Importance of learning Tajweed rules :
What is Tajweed?
The word Tajweed linguistically means ‘proficiency’ or ‘doing something well.
When applied to the Qur’an, it means giving every letter of the Qur’an its rights and dues of
characteristics when we recite the Qur’an and observe the rules that apply to those letters in
different situations. We give the letters their rights by observing the essential characteristics
of each letter that never leaves it. And we give them their dues by observing the
characteristics of each letter that are present in them some of the time and not present at other
times.
The Qur’an was revealed with Tajweed rules applied to it. In other words, when the
angel Jibreel ((AS)) recited the words of Allah to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) he recited
them in a certain way and he showed the Prophet (SAW) how it was
permissible to recite the Qur’an. So it is upon us to observe those rules so that we recite them in
the way it was revealed.
History of Tajweed
At the time of the Prophet (SAW), there was no need for people to study Tajweed
because they talked with what is now known as Tajweed so it was natural for them. When the
Arabs started mixing with the non-Arabs as Islam spread, and mistakes in Qur’an recitation
started appearing, so the scholars had to record the rules. Now, because the every day Arabic
that Arabs speak has changed so much from the Classical Arabic with which the Qur’an was
revealed, even Arabs have to study Tajweed.
‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have two rewards.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The ruling of reading with Tajweed
Muhammad bin Al-Jazaree the great Qur’an and Hadeeth scholar of the 9th Century
(Hijri) says in his famous poem, detailing the rules of Tajweed: “And applying Tajweed is an issue of absolute necessity, whoever doesn’t apply Tajweed to the Qur’an, then a sinner is
he.”
So he regarded it as an obligation and he regarded leaving it as a sin. And the
majority of scholars agree that applying the Tajweed rules of Qur’an is an individual
obligation ( ) upon every Muslim who has memorized or read part of or all of the
Qur’an. That is because the Qur’an was revealed with the Tajweed rules applied to it and the
Prophet (SAW) recited it back to Jibreel in that way and the Companions of the Prophet
(SAW) read it in that way, so it is an established Sunnah.
Is it permissible for me to make a mistake in Tajweed?
‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honorable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have two rewards.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The scholars have divided the types of mistakes one might fall into when reciting the Qur’an
into two types:
- Clear mistakes and
- Unobvious (hidden) mistakes.
The Clear mistakes must be avoided by all and to avoid them one must know the rules
of Tajweed. If a person falls into the Clear Mistakes, this is considered a sin, and Ibn
Taymiyyah even regarded it undesirable for a Student of Knowledge (i.e. someone who
knows Tajweed) to pray behind a person who makes Clear Mistakes in their Salaah. As for
the Unobvious mistakes, then the ruling on them is lighter and the recitation of a person
falling into this type of mistake is regarded as lacking in completeness, and prayer behind
such a person is sound.
