Levels of Tajweed Recitation in Quran

The word Tajweed is a verbal noun from ‘jawwada,’ which means ‘to make better.’ Tajweed is one of the prominent common sciences of the Qur’ân. It is a science directed by deep-rooted static rules derived from the oral recitation of the Qur’ân by the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) after hearing the revelation from the Angel Gabriel.

The implemented tajweed meaning is ‘articulating every word from its articulation point (Makhraj) and delivering the letter its rights and dues of characteristics (sifât).’

Levels of Recitation in Quran with Tajweed -

There is no doubt that the speed of the human mouth in recitation has the chance of being changed from slow to quick and still faster. That which the human ear can understand from those are three types:

Slowness in recitation

Speed in recitation

Moderate speed in recitation

This is a similar way the human eye can determine the color red, and from the computer, it is likely to produce thousands of shades of red. And these shades differ from each other in minute variations. But the eye can only see three shades: red, light red and dark red, or blue, light blue, and dark blue.

So also for the human ear, there is a multitude of speeds of recitation. But the human ear can only accept it as a slow recitation, a fast recitation, and a modest recitation (neither quick nor dull).

At Tahqeeq The scholars have named slow (saree’ ah) recitation as At Tahqeeq. It indicates ease and responsibility in connecting and pronouncing the letters. It is slowness without elongation.

Thus, when I recite the Qur'an with care and comfort, to slow down recitation, I may lengthen a letter over its limit. This results in tamteet, elongation. Tamteet means giving rise to letters of madd tajweed from the harakat.

In Arabic, there are only three karakaat, fathah, dhammah, and kasrah. The fathah has a timing; if it is overdone, it gives rise to an alif. The dhammah has a timing; if it is exceeded, it provides beginning to a waw. And a kesrah has a timing; if exceeded, it gives rise to a yaa. This is an atrocious mistake.

In tajwid al Quran the act of exceeding the length of a harakah to give rise to an added letter is called At Tamteet.  There is a fear that one who recites with tahqeeq will come into this. This is why when we recite with tahqeeq, we should be careful not to lengthen any letter or harakah longer than its timing to add a message. If we extend any sound higher than its required length, then we give rise to new alifs, waws, and yaas. Therefore, precision in tahqeeq is not to exceed the length needed.  For example, if he says kuuntum instead of kuntum – he extends the sound to produce an extra waw.

Al Hadr, The scholars, names the fast recitation as Al Hadr. If we say hadara fulaan, we mean, fulaan sped up. It is speed without merging the letters.