wow with no vowel preceded by a dhammah).
Medd letters have two vowel counts if they are not followed by a hamzah or a sukoon.
In this word, each vowel is equal in timing to the next; in other words,
this word would have three vowel counts to it. We can notice that there are no medd
letters in this word, so there is no elongation of the vowels.
This word also has each vowel equal in timing to the next, or three vowel
counts. Again, there are no medd letters here, so there is no elongation of the vowels. In
summary, the timing for the first word above is equal to the second word, even though
there are different vowels used.
All vowels, as stated above, have equal timing in length. This is not true for letters
without vowels, or saakin letters. The timings of saakin letters vary depending on their
characteristics. The difference is in not a great length of time, though. For the time being
we will not be discussing medd letters, but will return to them later. Saakin letters are
divided into three groups when determining their timing. The three groups are:
1. The group of strength
2. The middle group
3. The soft group
The group of strength letters is the group of letters that have imprisonment of the
sound when pronounced. When these letters have no vowel on them (a sukoon) their
timing is short. The letters of this group are: , and are
combined in the phrase:

The middle group of letters is those that do not have a complete running of the sound, yet
they do not have complete imprisonment of the sound like the group of strength letters.
These letters therefore have a middle length of time when there is no vowel (a sukoon) on
them. The letters of this group are: , and are combined in the phrase:


The soft group of letters is the remaining Arabic letters. This group has a running of the
sound when they are without a vowel (saakin), and have the longest timing on them.
In summary, all vowels have equal length in time, unless a medd letter follows them.
When letters (outside of the medd letters) have a sukoon, meaning they have no vowel,
their timings are different in length, depending on which of the three groups they are in.
The shortest timing is in the group of strength , the next longest is the middle group
, and the longest is the group of softness . All letters of the middle group
are equal in timing to each other; all letters of the soft group are equal to each other in
timing. All of the strength group of letters are equal in timing to each other, but the two
letters have air released after they are pronounced.


CHPATER (2) (Part 1) Seeking refuge and Saying the Basmalah
The meaning of: is asking for refuge, or protection When the reader says:
" , he is seeking the protection and refuge with Allah
from Satan before starting reading. Allah in the Quran said:

(and when you read the Quran seek refuge with Allah from the rejected Satan) An-Nahl
98.
1. If the reader is reading silently, he then seeks refuge silently, or if he is alone.
2. If one is about to pray the seeking refuge is also done silently.
3. If one is reading aloud, and others are present that will hear, the seeking refuge is
done out loud.
4. If the reading is done by turns (as in a classroom situation), the first reader seeks
refuge out loud and the rest do it silently.
5. If the reading is cut off by coughing, sneezing, or by talk referring to the reading
or meaning of the verses, then there is no need for repeating the seeking refuge.
6. If the reading is cut off by work or normal conversation, or by eating, then the
seeking refuge should be repeated before beginning to read the Quran again.

He who says "bismillah" has said the basmalah. The proper way to say the basmalah is

It is necessary to read it before the beginning of every surah of the Qur'an with the
exception of "At-Tawbah" which is also called Baraaah.
Ways of Seeking refuge when starting recitation with the basmalah
and with the beginning of a surah
If the reader wishes to start his reading at the beginning of a surah, he needs to seek
refuge, say the basmalah and then start reciting the surah. There are four ways of doing
this.
1. Cutting all three off from each other.
Meaning seeking refuge, stopping, saying the basmalah, stopping, then starting the
surah.
2. Joining all three with each other.
Seeking refuge, saying the basmalah, and starting the surah all in one breath without
stopping.
3. Joining the basmalah and the beginning of the surah.
This means seeking refuge, then stopping, then saying the basmalah and the beginning of
the surah in one breath.
4. Joining seeking refuge with the basmalah.
This means the seeking refuge and the basmalah are joined with one breath, then the
reader stops then starts the surah.


CHPATER (2) (Part 2) The Baslamah between two Surah


Hafs (the way of recitation we are explaining) always reads the basmalah between two
surahs. Meaning we read the basmalah before starting the next consecutive surah when
reading the Quran, except between Al-Anfal and At-Tawbah. There are four ways of
completing a surah and continuing on reading to the next surah with the basmalah in
between them. Three of them are allowed, and one not allowed.
1. Cutting off all from each other
The reader finishes the surah, then stops and takes a breath, reads the basmalah, stops and
takes a breath, then reads the beginning of the next surah. As in the following example:

2. Joining all of them together
The reader ends the surah, joining it with the appropriate vowels with the basmalah,
continuing with the same breath the reader then joins the basmalah with the beginning of
the next surah. As in:

3. Joining the basmalah with the beginning of the surah
In this way the reader finishes the last verse of the surah, stops and takes a breath, then
reads the basmalah joining it in the same breath and proper vowels with the beginning of
the next surah. As in:

4. Not Allowed: Joining the basmalah with the end of the surah, then stopping, then
starting the next surah.
This incorrect way leads the listener to imagine that the basmalah is the last aayah of the
surah that was just finished. Here, the reader would join the end of the surah with the
basmalah, then stops and takes a breath, then starts reading the next surah. This is not
allowed.


CHPATER (3) (Part 1) Places of Articulation
Introduction to articulation points of the Arabic letters
The articulation point of a letter is the place the letter is emitted, meaning a sound that
comes out of the mouth relying on a specific place of articulation or an approximate one.
Using the correct articulation point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly, and
of course this is even more important when reciting the book of Allah, the Holy Quran.
Almost all the articulation points in Arabic are specific places, but there are some that
have a general area of articulation.
There are ways for you to see what articulation point YOU are using for a letter (not
necessarily the correct one), so that you can compare what you are using to the correct
way of articulating a letter:
1. Pronounce the letter with a shaddah; in other words, double the letter.
2. Pronounce the letter with no vowel and put a hamzah before the letter you are
checking.
You can then check the position of your tongue, mouth, or feel what area of the throat
you are using.
There are five general areas of the throat and mouth that have within them the specific or
general articulation points of the Arabic letters.
1. The empty space in the mouth and throat has in it one articulation point for the
three lengthened letters, which are wow with no vowel with a dhammah before it,
ya with no vowel with a kasrah before it, and an alif with a fath before it.
2. The Throat: It has three articulation points for six different letters which are
pronounced from the deepest, middle, and closest part of the throat
3. The Tongue: It has ten articulation points for eighteen letters
4. The Two Lips: The lips have two articulation points for four letters
5. The nasal passage: From the hole of nose towards the inside of the mouth, here
there is one articulation point, that of the ghunnah
The following pictures shows these areas:



CHPATER (3) (Part 2) - The Empty Space in the Throat and Mouth

The empty space in the mouth and throat is a place and an articulation point at the same
time. The three medd (lengthened) letters originate from this general area, these letters
are:
1.The alif preceded by a letter with a fat-hah (and the true alif is only in this state); the
Arabic alif never takes a vowel and is always preceded by a fathah ( )
2. The wow with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a dhammah
3. The ya with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a kasrah
These three medd letters do not have a specific place that they are pronounced from,
unlike all the other letters; instead these letters finish articulating with the stopping of the
sound.
The medd letters are lengthened two counts if they are not followed by a hamzah or a
sukoon. The lengthening when there is a hamzah or sukoon after the medd letter will be
covered, insha Allah, in future lessons.
Common mistakes in these letters
Many times a reciter lets the sound of some or all of these letters come up from the empty
space of the throat into the nose, and a nasalization (or ghunnah) of one or all of these
letters then occurs. The most common letter for this to happen with is the lengthened
wow.

To rid oneself of this error, the sound needs to be focused up and out the mouth. To
practice and see if this error is present one should close off the nostrils and say the medd
letter; if the sound becomes muted with the pinching off of the nostrils, or if it sounds like
one has a cold, it is indeed coming up through the nose, and therefore incorrect.
A less common mistake is pronouncing one or all of these letters from a specific place in
the throat. The resultant sound is usually a cross between one of the letters that are
supposed to be articulated from the throat, and the medd letter. To tell if this mistake is
present, one needs to say the medd letter, and if there is a pull in the throat, it is then
incorrect. These medd letters should be pronounced with using only the vibration of the
vocal cords and an accompanying opening of the mouth for the alif, a circling of the lips
for the lengthened wow, and a lowering of the jaw with the lengthened ya.

Chapter (3) (Part 3) - The Articulation Points of the Throat
There are three places of articulation in the throat, each place has two letters emitted from
therein.
1. The deepest part of the throat
2. The middle part of the throat
3. The closest part of the throat (closest to the mouth)
The deepest part of the throat
The deepest part of the throat is the furthest away from the mouth and the closest to the
chest. Two letters are articulated from here. They are the hamzah and the ha
.
The middle part of the throat
The middle part of the throat lies half way in between the beginning and the end of the
throat. The two letters that are emitted from here are: and .
The closest part of the throat
The closest part of the throat is the beginning of the throat, or the closest to the mouth.
Two letters are articulated from this area, they are: and .
Common mistakes in these letters
These letters are uncommon to many languages, especially English, outside of the
hamzah, and many would say the ha, but even the the English h is often
pronounced at a position higher in the throat than the Arabic ha.
The two letters from the middle of the throat need practice to succeed in their proper
pronunciation. The first step is getting used to using the throat, especially the middle,
then work should begin on the letter: . Think of the throat squeezing against itself
from the middle, and try to pronounce it from that point. There is plenty of air that runs
with this letter.
is the second letter from this area is pronounced from the same point, but has
more of a rolling sound. One Quran teacher described the sound as of that of a camel. It
may not be practical for the reciter to find a camel and practice this sound that way, so
listening to a Quran tape and trying to imitate the sound of the reciter will work well
instead.
The last two letters also need practice to achieve a correct pronunciation.
is often mispronounced as a k by non-Arabs. The k is not articulated from
the throat, rather it is articulated from the posterior portion of the tongue and the roof of
the mouth.
many times is mispronounced as a g like the first g in the word garage.
One way of finding the articulation area is by gargling. The sound emitted with a deep
gargle is close to the Arabic letter.

Chapter (3) (Part 4) - Articulation Points of the Deepest Part of the Tongue

There are two letters that use the deepest part of the tongue in articulation. They are
and .
Is articulated from the deepest part of the tongue and what lies opposite to it
from the roof of the mouth in the area of the soft palate.
Is articulated from the deepest part of the tongue and what lies opposite to it
from the roof of the mouth in the area of the hard palate. This letter is closer to the
mouth than the .
Common Mistakes in these letters
The non-Arab has more than a few common mistakes with these two letters. The first
letter, is not a common letter in other languages, and even the Arabs have
substituted this letter for others in different colloquial Arabic dialects. Egyptians and
Shaamis substitute a hamzah for the in their dialect. The Gulf Arabs use a
g sound in their dialect for this letter.
There are two mistakes in articulating this when reciting the Quran. Usually it is a
problem in the articulation point. Either the letter is articulated on the hard palate or
close to it, so it ends up sounding like an English k, or the letter is pronounced not from
the tongue, but from the throat, and the resultant incorrect sound is a cross between a

and a . Native English speakers tend to make the first type of error, and
Muslims of eastern origin tend to make the second type of error.
is often mispronounced at an articulation point further back in the mouth than
the correct articulation point. The resultant letter is often closer to a than the
correct desired sound. Muslims from the East, such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
the Philippines tend to have this error. Native English speakers sometimes pronounce
this letter a little further back in the mouth than is totally correct so there is no air heard
with the letter. In truth, there should be a running of air when this letter is pronounced
correctly.

Chapter (3) (Part 5) - Areas of the Tongue used for Articulation
There are four areas of the tongue used for articulation. The deepest part, the middle, the
sides, and the tip. The following picture helps pinpoint these areas.

Middle of the Tongue
Three letters use the middle of the tongue for their articulation. They are
, , and the
These three letters are articulated from the middle of the tongue and what lies opposite to
it from the roof of the mouth. This means the middle of the tongue collides with the roof
of
the mouth when these letters are articulated without a vowel, and the middle of the
tongue separates with strength from the roof of the mouth when the letters are voweled.
The ya here is not the medd letter ya, which was previously stated to be articulated from
the non specific area of the empty space in the throat and mouth. The medd letter ya is a
ya saakinah preceded by a kasrah, NOT a fath. When the ya saakinah is preceded by a
fath, this currently discussed articulation point is used.
Common mistakes in these letters
The mistakes that may occur with these letters tend to more in the area of characteristics
than in the specific articulation point, but not exclusively so. The is often
mispronounced by Arabs and non Arabs alike, with a running of the sound, like the
French j. This letter, in Arabic, is a strong letter, and there is imprisonment of the
running of the sound, and imprisonment of the running of air. To pronounce it correctly,
first make sure the middle of the tongue is being used, and not the anterior portion of the
tongue, then concentrate on not letting any sound and air run out when saying the letter.
can be articulated incorrectly, especially by those with a significant overbite.
Those that may have an overbite have to take the extra measure of protruding the lower
jaw until the bottom and top teeth are aligned. It may take a little practice, but is indeed
possible to pronounce it correctly, even with the overbite. There is a lot of air that fills
the mouth and runs out with this letter. Westerners sometimes pronounce this like the
English sh, which has a more forward position than the Arabic .
The sometimes mistakenly is articulated with an accompanying
running of air. This letter should not have air running with it, so care needs to be taken to
control the air and suppress its excessive outward flow.

Chapter (3) (Part 6) - The Teeth


Chapter (3) (Part 7) - The Side of the Tongue


There are two letters that use the side of the tongue for articulation.
They do not use the same part of the side of the tongue, rather the uses the
posterior two thirds of the side (or edge) of the tongue, and the uses the anterior
one third (closest to the mouth) portion of the side of the tongue.
The letter
This letter is articulated from the one or both sides of the tongue and from the molars and
the gum area next to the molars. The posterior one third of the side of the tongue is used
for this letter. This letter can be articulated from one side (right or left) of the tongue
alone, or from both sides of the tongue simultaneously.
has the characteristic of compression of the sound, as well as tafkheem
(heaviness), so the deep part of the tongue raises up when pronouncing it and compresses
the sound at the same time.
Common mistakes in the letter
The takes practice, patience, and dua to perfect its articulation. The most
common mistake in its pronunciation is using the tip of the tongue instead of the side
(posterior one third). The resultant sound then is that of a . Using the middle of
the tongue and what opposes it of the middle of the roof of the mouth is another common
error. The resultant sound is sort of like a heavy .
Some Arabs even sometimes have difficulty pronouncing correctly. Some areas
of the Arab world consistently pronounce this letter using the tip of the tongue and the
teeth and the resultant sound is exactly that of a . This is most noted in Sudan.
Another less common mistake is of going too far back to articulate it; back to the throat,
in this case the sound is similar to a swallowing sound mixed with a letter.
The letter
This letter has the widest articulation points of all the Arabic letters. It is articulated from
the anterior one third of the sides of the tongue until the sides end at the tip, and what lies
opposite to them of the gums of the two top front incisors, the two top lateral incisors, the
two top canines, and the two top premolars. The articulation of this letter is then in the
shape of an arc, with both sides until the tongue ends at the tip meeting up with with
gums of all the mentioned teeth. It is to be noted that it is a fine line of the sides of the
tongue that meets up with the gums, and it does not include the top of the tongue. The
articulation of the is an upward movement, not a forward movement like L is in
English.
Common mistakes in the letter
The most common mistake is that of using just the tip and not the sides of the tongue to
pronounce this letter, and the resultant sound is that of a noon, since the noon is
articulated very close to the . Another mistake for native English speakers is
pronouncing using the underside of the tongue and the actual plates of the two front
teeth. The resultant sound is a heavy sound, just as the English L.


The Tip of the Tongue
(part one)

Chapter (3) (Part 8- a) The Tip of the Tongue
Articulation points of the and the
The letter
This letter is articulated from the tip of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the
gum of the two front top incisors. is articulated a bit forward on the gums from
the place of the .
This letter is not always pronounced clearly, and the articulation point is only applied
when it is pronounced clearly, namely when it has a vowel on it, or if it has a sukoon on it
and is followed by one of the following six letters:

The rules for the when it has no vowel (saakinah), and is not followed by one of
the above six letters, will be explained later, insha Allah.
Common mistakes in this letter
The mistakes with this letter tend to be few. The most common mistake is that of using
too large an area of the tongue and including the top of the tongue, instead of just the tip.
The letter
This letter is emitted from the tip of the tongue with the top of the tip and what lies
opposite to it of the gums of the two front top incisors. The tip with the top of the tip
need to strike the gums to produce this sound correctly. There should be no trilling of the
tongue when pronouncing this letter.
Common mistakes in this letter
The first and most common mistake in the is not striking the tip with the top of
the tip to the gums. The English r is articulated without the tongue striking on any part
of the mouth, so many native English speakers have to practice a bit to say the
correctly. One should physically feel the tongue hit the gum of the two top front
incisors.
Another mistake that some have is using the soft tissue behind the gum for a striking
place for the tongue. It is quite difficult to get the tip and the top involved when the soft
tissue area is used, so the resultant sound is deep and rolling, but not correct.
Still other make the aforementioned error of repeated trilling of the tongue when
pronouncing the . The scholars have cautioned against this. This usually can be
fixed by leaving a small space for the sound to run out at the very tip of the tongue. If the
tip is up tight against the gum, there is no place for the sound to run, pressure builds up
and can only released by the incorrect excessive trilling.

Chapter (3) (Part 8- b) The Tip of the Tongue
The articulation point of the
These letters are pronounced from the top side of the tip of the tongue and the gum line of
the two front upper incisors. The gum line is exactly where the gum meets the teeth. The
part of the tongue used in these letters is a small part of the top of the tip, not any farther
back than the very tip area.
Common mistakes in these letters
The mistake that occurs most often in these letters is using the soft elevated area behind
the gum instead of the gum line. The English t and d are articulated at this position
which is further back in the mouth than the Arabic and . When these
letters are emitted back too far, their sound gets heavy. Another problem that may occur
in all of the letters in this group is not using just the top of the tip, but instead using a
large portion of the top of the tongue. This is common in Urdu speaking Muslims as well
as native English speakers, and it contributes to a heavy sounding letter.
is a letter that has both tafkheem (heaviness) and sticks to the roof of the
mouth. It is the strongest of all the letters of the Arabic language. The most common
mistake (outside of the above mistakes) in this letter is not getting it strong enough, as
well as not sticking most of the tongue up to the roof of the mouth while pronouncing
it. Since this letter is not common to many languages, it needs practice to be proficient in
its proper articulation. Listening to a known accomplished reciter can assist in learning
the proper sound for the .


The Tip of the Tongue
(part three)

Chapter (3) (Part 8 - c) The Tip of the Tongue
Articulation points of the
These three letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue and the plates of the two front
top incisors, at a point just above the two front lower incisors. There is a little space left
in between the tip of the tongue and the plates of the teeth when pronouncing these
letters. The term plate refers to the long axis of the tooth, and in this case, the long axis
that is on the internal side, rather than the external side of the teeth.
These letters are also called letters, which means whistle. They are called that
due to the accompany whistle type sound heard when they are emitted properly.
Common mistakes in these letters
The most common mistake that occurs in the three letters as a group is in the lack of
(whistle). Usually this problem is due to a strong overbite. Those that have a large
overbite though, can still learn to pronounce these letters correctly by making a
compensation in the lower jaw. The lower jaw should be protruded until it aligns with
the upper jaw while saying these three letters, and insha Allah they will come out clearly
with the proper whistle sound. A note to remember, the tongue should not press up
against the plates of the teeth or the sound will be incorrectly imprisoned when trying to
say these letters.
Another mistake that occurs singularly in the is not making it heavy enough. It
is one of the tafkheem (heavy) letters, and it also has the characteristic of sticking. If the
is not made heavy enough, it sounds just like, or very close to a . The
sticking of the tongue with the is not at the articulation area, but rather with the
back of the tongue. It sticks to the very back of the soft palate while pronouncing this
letter.


Chapter (3) (Part 8 - d) The Tip of the Tongue
Articulation point of the
These letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue (from the top side of the tip) and the
bottom edges of the two top front incisors. Care should be taken to make sure the top of
the tip is really colliding or separating (depending whether there is no vowel or a vowel)
with the edges of the teeth and not the plates of the teeth.
Common mistakes in these letters
These three letters are some of the most mispronounced letters in the Arabic language by
both Arabs and non-Arabs. The main reason for this is the corruption of pure classical
Arabic and the colloquialization of many letters to other forms. This colloquialization
unfortunately, has carried over to the way some recite the Quran, and with this mistake
the reciter could unintentionally change the intended meaning of the Quran. This error
should be attended to and fixed as soon as possible by the student of the Quran.
The is often mispronounced as a heavy form of z. The reason for this
(mechanically speaking) is not using the top of the tip with the edges of the incisors, and
instead using the back plates of the two front incisors, which as covered in the last tidbit,
is the articulation point for the . It is then
understandable the mechanical reason for this letter to erroneously sound like a z when
the incorrect articulation point is used. The is a letter that has tafkheem, or
heaviness, and that characteristic tends to be present even in the misarticulated form of
the letter, and therefore the heavy z sound. Some transliterations of the Quran, which
we caution against using, write this letter in English as z. This contributes to non-
Arabs also reciting this letter incorrectly.
Some students of the Quran may have the articulation point of this letter correct, but do
not make the necessary tafkheem, or heaviness that is needed when reciting this letter.
The posterior portion of the tongue needs to rise up to the roof of the mouth for tafkheem
to take place.
The is many times mispronounced as a plain z. Again, Arabs as well as non-
Arabs have this error. The solution is again using the top of the tip of the tongue and the
bottom edges of the two top front incisors. There should be enough protrusion of the tip
tongue in all three of these letters so that it is visible to the observer.
The frequently is pronounced as a by mistake. This mistake can occur
with both Arabs and non-Arabs. The same reason as discussed above is the cause for
this: using the wrong articulation point.
In summary the common mistake in these three letters is using the articulation point of
the whistle group of letters instead of their own
unique articulation point. The tip of the tongue needs to collide or separate with the
bottom edges of the two top front incisors, and not the internal plates of the two top
incisors.


Chapter (3) (Part 9) The Articulation Points of Lips
Articulation point of the letter
The articulation point of the is between the inside of the lower lip and the tips
(or edges) of the two top front incisors. This means that there is a meeting of these two
parts of articulation to make the correct sound of this letter.
Common mistakes in this letter
The English letter f uses the middle of the lower lip and the edges or tips of the two
front top incisors. As mentioned above in the articulation point definition of the Arabic
, the inside of the lower lip is used. If the English speaking student of the
Quran does not make a conscience effort to use the inside of the lip, some of the
characteristic of the , namely the running of the sound as well as the breath,
will be imprisoned. The sound will not be a true Arabic then, but an English
f.
Some areas in the Far East do not have an f in their language. The natives of these
countries tend to substitute a p for an f when they are speaking a language that has an
f. This obviously will carry over to the recitation of the Quran when there is a word
with a in it. Practice is needed to pronounce the Arabic , and not
use a p, which does not exist in the Arabic language.
Articulation point of the two lips
There are three letters that are articulated from the two lips, but they do not all three share
the same mechanism in articulation.
The unlengthened is articulated by forming a circle of the two lips without the two
lips meeting completely.
The is articulated by closing the two lips together
The letter is articulated by closing the two lips together, but a stronger closing
than the meem.
Common mistakes in these letters
The is often mispronounced as a v by some Urdu speaking Muslims as well as
Turkish speaking Muslims from Turkey and former Russian republics. This is due to the
absence of in the Turkish dialects, and the presence of both the wow and va in
Urdu. There is no v in Arabic, and v has the same articulation point as the f. This
problem can be overcome by practicing using both lips and pressing on them when
pronouncing the unlengthened . At the beginning much practice will be needed to
overcome this mispronunciation. The student of the Quran may want to make note of all
the unlengthened in a passage he/she is reciting or memorizing, and practice those
phrases or words to make sure they all come out correctly.
Westerners have to take care that they really do put pressure on the two lips when
pronouncing the , otherwise the sound comes out weak like a w, which is not the
same sound as the Arabic .
The is not a letter that commonly has mistakes. The only thing to take heed of is
not to press the lips together too hard.
The sometimes gets air in it, which is not a characteristic of the Arabic ,
and the resultant sound is that of a p, which as stated before, does not exist in the
Arabic language. The pressure on this letter is more on the inside of the lower lip than
the outside, whereas p uses more of the outside of the lips, and has running air with it.
There is an imprisonment of both the running of the sound and the running of the breath
in the letter which makes it a strong letter.

Chapter (4) (Part 1) - The Mechanism of the Formation of Letters

The Quran consists of 114 surahs; each surah consists of a number of aayat; each aayah
consists of a number of words, and each word consists of different letters. We can
therefore state that the smallest unit in the make-up of the Quran is the letter.
Scholars studied letters from the standpoint of articulation points and characteristics of
the letters when pronouncing a letter. If the Quran reader pronounces each letter from its
proper articulation point, with all of each letters characteristics, and can read each letter
properly alone, and in conjunction with other words, he then has achieved high quality in
reading the Quran.
The definition of letter: It is a sound that depends on a defined part or an approximate
part (of articulation).
To understand the definition of a letter we need to understand what sound is.
The Definition of sound: It is vibration and waves in the layers of air that reaches the
human ears. If the air vibrates with a vibration that reaches human hearing levels, then
this vibration is called sound.
Human ears hear sound in the range of 20-20,000 hertz. A hertz is vibrations per second.
If the frequency of sound vibrations is higher or lower than this we cannot hear it. An
example of this is ultrasound. Air vibrates normally in nature in many ways, four
different ways that can produce audible waves are:
1. Strong collision of two bodies. An example of this is clapping of the hands.
2. Parting of two bodies from each other, and between them there is a strong bond.
An example of this is tearing paper.
3. Vibration of a body. For example, a tuning fork.
4. Strong friction of an object on another object. This could be exemplified by
dragging a heavy box on asphalt.
The Articulating Mechanism that Allah, the Exalted, Gave Humans
Human articulation uses some of the previous mentioned methods of causing sound in
voweled and non-voweled letters. The following explains how the sound of the letters is
formed in human articulation.
1. Non-Voweled letters
A. It occurs by the collision ( ) of two components of the articulation
parts. There is no accompanying jaw or mouth movement that occurs with
voweled letters. This is for all non-voweled letters except the medd and leen
letters, and the qalqalah letters. An example is . The meem occurs by
collision of the two lips.
B. It occurs by vibration of the vocal cords in the throat and does not
occur by a collision between two components the articulation parts. This is
only for the medd and leen letters (when there is a medd leen). The medd
and leen letters (when there is a medd leen) do have accompanying
movement of the mouth and jaw. The lengthened alif is accompanied by the
opening of the mouth. The lengthened is accompanied by a circling
of the lips. The lengthened is accompanied by the lowering of the
jaw. An example can be found in the two joined words or the
word . The sound of the medd letters comes from vibration of the
vocal cords, with the accompanying mouth and jaw movement.
The next tidbit lesson, insha Allah, will discuss how voweled letters are formed.


Chapter (4) (Part 2) - The Mechanism of the Formation of Letters
2. Voweled letters
Voweled letters occur by the parting ( ) of two components of the
articulating parts. The sound of all letters occurs like this when voweled.
Accompanying the parting of the articulation bodies is the appropriate mouth
and jaw movements for the written vowel.
a) Opening of the mouth. This occurs with a fat-h
b) Circling of the lips. This happens with a dhammah.
c) Lowering of the jaw. This happens with a kasrah.
An example is in the following:
occurs by the separation of the two lips and the opening of the mouth.
occurs by the separation of the two lips and the circling of the lips.
occurs by the separation of the two lips and the lowering of the bottom
jaw.
All vowels must sound like a shortened version of its origin. The alif is the origin
of the fat-h, the long is the origin of the dhammah, and the long is
the origin of the kasrah. The reader must be careful not to pronounce these vowels
incorrectly, such as when the kasrah is pronounced in between a kasrah and a
fat-hah. Some readers mistakenly open the sides of the mouth for a fat-hah instead
of opening the mouth vertically; the result of this mistake is called imaalah, which
means tilting. Other readers do not make a complete circle of their lips for a
dhammah and the resulting sound is like that of the English O. Another mistake
readers may make is not lowering the jaw completely for the kasrah, and the
resulting sound is that of a short i. We should not let our mouths be lazy; the
correct way of pronouncing vowels need more mouth and jaw action than the
incorrect way. The vowel and letter formation is one of the most important items
of research in the knowledge of tajweed because it is linked to all 29 letters of
Arabic. We must be careful to pronounce these vowel sounds correctly and at the
same time be careful not to put a vowel on a saakinah letter. For example the
word: The has a dhammah, the a sukoon, the second
a dhammah, and the a sukoon. We have to be sure to say the
dhammah on the , then return our mouths to a neutral position for the
, then make a dhammah for the second , then back to a neutral
position for the . This takes practice in the mirror to accomplish the mouth
movement in the proper sequence. The most common mistake in a word like this is
leaving the mouth in a dhammah for the letters that have a sukoon on them. The
resultant sound is like half a dhammah instead of the pure sukoon sound required.
This is even more pertinent with the letter is a qalqalah letter, such as is the case of
the when it has a sukoon on it. The qalqalah should have no vowel sound
accompanying it. The mechanism of the qalqalah will be covered in future tidbit
lessons, insha Allah.

Chapter (5) (Part 1) - Ranks of the Ghunna


Its linguistic definition: It is a sound that is emitted from the nasal passage, without
any function of the tongue.
Its applied definition: A unconditional nasalized sound fixed on the -even if it
is a tanween- and the .
This means that the ghunnah is an inherent sound in the and , whether the
and have a vowel or not.
The letters of the ghunnah: The and the . The noon includes the tanween.

Articulation point of the ghunnah: The opening of the nose that connects with the back of
the mouth (the nasal passage). The fact that the ghunnah is emitted from the nose can be
demonstrated by closing off the nostrils, and trying to emit the sound of the ghunnah. It
is impossible.

Ranks of the ghunnah

There are four levels of the ghunnah:
1. Most Complete
2. Complete
3. Incomplete
4. Most Incomplete

1. Most complete ghunnah ( ) : This is the longest ghunnah. The
with a shaddah and with a shaddah fall into this category, as well as when there is
an (idghaam with a ghunnah). This means when there is a saakinah or
tanween followed by one of the letters in the " " group, or when there is or a
the ghunnah is given its most complete timing. Examples of these are:


,


2. Complete ghunnah ( ): This is the second longest ghunnah. The hidden
and ikhfa shafawee (hidden ) fall into this category. When the
saakinah or saakinah are followed by one of the letters of ikhfa the ghunnah that
results from this ikhfa is the complete in its timing, but not as long as the most complete
ghunnah. Examples of this are:


3. Incomplete ghunnah ( ): This ghunnah is shorter in timing than the complete
ghunnah. The saakinah and saakinah that are recited with , or
clearly, are in this category of length of ghunnah. Examples are:



4. Most incomplete ghunnah ( ): This is the shortest ghunnah of all. The
and with vowels are in this category of length of ghunnah.

Note: The difference in timing between these different categories of ghunnah is very
minute. Only an experienced reader and listener can tell the difference.
To say the ghunnah with complete technique, it is necessary that the heaviness or
lightness of the letter that follows the of a saakinah is observed during the
ghunnah. If the saakinah or tanween is followed by one of these letters:
the ghunnah then will have tafkheem or in other words, be heavy. This
tafkheem will be the same rank of tafkheem which the next letter will have depending on
its vowel, and whether or not there is an alif after it. The concept of tafkheem and the
ranks of tafkheem will be covered in later tidbit lessons, insha Allah.


Chapter (5) (Part 2) - The Ghunna




The ghunnah is defined as: a nasal sound that is emitted from the nose. This is a required
characteristic of the and . The ghunnah cannot be separated from
these two letters and is an inherent part of their makeup.
The ghunnah is not a letter but a characteristic of these two letters, but it has its own
distinct place of articulation.
The ghunnah is articulated from : the hole in the nose that continues back towards
inside the mouth.
It is a nasal sound coming from the nasopharynx without any influence from the tongue.
If you hold your nose closed you will not be able to produce the ghunnah sound, but the
letters themselves that have this associated sound with them are not articulated from the
nose.
The and with a shaddah
Anytime the letters and have a shaddah on them, they are held for a
length of time, and the ghunnah described above is present during the lengthening.
A shaddah represents two of any letter. When the symbol for a shaddah (a small
) is over any letter, there are two of that same letter recited, the first with a sukoon,
the second with the vowel written above or under the shaddah mark.
The length of time to hold the and that have a shaddah on them cannot be
given in counts, instead the timing must be picked up from a teacher who has a strong
background and has learned their recitation at the hands of masters in recitation. The
concept of two counts for a ghunnah is not a correct concept. The ghunnah has different
timings depending on whether there is a shaddah, or if there is hiding of the or
, or if the two letters are recited clearly with a sukoon on them, or a vowel. The
longest timing for the ghunnah is when there is a shaddah on one of the two letters.
If we take a look at a few aayaat, we can pick out where the and have a
shaddah on them, and therefore the sound of the ghunnah should be lengthened when
reciting them.
The next two aayaat there are three different that have a shaddah on them. They
are in red. Each of them are held for a length of time, equal to each other with a ghunnah
(nasalization) accompanying the lengthening.

In this aayah, there are two different with a shaddah on them. One in the second
word, the other in the third word. Each of them should be held for a period of time, equal
to the other, elongating the sound with a ghunnah emitted from the nose.

Listen to aayah


Chapter (6) (Part 1) Special Words for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shatibiyyah
That Which is Needed to be Observed for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shaatibiyyah in Some of the Quranic Words
We now start the last section of the tajweed tidbits, the words that are special to Hafs An
Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah
( ).
This section, when finished, will conclude the tajweed lessons in the reading of Hafs an
Aasim.
It has preceded in various lessons that which needs to be observed when reading the
Quran by the way of , either by special mention or
included in the rules of all the different reciters. These words or rules will be mentioned
here so the student will make special note of them.
1. It has been mentioned in previous lessons the two ways of reading the three
words
A. The first allowed way is that of changing the hamzah al-wasl into an alif with a
long six vowel count medd
B. The second allowed way is reading the hamzah al-wasl with of the hamzah,
meaning reading it between a hamzah and an alif with no lengthening.

2. The rule of of the letter into the letter in aayah 176 of surah al-
'Araaf,
was studied in the
mutajaanisaan lessons, as well as the of the into the in surah Hud,
aayah 42 .

3. The word in aayah 11 of surah Yusuf was discussed previously, and there are
two allowed ways of reading the word by ,
A .Merging of the first into the second with (circling of the two lips).
B. Shortening the dhammah of the first to 2/3 of a vowel count ( ), with
: read as

4. The rule of saakinah of the letters at the beginning of surah al-Qalam and Ya-
Seen was studied previously in the saakinah and tanween section. It was stated
that the saakinah at the end of the letter at the beginning of al-Qalam
and the saakinah at the end of the letter at the beginning of Ya-Seen are
read with only when reading in continuum with that which comes next after the
initial letters starting the surahs in the reading of .


5. There are two allowed ways of stopping in the recitation of
on the word in aayah 36 of surah An-Naml.
a. One of the two ways is establishing the extra at the end of the word
b. The other way that is allowed when stopping is eliminating the extra after the
at the end of the word.
The is always present when reading this word in continuum with that which
comes next.

We will continue with the words that have special observance in the recitation of Hafs 'an
'Aasim by the way o

Chapter (6) (Part 2) Special Words for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shatibiyyah
That Which is Needed to be Observed for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shaatibiyyah in Some of the Quranic Words Part 2
We continue the last section of the tajweed tidbits, the words that are special to Hafs An
Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah. The first part is located in the tidbit archives.

5. There are two ways of stopping on:
A. The word in aayah four of surah al-insaan
in the recitation of

1. One of the two ways is establishing the alif at the end of the word
2. The other way is dropping the alif putting a sukoon on the
The alif is dropped in pronunciation when continuing the recitation.

6. The alif in the word in both places is removed when continuing the reading. The
alif of the first one is read when stopping on the word , but is
removed from the second word when stopping on it:

7. It was discussed previously that there are two ways of reading the , with tarqeeq
or tafkheem in the word in aayah 63 of surah Ash-Shu3araa' when stopping in the way
of recitation of .

8. The rule of , and how it is applied was studied. There are four required for








Other Words for
The following are other words not previously discussed to be observed by the reciter when
reading , some of them have two allowed ways of
recitation, and others have only one way. It is necessary that the reciter know and apply the
different allowed ways of reading them so that the authentic way of reciting
is not mixed up and interchanged with another way of
recitation not part of his authentic recitation.
1. Words that are recited with or
A. Words with only:



B. Words read with either a or


C. Read with only



Chapter (6) (Part 3) Special Words for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shatibiyyah
That Which is Needed to be Observed for Hafs an Aasim by the way of Ash-
Shaatibiyyah in Some of the Quranic Words Part 3
We conclude the last section of the tajweed tidbits, the words that are special to Hafs An
Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah. The first two parts are located in the tidbit archives.
We continue with words that were not covered in the previous tidbit lessons.
2. Hafs reads with imaalah, the alif after the in the word which
is in aayah 41 of surah Hud
.
The grand . In this word the fat-h of the is in between a fat-h and a
kasrah, and the alif is in between an alif and a . There is tarqeeq of the
because of the . is when the fat-h approaches the kasrah, and the alif approaches the

3. The word is allowed to be read with either a fat-h or a dhammah of the
in the three places it occurs in aayah 54 of surah Ar-Room.

We must read either all three of them with a fat-h or all three of them with a dhammah
when reciting the ayaah.

4. The second hamzah in the word in aayah 44 in surah FuSSilat
, is read with of the second hamzah between a
hamzah and an alif. There is only one way of reading this word by .

With this lesson, by Allah's Will and Mercy, the tajweed lessons for Hafs 'An 'Aasim by
the way of Shaatibiyyah are concluded. We praise
and thank Allah for allowing these lessons to complete; and ask Allah to make it
beneficial to all the Muslims that know English, and most importantly, that this and all
we do be solely for the sake of Allah's Pleasure.
Insha' Allah, we will be working on the site and soon start lessons on the ten qira'aat, or
ways of recitation, seven by the way of Ash-Shatibiyyah, three by the way of Ad-Durrah,
that are with us in this present day mutawaatir by authentic chains of transmission to the
Messenger of Allah, . May Allah purify our intentions, make it a reality and useful
to the Muslims, Ameen