By Sheikh Ramaḍān Al-Būṭī
Question: What is the
ruling in the Revealed Law regarding someone who recites the Book of Allah without applying the rules of tajwīd? Is learning these rules obligatory upon
every Muslim?
Answer: The obligation with
regards to reciting the Qurʾān:
1) Oral transmission from a reciter who has transmitted
the Qurʾān from a reciter before him. In other words, when reciting the Qurʾān
it is not permissible to merely rely on the Arab culture that we rely on when
reading magazines and general books.
2)The tajwīd of recitation is obligatory within
the scope of making the exit points of the letters[1]
accurate, such as distinguishing between dhal and zāy and between
sīn and thāʾ, as well as the difference between the heavy rāʾ
and the light raʾ and between the alif lam of the sun letters and
that of the moon letters.[2]
As for the ruling of assimilation,[3]
concealment,[4]
manifestation,[5]
elongation[6]
and similar matters, they are from the perfections that are advisable to
incorporate into one’s recitation.
[Translated from Maʿ An-Nās: Mashūrāt wa Fatāwā (Damascus: Dar
Al-Fikr, 1999) v.1 p.39]
Update: A copy of this translated fatwā can now be found on the English version of www.naseemalsham.com.
[1] (tn): Ar. makhārij al-ḥurūf
[3] (tn): Ar. idghām
[4] (tn): Ar. ikhfāʾ
[5] (tn): Ar. iẓhār
[6] (tn): Ar. mudūd
