By Online Quran Classes Team · Published · 9 min read
Tajweed comes from an Arabic root meaning “to make better”. In recitation, it is the set of rules that gives every letter of the Quran its right: where it is pronounced, how it sounds and how long it lasts. Allah instructs the Prophet ﷺ: “and recite the Quran with measured recitation” (Al-Muzzammil 73:4).
The list of terms can look intimidating, but it is much less so once you see how the rules fit together. This guide walks through them in the order most teachers use, which is also the order we follow in our online Tajweed classes.
One note before we start: Tajweed is learned by listening and reciting to a teacher, not from reading alone. Use this page as a map, not as a replacement for a teacher who can hear you.
Two kinds of mistakes
Scholars of recitation divide mistakes into two kinds. A clear mistake (lahn jali) changes a letter or a vowel, such as a ق said as a ك, and can change the meaning. A hidden mistake (lahn khafi) is subtler, such as cutting a Madd short or skipping the nasal sound of Ghunnah. Beginners work on clear mistakes first, then refine the hidden ones.
Makharij: where each letter comes from
Makharij (singular makhraj) are the articulation points, the exact place each letter is pronounced from. Most teachers follow the widely taught count of 17 makharij, grouped into five areas:
| Area | Letters | What to notice |
|---|---|---|
| The open space of the mouth and throat (Al-Jawf) | The three Madd letters: ا, and و and ي when they lengthen a vowel | No point of contact; the sound flows from the open space and stops when your breath does. |
| The throat (Al-Halq) | ء ه (deepest), ع ح (middle), غ خ (nearest the mouth) | Apart from the hamza and a light h, English has no equivalents, so these need the most practice. |
| The tongue (Al-Lisan) | 18 letters, such as ق ك ج ش ض ل ن ر ط د ت ص س ز ظ ذ ث | Ten points on the tongue; a small change in position separates letters like ق and ك. |
| The lips (Ash-Shafatan) | ف (lower lip and upper teeth), ب م و (both lips) | Here و is the consonant w, not the long vowel. |
| The nose (Al-Khayshum) | The Ghunnah, the nasal sound of ن and م | A common classroom test: gently pinch your nose during a Ghunnah, and the sound should stop. |
Try it with هَ and حَ. The ه is a light breath from deep in the throat, like the English h. The ح comes from the middle of the throat and is tighter and breathier, with no English equivalent. That difference matters: الْحَمْدُ (al-hamdu, praise) needs a ح, not an English h.
Sifaat: how each letter sounds
Sifaat are the characteristics of a letter: how it sounds once it leaves its makhraj. The ones beginners meet first:
- Hams and Jahr (whispered and voiced): ten letters carry a flow of breath, gathered in the phrase فحثه شخص سكت. The rest are voiced, with the breath held back.
- Shiddah, Tawassut and Rakhawah (strong, in-between and soft): in the strong letters أجد قط بكت the sound stops completely; in لن عمر it is partly held; in the rest it flows.
- Isti'la and Istifal (raised and lowered): seven letters are always heavy, with the back of the tongue raised: خص ضغط قظ. They give the vowel after them a fuller, darker sound. The other letters are light, except ر and the ل in the name of Allah, which are heavy in some positions.
- Itbaq (closing): in ص ض ط ظ the tongue presses up against the roof of the mouth, which makes them the heaviest letters of all.
- Qalqalah: a bouncing echo on five letters, covered below.
This is why سَ and صَ, or تَ and طَ, sound clearly different to an Arabic ear, even though an English speaker may hear “the same s” or “the same t”.
Noon Sakin and Tanween: four rules
Noon Sakin is a ن with a sukun (نْ). Tanween is the doubled vowel at the end of a noun (ـً ـٍ ـٌ), which is pronounced like an extra n. Both follow the same four rules, depending on the letter that comes next:
| Rule | Next letter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Izhar (clear) | The six throat letters: ء ه ع ح غ خ | مِنْهُمْ (minhum), مَنْ آمَنَ (man amana): the n is pronounced clearly, without an extra nasal hold. |
| Idgham (merging) | ي ر م ل و ن, remembered as يرملون | With Ghunnah before ي ن م و: مَن يَقُولُ is read may-yaqulu. Without Ghunnah before ل ر: مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ is read mir-rabbihim. |
| Iqlab (changing) | ب only | مِنْ بَعْدِ (mim ba'di): the n turns into a hidden m sound with Ghunnah. Many Mushafs print a small م as a reminder. |
| Ikhfa (hiding) | The other 15 letters: ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك | أَنْتُمْ (antum), مِنْ قَبْلِ (min qabli): the n is hidden in a nasal sound held for about two counts, while the tongue gets ready for the next letter. |
Two details catch students out. First, Idgham only happens between two words: inside one word, such as الدُّنْيَا (ad-dunya), the noon is read clearly. Second, every ن and م with a shaddah carries a full Ghunnah of about two counts, as in إِنَّ and ثُمَّ.
Meem Sakin: three rules of the lips
A م with a sukun (مْ) has three rules of its own, called shafawi (of the lips):
- Ikhfa Shafawi: before ب, the meem is hidden with Ghunnah and the lips close lightly, as in تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ (Al-Fil 105:4).
- Idgham Shafawi: before another م, the two merge into one meem with Ghunnah, as in وَلَكُم مَّا (wa lakum-ma).
- Izhar Shafawi: before every other letter, the meem is pronounced clearly. Take extra care before و and ف, where it is easy to slip into hiding it, as in عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ at the end of Al-Fatihah.
Qalqalah: the echo letters
The five Qalqalah letters are ق ط ب ج د, often remembered as قطب جد. When one of them has a sukun, it gets a slight bounce so it doesn't disappear:
- In the middle of a word, or when you keep reading, the bounce is light: يَجْعَلُونَ, قَدْ أَفْلَحَ.
- When you stop on the letter, the bounce is stronger: stopping on أَحَدْ at the end of the first ayah of Al-Ikhlas, or on الْفَلَقْ in Al-Falaq.
Beginners tend to make one of two opposite mistakes: swallowing the letter completely, or adding a full vowel so that أَحَدْ becomes “ahada”. The echo should be short and clean. Al-Ikhlas gives good practice: لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ (112:3) has a Qalqalah on each د.
Madd: how long to hold a vowel
Madd means lengthening. The three Madd letters are ا after a fatha, و with a sukun after a damma, and ي with a sukun after a kasra. Length is measured in counts (harakat), roughly the time it takes to say one short vowel.
| Type | When it happens | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Madd (Tabi'i) | A Madd letter with no hamza or sukun after it: قَالَ, قِيلَ, يَقُولُ | 2 counts |
| Connected Madd (Muttasil) | A hamza after the Madd letter in the same word: جَاءَ, السَّمَاءِ | 4 or 5 counts |
| Separated Madd (Munfasil) | A Madd letter ends one word and the next word begins with a hamza: إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ | Commonly 4 or 5 counts |
| Madd when stopping ('Arid lil-Sukun) | Stopping on a word whose last letter follows a Madd letter: الْعَالَمِينْ, الرَّحِيمْ | 2, 4 or 6 counts, kept consistent |
| Necessary Madd (Lazim) | A Madd letter followed by a permanent sukun or shaddah: الضَّالِّينَ, الْحَاقَّةُ, and letters such as the lam and meem of الٓمٓ | 6 counts |
Lengths are those of the Hafs 'an 'Asim recitation printed in most Mushafs used in the USA and worldwide. Your teacher keeps your lengths consistent.
Waqf: where and how to stop
Waqf means stopping. Stopping in the wrong place can cut a sentence in half or join two meanings that should stay separate, so the Mushaf prints small symbols to guide you:
- مـ: a necessary stop.
- لا: don't stop here. If you run out of breath, go back and start again from an earlier point.
- ج: stopping and continuing are both fine.
- صلى: continuing is better. قلى: stopping is better.
- Three dots that appear in two nearby places: stop at one of them, not both.
When you stop, the last vowel usually becomes a sukun. A tanween with fatha becomes a long a, so عَلِيمًا is read ‘alima, and a ة at the end of a word is read as a soft h. When you start again, begin from a word that makes sense on its own, not from the middle of a phrase.
Common mistakes English speakers make
Students who grew up speaking English tend to make the same handful of mistakes:
- ح and ه sound the same. English only has the light h. The ح needs a tighter, breathier sound from the middle of the throat.
- The ع is dropped. It is a real consonant from the middle of the throat, not a pause. عَلِيم (knowing) and أَلِيم (painful) are different words.
- ق becomes k. The ق comes from the very back of the tongue and is heavy. قَلْب (qalb, heart) and كَلْب (kalb, dog) differ only in that letter.
- Heavy letters said light. ص ض ط ظ said like an English s, d, t and z. الصِّرَاطَ needs a full, heavy ص.
- The “th” letters. ث (as in think) and ذ (as in this) said as s, t, z or d, or mixed up with each other.
- The English r. The Arabic ر is a quick tap of the tongue, heavy in some positions and light in others, never the soft English r.
- Short and long vowels blurred. قَالَ (qaala, he said) has a long vowel; reading it short changes the word. Count your Madd.
- Shaddah skipped. A doubled letter is held: إِيَّاكَ is iyyaka, not iyaka.
- Relying on transliteration. English spelling can't show the difference between ح and ه, or س and ص. Use it as a bridge for the first weeks at most.
How online Tajweed classes teach all of this
Nobody should try to learn all of these at once. In our classes the order is the one used on this page, finishing with longer passages where every rule is applied together. Each rule is explained in English, demonstrated by the teacher and practised straight away in real ayat. Tajweed runs through all of our online Quran classes, starting with the correct letter sounds in the very first Noorani Qaida lesson.
Children usually begin Tajweed once they have finished Noorani Qaida, while adults often start from their own recitation and fix the most important habits first. Sisters can learn with a female Quran teacher. Tajweed is included in every monthly plan ($45 a month (Flex Monthly), $40 a month billed $240 every 6 months (Half-Year Saver) or $35 a month billed $420 a year (Annual Best Value)), and the fee table also lists native Arab teacher hour packs: Starter 5 for $75, Core 10 for $130 and Intensive 20 for $220.
Good Tajweed also makes memorization easier. If that is your next goal, read our guide to memorizing the Quran, or see how our Tajweed online classes are structured level by level. When your recitation is steady, our Quran memorization classes continue with the same teacher, who corrects your Tajweed as you recite each new portion from memory.