TAJWEED

Saffar 1433
January 2012
Al-Mahdi Islamic Center London - Ontario
Definition of Tajweed

 By linguistic definition: Betterment

 Applied definition: Articulating every letter from its
articulation point and giving the letter its rights and
dues of characteristics.

 The Goal of Learning Tajweed

It is preserving the tongue from mistakes in
pronunciation of the Glorious Qur'an during
reading.
Learning Tajweed

Mistakes Done while reading holy Quran are of two

kinds:
 Obvious mistakes: those are done while pronouncing
the letters or the signs on the letters. Almost, anyone
should be able to recognize these mistakes.
 Unobvious: are the ones that are done with the
tajweed rules. Only those who studied tajwed are
able to distinquish them.
 Learning Tajweed is WAJEB on every muslim.
 Teaching Tajweed is only wajeb when there is no
one else doing so.
How to learn Tajweed
 Its principles
The knowledge of tajweed is contingent on four
matters:

1. Knowledge of the articulation points of the letters

2. Knowledge of the characteristics of the letters
3. Knowledge of the rules of tajweed (what change
in the letters due to the order of letters)
4. Exercising the tongue and a lot of repetition.
The articulation point of the arabic
letters
 The articulation point of a letter is the place the
letter is emitted. Using the correct articulation point
of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly.

 The no. of articulation points in Arabic are 17

 To learn the articulation point of a letter
 Pronounce the letter with a Sukoon and put a hamzah
before the letter
 Places of Articulation

 There are five articulation

areas for the Arabic
letters:
1- The empty space in the
mouth and throat (Al-
Jowf)
2- The Throat
3- The Tongue
4- The Two Lips
5- The nasal passage
Places of Articulation
Places of Articulation and the Arabic
letters
Articulation point areas ( AL-Jawf and letter ‫)ا‬

1- The empty space in the mouth and

throat (AL-Jawf)
has in it one articulation point for the
three lengthened (meed) letters, which
are wow ‫و‬, ya’ ‫ ي‬and an alif ‫ا‬.

1.The alif preceded by a letter with a

fat-hah. Note that the Arabic alif
never takes a vowel (means with
sukoon) and is always preceded by a
fathah)
Like in: ‫ مالك‬،‫ مال‬،‫قال‬
But not in: ‫أقرأ‬. Here the first and last letters
are ‫ ء‬not alif
Articulation point areas ( AL-Jawf and
letter ‫)و‬

2. The wow with a sukoon

preceded by a letter with a
dhammah

Like in: ‫نوحيها‬

Articulation point areas ( AL-Jawf and
letter ‫)ي‬
3. The ya’ with a sukoon
preceded by a letter with a
kasrah
Like in: ‫نوحيها‬
The articulation points of the throat (the
hamzah (‫ )ء‬and the ha’ (‫))هاء‬

2- 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
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 (‫)ء‬
and the ha’ (‫)هاء‬
The articulation points of the throat ( ‫ع‬
and ‫)ح‬

2. 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: ‫ع‬
and ‫ح‬.
The articulation points of the throat
(‫غ‬and ‫)خ‬
3. 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: ‫غ‬and ‫خ‬.
The articulation points of the tongue (‫)ق‬
3- The tongue : It has ten
articulation points for eighteen
letters

1. There are two letters that use

the deepest part of the tongue
in articulation. They are ‫ ق‬and
‫ك‬.
‫ ق‬is 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.
The articulation points of the tongue
(‫) ك‬

 ‫ ك‬is 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 ‫ ق‬.
Areas of the tongue
 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.
 The articulation points of the tongue
(‫ ج‬, ‫ ش‬, ‫) ي‬
2. Middle of the Tongue
 Three letters use the middle of the tongue for their
articulation. They are ‫ج‬, ‫ ش‬, ‫( ي‬without a medd).
 These three letters are articulated from the middle of the
tongue and what lies opposite to it from the roof of the
mouth.
 The ya’ here is not the medd letter ya’, which is articulated
from Al-Jwaf. The medd letter ya’ is a ya’ saakinah
preceded by a kasrah, NOT a fath.

 The ya’ saakinah is preceded by a fath is discussed here.

Like in : ‫ علَيهم‬and ‫الريب‬
َ
Middle of the Tongue

-‫ي‬- -‫ش‬- -‫ج‬-

The Teeth
The articulation points of the tongue
(‫)ض‬
 The letter ‫ض‬
 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.
 This letter can be articulated from one side (right or
left) of the tongue alone, or from both sides of the
tongue simultaneously which is more difficult.
 ‫ ض‬has 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.
The letter ‫ض‬
The articulation points of the tongue
(‫)ل‬
The letter ‫ل‬
 It is articulated from front sides and
the tip of the tongue, and what lies
opposite to them of the gums of
upper front incisors.
 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 gums of the
mentioned teeth.
 The articulation of the ‫ ل‬is an
upward movement, not a forward
movement like “L” is in English.
The articulation points of the tongue (‫)ن‬
Articulation points of the Tip of the Tongue and the
The letter ‫ن‬
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, a bit forward from the place of the letter ‫ل‬
on the gum.

It’s pronounced from this point only if it has a sukoon on

it and is followed by one of the following six letters: ‫ء‬
‫ خ‬،‫ غ‬،‫ ح‬،‫ ع‬،‫هاء‬،. This rule will be explained later, insha’
Allah.
The articulation points of the tongue (‫)ن‬
The articulation points of the tongue (‫)ر‬

 The letter ‫ر‬

 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 palate).
 The tip with the top of the tip need to strike the
gums to produce this sound correctly.
The articulation points of the tongue (‫)ر‬
The articulation points of the tongue
)‫ ت‬،‫ د‬،‫(ط‬
 The articulation point of the ‫ ت‬،‫ د‬،‫ط‬
 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 articulation points of the tongue
)‫ ت‬،‫ د‬،‫(ط‬

-‫ ت‬-‫ د‬- -‫ط‬-

The articulation points of the tongue
)‫ س‬،‫ ز‬،‫(ص‬
 Articulation points of the ‫ س‬،‫ ز‬،‫ص‬
 These three letters are emitted from the tip of the
tongue and the top edge of 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.
 When these letters are emitted properly, a whistle
type sound should be heard accompanying their
sound.
The articulation points of the tongue
)‫ س‬،‫ ز‬،‫(ص‬

-‫ ز‬- ‫ س‬- - ‫ص‬-

The articulation points of the tongue
)‫ ث‬،‫ ذ‬،‫(ظ‬
 Articulation point of the ‫ ث‬،‫ ذ‬،‫ظ‬
 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 with the edges
of the teeth and not the plates of the teeth.
The articulation points of the tongue
)‫ ث‬،‫ ذ‬،‫(ظ‬

- ‫ ث‬-‫ ذ‬- -‫ظ‬-

The articulation points of the Lips (the
letter ‫)ف‬
2- The Lips
The lips have two articulation points for four letters.
 Articulation point of the letter ‫ف‬
 The articulation point of the ‫ ف‬is between the inside of
the lower lip and the tips (or edges) of the two top front
incisors.
 There is a meeting of these two parts of articulation to
make the correct sound of this letter.
The articulation points of the Lips (the
letter ‫)ف‬
The articulation points of the Lips (the
letter ‫ و‬،‫ ب‬،‫)م‬
 Articulation point of the two lips ‫ و‬،‫ ب‬،‫م‬
 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 ‫ و‬is articulated by forming a
circle of the two lips without the two lips meeting
completely.
 The ‫ م‬is articulated by closing the two lips together
 The letter ‫ ب‬is articulated by closing the two lips
together, but a stronger closing than the meem.
The articulation points of the Lips (the
letter ‫ و‬،‫ ب‬،‫)م‬

‫ب‬ ‫ف‬

‫و‬ ‫م‬
The articulation points of the Nasal
Passage (the ghunnah ‫ ن‬and ‫)م‬
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 ghunnah is defined as: a nasal sound that is emitted

from the nose. This is a required characteristic of the
‫ ن‬and ‫م‬.
 The ghunnah is not a letter but a characteristic of these
two letters, but it has its own distinct place of
articulation.
The articulation points of the Nasal
Passage (the ghunnah ‫ ن‬and ‫)م‬

-‫م‬- -‫ن‬-
References

 http://www.abouttajweed.com/
Useful videos
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FZRQEEdGuo&
feature=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbI6_neGiX0&f
eature=related
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjXHMxaR-
sM&feature=related