UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC TERMINOLOGY OF TAJWEED

The practice of accurate pronunciation of the Qur'anic harf, lengths, idgams, etc., is certainly a matter of skill in tilavet, and there is no skill without systematic work and practice. The practical, sound-related aspect of reciting the Qur'an is only one segment of Tajweed, i.e. its artistic dimension. However, when we say 'ilm et-tajweed', we refer to the Qur'anic science, which, like any other science, has its own theory, its subject of study, its terminology and methodology. Therefore, it is erroneous to perceive the science of Tajweed only as melodic reciting of the Qur'anic text, or to limit it to practicing the pronunciation of the Qur'anic words and examining the application of the Tajweed rules. Even more debatable is the issue of treating the term Tajweed when related to the term Qira’at. Given the difficulty in understanding the subject matter of the study of Tajweed and Qira’at and the lack of understanding of the basic terminological concepts of these two Qur'anic disciplines, this paper aims at shedding some light on these issues.