Tajweed Revision Notes

If you are studying Tajweed and need some notes, you have loads here. All written by me from notes taken from my Tajweed classes with Sheikh Abu Aadam at East London Mosque

I have tried my best, alhamdulillah, to lay out the notes in an easy to read form, but please keep in mind that these notes are not here to teach you but to help you revise what you already know or should know inshAllah.

Furthermore since I am not a qualified Tajweed Teacher rather just a student there may be several mistakes, if you do find any please notify me ASAP by emailing, [email protected]

NOTE: This page contains Arabic text and I strongly advice you get the free Firefox web browser, as this browser seems to render this page far better than any other browser. It does not take long to download and install, do it now, inshAllah.

Table of Contents [ToC]...

Huroof Al-Istia'ala - Seven Heavy Letters

There are seven letters that are heavy and there are three degrees of Tafkheem, basically three different weights on each letters in different conditions

خ ص ض ط ظ غ ق

1. Highest Tafkheem

   This is where a full mouth letter has a Fatha then followed by an Alif. Upon such letters you put a really strong emphasis more so than you would if it just had a Fatha without an Alif.

2. Second Tafkheem

   Simple when a full mouth letter has just a Fatha without a following Alif. This case place emphasis on the letter however not as much emphasis as you would do for the Highest Tafkheem

3. Third Tafkheem

   This is a full mouth letter that has a kasra, in this case you do not emphasise as much, and in some cases not at all, as you would do for the previous two degree's of emphasis.

The Qalqala - Bounce

When you land on the following letters there should be a bounce on the letter, this is best explained by a real life Tajweed teacher:

ب ج د ط ق

The Rule of Raa (ر)

Raa (ر) with fatha or damma will be a full mouth Raa (ر) that is a heavy Raa (ر), but Raa (ر) with a kasra it is more gentle

The Rule of Laam (ل)

Laam (ل) is always gentle however when it is used in the name of Allah it transforms into a full mouth letter, this is the only time ever that you should treat Laam (ل) as a strong letter.

Letters Where Your Tounge Must be Slightly Out

There are three letters where your tounge must be slightly stuck out these are:

ث ذ ظ

What is a Ghunna?

A Ghunna is the making of a sound from the nasal. You encounter Ghunna's in the Quran hundreds of times and it adds to the flow and beauty of the Quran. Ghunna is best explained by a Tajweed teacher.

The Two Type of Ghunna

There are two types of Ghunna. Ghunna Muraqaqa and Ghunna Mukhafkhama.

1. Ghunna Muraqaqa
2. Ghunna Mukhafkhama

A quick tip: You can practise your Ghunna on Surah 84 verse 9.

Ghunna Muraqaqa

This is when the Noon is followed by gentle letters, so you should make the Ghunna very gentle. Gentle letters are the letters that are not full mouth, so the letters which do not happen to be the 7 heavy letters.

Ghunna Mukhafkhama

This Ghunna involves the seven heavy letters when the Noon is followed up by a heavy letter you make the Ghunna heavy and strong.

What is a Noon Sakeena?

A Noon Sakeena is either a Noon (ن) without any tashkeel (Arabic vowel marks), in other words an ‘Empty Noon’, or it can be a Noon with a Sukoon, in other words a Noon Sakeena (نْ)

What is a Tanween?

The Tanween is an extra Noon that you cannot see, they appear in the Quran as the following:
ً ٍ ٌ

The Four Rules of Noon Sakeena and Tanween

The Four Rules of Noon Sakeena and Tanween:

1. Al-Izhar
2. Al-Idghaam
3. Ikhfaa
4. Iqlaab

Below each rule will be described, inshAllah

Al-Izhaar

Al-Izhaar is when Ghunna should not be made.
This rule comes into action when the following letters appear after either Empty Noon, Noon Sakeena, or Tanween:

ء ح خ ع غ ه

Remember that no Ghunna is made on the word when any of the letters above come after either an Empty Noon (ن), Noon Sakeena (نْ) or Tanween (ً ٍ ٌ )

For example there would be no Ghunna on these words:

منْءَامن

منْهاجر

The strongest Izhaar:

When you encounter the Izhaar with the Hamza (ء أ) you strongly emphasise this Hamza, once again a Tajweed teacher is really required in these situations.

Al-Idghaam

This rule involves the Empty Noon and Tanween (ن), that is the Noon without any tashkeel (Arabic vowel marks).

The condition is that the Noon (ن) or the Tanween must be succeeded by any of the following letters:

ر ل م ن و ي

When this condition is met you must do Ghunna on all the letters with the exception of Laam (ل) and Raa (ر)

Must do Ghunna Letters:

م ن و ي

Must NOT do Ghunna Letters:

ر ل

Example of an Idghaam:

ومنيﱠعْمَل

Make the Ghunna on the Yaa (ي)

All scholars have agreed that the Ghunna is 2 Harakas in length

The four words on which Idgham is nullified:
There are four words in which there appears to be an Idgham but in fact that Idgham is nullified and the word should be said without any Ghunna i.e. Idgham, the words are as follows:

دنيا
قِنوانٌ
صنوَانٌ
بُنيناً

Ikhfaa

Ikhfaa appears whenever a Tanween or Noon Sakeena is followed by any of the 15 letters below:

ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك

When such a condition is encountered you make Ghunna on the Tanween/Noon Sakeena, however this Ghunna is such it is as if you are merging the Ghunna into the next letter.

You will know that the Ghunna is right when someone who hears the Ghunna can tell what letter is about to come next from the type of Ghunna you made. It is best to find someone who knows Tajweed to check your Ghunnas and pronounciations as well, remember these are just notes to help you remember and revise Tajweed rather than teach you from scratch.

An example of an Ikhfaa:

يُنْفِقُون

Iqlaab

This rule occures when a small meem (م) appears on top of an Empty Noon (ن), whenever this happens you will find that the letter immidiatly after will be a baa (ب)

An example of an Iqlaab:

مِنمبَعَدْ

Please note that the above is not a proper representation of the word as the meem should be small and on top of the Noon but due to technical restrictions I was not able to achieve what I wanted, if you can do it please email me and tell me how to do it, contact details near the bottom of the page.

When such a condition is encountered you make a special type of Ghunna. It is a light nasal sound which is a Meem but at the same time it is also a Noon like a Ghunna in the middle of both letters. It is best to ask your Tajweed teacher whether you have got the Iqlaab right.

What might help you get it is that when you make the Ghunna your lips are not open but they are not closed either, something in the middle.