Tajweed linguistically means “proficiency” or “doing something well”. When we talk about applying Tajweed to the Qur’an, it means to give each word of the Qur’an its due right. A person cannot get the full essence of Qur’an recitation if one is not familiar with the rules of Tajweed. Moreover, the words of the Holy Qur’an change their meanings if they are not pronounced correctly or if the rules of Tajweed are not applied.
Tajweed is a set of rules that should be followed when a person recites and pronounces the words of the Holy Qur’an. To learn Tajweed, one must have a qualified and experienced teacher and an expert in the field. One becomes more proficient in Tajweed through listening and guidance of a qualified teacher.
Tajweed should not be considered a mere matter of dialect or accents. It encompasses many important properties of the holy text including the timing of syllables, the clarity of expressions, and how individual letters change the delivery of a word.
Tajweed emphasizes the importance of a personal and spiritual connection to the text of the Qur’an, understanding the verses in which a Muslim asks Allah for protection, mercy, wisdom or guidance in order to grow a stronger connection with Allah by understanding His explicit words.
To learn Tajweed is to become a better Muslim, ability to understand the precise language of the Qur’an without errors or mispronunciations, Despite the fact that we recite Qur’an in our daily prayers, most of us do not know whether we are reciting it correctly according to its rules, below are some of the common mistakes while reciting the Qur’an:
- Not observing the elongations (Madd) at all, or applying the elongation incorrectly, e.g. making Madd shorter or longer.
- To take a pause, stop or to start at the wrong places which distorts the meaning, e.g. stopping at Laa ilaaha (i.e there is nothing worthy of worship), without completing illaAllah(except Allah).
- Not merging certain letters (Idghaam) that should be merged.
- Not hiding certain letters (Ikhfaa) that should be hidden.
- Not changing a certain letter (Iqlaab) that should be changed where necessary.
- Not observing clarity on certain letters (Idh-haar) that should be made apparent and many other mistakes.