ONLINE QURAN LEARNING

Our aim is to make our students learn tajweed (Recitation of the Holy Quran with correct pronunciation and accent) and translation and tafsir of the Holy Quran. We tach those who want to learn Islam and the holy Quran online by way of distance courses.

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Basics of Tajwid

تجويد

Definition:

The word Tajweed comes from the word جوٌد - jawwada, which means the opposite of something poorly done, or something low. Tajweed is reciting the letters of the Quran in the best manner, in the best way, giving each letter its due right, pronouncing each letter from the proper makhraj (point of articulation).

To say Jawwad al quran, means recited the Quran in the best manner, and mujeed means the one who does things best.

Tajweed is light and comes with ease. Some people exert more effort, and overdo it while reciting, which is not the part of tajweed. While some others recite the Quran in a laid back style, so it is also not to the point that you become lazy. Just like our deen Islam, tajweed is the middle way, it has to be done in the balance manner.

Tajweed comes from practice- it doesn’t matter what background and language you come from. So when people think they can’t do that, it’s not right, tajweed comes with practice and with time you become mujawwid. Practice, practice, practice, and you’ll be able to recite correctly.

Like learning the language and learning salah, we’ll learn tajweed slowly with practice, and not over night! 

Tajweed is divided into two categories:

      1) Knowledge: It is knowing the articulations of letters, knowing the different forms (e.g. madd, shaddah etc), and all the different rules compiled by the scholars pertaining to the recitation of the quran.

       2) Actions: is to take all these rules and apply them and do تلاوة   (Tilawa- to recite with proper tajweed/slowly).  تلاوة differentiates Quran with all the other things, so people can tell when someone is reciting the Quran, even if we don’t know what surah is being recited.

Your coming to read the Quran, is like you’re doing something great, so fix your self up and recite in best way.

The significance of Tajweed:

It is to preserve the words of quran from changes and distortions, unlike what happened to the books before Quran. And if you see the efforts muslims put in keeping the Quran guarded, subhanAllah, that shows how great the Quran is!

When did the study of tajweed start:

In the fourth century after hijrah, the scholars wrote down the rules for tajweed. Before this people learned verbally from their teachers (the companions and their followers).

The origins of tajweed:

We learned tajweed from the Prophet  who taught the sahaba (the companions), who taught the generation after words and so it has come down to us. Even today when a sheikh gives Ijaza’ (certificate of having learned the Quran and recited completely under a sheikh), it has the name of the student, the sheikh, the teacher of the sheikh, and all the names in the chain of transmission until Prophet  and then Jibraeel (as) and then Allah(swt)! The lowest level in Ijaza’ is 27 recitors (the number of people it has passed down through), and the Quran was revealed in 7 dialects and we are only using one.

The goals of tajweed:

Is to gain the rewards form Allah (swt) in the hereafter.

What is the hukm of tajweed: 

Studying the rules of tajweed is fard kifaya, if a group of muslims fulfills it then everybody doesn’t have to do it. But if a group of muslims don’t do it then everyone is in sin. So, a group of muslims who know the rules and details of tajweed can teach others about it.

However, reciting the quran with tajweed is fard ayn, the proof is the ayah :  “And recite the Qur’ân (aloud) in a slow, (pleasant tone and) style” (Al-Muzzammil-4)

Meaning of “tarteel”: Making it clear (Ibn ‘Abbaas); reading it letter by letter (Adh-Dhahaak), reading it slowly (Ibn Katheer). This makes easier pondering the meaning. So, every one who has the resources to learn tajweed, must learn it. It is Haraam to read the Quran wrong!

Every one who has ability to learn tajweed should do so, otherwise we’ll be changing the words of the Quran.

And learning the tajweed has to be by listening, and not only by the book.

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Importance of Tajwid

One of the many miracles of the Noble Qur’aan is that regardless of the number of times it is recited, one never gets tired nor bored with its recitation. Allah Ta’ala says in the Noble Qur’aan, ‘Indeed the believers are those who tremble with fear when Allah is remembered and when the verses of the Qur’aan are recited before them, it increases their belief and upon Allah they have complete trust.” (8:2)
One of the salient points mentioned in this verse is that when a believer recites the Noble Qur’aan in the correct manner, it increases his faith and belief in Allah. Reciting the Noble Qur’aan in the correct manner means to recite it with Tajwid.
What is Tajwid?
Allah Ta’ala says in the Noble Qur’aan, ‘And recite the Qur’aan with Tarteel.’ (73:4)
When asked about the meaning of Tarteel, Hadhrat Ali (Radhiallaahu Anhu) replied, ‘It means that the Qur’aan should be recited with Tajwid and with due observance to the rules of Waqf (pausing or stopping at the end of the verse).’
Tajwid means to recite every letter correctly, i.e. from its proper origin of pronunciation coupled with its stipulated attributes.
According to Imaam Jawzi (Rahmatullaahi Alayhi), the verse, ‘Verily my people have renounced the Qur’aan’ has two interpretations. Firstly, it could mean that they had renounced the Qur’aan by not believing in it and practicing upon it. And secondly, it could mean that they used to recite the Qur’aan in such a disgusting manner that it sounded like senseless and meaningless jabbering. Reading the Qur’aan without Tajwid could also be included in the second interpretation.
Tajwid from the Hadith
Rasulullah has said, ‘Indeed Allah desires that the Qur’aan be recited in the manner it was revealed.’ This Hadith clarified by the Aayat and, ‘We revealed the Qur’aan with Tartil.’ (2:32)
The definition of Tartil has been explained above. Since the Qur’aan emphatically commands us to recite the Qur’aan with Tajwid, it is Fardh to recite the Qur’aan with Tajwid.
Rasulullah has said, ‘The Qur’aan will either testify in your favour or against you.’ Hence, if we fail to observe the requirements of the Noble Qur’aan during our recitation, the Qur’aan will testify against us. If we are unacquainted with these prerequisites, we are compelled to acquire the laws of Tajwid.
Due to the vastness of the Arabic language, any small mistake in pronunciation of a letter or word may change the meaning of that word. For example, the word ‘Qalb’ (with q) means heart, if read ‘Kalb’ (with k), it will mean a dog’. So just as how in any other language we learn pronunciation of letters and words, for example, in English we learn that ‘ph’ stands for ‘f’ (as in phone) and not pone. Similarly, in the Arabic language, we also have to learn pronunciation of letters and words, which we term as ‘Tajwid’. Tajwid is not like all other subjects which we are able to separate from the Qur’aan but instead Tajwid and Qur’aan work hand in hand. If there is no Tajwid with Qur’aan, there is no Qur’aan. The question may arise that, how can such a statement be made that if a person reads Qur’aan without Tajwid, he is not read Qur’aan? Yes, such a statement is 100% correct.
Our beloved Rasul states in one Hadith, ‘There are a lot of readers that read the Qur’aan but the Qur’aan curses them instead of making Du’aa for them.’ We get some people nowadays who spend hours and hours reciting the Qur’aan thinking that they are getting and attaining great rewards. But because there pronunciation of letters is incorrect, a very big problem arise. It sounds very small when we say, ‘I am only pronouncing a letter incorrectly..’ But did this thought ever cross our minds that when a letter changes in a word, the word changes and if a word changes in a sentence then the whole sentence changes and eventually the meaning also changes. So from this, we understand the Hadith of our Rasul , that some people read so much of the Qur’aan but because they do not know the correct pronunciation of the letters, they change the letters which then changes the words which eventually leads to the changing of the sentence and meaning of the Qur’aan. So, the Qur’aan in turn, instead of making Du’aa for such people it curses them.
We should also remember that from the time and generation of Nabi till now, no one has ever denied this fact that Tajwid is compulsory. It is only now in our generation that people have lost respect and forgotten the status of Tajwid. Today, even logic will show us the importance of Tajwid. If we write a letter to our beloved and give it to someone to give it to him or her, but this Mr Someone takes the letter and changes a few words which eventually changes the meaning of your letter, how would we feel?
Wouldn’t we get angry and take such a person to task , so in the same way, the Qur’aan is the word of Allah. If we change the word of Allah then Allah Ta’ala will definitely get angry with us and take us to task just as how we would do if someone changes our words in our letters.
So from all this, we can see that the Qur’aan is not Qur’aan until and unless it is read with Tajwid. Just as how if someone changes our letter addressed to our beloved, we would say that this is not our letter. We can also see from all this, the importance of reading the Qur’aan with Tajwid.
May Allah give me, you and all the ability to read the Qur’aan correctly so that we may earn the mercy of Allah Ta’ala and not the anger of Allah.