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13. SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (4) Letter “l” لand letter “r” ر Letter “l” لis always pronounced lightly. But when it is in the lafẓ al-jalālah (the exalted term), namely, “Allah” للا, ّهit could be pronounced with tafkhīm, namely, strongly or with tarqīq, namely softly or lightly. It is pronounced strongly if: a. it is standing alone, or in the beginning of the verse, such as “Allāh” ألل, ّهAllāhu akbar للا هأَ ْك َبر َه, Allāhu lladhī .. (not Allāhu alladhī) للا ههالَّذِي ّه... b. it is preceded by a letter with fatḥah, such huwa llāh للا ه َههو ه ّه, (not huwa Allāh), subəḥānallāh للا انه ّه ( هسب َْح َهnot subəḥāna Allāh) c. it is preceded by a letter with ḍammah, such as ‘abədullāh ّللا َع ْب ههد ه ه (not ‘abədu Allāh) , raḥmatullāh للا ( َرحْ َم ههة ه ّهnot raḥmatu Allāh) , salāmullāh للا ( َسالَ ههم ه ِهnot salāmu Allāh), ṣalātullāh للا صالَهةه ه ِه َ (not ṣalātu Allāh). It is pronounced lightly if it is preceded by a letter with kasrah, such as al-ḥamdu lillāh لل ْال َح ْم ههده ِ ِه, and bismillāh للا ِبسْه ِهمه ِه. Letter “r” رis pronounced strongly, if: a. its vowel is fatḥah, such as: raḥmah َرحْ َمه, barakah َب َر َكه, rabbanā َر َّب َنا, and raḥīm ر ِحيْم. (Remember run, rough, rug, Russia). In َ order to pronounce letter “r” رstrongly, the Javanese people (the natives of Central and Eastern Java) in Indonesia pronounce “ra” as “ro”, so that they say: roḥmah, barokah, robbanā and roḥīm. Even the “l” in “Allāh” they pronounce strongly and become “Allôh”, and therefore, they say roḥmatullôh للا َرحْ َم ههةه ّه. ( …ra…)1 1
The Javanese (not to be confused with “Japanese”) people are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. They live in Central and Eastern Java. According to the year 2011 statistic they are approximately 100 million people representing 45 % of the total population of Indonesia, and the vast majority of them are Muslims. They have their own script called Hanacaraka (Carakan) derived from their alphabet ha na ca (pronounced “cha”) ra ka. As the dominant vowel in Javanese is “o” they pronounce it as ho no co ro ko. This is more evident in their names, such as: Yudhoyono (former president), and Joko Widodo (present president), and Dipo Negoro (An Indonesian hero). No wonder that in emphasizing “ra” they pronounce it as “ro”, and “Allah” as “Alloh”, as above.
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b. its vowel is ḍammah, such as: rubbamā هر َّب َما, yakhrūjuج ه َي ْخ هر هه (Remember rumour, ruler, rubie) (…ru…) c. its vowel is sukūn, but preceded by a letter with fatḥah, .. ar ) ْ(ــَر, such as Maryam )( َمرْ َيم, marḥaban. Remember: harmony, army. (…ar…) d. its vowel is sukūn, but preceded by a letter with ḍammah, such as burhān بهرْ َهان, qurbān قهرْ َبان, qur’ān( ههقهرْ آنههRemember survey, furniture, purchase) (…ur…) e. its vowel is sukūn for stopping, and is preceded by “waw” or “alif” with sukūn, namely, …ūr ()وْهرْه, and ār ) (ــَار, such as: ْ al-jabbār… (ال َجبَّارْ ) ه ْ هRemember: “room, car” al-ghafūr … ) ْ(أل َغفه ْور, (…ūr. and …ār.) f. its vowel is sukūn, but preceded by a letter called hamzah al-waṣl, )“ ( َهم َْزةه ه ْا َلوصْ لconjunctive hamzah” linking with the word that preceds it. It is usually put either on the top of the letter alif )(أ with a ḍammah ) (أهor with a fatḥah )َ ه(أor under the letter alif )(إ, and therefore it sounds “i”, and then the letter alif itself is called hamzah al-waṣl without the letter hamzah )(ء. When it is alone it is pronounced clearly, such as irji‘ ) ْ(ْهإِرْ ِجع. This alif is dropped in reading when we هconnect it with the word that precedes it. For example: irji‘ ()إِرْ ِجعْه, but farji‘( َفارْ ِجع)ه, not fa ’irji‘ . irḥam )(اِرْ َحم, but rabbirḥamبهارْ َحم)ه َ (ر َ , not rabbi ‘irḥam. This additional alif indicates du’a (supplication), request and command, and therefore, it has to be there, although it is not part of the original letters of the words, r-j-‘ )ع-ج- ه(رand r-ḥ-m ه )(رـهحه– هم. Otherwise, if the letter is original, then the letter رhas to be pronounced weakly, such as firdaws ( )فِرْ د َْوسwhere the letter “f” ) (فis original part of the word. ([i]r…)ه As it is not easy to identify the hamzah al-waṣl in the verses of the Qur’an for people who do not understand Arabic, and most of the Muslims are non-Arabs, a small letter ṣād ) ه(صis put on the top of the letter alif replacing the hamzah in order to
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avoid reading it. However, if a word starts with ist the “i” is most probably a hamzah al-waṣl (hamzatu ‘l-waṣl). For example: istakbara (ه إِسْ َت ْك َب َهرhe became arrogant) wa stakbra“( َواسْ َت ْك َب َهرand he became arrogant”), and the “i” is gone istaghfir “( إِسْ َت ْغفِرْهask forgiveness!”) fa staghfir “( َفاسْ َت ْغفِرْهthen ask forgiveness!”), and the “i” is gone. In the English language if I say “bread n butter,” “wait n see,” and “what s matter,” you will know that what I mean is “bread and butter,” “wait and see,” and “what is the matter,” respectively.2 g. its vowel is sukūn, but it is succeeded by one of the letters of isti‘lā’ (i.e., kh هخ- ṣ ص- ḍ ض- gh غ- ṭط- q ق- ẓ)ظ, such as qirṭās 3 قِرْ َطاس, firqah فِرْ َقه, and mirṣād صاد َ ْمِر.…( ه هrq…, …rkh… etc.) In the word arḍ أَرْ ضboth letter “r” and “ḍ” that follows it have to be pronounced strongly. In English the letter ḍ is replaced with letter th, and it becomes “earth”, whereas in German it is replaced with letter d, and it becomes “erde”. Whenever you find letter “r” followed by a letter difficult to pronounce in a word, or not found in your language, be careful, you might have to stress both letters, like the word arḍ above. (r + kh gh q ṣ ḍ ṭ ẓ). To 2
In one of his cowboy movies John Wayne in early 50s asked about his boy, “Where’s boy” which was understood by my English teacher, Mr. Isa Rasyidi, but not by me, as the word “the” was not clearly said, if ever. For the word “transportation” the Americans say “transptation”. To go “to the station” the Germans say zum Bahnhof where the letter “h” of “hof” is almost unheard. 3 As these seven letters of isti‘lā’ are always pronounced with tafkhīm (strongly, with emphasis), when they are followed with fatḥah (vowel “a”), the Javanese َ people tend to pronounce it as “o”, such as: firqoh فِرْ َقه, sôdiq صـادِق, َ zôlim ظالِم, kholaqo َخلَ َقهand qôla ل َقا َه. In order to avoid being fallen in to the pit of laḥn, I suggest that the mouth should be open a little to make sound “a”. Therefore, we say firqoah, soadiq, zoalim, khoalaqoa, and qoala (sounds like “koala”), rather than qôla (sounds like “coller”). The examples in their names are those of my friends: Kholidin َخالِ ِهديْن, Toriqارقه َ Mustofa مهصْ َط َفى, and ِ َط, Solihin صالِ ِحيْن, َ Ghoromah غ َرا َمهه.
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remember these four rules, remember: “Purchase rough rubie+rock” or ra – ur –ru –rq, or Nauru Rock (na for ra, uru for ur and ru, and rock for r+q). The rock indicates that it has to be pronounced strongly. Letter “r” رis pronounced weakly, if: a. its vowel is kasrah, i.e., namely, …ri… )...(ــر, such as: rijəsun ِرجْ سه, ِ ma‘rifatun ( َمعْ ِر َفةهRemember river, rigid, ritual) (…ri…) b. it is preceded by a letter with kasrah, namely …ir )(ــِر, on condition that it is NOT preceded by one of the letters of isti ‘lā’ (kh gh q ṣ ḍ ṭ ẓ) such as , such yaghfiru )( َي ْغ ِفره, Firdaws ) (فِرْ َد ْوس. The examples in Arabic are: dirham )(دِرْ َهم, miryah )(مِرْ َيه. (Remember: circus, firm, sir) (…ir…) c. it is preceded by “y” يwith sukūn, namely, …yr )(يْر, such as َ khayr َخيْر, al-baṣyr ( اَ ْلبَصِ يْرRemember tyre, lyric). khabyrun خ ِبيْره, Examples in English: To remember a., b. and c. above, remember the weakening “irritating year” representing ir – ri – yr. Waqf ))و ْقف َ . This term in the science of tajwīd means “stopping, pausing, resting.” It is like having a full-stop (“.”), a comma (“,”), or a semicolon (“;”). When we do this, we have to do it in the right place to avoid changing the meaning, and in the right way to avoid laḥn (solecism, mispronunciation, grammatical mistake). The basic rule in the waqf is to drop the vowel sign (, a, i, in, u, un), except “an” of double fatḥah becomes ”ā” such as: َ َ khalaqa;)خلَ َقه( ه becomes halaq );(خلَ ْق ‘amalan ) ( َع َم االbecomes ‘amalāال) ه ( َع َم َ ه. al-jamali )ج َم ِل (ال َه ْهbecomes al-jamal )(الج َمل ْه, jamalin ه )ج َم ٍل ( َهbecomes jamal )ج َمل ( َه. al-ḥasanu ) (ا ْل َح َسنهbecomes al-ḥasanه ه ْ ; ḥasanun )(ح َسن )(ال َح َسن ص هر ْو َه ن ( َي ْن هyanṣurūna) َ becomes ḥasan )(ح َسن. َ becomes صر ْهونْه ( َي ْن هyanṣurūn); ب ه ( ه َغ ْي ٍهghaybin) and ( َغيْبهghaybun) both become ( َغيْبْهghayb). Words ending with tā’ marbūṭah )( َتاء ه َمرْ بهو َطه, (lit. “tied “t” namely )ة, it turns into “( هh”) when we stop, such as: raḥmatan
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)(رحْ َم اة, َ raḥmatin(رحْ َمةٍ) ه َ , and raḥmatun (رحْ َمة) ه َ all become raḥmah )) َرحْ َمه. However, some people, especially non-Arabs would like to keep the name without change, such as “Hikmat” and “Rahmat” which are the names of my nephews. When the last letter with a vowel is preceded by a letter with sukūn, namely a consonant without vowel, the waqf can be heard only by the reciter and the people close to him, such as: ْر ( َشه ٍهshahrin) becomes ( َشهْرْهshahr); ( هخسْ ٍهرkhusrin) becomes ( هخسْ رkhusr) ; ض فِى ه ْاالَرْ ِ ه (fil-arḍi) becomes ( فِى ه ْاالَرْ ضْهfil-arḍ). In these examples, the sound “r” and “ḍ” are not clear, because they are all with sukūn. The letter ḍiضه ِ is supposed to be pronounced emphatically, because it belongs to the letter of isti‘lā’, but because it loses its ḥarakah, and does not belong to the letters of qalqalah (remember: CaṬ Beta Gamma Delta,)دهجهبهطهقه, then it is pronounced lightly. If it does, then it is pronounced emphatically, such as هفِسْ ْق هfisqə, (compare with مِسْ كك misk). Madd (Prolongation) a. Natural Prolongation (madd ṭabī‘ī). There are three letters with which the prolongation occurs. They are: alif ) (اwhich prolongs the fatḥah (namely, “ā”), yā’ ) (يwhich prolongs the kasrah (namely, “ī”), and waw ()و, which prolongs the ḍammah (namely, “ū”). They are called “the letters of prolongation”, and Arab grammarians call them “the weak letters” )( هحرهوفه هال ِعلَّة, for their ability to prolong vowels (a, i, and u), although they themselves are consonants. Examples: به = َهja = َجاهjā = jaa َ = ba =ه َباbā = baa = َهر ;هra =ه َراهrā = raa; ج به ِ = bi = ِبيbī = bii ; = ِرهri = ِريrī = rii ; ه=ه ِجهji = ِجيهjī = jii = بههbu = بهوbū = buu ; = رههru = رهوrū = ruu ; = جههju = جهوjū = juu b. Prolongation of Hamzah )(ء. The position of hamzah (ه)ءis either: (1) standing alone (ء)هand its vowel is generally fatḥah );( َء (2) sitting on the alif ()أ, and its vowel is either “a” )َه(أor “u”);ه(أه (3) is placed under the alif ()إ, and its vowel is “i” )ِ;(إ (4) sitting on the yā’)(ئ, and its vowel is “i” )ئ ِ (
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(5) sitting on the waw )ه(ؤ, and its vowel is “u”) ه(ؤه The prolongation of hamzah ( )ءoccurs, when a vowel is followed by hamzah, either in one word or two words. In either case the vowel sound has to be longer than normal two taps, between three and six taps, at least three taps. For example: In one word: إِسْ َرا ِئيْلIsraaa’iil (3 taps); but إِسْ مَاعِ يْلIsmaa‘iil (2 taps) ‘ عِ ْز َرا ِئيْلIzraaa‘iil (3 taps); but إِسْ َرا ِفيْلIsraafiil (2 taps). ّ إِنْ ه َشا َءin shaaaAllaah (“If Allah wills”, 3 taps); In two words: هللا ه ْ اع butهال َخ َبره َ َشshaa ‘al-khabar (“the news has spread”, 2 taps). It is very important to be consistent regarding the length of the madd, whether 3, 4 or 6 taps. For exercise we read: = َال هlaa = no; = إِل َهilaaha = god; َّال = إِ هillaa = except; = ّللا هallaah = Allah َالهإِلهlaaaa ilaaha. laaaa becomes longer because it is followed by hamzah. َّ َّ = إِالIlla llaah. In reading one “a” is dropped in illaa, and the هللا ه “a” in allaah, for being a hamzatu ‘l-waṣl. ‘ = َعلَى هalaa = on, upon; للا = ّ هallaah = Allah. If we join them it becomes للا ‘ = َعلَى ّ هala llaah. (“upon Allah”, means “leave it to Allah”). ‘alaa loses one “a” and becomes short, whereas “allaah” loses the first “a” in reading for being a hamzatu ‘l-waṣl. (to be continued) (CIVIC, 17 April, 2015) Bibliography: Denffer, Ahmad von. ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: The Islamic Foundation, 1983 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajwid https://ishfah7.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/belajar-tajwid-al-quran/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet#Hij.C4.81.E2.80.99.C4. AB http://dhezun-notes.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/hukum-tajwidlengkap-dan-mudah.html