Tajwid

Lore & Background

Tajwid is a system of rules for the correct pronunciation of Quranic letters, ensuring each letter is given its proper qualities and rights during recitation. The term derives from an Arabic verb meaning enhancement or to make something excellent. The system began to be formalized in the third century of the Hijra (9th century CE) under the Abbasid Caliphate, as the expansion of the Islamic state led to increased pronunciation errors among non-Arab Muslims. The first scholar to compile these rules in writing was Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam (770–838 CE), who named the rules and documented them in his book *al-Qiraat*, covering 25 reciters. Later, Abu Bakr Ibn Mujahid (859–936 CE) limited the recognized recitations to seven in his work *The Seven of the Recitations*. Imam Al-Shatibi (1320–1388 CE) composed a 1,173-line poem outlining the two most famous methods from each of the seven strong imams. Ibn al-Jazari (1350–1429 CE) wrote two major poems, one adding three reciters to make ten, and another of 1,014 lines detailing the ten major reciters. The rules involve 17 emission points for letters located in the throat, tongue, lips, nose, and mouth. They also cover the manner of articulation, including attributes like fricative sounds. Emphatic consonants, called *tafkheem* letters, are pronounced with a heavy accent via pharyngealization or velarization, while other letters have a light accent. The letter *lam* is heavy when accompanied by a *fathah* or *dammah* and light with a *kasrah*; *ra* is only heavy in the word *Allah*, unless the preceding vowel is a *kasrah*. Prolongation rules govern the number of morae for extended sounds. The central Quranic command for measured recitation is found in verse 73:4, and hadith emphasize careful recitation and clear prolongation. Knowledge of the rules is a community duty, with disagreement on individual obligation; changing meaning or grammar through recitation is considered sinful.

Reader's Guide

Tajwid is significant as a system that preserves the pronunciation of Quranic words as pronounced by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ensuring accuracy in recitation. Knowledge of the actual tajwid rules is a community duty (farḍ al-kifāya), with a difference of opinion on individual obligation: Sheikh Zakariyya al-Ansari stated that reciting in a way that changes meaning or grammar is sinful, but clear errors that do not change these are not sinful. The central Quranic verse (73:4) commands measured recitation (tartīl), and hadith emphasize careful articulation and prolongation. The system includes rules for emission points (17 makhārij al-ḥurūf), thickness and thinness of consonants (tafkhīm and tarqīq), prolongation (madd), and the treatment of nūn sākinah and tanwīn (iẓhār, iqlāb, idghām, ikhfāʼ). These rules have been transmitted through generations of reciters, with key scholars like Abu Ubaid, Ibn Mujāhid, Al-Shatibi, and Ibn al-Jazari codifying them into written works that remain major references.

Did You Know?

• The Arabic definite article al- is pronounced differently depending on whether the following letter is 'solar' (assimilated) or 'lunar' (pronounced).
• There are 17 emission points (makhārij al-ḥurūf) for the letters, located in the throat, tongue, lips, nose, and mouth.
• The word tartīl in Quran 73:4 means to articulate slowly, carefully, and precisely.