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SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (1) What is tajwīd? It is derived from the verb ََ( َج َّودto do well, to make better, to improve). The term tajwīd literally meansَ ََتحَسَيَن (beautification, improvement, betterment) and ( إَتَََقانperfection, mastery, proficiency). Technically, tajwīd is a science dealing with rules to be followed during recitation of the Qur’ān according to what Muslims learned from Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. It means every letter in has to be pronounced properly, and every word in the Qur’ān has to be articulated properly. It is a religious duty to do it when reciting the Qur’ān to the best one’s ability. Arabic is the language of the Qur’ān which has to be recited in its original texts, particularly in prayers. As Islam is embraced by various nationalities other than the Arabs, each of them has its own problems with Arabic language in general, and citing the Qur’ān in particular. French people, for example, although they have letter “h” in their language, but it is not pronounced, such as “hôtel”, and “hôpital,” but when they say them in English, “hotel” and “hospital,” the letter “h” has to be pronounced clearly. They will encounter more problems in Arabic which has two kinds of “h” and which have to be articulated differently, such as the word “ḥalāl” )(حالل َ meaning “lawful, legal” and “hilāl” ) (هاللmeaning "crescent".َ Another problem is articulating the letter “kh”َ)(خ, such as the word “khilāl” َ ) (خاللmeaning “during, between, through; pin, skewer”, but the Dutch and the Germans have no problem with it, as they have it in their languages, such as “gram”, and “doch” respectively. Letter “gh”َ ) (غemitted from the throat is another letter difficult to articulate, such as “ghayr” ) ( َغيرmeaning “other than, different from.” A German student at al-Azhar in Cairo said that articulating letter “gh” in Arabic is close to letter “r” which is also emitted from the throat in German, so that to say ghayr properly it is like saying rayr, but the first “r” is slowly turned into “g”, namely, rgayr. There are two kinds of “t” in Arabic: dental “t” )(ت, such as َ (أَنmeaning “you” (masc.), and the “heavy t” )(ط, such as “anta” )ت
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“ṭayr” ) ََ( َطيرmeaning “a bird”. This letter sounds like letter “t” in the word “time” pronounced in the Australian accent. To make distinction between the two, we put a dot under the heavy letter t, namely, “ṭ” in its transliteration. There are two kinds of letter “k” in Arabic: the normal one is “k” ) (ك, such as “kalb” )( َكلب, meaning “a dog”, and the emitted from the throat k” )(ق, such as “qalb” )( َقلب, meaning “a heart”.َ Apparently, this letter قis not so easy to pronounce, that it is dropped in the Egyptian slang, so that qalb becomes alb, whereas in the Saudi Arabian slang it is replaced with letter “g” so that it is pronounced “galb,” like “gulf” in English. In order to make distinction between the two “k”s, the emitted from the throat “k” is written in its transliteration with “q” (in the earlier transliteration it was written with a dot under letter “k”). There are two kinds of “a” in Arabic: the normal “a” )(أ, which is called alif in Arabic, such as “asā” )(أَ َسى, meaning “to be sad, to be distressed”, and the emitted from the throat “a” )(ع, which is called in Arabic ‘ayn )(ع, such as “‘asā” )( َع َسى, meaning “it might be, it could be”. There are two kinds of “z” in Arabic: the normal “z” )(ز, such as َ َ , meaning “oil”, and “z close to d” َ )(ظـ, such as “ẓālim” “zayt” )(زيت )( َظالم, meaning “a wrong-doer”. For the “z” close to “d” ()ظـ, its transliteration is a dot is put under the letter z, namely, ẓ. There are two Arabic letters which are also hard to pronounce, namely, letterَ(َصits transliteration is a dot under letter s, namely, ṣ) which sounds like the whistle of boiling water in the kettle, such as the word ṣalāt )صالة َ (, meaning “prayer”. The other letter is ( ضits transliteration is a dot put under letter d, namely, ḍ), such as “ḍalāl” 1 )ضالَل َ (, meaning “straying from the right path or from truth, error”). 1
It is said that the Japanese language has no letter “l”, whereas the Chinese languages have no letter “r”, so that the Japanese and the Chinese in learning English will have problem in saying the word “really”, “lorry”, “rarely”. Our Japanese and Chinese Muslim brothers and sisters will confirm or deny this.
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The Arabic language has no letter “p”, so that this letter is replaced with letter “b”, such as “Pakistan” becomes “Bākistān” )(باكستان, “Japan” becomes “Yābān” )(يابان, “Napoleon” becomes “Nābulyūn” )(نابليون, etc. Sometimes names are completely changed in Arabic, such as “Plato” becomes “Aflāṭūn” )(أفالطون, and “Nebuchadnezzar” becomes “Bukhtunaṣṣar” )(بختنصّر. There has been an attempt to invent a new letter for letter “p” in Arabic, namely, three dots: one dot for letter “b”, two dots for letter “y”, and three dots for letter “p”, but so far, this attempt has not been very successful, but adopted in Urdu language. However, in other languages that adopted the Arabic scripts, many new letters have been introduced in their Arabic scripts to accommodate letters not found in Arabic, such as letter “ch” for “church, chair” and letter “g” for “go, get”, letter “ng” for “long, sing” etc. The Urdu language which is the official language of Pakistan and the Persian language of former Persia, now called Iran have adopted the Arabic scripts and invented special scripts to accommodate their respective languages. In order to pronounce Arabic letters properly there are 17 emission points of the letter (makhārij al-ḥurūf). They are located in various regions of the throat, tongue, lips, and nose. Wrong pronunciation would give wrong meaning, such as qalb means “a heart”, whereas kalb means “a dog”. The word maṭar means “rain”, whereas maṭār (with long “a”) means “an airport.” In English we have to make clear distinction in pronouncing words, like: “later, latter, letter, litter, litre, etc.”2 There are two main branches in the knowledge of about tajwīd: The correct pronunciation of letters in different places, and the correct length and emphasis of the vowels under different circumstances. 1. The correct pronunciation of letters in different places, such as the following: 2
A friend from Nigeria when he said “come” it was like saying “comb”, and “mother” like “modern.” I do not know whether this is his own English or the Nigerian English.
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a. Assimilation () إدغام, which is divided into two: (1) Full Assimilation )(إدغام بال غنة, i.e., without nasalization. The sound “n” followed by either letter “l” َ )(لor “r”َ )(ر, the sound “n” ) (نdisappears and the letter “l” or “r” are doubled and become “ll” or “rr”, such as, Ashhadu aN Lāَ (pronouncedَ aLLā) )(أشهدأن َال, … and anna muḥammadaN Rasūlullāh (pronounced muḥammadaR Rasūlullāh) َ (محمدا َ )رسول َهللا. To remember: “suddeNLy” (read “suddeLLy”) and “suNRise” (read “suRRise”) (2) Nasal Assimilation ()إدغام بغنة, occurs when the sound “N” is follows by one of the following letters, the sound “N” disappears and the letters that follow it are doubled, as follows” - “M”)(م, n+m=mm; rasūluN Minhum,, read rasūluMMinhum )( (رسولَمنهمRemember: “iNMate” and read “iMMate”) - “Y” )(ي, n+y=yy maN Yashā’, read maYYashā’ََََ)ََ(منَيشاء (Remember: teN Years read teYYears) - “W” )(و, n+w=ww; hudaN Waraḥmah read hudaW Waraḥmah )(هدىَورحمة (Remember: seveN Weeks read seveWWeeks) - “N”)(ن, n+n=nn jannātuN Na‘īm read jannātuNNa‘īm )( (جناتَنعيمthe same). (Remember: uNNatural), no change! To remember all these, try to read this sentence based on assimilation: “It is suddenly sunrise, but it is unnatural to have an inmate for ten years and seven weeks.” However, there are four exceptions, namely, bunyānَ َ)(بنيان, dunyāَ)(دنيا, qinwānَ)َ(قنوان, and ṣinwānَ)(صنوان. b. Substitution )(إقالب. The sound “N” when it is followed by letter “B” ) (بthe sound “N” turns into “M”. n+b=mb. For example: samī‘uN Baṣīr read samī‘uM Baṣīr )(سميعَبصير (Remember: CaNBerra shoud be read CaMBerra; in bed becomes im bed; umbearable, sumbeam, Hudsom Bay, cannom balls, etc. where sound “n” is turned into “m”.
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(When I wrote “Ibn Ḥanbal” in my writing the editor “corrected” it with “Ibn Ḥambal” as it is pronounced so) c. Intensification )(قلقلة. There are five letters which should be very clearly articulated when they have no vowel, whether in the middle of the sentence or at the end of it. They are: - “Q” )(ق, such as: khalaqnā read khalaqənā,َ)َََ(خلقنا min ‘alaq read min ‘alaqəَ)َ(منَعلق This is extremely important to make it pronounced differently from letter “K” )(ك. “Khalaqənā” ) (خلقناmeans “We have created”, whereas “Halaknā” ) َ(هلكناmeans “We have become perished” - ”Ṭ” )(ط, such as: fiṭrah read fiṭərah; mahīṭ read mahīṭəََ محيط This is also extremely important to distinguish between “Ṭ” َ ) (طand “T” )(ت. “matrūk” ) َ(متروكmeans “heritage, legacy, (something) left” whereas “maṭərūqə”َ ) (مطروقmeans “(something) much frequented, much traveled, much discussed (subject)”. In the past we had ghalatَ ) (غلتwhich means “mistake” in calculation, but no longer found in modern Arabic dictionary, and ghalaṭə ) (غلطwhich is mistake in general sense. -“B” )(ب, such subḥānallāh read subəḥānallāh )(سبحانَهللا waqab read waqabəَ)ََََ(وقب This is also important to distinguish between “B” ( )بand “F” )(ف. ”Kasabəta” )(كسبت ََ َ means “you have earned, you win”, whereas “kasafta” )(كسفت ََ َmeans “you have reproved (s.o.)”. “J” )(ج, such as yaj‘alūna read yajə‘alūna;َََََ)(يجعلون burūj read burūjə.ََََ)(بروج “D” )(د, such as yadkhulūna read yadəkhulūna )(يدخلون yalid read yalidəَ)َ(يلد This is also important to make distinction between “D” ()د and “T” ()ت. yudəriku َ ) َ(يَدركmeans “he understands, he realizes”, whereas yatruku )َ(يتركmeans “he leaves”.
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In order to remember these 5 letters, 2 are not available in English letter: ( قin transliteration “q”), and ( طin transliteration “ṭ”), and we joined them and becomes قط, pronounced “qiṭṭ” which means “cat”. The other three letters we remember the second, the third and the fourth letters of the classical Arabic alphabet, أبجد, namely, َ َب, ج, and د, or of the Greek alphabet, (Alpha α), Beta (β), Gamma (γ), Delta (δ), representing the three letters, B, J and D. If we read surūt al-Ikhlāṣ (chaper 112) we shall see that all of its five verses end with letter “d”, and should be articulated clearly, namely, “…də.” For walam yakuN lahū read walam yakuLLahū ()ولم َيكن َله. Remember “suddenly” becomes suddeLLy. The chapter which follows it, sūrat al-Falaq (chapter 113), its five verses end with “Q” twice, with “B” once, and with “D” twice, all should be clearly articulated, namely, …qə, …bə, and …də. Sūrat al-Masad (chapter 111) four of its five verses end with “B”, and the last verse ends with “D”, all have to be articulated clearly. For abī lahabiN Wattabb read abī lahabiWWatabbə )(أبي َلهب َوتب. Remember seveN Weeks read seveWWeeks As Muslims, whatever background we come from and whatever mother-tongue we have, we need to learn reading the Qur’ān properly as good as we can, to avoid what the Arabs call laḥn (mispronunciation). We do not want to say, for example, “a dog” (kalb) when we mean “a heart” (qalb). (To be continued) (Civic, 20 March, 2015) Sources: Denffer, Ahmad von. ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: The Islamic Foundation, 1983 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajwid
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SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (2) When we introduce foreign words into English, sometimes we have to pronounce them as they are in order to be understood by people, such as Grand Prix (read “groŋ prie”; French, lit. “Grand Price”)1, ballet (Fr., read “balei”) dance, Giro d’Italia (read as “jiro ditalia” lit. “Italian tour”). As letter “z” is pronounced “ts” in Italian, we are supposed to say “pitstsa” for “pizza”, and “piatstsa” for “piazza” meaning “a place, a square. “Caffé e latte” and “café au lait” are nothing but “coffe-milk” made respectively in Italian and French way. As letter “j” is pronounced as a weak “h” in Spanish, the name José should pronounced “(H)osé” (for Joseph), and marijuana as mari(h)uana. Since the invention of “cheese burger” people might think that hamburger is made of ham which is not supposed to be so. The word is derived from the city “Hamburg” in Germany. And hamburger is originally (1) ground or chopped beef made into round flat cake and fried, (2) sandwich or bread roll filled with this. Any hamburger has to be with beef, and not with ham. If the meat is replaced by cheese, then it is called cheese burger. Even in the English language, American, Canadian, Australian and British English from which King’s English became the standard and educated English, they have some differences in their accents and slangs. When the American says “a letter” the sound is like saying “a ladder”, and when the Australian says “nine” it is as he is saying “neun” (9) in German. When an American tourist asked a Birtish man about the “Comedy Theatre” he did not understand it, because what he thought was “Cormedy Theatre”. When I asked for 1
The term Grand Price may refer to competitions, such as Shanghai Golden Grand Prix; to Racing, such as Grand Prix Motor Racing; to Combat Sports, such as International Wrestling Grand Prix; to Chess, such as, Grand Prix Attacks (a chess opening); to Equestrianism, such as, Grand Prix (horse race); to Awards, such as Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival); to Video games, such as, Formula One Grand Prix (video game)
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“shipping bags” at the department store in Montreal, the girl who worked in the store did not understand me, until I found them myself and told her that these were what I wanted. She said she did not understand me, because she thought I was saying “sheeping bags”. Arabic language and its various dialects and slangs are more devastating for non-Arabs who learn classical or modern written Arabic, al-‘Arabiyyah al-Fuṣḥá )(العربية الفصحى, like the one used in the Qur’an. The common expression for “yes” in the Arab world besides na‘am is iywā or aywā which is originally from iy wallah (إي (وهللاmeaning meaning “yes, by Allah”. Learning Arabic in the Middle-East you are also to be familiar with the slang of the area you are visiting. When I taught Lebanes school children the word ummī meaning “my mother”, they said that it should have been immī. I told them, it was in Lebanese slang, only understood by Lebanese and some other Arabs, whereas ummī, was understood by the whole Arabs as well as non-Arabs who know Arabic, because it was a classical and modern standard Arabic. Similarly, the term bayyī and khayyī stand for abī and akhī meaning “my father” and “my brother” respectively. The verses of the Qur’an were revealed murattal, i.e., cafrefully and precisely articulated, slowly recited in chanting manner, as well as mujawwad, i.e, verses read with correct and good pronunciation. The science of tajwīd was orally taught by the teacher to his students through repeated readings until they master it. The teacher read the verses of the Qur’an to his students, and the students listened to him. Next, the students read them, and the teacher listened to them and corrected their mistakes. There had not been any guided book for teaching tajwīd until the 4th century of A.H. when the science of tajwīd was introduced as knowledge by itself. The first who laid down the rules of tajwīd were the leaders of readings and languists at the beginning of the era of compilation. Some said it was laid down by al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad (100-170/718786)2, others said it was by Abū ’l-Aswad al-Du’alī (16BH-69/603– 2
Al-Khalil bin Ahmad was one of the great masters in the science of Arabic grammar, and the discoverer of the rules of prosody.
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688)3, and another view is that it was laid down by Abū ‘Ubayd alQāsim ibn al-Sallām (157-224/774-839)4 The impact of the increase of Islamic conquest and the conversion of many non-Arabs to Islam, led to the mixure of Arabic with non-Arabic languages, and many Arabic words were wrongly pronounced. In order to save the Qur’an from this laḥn (mispronunciation) it became necessary to teach them the proper pronunciation through the science of tajwīd. Dots and vowel signs were put in the verses of the Qur’an, whereas in the ‘Uthmanic codex, there were only consonantal skeletons, and there was neither dots, nor vowel signs. The first who compiled and composed on the tajwīd which he called “( حسن األداءgood rendition”) was Abū Muzāḥim al-Khāqānī (d. 325 AH) in the form of poetry consisting of 51 lines. The term tajwīd at that time was not well-known yet.5 He urged the Qur’an reciter to to improve his recitation. He said: أحسِ ن أداءه،“( أيا قارئ القرآنO reader of the Qur’an, master its rendering”). Then many authors wrote on this subject, such as Abū ‘l-Faḍl al-Rāzī (371-454/981-1062), who wrote “( فضائل القرآن وتالوتهThe Virtue of the Qur’an and its Reading”), and ‘Abd al-Wahhāb al-Qurṭubī (d. 461 AH)) who wrote الموضح في “( التجويدthe Illustrator in the Tajwīd”). There are four positions or the sound “n” in its relation with letters following it, namely: a. Assimilation ) ;(إِ ْد َغامb. Substitution ) ;(إِ ْقالبc. clarity ( ;)إِ ْظ َهارand d. Concealment )(إِ ْخ َفاء. We have dealt
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Abū ’l-Aswad was a close companion of Ali ibn Abi Talib and a grammarian. He was the first to place markings on consonants and vowels on Arabic letters to clearly identify them. He was the first to write on Arabic linguistics, and is said to be the first to write a book on Arabic grammar (nahw) which he took from the caliph ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. 4 Al-Wāsim Ibn al-Sallām was a linguist. In 192/807 became judge in Ṭarṭūs (Tortosa, a small coastal town in Syria) for 18 years and died in Makkah. 5 ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd, one of the Companions of the Prophet, was reported to have said: “Render the reading of the Qur’an ith the best “Read the Qur’an with the best rendering, and decorate (beautify) it with your best voice.” ( ) ج ّو دوا القرآن وزينوه بأحسن األصوات
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with the assimilation and the substitution in the prevous khuṭbah and shall deal with the clarity and concealment as follows: c. Clarity ()إِ ْظ َهار There are six letters which have to be pronounced clearly whenever they follow the sound “n”. The sound “n” itself has to be sounded clealy as well. These letters are called “letters of clarity”. They are: ( أalif) or ( ءhamzah), its sound could be “a”, “i”, or “u”. Example: maN Adbara, read maN Adəbara, َمنْ أَ ْد َب َر ‘adhābaN Alīmā, read ‘adhābaN Alīmā َع َذابًا أَلِ ْي َما ‘( عayn), its sound could be “ ‘a”, “ ‘i”, or “ ‘u” Example: maN ‘Amila, read man ‘Amila, َمنْ َع ِم َل mā’uN ‘Adhbun, read mā’uN ‘Adhbun ٌَما ٌء َع ْذب َ أَ ْن َع ْم an‘Amta read an‘Amta ت ( غgh, ghayn), its sound could be “gha”, “ghi”, or “ghu” Example: miN GHillin, read miN GHillin مِنْ غِ ل mā’aN GHadaqā read mā’aN GHadaqā ما َ ًء َغ َد َقا ( حḥ, ḥā’), its sound could be “ḥa”, “ḥi”, or “ḥu” Example: rizqaN Ḥalālan read rizqaN Ḥalālan َِر ْز َقا َحالل ً َْقر qarḍaN Ḥasanan, read qarḍaN Ḥasanan ضا َح َس ًنا ( خkh, khā’), its sound could be “kha”, “khi”, or “khu” Example: miN KHilālih read miN KHilālih مِنْ خِاللِه iN KHiftum read iN KHiftum إِنْ ِخ ْف ُتم ( هـh, hā’), its sound could be “ha”, “hi”, or “hu” Example: iN Huwa, read in Huwa ;إنْ ه َُو miNHum read miNHum ِم ْن ُه ْم The way to remember these clearly pronounced six letters after the sound “n” is by putting six words into one line of poetry. The first letter of these words is one of the six letters to remember. The first part of this line of poetry runs as follows: َ ك عِ ْلمًا َح ... * ازهُ َغ ْي ُر َخاسِ ِر َ أَ ِخيْ َها “My brother, here is knowledge whoever gets it will not become loser…”
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For those who do not know Arabic, may be just to say the expression “Ah!” A=a+‘a=gh ) أ+ ع+ ;(غH=h+ḥ+kh ( هـ+ ح+ )خ (Letter غwhich should be included is letter عwith a dot on it) d. Concealment )(إِ ْخ َفاء There are fifteen letters when it is preceded by sound “n” this sound should be concealed, although not completely. These letters are as follows: tā’()ت, thā’ ()ث, jīm ()ج, dāl () د, dhāl ()ذ, zay ()ز, sīn ()س, shīn ()ش, ṣād ()ص, ḍād () ض, ṭā’ ( )ط, ẓā’()ظ, fā’ ()ف, qāf ()ق, and kāf ()ك. These letters may be difficult to remember, but through practice they will be remembered. If we remember the letters in assimilation, substitusion, and clarity, all of the remaining Arabic alphabets belong to this category of concealment. Examples: - ت, ُك ْن ُت ْم, kuntum read kuntum, like content we say content, just the equivalent of the French content. - ث, مِنْ َث َم َراتmin thamarāt read min thamarāt like anthem we say anthem - ج, إِ ْنجيْلInjīl (Bible) read Injīl, like enjoy read enjoy. It is like French enjoué (playful) - د, ‘ عِ ْن َد ُه ْمindahun read ‘indahum, like tendency we say tendency. It is the equivalent of the French tendance (tendency, leaning) - ذ, ْ َفأ َ ْنذِرfa’andhir read fa’andhir, like in this we read in this - ز, ُم ْن ِزلِيْنmunzilīn read munzilīn, like ANZAC read ANZAC, - س, ُت ْن َسىtunsā read tunsā, like insist, we say insist. It is like the French ensuite (then, later) - ش, َف َمنْ َشا َء, faman shā’a read faman shā’a, like sunshine we say sunshine, like the French mon choix (my choice) - ص, صار َ أَ ْنanṣār read anṣār, close to insomnia read insomnia. (Fr. ensomnie). Although letter ( صṣ) is not found in English (as well as many other languages(, the sound is almost like s in the Australian accent when the say the word “side”, “inside” (also probably in French when they say incendie (fire).
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- ض, ضل َ ْ َف َمن, faman ḍalla read faman ḍalla. Since we do nto have this letter in English, it would be better to remember Nelson “Mandella”, close to faman ḍalla. - ط, ِمنْ طِ يْن, min ṭīn read min ṭīn. This ( طṭ) letter is not found in English (as well as many other languages), the sound is almost like “t” in the Australian accent when the say the word “time”, (also probably in French when they say the name Antoin) ُ أ ُ ْن, unẓur read unẓur. We do not have this sound in English. - ظ, ظر - ف, ون َ ُ ُي ْن ِفق, yunfiqūna read yunfiqūna; for infant, we say infant. It is the equivalent of the French word enfant (child). - ق, ُ َي ْن َقلِب, yanqalibu read Yanqalibu. We do not have this sound in English, but probably close to “inquiry”. - ك, ِم ْن ُك ْم, minkum read minkum, like anchor we say éŋkə, similar to the French encore (still, again). This sentence may give help: “The infant Insists to enjoy the sunshine and has tendency to be content with Manḍella and the national anthem on this ANZAC day, but later he got inṣomnia.” In conclusion: There are 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet, six of them belong to idghām (assimilation, remember “You aRe aLoNe With Me,” Ann, assimilate, disappear!), six letters belong to iẓhār (clarity, remember “AH”), one ) (بbelongs to iqlāb (substitution, remember “Camberra”), and the remaining 15 letters belong to ikhfā’. We also remember the intensification (qalqalah) letters, as “Cat Beta Gamma Delta”, namely, د ج ب ط ق. Letter hamzah ) (ءis considered to belong to letter alif )(ا. (to be continued). (CIVIC, 27 March, 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
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SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (3) Further Assimilation We have learned about the assimilation of the sound “n” if it is followed by one of the six letters: Y ي, R ر, L ل,N ن,W وand M ) مremember: “You aRe aLoNe With Me,” ِ!!!Ann), such as man yashā’ َمن يَ َشاءread maYYashā’. These letters are called “letters of assimilation”, (ḥurūf al-idghām, )حروف اإلدغام. The sound “n” assimilates with the letters that follow it. There is a further assimilation, but not of the sound “n”, but of two letters where the first assimilated to the other, the one that follows it. The purpose of it is for easy reading without obscuring the meaning. For example: -
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“d” دfollowed by “t” ت, such as: qad tabayyana َ قَد تَ َبيَّن. Qad alone should be read qadə (being one of the five letter of intensification; remember: “cat, beta gamma delta”) د ج ب ط ق, but because it is followed by letter “t” تthe letter “d” دbecomes assimilated with letter “t” تand it becomes double “t”, and should be read qat tabayyana. In English for “good time,” we say “goot time”; for “bad temper” we say “bat temper.” If I say “a heart time” you will understand that what I mean is “a hard time.” “t” تfollowed by “d” ; دthis is the opposite of the first. For example, athqalat da‘awā أَثقَلَت َد َع َواshould be read athqalad da‘awā . In English, for “hot day” we say “hod day”. If I say “hod dog” you will know that what I mean is “hot dog.”
- “t” تfollowed by “ṭ” ; طfor example: hammat ṭā’ifatun ٌهَ َّمت طَائِفَة should be read hammaṭ ṭā’ifatun. Since we have no example in English, it may be close to the Australian accent “right time.”
- “ṭ” طfollowed by t” ت, the opposite of the above, such as la’in
َ لَئِن بَ َسطshould be read la’im basaṭəta, but because “ṭ” basaṭta¸ ت طis followed by “t” ت, then it is read la’im basatta. Remember
hoṭ temper.
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- “l” لfollowed by “r”ر, such as qul rabbi قُل َربwe should read qur rabbi. For “full refund” we say “fur refund”. If I say “Or right” you will know that what I mean is “all-right”. - “q” قfollowed by “k” ك, such as nakhluqkum نَخلُق ُكمwhich is supposed to be read nakhluqəkum, but because letter “q” قis followed by letter “k” كand has to be assimilated with it and becomes double “k” ك, we read nakhlukkum. For Jaque Cartier say Jak Kartier. - “dh” ذis followed by “ẓ” ظ, such as idh ẓalamtum إِذ ظَلَمتُمshould be read iẓ ẓalamtum. For with ẓeal, say wiẓ ẓeal -
“th” ثfollowed by “dh” ذ, such as yalhath dhālika َيَلهَث َذلِك should be read yalhadh dhālika. For have a bath there! say
badh dhere! To remember all, try to memoraize “All-right, JaqueCartier has hoṭ-temper, has hard-time, not right-time to have hot-dog with ẓeal, then have a bath there” Some important technical terms in the science of tajwīd. When we learn any branch of knowledge we cannot avoid learning some technical terms dealing with it. If you learn karate, for example, you have to learn and know the names of different kinds of standing, punching, and kicking in Japanese. If you learn yoga, you have to learn different kinds of postures, and breathings, such as deep and shallow breathing, in Sanskrit language. As we are dealing with tajwīd we have to learn some important technical terms in it in Arabic language, as follows: a. Vowel signs - fatḥah فَت َحه, sound “a”. For example, “ba” ب َ (sounds like “ba” in “bar.”) The word fatḥah literally means “opening, gape, hole”. The verb fataḥa ) (فَتَ َحmeans “to open”. When we say this vowel “a” we open our mouth. In English we have this “a”
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sound in hut, but, cut, some. Examples in Arabic which we read from right to left are: س َ ( َد َرdarasa, to study), س َ َ( َرأra’asa, to lead). To remember this term just remember “fetter ” which is close to sound fatḥah. kasrah َكس َره, sound “i”. For example, “bi”ب ِ (sounds like “be”). The word kasrah literally means “breakdown, collapse.” The verb kasara ) ( َك َس َرmeans “to break.” When we say this vowel “i” we break our sound. In English we have sit, big, and hit. The examples in Arabic are: ( قِفqif, stop!), and ( ِمنmin, from). To remember this term just remember “casserole” (covered heatproof dish in which food is cooked and then served at table) which sounds almost like kasrah. ḍammah ض َّمه َ , sound “u”. For example, “du” ( ُدsounds like short “do”). The verb ḍamma )ض َّم َ ( literally means “to bring together, to join, to embrace.” When we say this vowel “u” we join our lips. In English we have words like put, The examples in Arabic are|: ( قُلqul, say!), and ( ُخذkhudh, take!).To remember this term just remember “dummy” which is close to ḍammah. sukūn ( ُس ُكونsilence). For example, تin “ بَتbat” (sounds like “but”). The word sukūn literally means “silence, quiet, calm, tranquility.” Here it means “vowellessness of a medial or final consonant.” The verb sakana ) َ ( َس َكنmeans “to become still, to calm down, to repose, to rest, to be peaceful, to be tranquil.” The examples in English are: between (letter “t” and “n”), and helmet (letter “h” and “t”). The examples in Arabic are: أَكبَر (akbar, greater),1 and ( أَشهَ ُدashhadu, I bear witness). To remember this term just remember “spoon” shaddah َش َّدهor tashdīd ( تَش ِديدdouble consonant). For example, َّ َ( بsounds like but-ter). The term shaddah and tashdīd “batta” ت mean “strengthening, intensification, and stress.” Here it means “doubling sign over a consonant”. The verb shadda )( َش َّد means “to become form, solid, hard, strong, intense.” We can hardly find any shaddah in English. Double consonant does not intensify the letter, but makes it pronounced fast, such as “later” and “latter”, but we find many in Italian, such as
( هAllāhu Akbar) we just translate it as “God is great”. When we say ّللا أَ ْك َبر
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Gioseppe (Joseph), bello, (handsome, fine, nice), bellissima (most beautiful). In English when we say October and pronounce the letter ”c” with “t”, and read Ottober, we then double the letter “t” and it becomes shaddah, and this is in Italian language, Ottobre. In the same way if we say ham then mer (ham-mer), then the double “m” is pronounced shaddah.2 To remember this term, just remember “shady.” - madd َمدor maddah ( َم َّدهprolongation). There are three letters used to assist the prolongation, namely, ( اa, alif), ( وw, waw), and ( يy, ya’), for example, = َدda, = دَاdā; = ِدdi, = ِديdī; = ُد du, = ُدوdū. In English we have examples: father, rather, seen, feel, room, soon. The examples in Arabic are: ( دَارdār, home, abode, building, residence, seat), ( َمالmāl, property, goods, wealth); ( ِدينdīn, religion, way of life), ( فِيfī, in, at); ( نُورnūr, light), ( سُو َرهsurah, chapter of the Qur’ān). To remember this term, just remember “mud” and “muddy”, close to madd َمدand maddah َم َّده - tanwīn تَن ِوين, nūnation, namely, adding sound “n” by doubling the vowel sign. For example, = َدda, = دdan (not “dada”), a letter alif is used to be put with it, so = دَاdā, and = داdan (not dān); = ِدdi, = دdin (not “didi”); = ُدdu, = ٌدdun (not “dudu”). To remember this stern, just remember “tan-win” - waqf َوقف, stop, either compulsory to avoid changing the meaning, or preferred (at the end of the sentence), either recommended or not recommended, permissible or not permissible, etc. For people who know the meaning of what they are reading, most probably they will not stop in the wrong place. For example, you will never stop in the wrong place and say, “Tomorrow – morning I – shall go with my – friend John and his – cousin to the – market at – about ten – o’clock sharp,” but you would say: “Tomorrow morning – I shall go - with my friend John - and his cousin - to the market - at about- ten o’clock sharp.” The literal meaning of waqf is “stopping, stop; 2
There is a slight shaddah when the French people say words like famille (family) and fille (daughter) pronouncing almost like famiyyə’ and fiyyə’ respectively.
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discontinuation, suspension; pausing, resting, pause, rest”; it also means, in religious term, endowment fund, “wakaf” and “haboos”). The verb waqafa ) َ ( َوقَفmeans “to come to standstill, to come to stop, to halt, to pause”, and to remember the term waqf is just to remember giving endowment fund called waqf. lafẓ al-jalālah ( لَفظُ ال َجالَلَهlit. “the word of majesty”), namely “Allah” للا ُ ( َحرlit. “letter of superiority”), superior ḥarf isti‘lā’ ف اِستِعالَء letter. There are seven of them, and are difficult to articulate, available mostly in Semitic languages only, especially Arabic; they are: kh خ- ṣ ص- ḍ ض- gh غ- ṭ ط- q ق- ẓ ظ, combined in the expression ضغطُ قِظ َ َّ ُخص. (lit. “It has been singled out to suppress Qiẓ”). These letters are always articulated strongly tafkhīm تَف ِخيم, it is emphatic pronunciation of a consonant, namely, pronouncing strongly. The verb fakhkhama ) (فَ َّخ َمmeans “to intensify, to honour, to pronounce emphatically or strongly.” tarqīq تَرقِيق, it is soft or weak pronunciation. The verb raqqa َّ ( َرmeans “to become soft, thin, tender; to soften, to have pity, )ق to feel compassion.”
b. The definite article “al” ال In English language the definite article “the” is pronounced “thie” before the vowels, such as “the apple, the end, and the orange.” In Arabic, article “al” remains as it is before “moon” (qamariyyah) letters, whereas before “sun” (shamsiyyah) letters, the letter “l” in “al” becomes assimilated with the “sun” letter that follows it, and intensifies it. The moon in Arabic is called qamar, and if you put “al” before it, the “al” does not change, namely, al-qamar أَلقَ َمر. The sun in Arabic is shams, and if you but the article “al” before it, it becomes ash-shams أَل َّشمس.3 The “l” is not pronounced, and the “sh” is doubled and intensified. 3
There are two systems of Arabic transliteration used nowadays: Library of Congress and McGill University. Both keep the “al” for the “sun” letters as
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Half of the 28 Arabic letters belong to the “moon” letters, and the other half belong to the “sun” letters. The “moon” letters are: alif/hamzah (ا/)ء, bā’ ()ب, jīm ()ج, ḥā’ ()ح, khā’ ()خ, ‘ayn ()ع, ghayn ()غ, fā’ ()ف, qāf ()ق, kāf ()ك, mīm ()م, wāw ()و, hā’ ()ه and yā’ ()ي. The “sun” letters are: tā’ ()ت, thā’ ()ث, dāl ()د, dhāl ()ذ, rā’ ()ر, zay ()ز, sīn ()س, shīn ()ش, ṣād ()ص, ḍād ()ض, ṭā’ ()ط, ẓā’ ()ظ, lām ( )لand nūn ()ن. Since we are familiar with the verses of the Qur’an which we recite in our prayer we do not need to remember these “moon” and “sun” letters. By reading the Qur’an we shall become familiar with them. The first chapter of the Qur’an is called al-Fātiḥah, and the second one is called al-Baqarah, where letter “f” فand “b” بbelong to the “moon” letters. In the first chapter we say al-ḥamdu, “( اَل َحم ُدḥ” حis a “moon” letter), al-raḥmān ( الرَّحمنread ar-raḥmān, so “r” رis a “sun” letter). (to be continued) (CIVIC, 10 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
it is, but in other matters they have slight difference. For example, for ال َّشمْ سِ يَّهthe Library of Congress use al-shamsiyya (with double “y” but without “h”), whereas McGill University use al-shamsīyah (with “īy” and with “h”) , and I prefer the mixture of the two, namely, al-shamsiyyah, with additional “h” because of the presence of “h” at the end of the word, although slightly pronounced. People who are not familiar with this transliteration may write, for example, Abdurrahman, Abdul-Rahman, Abdur Rahman, etc, where in its transliteration it should be ‘Abd alRaḥmān.
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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
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SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (5) The Position of the sound of consonant mīm “m” )( ْم There are three positions: 1. Followed by another mīm “m”ْ )ْ(م, so that we have two mīms, namely, “mm” )(م ْـْم, and we say it in idghām as one mīm with shaddah, namely, “mm” ) ْ( ّمwith an extra “m” (or tap) to strongly indicate “the union” of the two. For example: ْ َولَ ُكمْمَّاْ َك َسب ُتمwa lakum mā kasabtun is read ْ wa lakum mmaa kasabətun ُكن ُتمْْمْسلِمِينkuntum muslimīn is read kuntum mmuslimiin Originally, there was no vowel sign like ْْولكمْماْكسبتم andكنتمْمسلمين, but in order to facilitate reading for non-Arabsْ the vowel signs are added like this ْ َولَ ُكم ْ َماْ َك َسب ُتمand this ْ ُكن ُتم ْمُسلِمِين, and the whole Qur’ān are with vowel signs. Yet, in order to read it correctly, a shaddah sign is put on the letters concerned, in this case,ْ َماand ْ مُسلِمِينand it becomes ( َّْماmmaa = mma- =mmā) and ْ( مْس ِلمِينmmuslimiin or mmuslimi-n) as seen above. If we apply this rule in English, we will stress the sound “m” when we say “room mmate,” “immmoral” and immmature. Another example where shaddah sign is added is min ladun مِن ْلَ ُدن. Since we have to read it as milladun a shaddah sign is put on the letter “l” ْ) (لand becomes “ll” )ّ(ل, namely, ْمِن ْلَّ ُدن. Therefore, we have to drop the “n” and read it milladun. (We cannot read min-lladun). 2. Followed by letter bā’ ) (ب, namely, mbْ) (مْـْب, the sound “m” becomes unclear )(إِخ َفاء, such asْارة َ ْ َترمِي ِهمْ َبح َِجtarmīhim biḥijārahْ should be read tarmiihiŋ biḥijaarah. We remember that when the sound “n” ) (نis followed by “b”ْ) ْ(بthe combined sounds become “mb” (rather than “nb”) called iqlāb (substitution), such as Canberra, rainbow and green beans (read as Camberra, raimbow and greem beans respectively), now the mb is read ŋb, such as cucumber is read cucuŋber, and you will know what
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I mean if I say based on this rule of tajwīd: haŋburger, nuŋber, aŋbition, Noveŋber, etc. Before, we learned that nb is read mb, now mb is read ŋb. 3. Followed by any other letter than “m” ) ْ(مand “b” )(ب, the sound of letter “m” is always pronounced clearly (iẓhār). For example: ) هُمْ َنا ِئمُونْ(مْـْنhum nā’imūn; ) أَمْه َُوْ(مْ–ْهـam huwa; ) لَمْ َيلِدْ(مْ–ْيlam yalidə ; ْ) أَل َحم ُدْ(مْـْدal-ḥamdu; َ أَن َعمan‘amta; )‘ َعلَي ِهم َْوالَْ(مْ–ْوalayhim wa lā. )تْ(مْ–ْت In order to remember these three rules of regarding “m” I suggest to remember the “MBA” degree. “M” stands for “mm” (strong m), “B” stands for “ŋb” (hidden m), and “A” stands for any other letter (clear m) than “m” and “b”. Two Kinds of Elongation: There are two kinds of elongation: a. Primary or Natural َّ ْ ْ(ال َمد, which has two taps and b. Elongationْ ) ْال َمد ْاألَصلِيor الط ِبيعِي Secondary Elongation ) (ال َم ًّّدْال َفرعِ يwhich has between 2 – 6 taps. a. Primary or Natural Elongation occurs: 1. with the used of three “weak letters” used to elongate a vowel: they are alif ) (اfor the fatḥah, such as: ْ = َداdā, = َراrā, and = َجاjā; yā’ )(ي, such as: ْ = دِيdī, = ِريrī, and = ِجيjī; and wāw )(و, such as: = ُدوdū, = رُوrū, and = جُوA small alif (either half or one-third of the length of the alif) placed after and above the letter to be elongated. The example of these three kinds of elongation can be put in one simple sentenceْ ُنوحِي َها (nūḥīhā or nuuḥiihaa or nu.ḥi.ha.ْ or nu-ḥi-ha-, whichever you prefer, I am using all), meaning “We reveal it.” 2. the sound “n” in “an” is replaced with “a” and becomes “ā” (aor aa) when we stop, such as ‘alīman ْ َعلِيمًّاbecomesْ ‘alīmaa َعلِي َما, except in “tan” of tied tā’ )) َتاء ْ َمربُو َطه, it becomes “h” when we stop, such as ṭayyibatan ْ ْ َط ِّي َب ًّْةbecomes ṭayyibah َْط ِّي َبه the joined pronoun ( ـهh) with a word is prolonged read “hū” or “hī”, such as lā ta’khudhuhū ُْ ْالْ َتأ ُخ ُذْهand ilā ahlihī إِلىْأَهلِ ِْه. b. Secondary Elongation occurs:
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1. with the presence of hamzah, either in one word or two. In one word: ْ = َجاja-; َْء+ = َجاja-+’a becomes ja--’a. In two words: = َياya-; = أَيْ َْهاayyuhaa;ْ ْْْأَي َها+ْ =ْ َياya- + ayyuha- = ya-- ayyuha-ْ ْْْْْ َياْأَي َها 2. with the presence of sukūn that causes the elongation, either: (a) occasionally, such as: al-‘a-lami--n ن َْ ْال َْعالَمِي, but if we do not stop we say al-'a-lami-na. Other examples are: .ِْيم ِ الرَّ حand ْ .ُْ َنس َتعِين. (b) necessarily, the madd is followed by shaddah, such as in the following words: aḍḍa--l li--n ;الضَّالِّينaṣṣa--kh khatu َّ الص, and alḥa--q qatu ال َحا َّق ُْة. َّاخ ُْة 3. in the word ن َْ ( آْلQ. 10: 51, 91) is read a-l a-na (āl āna or a.l a.na) because it consists of: a (indicating a question) + al (the) + a-na (time), meaning “is it now?”. Without elongation the word will simply mean “now”, and not “is it now?” 4. in the alphabets in the beginning of some surahs (chapters) of the Qur’ān. There are 14 letters out of the entire 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet (if we consider ءbelonging to )أoccur in the beginning of some chapters (surahs) of the Qur’ān in 14 combinations. They are all read according to their alphabetical names. Based on this, the only letter which is not elongated is alif. We can divide the remaining letters as follows: a. two taps elongation which is the normal one: ḥa- )(ح, ya)(ي, ṭa- )(ط, ha- )(هـ, and ra- )(ر. To remember them the Arab scholars put them into a sentence, namely, ُر َْ َحيٌّ ْ َطه “(he Is) alive (and) clean”.“Hi, You aRe ḤoṬ, Hi, YouR ḤaṬ!” b. three taps elongation: nu--un ) (ن, qa--af,ْ)ْ(ق, ṣa--adْ)ْ(ص, ‘ai--in )(ع, si--in )(س, la--am )(ل, ka--af )(ك, and mi--imْ)ْ(م. To remember them the Arab scholars put them into a sentence, namely, سْل ُ ُْكم َْ ع َْ ْص َْ “( َْنَْقYour honey has become diminished”). If you cannot remember this Arabic sentence, I suggest you to remember this sentence: “See-LeMoN CaKeS!” So, we read: =المalif la--am mi--im (.--- ---); = الرalif la--am ra- (. --- --); = طسمṭa- si--in mi--im (-- --- ---);
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= كهيعصka--af ha- ya- ‘ai--in ṣa--ad (--- -- -- --- ---);ْعسق،حم = ḥa- mi--im, ‘ai--in si--in qa--af (-- ---, --- --- ---). The text of the Qur’ān was, is and will remain in its classical spelling to guard its originality. Here lies the importance of the small alif replacing the full one in its role for elongation. In quoting the verses of the Qur’ān modern spelling is used for easy reading, for example: ِين َْ ْال َعالَمfor ِين َْ العـلَم, ُْ ال ِك َتابfor ُْالكِتـب, الص َََّلَْةfor الصَّلـوة, and ْ َر َزق َناهُمfor ْ َر َزقنـهُم. Signs of pauses: When we read the Qur’ān, sometimes we have to stop, especially when we read long verses. Scholars of tajwīd give us signs where we can stop or not, have to stop or not. This stop could be like a comma (,) or a semi-colon (;). Here are some important stop signs put in the verses of the Qur’ān: 1. ْالَ ِْزمْ= مcompulsory stop, e.g., )63:ّللاُْ(األنعام َّْ ُْونْمْ َوال َمو َتىْ َيب َع ُث ُه ُْم َْ ِينْ َيس َمع َْ إِ َّن َماْ َيس َت ِجيبُْْالَّذ 2. ْ = الno, prohibited stop, e.g., (62ْ:ونْ َس ََلمْْ َعلَي ُْك ُمْاد ُخلُواْال َج َّن َْة (النحل َْ ُ ينْالْ َيقُول َْ ِينْ َت َت َو َّفا ُه ُْمْال َم ََل ِئ َك ُْةْ َطي ِِّب َْ ْْْالَّذ 3. = أَل َوصلُْأَولَى = صلىcontinuing is better, e.g. )5:ُونْْ(البقرة َْ كْ ُه ُْمْالمُفلِح َْ كْ َعلَىْ ُه ًّدىْمِنْْ َرب ِِّهمْصلىْ َوأُولَ ِئ َْ أُولَ ِئ 4. ْ = أَل َوقفُ ْأَولَى = قلىstopping is better, e.g., )111:ُونْ(المؤمنون َْ حْال َكا ِفر ُْ ِالْيُفل ْ َ َْفإِ َّن َماْ ِح َسا ُب ُْهْعِ ن َْدْ َرِّْبهْقلىْإِ َّن ُْه 5. = َجائِز = جpossible, permissible, e.g., ْ )22:ّللاْ َعلَىْ ُك ِّْلْ َشيءْْ َقدِيرْْ(البقرة ََّْ َّْْارهِمْجْإِن َ ِب َسمع ِِهمْْ َوأَب ِ ص 6. ْ... ْ ْ ... two signs where we can stop, if we like, at any one of them, not both, found in Q. 2:2, 6, namely, ْ ُه ًّدى...ِْ فِيه... ب َْ ال ْ َري ْ َ . If we stop at the first one, it will mean “(The Book) is no doubt, there is guidance in it”)ْ, and if we stop at the second, it will mean “(The Book), there is no doubt in it, as guidance”). If we do not stop, then it will include both meanings. Extra Signs for Easy Reading a. For the iqlāb, a small مis put on the ن, such as ْ مِنم َبع ِدand لَ َنس َف َعامِْبال َّناصِ َية.
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b. For the idghām, shaddah is put, so that we do not pronounce the sound n such as ُْ َخيرْمِّنه, َغفُورًّ اْرَّ حِي َما. The same is applied for the idghām of two different letters, such as: أ ُ ِجي َبتْ َّدع َو ُت ُك َما, تْطا ِئ َفة َّْ َ َو َقال, أَلَمْ َنخلُقكم, ِّْقُلْرَّ ب, َماْ َع َبدتم c. For the hamzutu ‘l-waṣl, a small صis put on the top of the alif, namely, ٲ, such as: ْٲبْن،ْ ٲسْم, ٲنَْْت َْهى, ٲلْ ِْكَْتاب. d. For the alif which does not function as a tool for madd¸a sukūn is given to it, such as: ْ( أَ َناana), and َل ْ َ ِ( َس ََلسsalāsila) e. For the madd (elongation) before hamzah, a sign ~ is usually put, such as َْْيآ ْأَي َها, إِن ْ َشآ َء ّْللا, ْ اْجآ َء َ إِ َذto indicate that it is longer than usual. There are more things to learn about tajwīd not included here, but due to the advance of technology there are many ways to know it: listening to the recitation of qurrā’ (Qur’ān reciters), reading a muṣḥaf (copy of the Qur’ān) containing more directions for correct reading, and sometimes with colours; for example, red colour for idghām, yellow for iqlāb, green for ikhfā’, etc. The qurrā’ learned not only the tajwīd; they also learned the qirā’āt (variant readings) which were also revealed to the Prophet and serve as explanation to the verse. When they repeat the same verse they may actually read the variant readings. For example, when Joseph (Yūsuf)’s brothers asked their father Jacob (Ya‘qūb) to let Joseph go out with them to enjoy themselves and play, one of them said: “Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy himself and play, and verily, we will take care of him.” (Q. 12:12). That is one reading. The other brother said: “Send him with us tomorrow to enjoy ourselves and play…” So, the qāri’ recites, ُْأَرسِ ل ُْهْ َم َع َناْ َغ ًّداْ َير َتعْْ َو َيل َعبْْ َوإَ َّناْلَه ُ لَ َحافand then he repeats the same verse withْ أَرسِ ل ُْه ْ َم َع َنا ْ )12:ِظون ْ(يوسف ...ْ َغ ًّداَْْنر َتعْْوَْنل َعب.1 This variant reading indicates that at least two of the 1
This sūrat Yūsuf belongs to chapter 12. To remember this chapter, just remember Yūsuf and his brothers, all are 12 in number, and the verse is also in verse 12. The next surah/chapter is al-Ra‘d (the Thunder), chapter 13. Thunder is caused by lightning which could be dangerous, such as causing bush-fire. Some people are pessimistic with number 13, thinking that it is unlucky number, and chapter 16 is the “Thunder,” easy to remember.
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brothers asked earnestly to their father to let Joseph go with them the next day, as they had plotted to get rid of him out of jealousy. Another example is: they read at first māliki (“the Owner”) and said ين ِْ َمالِكِْ ْ َيو ِْم ْال ِّدand repeat the verse with maliki (“the King”) and said ين ِْ َملِكِْ ْ َيو ِْم ْال ِّد, “the Owner (or the King) of the Day of Recompense” in Q.1:3; there is no change in the consonantal skeleton, namely, ملك. The qurrā’ also learned about the art of recitation besides tajwīd and qirā’āt.2 Their tone also keep changing based on the verses they are reading. One qāri’ showed his sadness when he was reciting the verse dealing with Joseph’s brothers who sold him with a cheap price in Q. 12:20. The tone changed with relief when he recited the next verse where Joseph was rescued in Q. 12:21. Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. said: ْ )آنْ َو َعلَّ َم ُْه ) رواهْالبخاريْوأبوداؤدْوالترمذي َْ َخي ُر ُكمْْ َمنْْ َت َعلَّ َْمْالقُر “The best among you is the one learn the Qur’ān and teaches it.” (Reported by al-Bukhārī, Abū Dā’ūd and al-Tirmidhī). Learning the Qur’ān includes learning its tajwīd. May Allah include us among them, āmīn!!! (CIVIC, 24 April, 2015) Bibliography:
ْْ.ْهـ)ْالمختصرْالمفيدْفيْأحكامْالتجويد263ْ.(ت.ْأحمدْبنْإبراهيمْبنْخالدْالموصلى 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 They usually start with Bayyātī key () َْمَْقامَْْبَّْياِْتي, namely Key D in Western music, and end with it, and the listeners will know that it is the end of the recitation. Then they move to other keys, such as al-Ḥusaynī (سيْنِْي َْ ُْ) َْمَْقا ُْم ْاْلح, Rast () َْمَْقام ْ َْراسْت, namely, Key C, al-Sīkāh (سيْ َْكاه ِّْ ) َْمَْقا ُْمْالwhich corresponds to Key E, and al-Jihārkāh 2
(ج َْهارْ َْكاه ِْ ) َْمَْقا ُْمْاْل, namely, Key F, and Ṣabā (صَْبا َْ ْ) َْمَْقام, namely, G which sounds sad.