Está en la página 1de 12

A brief

introduction to
reciting the
Uthmaani style
of the Quraan

By Sister Uzma

2017

FORWARD
Bismillahi-Rahmaani-Raheem
All praise is due to Allah (swt - Subhanah Wa Taala) and may the peace and blessings be upon
Muhammad, the last Messenger and Prophet of Allah, (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
To proceed, the best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad
(sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), the worst practice is the introduction of new practices (bidahs) in Islam and
every bidah is a misguidance.

Introduction
While studying tajweed rules and how to recite the Quraan, I came across a gap in the explanation of the basics of
how to recite the Uthmaani Quraan. There are generally two main styles of the Quraan the Uthmaani Quraan
this is the style of the Madinah Musaf (Musaf is the Quraan in a written book form, as Quraan literally means
recital i.e. that which is recited continuously) and the Indo-Pak style. I personally prefer the Uthmaani style of the
Quraan, as the tajweed rules are more apparent and once a person is familiar with the basics it is easier to read.
Therefore what follows is a brief explanation of the diacritical marks found in the Uthmaani Quraan. These marks
apply specifically the way of recitation of Hafs an Aasim by the way of Shaatabiyyah, which is the most common
way of reciting the Quraan. I have referred to many tajweed rules throughout this booklet and I suggest you read
this then go over the relevant tajweed rules to understand the topic completely. I have put a link for the complete
tajweed rules for this way of recitation at the end of the booklet.

The Diacritical Marks


The fat-hah is the small line found on top of letters and is recited with an opening of the mouth and
emitting an a sound as in the a in the word about. An example is:
The dhammah is the small mark that looks like a number nine on top of letters and is recited by circling
the lips and emitting an o sound as the oo in the word cook. An example is:
The kasrah is a small line found under letters and is recited by slightly retracting the jaw (like a person
would when they smile), and emitting an e sound as in the i in the word ink. An example is:
These three the fat-hah, dhammah and kasrah are commonly called vowels. Any letter that does not have
a vowel on or under it is called a saakin letter, even if there are other marks on that letter.
The sukoon looks like this:
and the letter it sits on is joined on to the letter before it. When there is a
sukoon on a letter this letter is recited clearly with all of its characteristics, and none of it is hidden. For
example:

is recited as nastaeenu

is recited as anamta

When you put a sukoon on a letter, you are changing a vowelled letter in to a saakin letter. This usually
applies when you stop on a vowelled letter. Such letters would also be recited clearly, unless by making
that letter saakin it changes in to a madd letter, in which case it is treated as such (see below).
The shaddah looks like this
and represents two letters, the first saakin and the second with a vowel.
When a shaddah is found on a letter it means that the first letter that was saakin has completely merged in
to that letter, and no trace of it remains. Therefore a person joins the letter before the saakin letter which
has a vowel on it, with the letter with a shaddah on it. The result is that the letter with the shaddah gains
emphasis, and is recited as the if there were two letters exactly the same.
Sometimes the letter that is merged into the letter with the shaddah on it is written out and sometimes it is
not. Therefore whenever the shaddah is seen, it is recited as though there are two letters.
When letters with no marks or a hamzah on or under them are seen, the marks on the letters before and
after it need to be considered when continuing the recitation, even if it is in the next verse, unless it is one
of those letters that start some surahs.
When stopping on these letters only the letter before it needs to be considered, and this letter will gain a
sukoon and is recited clearly, unless the sukoon makes it in to a madd letter.

If the letter is an alif, wow or ya and the previous letter carries the corresponding vowel that makes
it into a madd letter (alif with a fat-hah before it all alifs in this Quraan are madd letters, wow
with a dhammah before it and ya with a kasrah before it), then this letter is treated as such. All
madd letters lengthen the vowel on the previous letter and the sound of that letter, two vowel
counts unless there is a madd sign above it. Examples include:

If this letter is a madd letter and is the last letter of a word and the first letter of the next word
carries a shaddah or is saakin, then the madd letter is recited when stopping (as are all saakin
letters), but dropped (i.e. not recited) when continuing, and the previous letter to the madd letter
joins on to the first letter of the next word. This is to prevent two saakin letters from meeting

between two words which is not allowed in Arabic.

If this letter is a ya without the dots at the end of a word, with an alif before it, it is called alif
maqsoora. It is recited the same as every alif. If there is a tanween fat-hah (two fat-hahs one on top
of the other) on the letter before it, alif maqsoora like every alif is recited when stopping on that
word, even though the small alif is not visible, the alif maqsoora is there. Most of the time the
small alif is visible on top of the alif maqsoora. Therefore when stopping on this letter we recite the
alif maqsoora and when continuing, we apply the relevant tajweed rules.
Examples of alif maqsoora include:

If the letter after it has a shaddah on it, then this letter is completely merged into that letter, and the
previous letter with a vowel is joined on to the letter with a shaddah, (unless it begins the next
word and you are stopping on this word. When stopping on a letter, the first letter of the next
word will have no effect on the letter being stopped on, and we never stop on letters within a
word). Examples include:

- the first completely merges into the second and the joins on to the
second

- the completely merges into the second and the joins on to the second
- the completely merges into the and the joins on to the

- the completely merges into the and the joins on to the

- the completely merges into the and the joins on to the

If the next letter only carries a vowel, then this letter is merged in to that letter with an incomplete
merging. The characteristics that remain of this saakin letter depend on what letter it is. For
example, if it is a noon, then we apply the relevant noon saakinah rules.
Examples are:
if it is a meem, then we apply the relevant meem saakinah rules. For example:
and if it is a

then, we keep only the characteristic of itbaaq of the

. For example

If one of these letters is one of the letters that begin some surahs, then these are lengthened two
vowel counts, except the alif. These letters are recited as they are spelt, and there is no madd letter
in alif when it is written out. Examples of letters that begin some surahs are:

If we take the first example from the left both the letters when written out carry a fat-hah, have
an
alif after them, and there is no sukoon or a shaddah after the madd letter. This is why it is
lengthened two vowel counts.
Dagger alif or small alif this is not attached to words and is recited as any alif. The letter the alif
belongs to is the one it sits on when that letter has a vowel on it. When this alif sits on a wow or a ya
without any vowel on it, or when it does not sit on any letter, it belongs to the letter before it just like any
alif.
Examples are:
Note: in the Uthmani Quraan, hamzah and alif are two separate letters and the alif (big or small and alif
maqsoora) is always saakin with a fat-hah before it, unless it is one of the letters that begin some surahs.
The alif is absent in the Name of Allah. The alif is after the laam with a shaddah. Examples are:

There are some other small letters in this style of the Quraan, and they are the small wow, ya and noon.
These are recited as if they were full sized letters, unless the wow or ya come after the pronoun . In this
case they treated as any wow or ya when continuing the recitation but they are dropped when stopping on
such words. Examples are:

The small ya found in verse 36 of surah An Naml (the example above on the far right) can be dropped
when stopping and putting a sukoon on the noon, or by putting a sukoon on the ya (as you would
normally). There is only one place where there is a small noon and this is in surah Al Anbiyyaa. As this
letter does not have a vowel on it and the following letter is an ikhfaa letter, do not forget to hide this noon.
The madd sign this is a wavy line on top of a madd letter. It looks like this:
. When you see this on
top of a madd letter you lengthen the vowel and the sound of the letter before the madd letter to four or five
vowel counts unless you see a sukoon or a shaddah on the following letter, in which case it is lengthened
to six vowel counts. If you are stopping on a letter which has the madd sign above it, the madd sign is
ignored and that letter is treated as any madd letter. This is because the madd sign is not applied when you
stop on such a letter.
You will also find this wavy line on top some of the letters that begin some surahs. These letters are recited
are they are spelt out. For example the noon is spelt: noon with a dhammah followed by a wow and then a
noon saakinah the madd letter is followed by a sukoon, and this causes the letter and vowel before the
madd letter to be lengthened six vowel counts. The letter is an exception. The leen letter in the middle
can be lengthened four or six vowel counts in this way of recitation. These letters also follow the other
tajweed rules. The tajweed rules to note are the qalalah, ikhfaa and idghaam. There is an exception to the
noon saakinah rules in these letters, and it is found when continuing reciting after the letter seen in surah Ya
Sin verse one and after the noon in surah Al Qalam verse one. For more details click the link at the end of
this booklet, and you will find all the tajweed rules in detail.
The round zero can be found on top of the letters alif, wow and ya. When this round zero is on top of any
letter, that letter is not recited at all, whether you are stopping or continuing your recitation. Examples
are:

There is an exception to this rule and that is in surah Al Insaan verse 4. The word is
. When
stopping the alif can be recited, or it can be dropped and putting a sukoon on the laam. When continuing
the recitation the alif is always dropped.
The standing oblong zero is found at the end of some words on the alif . This alif is not recited when
continuing but when stopping this alif is recited.

A very common example is:


The hamzah
The hamzah can be seen on or under an alif, wow and ya when they have no vowel on them
(this ya will not have any dots, like the ya the dagger alif can sit on). In these cases you just recite
the hamzah and not the alif, wow or ya. Examples are:

When the hamzah, like any letter comes before a madd letter, the vowel and the sound of the
hamzah is lengthened two vowel counts as normal (unless there is a madd sign on top of the madd
letter as mentioned above).
Examples are:

In surah Al Baqarah verse 72, you may find a little line under a hamzah, as in:
- the
hamzah is recited as normal in this way of recitation, and is of relevance in the other ways of
reciting.

The black dot in surah Fusillat verse 44 there is an alif with a black dot on top of it and it is a hamzah that is recited softly, with an easing of the hamzah so that it sounds somewhere
in between an alif and a hamzah with no lengthening. This is called tas-heel. This verse is the only
place where you will find the black dot in most of these Quraans. However, some of them have a
black dot to respresent that something different needs to be done, and the diamond (see below) is
substituted by the black dot.

Hamzatul wasl or the connecting hamzah looks like this: - it is an alif with the letter saad over it.
A person cannot start their recitation on a letter without a vowel. Therefore when the first letter of
a word does not have a vowel there will be a hamzatul wasl before it, which will allow the recitor
to start their recitation. The vowel the hamzatul wasl gets depends on the make-up of that word.
The hamzatul wasl that stands before the laam of the definite article the alif-laam tareef
(meaning the word the in Arabic) will always carry a fat-hah. In all nouns and verbs, the
hamzatul wasl will carry a kasrah unless the third letter of the verb (including the hamzatul wasl
and two letters for a shaddah if applicable) carries an original dhammah, in which case it will carry
a dhammah. Another way of looking at it is to remember the hamzatul wasl will always get a
kasrah unless hamzatul wasl is part of the alif-laam tareef (when it will carry a fat-hah) or the third
letter carries an original dhammah (when it will carry a dhammah).
The team behind the great website abouttajweed.com have put a table together showing what
vowel to put on the hamzatul wasl when beginning the relevant verses of the Quraan. Click the
following link to download it:
http://www.abouttajweed.com/Verbs%20and%20Nouns%20beginning%20with%20hamzah%20al.pdf

The following link has lessons on basic Arabic grammar:


http://www.abouttajweed.com/grammar-brief-intro-/index.php
Remember: if the letter after the hamzatul wasl is a hamzah, the maddi badal rules are also applied.
The hamzatul wasl is only recited when starting on that word but dropped when continuing the
recitation, i.e. the last letter of the last word with a vowel joins on to the letter without a vowel.
When continuing the recitation from verse 1 to 2 of suratul Ale Imran, the meem saakinah of the
Meem in the first verse acquires a fat-hah and this joins to the Name of Allah in the second verse.
The Tanween this is two fat-hahs together, one on top of the other (called tanween fat-hah or fat-hah
tain), two dhammahs together, one on top of the other or next to each other (called tanween dhammah or
dhammah tain), or two kasrahs together one on top of the other (called tanween kasrah or kasrah tain).
When the tanween is seen on or under a letter it means a noon saakinah is added on to that letter. The
second vowel represents the noon saakinah. It is recited by placing a noon saakinah after the letter it sits
on (or under) and reciting the vowel on that letter.
For example:

is recited as

(an).

You may find an alif after a letter with a tanween fat-hah on it. This alif is not recited when continuing,
only when stopping. When stopping the noon saakinah is substituted by the alif. This substitution will
occur always when we stop on a letter with a tanween fat-hah unless that letter is a - a ta marboota. In
this case the ta marboota is exchanged for a ha saakinah. The ta marboota is always exchanged for a ha
saakinah when stopping regardless of what mark it carries.
If the letter following the tanween is a hamzatul wasl and we are continuing the recitation (i.e. not
stopping, even for a breath) the hamzatul wasl is dropped (as it always is when we continue the recitation)
and the noon saakinah of the tanween acquires a kasrah and joins to the saakin letter of the next word. This
noon is called noon qutni. I have put a table of all the places of noon qutni in the Quraan where this
situation occurs within a verse, on this site.
To assist recitors the way the tanween is written tells us what rules to apply. If the tanween fat-hah or
tanween kasrah is sitting directly over or under a letter and both vowels are aligned with each other, one
directly on top of the other, then the tanween ith-haar rules are to be applied. If they are not aligned with
each other and not directly sitting on or under the letter, an idghaam rule is to be applied, and if one of the
vowels is replaced by a meem, there is an iqlaab rule to be applied. The style of the dhammah is like this
for idghaam, and like this for ith-haar. You will find these styles of the tanween on the last letter of
some verses. This is because when a person is continuing their recitation with the next verse, that is the rule
to be applied.
Stopping signs - when we stop on a word we always put a sukoon on the last letter, unless we are stopping
with roam or the last letter carries a tanween fat-hah, or a ta marboota. It is sunnah to stop at the end of a
verse. If you do not stop at the end of a verse, you carry on reciting as if the end of the verse was not there
i.e. make no changes to the last letter of the last word, and not take a breath at that point. Many times the
reciter will need to stop within a verse. There are some signs found in the Quraan which help you to deduce
when to take a breath in your recitation.

- This is a meem with a tail. You are required to stop here otherwise the meaning may change.
Note: this is not the meem found on top of a noon or as part of a tanween when applying the noon
saakinah and tanween iqlaab rule which looks like this
.When this is found on the noon or
tanween, the noon saakinah is exchanged for a meem saakinah. Hence instead of two vowels for
the tanween, you will find one vowel and a meem.

- Qaaf laam ya. This means it is preferrable to stop here.

- This means it is permissible to stop here. There is one exception in the way of Hafs an
Aassim. This is in surah Al Araaf verse 176.
We do not stop here and
the completely merges in to the .
- you will find two of these together in a verse. The rule is to stop at one or the other but
not
at both places. You can also carry on with your recitation and not stop at either of these.

- Saad laam ya. Here it is preferable to carry on. If you do not stop here you can resume your
recitation straight after this sign if you stopped at a later point.
- Do not stop here, or do not stop here and start on the word after this sign.
With the exception of the , we can continue the recitation and not stop at any of the above signs. When
continuing the recitation after one of these signs or when carrying on after the end of a verse and the
following word starts with a letter with shaddah on it, then the last letter of the last word is completely
merged in to that letter. But when starting on such a word you ignore the shaddah because the shaddah was
there to allow the continuation of the recitation. The only time when a shaddah is not found on a letter
beginning a verse that had the last letter in the last verse completely merged in to it, is in the case of the

at the end of verse 28 in surah Al Haaqah.:


This is probably due to having the option
of doing a sakta here, in which case there is no merging, as it is treated as though you were stopping (see
below).

- This is a small seen. It is the sign for a sakta a breathless pause. When continuing the recitation it
is required to make a sakta. The other tajweed rules that apply to the sakta are the same as if you are
stopping, i.e. there is a pause to stop the continuation of tajweed rules, but technically you are continuing
the recitation. This pause is longer than the gap made to distinguish one word from the following word but
shorter than the gap made when taking a breath. The sakta is found just after the end of a word in four
places in the Quraan: surah Al Kahf between verse 1 and 2, surah Ya sin verse 52, surah Al Qiyaamah
verse 27 and surah Al Mutafifeen verse 14. There is also an option to make a sakta between verse 28 and
29 of surah Al Haaqah, if you were continuing your recitation, as mentioned above.
The seen for the sakta is positioned differently to the seen found only over or under the letter saad, as in
what follows.

The small seen on top of the letter saad found in surah Al Baqarah verse 245
Araaf verse 69

, and surah Al

, indicates that instead of reciting the saad you recite the seen.

The small seen under the letter saad found in surah At Tur verse 37
. Here you can recite
either the saad or the seen . I have noticed in a print of the Uthmani Quraan, though not the Medinah Musaf
in surah Al Ghaashiyah the seen is also under the saad in verse 22. However, here only the saad is recited
in this way of recitation.
The diamond this indicates that there is a special rule. There are two places in this Quraan. The first is in
surah Hud verse 41 .

The word is
. The letter here is recited with an imaalah which means tilting. Practically
speaking instead of reciting the alif by opening the mouth vertically you widen your mouth, hence the
imalah/tilting. Do not forget that as there is an alif, the length of the imaalah is two vowel counts.
The second place of the diamond is in surah yusuf verse 11.
The word is
. This word was originally
. This word can be recited in one of two ways:
either by completely merging the two noons and making the lips move for the dhammah called ishmaam
you do the ishmaam during the ghunnah. Or by reciting both noons clearly but only giving the dhammah
2/3rds of its timing. For more details of the special words in this way of recitation, click on the following
link:
http://www.abouttajweed.com/index.php/tajweed-rules/66-words-hafs-an-aasim-min-tareeq-ashshatibiyy/100-special-words-for-hafs-an-aasim-by-the-way-of-ash-shaatibiyyah-3

To conclude: in this way of recitation you recite the letters as they are written unless it is an exception or special
word for this way of recitation, where it may be recited slightly differently. These detailed tajweed rules can be
found by clicking the link below:
http://www.abouttajweed.com/index.php/tajweed-rules
In order to apply these rules correctly make sure you sit with a qualified teacher and listen to Qaris. If sisters cannot
find other sisters to teach them in person, do dua to Allah to help you then ring in to some live broadcasts.
I have put a couple of tables on the following pages comparing the two styles of Quraan. They may be of use when
transferring from one style of Quraan to the other.
May Allah forgive me for any shortcomings in this booklet. Ameen. May Allah make it easy for everyone to recite
the Quraan correctly and to a standard that is acceptable and pleasing to Him. Ameen.

A summary of the main differences between the Uthmaani style of the


Quraan and the Indo-Pak style of the Quraan
Uthmaani

Indo-Pak

Sukoon

Same mark but it only means that it joins to the letter before it with no
indication on how that letter is recited. For example you will see the sukoon on a
noon that is hidden (ikhfaa) in this Quran as well as on other letters that are not
hidden.
Same mark but in this Quraan, it represents all types of merging (i.e. both
complete and incomplete merges are represented by a shaddah).
These do not always represent saakin letters in this Quraan. Most of the time it
refers to the silent letters.
Same letter, in this Quraan when there is no merging of the letter before the alif
maqsoora with the letter after it, the alif is written on the preceeding letter and
not on the ya. When there is a merging of the letter before the alif maqsoora
with the letter after the alif maqoora,, (even if it is in the next verse) both
Quraans omit this alif. Remember when stopping on alif maqsoora it is always
recited, just like every alif.
Straight line under a letter

Shaddah
Letters with no mark or a
hamzah on or under them
Alif maqsoora

Small ya

Small wow
Madd sign

The round zero

Hamzah
Hamzatul wasl

The tanween

The black dot and the diamond

A 6 on top of a letter
There are two used in this Quraan, the wavy line will still be four or five vowel
counts. This is for madd munfasil. To indicate a possible lengthening of four,
five or six vowel counts this
is used, unless it is at the beginning of a surah,
when it will be six vowel counts. To know how to apply this mark you need to
know the complete madd rules.
Same mark, but this Quraan makes no distinction between the two zeros, and
you have to know when to recite the letters and when not to. Many times there is
no mark on a letter, where in the Uthmaani Quraan there would be a standing
oblong zero, so a person would have to know which words they are. Many times
the silent letters in this Quraan are those that the Uthmaani Quraan places the
round zero on top of. Without a teacher going through which letters are recited
and which ones are not, there is the potential for errors.
Same letter, also the alif with a vowel or sukoon on or under it, is a hamzah
If a hamzatul wasl begins a verse it will usually have the relevant vowel on it.
When continuing the recitation from one verse to another, it is important to
know if the word beginning the verse begins with a hamzatul wasl because if the
last letter of the last word has a vowel on it, the hamzatul wasl is dropped, and if
that last letter carries a tanween, then we recite the noon qutni. When hamzatul
wasl does not begin a verse, or a word after a stopping sign, it will not have a
vowel on it, and is distinguished from the madd alif by the fact that it begins a
word and the madd alif will not begin a word. Also the alif in the alif-laam
tareef is a hamzatul wasl.
These are all written in one style, with no indication of what tajweed rule to
apply. The noon qutni when it occurs within a verse are written in, but not
always when you are carrying on from one verse to another. Sometimes the
noon qutni is positioned around the hamzatul wasl, which is incorrect as the
noon qutni is the former noon saakinah of the tanween and not a part of the
hamzatul wasl. The meem for the iqlaab rule is added after or on the noon or
tanween, with the tanween remaining unchanged.
This mark
is indicating that there is something different to be done in that
word. In most copies of this Quraan, it does not sit exactly on the letter that
requires the change, (an explanation of what to do is usually found in the
margins). This mark indicates that something is to be done in surah Hud verse
41. There is no mark found on surah Yusuf verse 11. Here the word is written as
you would if you did ishmaam on that word, but with no indication to do the
ishmaam. This mark is found elsewhere and you need to know what it is that
needs to be done.

A summary of the difference in the names of some of the marks found in


the Uthmaani and Indo-Pak styles of the Quraan
Name of the mark in the Uthmaani Quraan

Name of the same mark found in the Indo-Pak Quraan

Fat-hah
Dhammah
Kasrah
Sukoon
Shaddah
Dagger alif
Round zero on top of an alif
Tanween Fat-hah
Tanween Dhammah
Tanween kasrah

Zabar
Pesh
Zer
Jazm
Tashdeed
Kari Zabar or standing Zabar
Zaid alif
Do Zabar or two Zabars
Do Pesh or two Peshs
Do Zer or two Zers

When reciting the Indo-Pak Quraan, you recite it how its written, while at the same time knowing all the tajweed
rules, and which words begin with hamzatul wasl. There are more stopping signs in the Indo-Pak Quraan. For
example the

usually means it is better to stop here and the

to continue, and the means the same as


end of that Quraan.

usually means you can stop, but it is better

. What the remaining symbols mean can usually be found at the

There is no difference between how these two styles of Quraan are recited, it is just with the Indo-Pak style, you
need to know more rules and memorise which words have letters in them that are not recited.

También podría gustarte