5 most common Tajweed mistakes people make when reciting Quran

Assalamu Alikum,

In this article, You are going to know the Tajweed mistakes that most people make when they recite Quran even Quran teachers sometimes make these mistakes! Which affects their Quran recitation and might make Their Salah invalid if they were able to say it correctly.

I found people made these mistakes while I was teaching Quran and Tajweed to non-Arabic speakers online. This article is for those who learn Tajweed and not the beginner students who are learning letters and practice elementary things like how to say ح ع ه غ. 

Here are the most common mistakes that you should practice to avoid:

1-Heavy and light letters 

The Arabic alphabet is divided into two categories: Heavy letters and light letters.

The heavy letters are seven خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ.  When pronouncing these letters you have to raise the deepest part (back part) of the tongue. This creates more space in the mouth so the letters become heavy. 

Letter Laam (ل)

The rest of the letters are light except ر and ل. Laam is always light except in the word الله is heavy unless there was before it a letter with the vowel Kasra. Listen to Quran audio in this (إنَّ الله) the word Allah before it ن but with Fatha, not Kasra so lam is heavy. (بسمِ الله) the word Allah before it م  with kasra so it’s light. Listen to Quran audio in this to differentiate between the heavy and light sound of lam in the word Allah.

And, make sure you pronounce Laam light in all other words cause most non-Arabic speakers consider it like the letter L in English and they say it heavy.

Example:

An Example of wrong pronunciation of the heavy and light letters people make. In sura Alfatiha, the word المستقيم. Some people make ت heavy which makes it sound like ط. Some make س heavy which makes it sound like ص. And of course, some make the letter ق light which makes it sound like ك. 

Remember: good pronunciation of the heavy and light letters requires a lot of listening and practicing.

2-Reading Shadah

This sign ( ّ )which called Shadah. Many people say the letter that has this sign is like a normal letter with a vowel. 

Shadah means the letter is doubled. So, the letter is pronounced two times continuously. The first one has Sukoon (consonant) and the second has Harakah (the vowel) which can be Fatha or Kasra or Damma.

For example: إنَّ. Noon here has Shadah. So, the first noon is consonant will sound like (in). the other one has fatha and will sound like (na). This word is pronounced like In Na.

Remember: the sound of the letter should be concurrently and not separately.

3-Qalqalah

Qlaqalah: is a Tajweed rule that is applied to certain letters in the Arabic language ق ط ب ج د When these letters have Sukoon ( ْ). There are many videos that can help you to read Qalqalah correctly. 

Remember: you shouldn’t make Qalqalah with other letters when they have Sukoon. And, Don’t try to make it if the letter has another vowel and not Sukoon!

4-Short and long vowels (Madd rules)

The letters can be with one of three vowels. Fatha بَ Kasra بِ,  Damma بُ. Those are the short vowels when the sound should be short. 

The sound is longer for two counts if there is an Alif after Fatha بَا. Yaa after Kasra بِي. Waw after Damma بُو. This is the second level which is only two counts long due to the Madd (vowel) letters. ا و ي.

The long Madd is when we should prolong for four or six counts long. You can learn this in many videos. And it’s summarized here:

The long Madd can be summarized in two levels:

First when there is Hamza (ء) after a mad letter. like جَآءَ. We should prolong this for four or five counts.

Second when there is a Letter with Shadah after a Madd letter. حَآجَّ. We should prolong this for six counts long.

5-Rules or Noon Sakinah and Tanween.

Applying these rules is not as important as the last ones. However, You should learn this once you reach a good level in Tajweed. This will make your Quran recitation much better.

Something you should always remember is that you should make Ghunna (the sound from your nose) with ن and م when they have Shadah. 

The sound of Noon and Tajweed is hidden is merged completely when after them ر or ل. This makes Noon or Tanween very close to being silent.

Conclusion

Mistakes when reciting Quran are many which you can learn by studying and practicing. If you reached a good level in learning Arabic reading you should practice avoiding doing these 5 Tajweed mistakes that I have mentioned in this post. Until you master reciting Quran and reading it perfectly Insha Allah.