SCIENCE
OF TAJWĪD (4)
Letter “l” ل and letter “r” ر
Letter
“l” ل is always pronounced lightly. But when it is in the lafẓ
al-jalālah (the exalted term), namely, “Allah” اللّه, it could be pronounced with tafkhīm, namely, strongly
or with tarqīq, namely softly or lightly. It is pronounced strongly if:
a.
it is standing alone, or in the beginning of the verse, such as “Allāh”
أللّه, Allāhu akbar اللَه أَكْبَر, Allāhu lladhī .. (not Allāhu al-ladhī) اللّهُ الَّذِي ...
b. it is
preceded by a letter with fatḥah, such huwa llāh هُوَ اللّه, (not huwa Allāh), subəḥānallāh سُبْحَانَ اللّه (not subəḥāna Allāh)
c. it is preceded by a letter with ḍammah, such as ‘abədullāh عَبْدُ اللهّ (not ‘abədu Allāh) ,
raḥmatullāh رَحْمَةُ اللّه (not raḥmatu Allāh) , salāmullāh سَلاَمُ اللهِ (not salāmu
Allāh), ṣalātullāh صَلاَةُ اللهِ (not ṣalātu Allāh). It is pronounced lightly if it is
preceded by a letter with kasrah, such as al-ḥamdu lillāh الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ, and bismillāh بِسْمِ اللهِ.
Letter “r” ر is pronounced strongly, if:
a. its vowel is fatḥah, such as: raḥmah رَحْمَه , barakah بَرَكَه, rabbanā رَبَّنَا , and raḥīm رَحِيْم. (Remember run,
rough, rug, Russia). In order to
pronounce letter “r”ر strongly, the Javanese people (the natives
of Central and Eastern Java) in Indonesia pronounce “ra” as “ro”,
so that they say: roḥmah, barokah, robbanā and roḥīm. Even the “l” in “Allāh” they pronounce
strongly and become “Allôh”, and therefore, they say roḥmatullôh رَحْمَةُ اللّه. ( …ra…)[1]
b. its vowel is ḍammah,
such as: rubbamā رُبَّمَا, yakhrūjuيَخْرُجُ (Remember rumour, ruler, rubie) (…ru…)
c. its vowel is sukūn,
but preceded by a letter with fatḥah,
.. ar (ــَرْ), such as Maryam (مَرْيَم), marḥaban. Remember: harmony, army.
(…ar…)
d. its vowel is sukūn,
but preceded by a letter with ḍammah, such as burhān بُرْهَان , qurbān قُرْبَان , qur’ān قُرْآن
(Remember survey, furniture, purchase) (…ur…)
e. its vowel is sukūn for stopping, and is preceded by “waw” or “alif” with sukūn, namely, …ūr (وْرْ), and ār (ــَار) , such
as:
al-ghafūr
… (ألْغَفُوْرْ), al-jabbār… (الْجَبَّارْ) Remember: “room, car”
(…ūr. and …ār.)
f. its vowel is sukūn, but preceded by a letter
called hamzah al-waṣl, (هَمْزَةُ اْلوَصْل) “conjunctive
hamzah” linking with the word that preceds it. It is usually put either
on the top of the letter alif (أ) with a ḍammah (أُ) or with a fatḥah (أَ)or under the letter alif (إ), and therefore it sounds “i”, and then the
letter alif itself is called hamzah al-waṣl without the letter hamzah (ء). When it is
alone it is pronounced clearly, such as irji‘
(ْإِرْجِعْ). This alif is dropped in
reading when we connect it with the word that
precedes it. For example:
irji‘ (إِرْجِعْ), but farji‘(فَارْجِع) , not fa ’irji‘ .
irḥam (اِرْحَم), but rabbirḥam(رَبَ
ارْحَم) , not rabbi ‘irḥam.
This additional alif
indicates du’a (supplication), request and command, and therefore, it
has to be there, although it is not part of the original letters of the words, r-j-‘
(ر-ج-ع) and r-ḥ-m (رـ ح – م). Otherwise,
if the letter is original, then the letterر has to be pronounced weakly, such as firdaws
(فِرْدَوْس) where the letter “f”
(ف) is
original part of the word. ([i]r…)
As
it is not easy to identify the hamzah al-waṣl in the verses of the
Qur’an
for people who do not understand Arabic, and most of the Muslims are non-Arabs, a small letter ṣād (ص)is put on the top of the letter alif replacing
the hamzah in order to avoid reading it. However, if a word starts with ist
the “i” is most probably a hamzah al-waṣl (hamzatu ‘l-waṣl).
For example:
istakbara
إِسْتَكْبَرَ(he became
arrogant)
wa stakbraوَاسْتَكْبَرَ (“and he became arrogant”), and the “i” is gone
istaghfir
إِسْتَغْفِرْ (“ask forgiveness!”)
fa staghfir فَاسْتَغْفِرْ (“then ask forgiveness!”), and the “i” is gone.
In the English language if I say “bread n
butter,” “wait n see,” and “what s matter,” you will know
that what I mean is “bread and butter,” “wait and see,” and “what
is the matter,” respectively.[2]
g. its vowel is sukūn, but it is
succeeded by one of the letters of isti‘lā’ (i.e., kh خ- ṣص - ḍض - ghغ
- ṭط- qق - ẓظ), such as qirṭās قِرْطَاس , firqah فِرْقَه , and mirṣād مِرْصَاد. [3] (…rq…,
…rkh… etc.)
In the word arḍ
أَرْض both letter “r” and “ḍ” that follows it have to be pronounced
strongly. In English the letter ḍ is replaced with letter th,
and it becomes “earth”, whereas in German it is replaced with letter d,
and it becomes “erde”. Whenever
you find letter “r” followed by a letter difficult to pronounce in a
word, or not found in your language, be careful, you might have to stress both
letters, like the word arḍ above. (r + kh gh q ṣ ḍ ṭ ẓ). To
remember these four rules, remember: “Purchase rough rubie+rock”
or ra – ur –ru –rq, or Nauru Rock (na for ra, uru for
ur and ru, and rock for r+q). The rock indicates
that it has to be pronounced strongly.
Letter “r” ر is pronounced weakly, if:
a. its vowel is kasrah, i.e., namely, …ri…
(ــرِ...), such as: rijəsun رِجْسٌ , ma‘rifatun مَعْرِفَةٌ (Remember river,
rigid, ritual) (…ri…)
b. it
is preceded by a letter with kasrah, namely …ir (ــِر), on condition that it is NOT preceded by
one of the letters of isti ‘lā’ (kh gh q ṣ ḍ ṭ ẓ) such as , such yaghfiru
(يَغْفِرُ), Firdaws
(فِرْدَوْس) . The examples in
Arabic are: dirham (دِرْهَم), miryah (مِرْيَه). (Remember:
circus, firm, sir)
(…ir…)
c. it is preceded by “y”ي
with sukūn, namely, …yr (يْر), such as khabyrun خَبِيْرٌ, khayr خَيْر , al-baṣyr اَلْبَصِيْر (Remember tyre,
lyric). Examples in English: To remember a., b. and c. above,
remember the weakening “irritating year”
representing ir – ri – yr.
Waqf وَقْف)) .
This term in the
science of tajwīd means “stopping, pausing, resting.” It is like having
a full-stop (“.”), a comma (“,”), or a semi-colon (“;”). When we do this, we
have to do it in the right place to avoid changing the meaning, and in the
right way to avoid laḥn (solecism, mispronunciation, grammatical
mistake).
The
basic rule in the waqf is to drop the vowel sign (, a, i, in, u, un),
except “an” of double fatḥah becomes ”ā” such as:
khalaqa (خَلَقَ); becomes halaq (خَلَقْ); ‘amalan (عَمَلًا) becomes ‘amalā(عَمَلَا) . al-jamali (الْجَمَلِ) becomes al-jamal (الْجمَل), jamalin (جَمَلٍ) becomes jamal (جَمَل). al-ḥasanu
(الْحَسَنُ) becomes al-ḥasan (الْحَسَن) ; ḥasanun (حَسَنٌ) becomes ḥasan (حَسَن). يَنْصُرُوْنَ (yanṣurūna) becomes
يَنْصُرُوْنْ (yanṣurūn);
غَيْبٍ (ghaybin) and
غَيْبٌ (ghaybun) both
become غَيْبْ (ghayb).
Words ending with tā’ marbūṭah (تَاء مَرْبُوطَه), (lit. “tied “t” namely ة), it turns into ه (“h”) when we stop, such
as: raḥmatan (رَحْمَةً), raḥmatin(رَحْمَةٍ) , and raḥmatun
(رَحْمَةٌ)
all become raḥmah رَحْمَه)). However, some people, especially
non-Arabs would like to keep the name without change, such as “Hikmat” and “Rahmat”
which are the names of my nephews.
When the last letter with a vowel is preceded by a
letter with sukūn, namely a consonant without vowel, the waqf can
be heard only by the reciter and the people close to him, such as: شَهْرٍ (shahrin) becomes شَهْرْ (shahr); خُسْرٍ (khusrin)
becomes خُسْر (khusr) ; فِى اْلاَرْضِ (fil-arḍi) becomes
فِى اْلاَرْضْ (fil-arḍ). In these
examples, the sound “r” and “ḍ” are not clear, because they are all with sukūn.
The letter ḍiضِ is supposed to be pronounced
emphatically, because it belongs to the letter of isti‘lā’, but because
it loses its ḥarakah, and does not belong to the letters of qalqalah (remember:
CaṬ Beta Gamma Delta,د ج ب ط ق ), then it is pronounced lightly. If it
does, then it is pronounced emphatically, such as فِسْقْ fisqə,
(compare with مِسْكك misk).
Madd (Prolongation)
a. Natural Prolongation (madd ṭabī‘ī).
There are three letters with which
the prolongation occurs. They are: alif (ا) which prolongs the fatḥah (namely, “ā”), yā’ (ي) which
prolongs the kasrah (namely, “ī”), and waw (و), which
prolongs the ḍammah (namely, “ū”). They are called “the letters of
prolongation”, and Arab grammarians call them “the weak letters” (حُرُوفُ
العِلَّة), for their ability to prolong vowels (a, i, and u), although
they themselves are consonants. Examples:
بَ = ba بَا = bā = baa ; رَ = ra رَا = rā = raa; جَ = ja
جَا = jā
= jaa
بِ = bi بِي = bī =
bii ; رِ = ri رِي = rī = rii ; جِ = ji جِي = jī = jii
بُ = bu بُو = bū = buu ; رُ = ru رُو = rū =
ruu ; جُ = ju جُو = jū = juu
b.
Prolongation
of Hamzah(ء) . The
position of hamzah (ء) is either:
(1) standing alone(ء) and
its vowel is generally fatḥah (ءَ);
(2) sitting on the alif
(أ), and its vowel is
either “a” (أَ)or “u” (أُ);
(3) is placed under the alif (إ), and its vowel is “i” (إِ);
(4) sitting on the yā’(ئ),
and its vowel is “i” (ئِ)
(5) sitting
on the waw (ؤ), and its vowel is “u” (ؤُ)
The prolongation of hamzah (ء) occurs, when a vowel is followed by hamzah,
either in one word or two words. In either case the vowel sound has to be
longer than normal two taps, between three and six taps, at least three taps.
For example:
In one word:إِسْرَائِيْل Israaa’iil (3 taps); but إِسْمَاعِيْل Ismaa‘iil (2 taps)
عِزْرَائِيْل ‘Izraaa‘iil (3 taps); but
إِسْرَافِيْل Israafiil (2 taps).
In two words: إِنْ شَاءَ اللّه in shaaaAllaah (“If Allah wills”, 3 taps); butشَاعَ الْخَبَر shaa ‘al-khabar (“the
news has spread”, 2 taps).
It is very important to be
consistent regarding the length of the madd, whether 3, 4 or 6 taps. For
exercise we read:
لَا = laa = no; إِلهَ = ilaaha = god; إِلاَّ = illaa = except; الّله =allaah
= Allah
لَا إِله laaaa ilaaha.
laaaa becomes longer because it is followed by hamzah.
إِلاَّ اللَّه = Illa llaah. In
reading one “a” is dropped in illaa, and the “a” in allaah, for
being a hamzatu ‘l-waṣl.
عَلَى = ‘alaa
= on, upon; الّله = allaah
= Allah. If we join them it becomes الّله عَلَى = ‘ala llaah. (“upon Allah”, means “leave it to Allah”).
‘alaa loses one “a” and becomes short, whereas “allaah” loses
the first “a” in reading for being a hamzatu ‘l-waṣl. (to
be continued)
(CIVIC, 17 April, 2015)
Bibliography:
Denffer,
Ahmad von. ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: The Islamic Foundation, 1983
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajwid
https://ishfah7.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/belajar-tajwid-al-quran/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet#Hij.C4.81.E2.80.99.C4.AB
http://dhezun-notes.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/hukum-tajwid-lengkap-dan-mudah.html
[1] The Javanese (not to be confused with “Japanese”)
people are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. They live in Central and
Eastern Java. According to the year 2011 statistic they are approximately 100
million people representing 45 % of the total population of Indonesia, and the
vast majority of them are Muslims. They have their own script called Hanacaraka
(Carakan) derived from their alphabet ha na ca (pronounced “cha”) ra ka.
As the dominant vowel in Javanese is “o” they pronounce it as ho no co
ro ko. This is more evident in their names, such as: Yudhoyono
(former president), and Joko Widodo (present
president), and Dipo Negoro (An Indonesian hero).
No wonder that in emphasizing “ra” they pronounce it as “ro”,
and “Allah” as “Alloh”, as above.
[2] In one of his cowboy movies John Wayne in early 50s
asked about his boy, “Where’s boy” which was understood by my English
teacher, Mr. Isa Rasyidi, but not by me, as the word “the” was not clearly
said, if ever. For the word “transportation” the Americans say “transptation”.
To go “to the station” the Germans say zum Bahnhof where the letter “h”
of “hof” is almost unheard.
[3]As these seven letters of isti‘lā’ are always
pronounced with tafkhīm (strongly, with emphasis), when they are
followed with fatḥah (vowel “a”), the Javanese people tend to
pronounce it as “o”, such as: firqoh فِرْقَه, sôdiq
صَـادِق, zôlim ظَالِم, kholaqo خَلَقَ and
qôla قَالَ. In order to avoid
being fallen in to the pit of laḥn, I suggest that the mouth should be
open a little to make sound “a”. Therefore, we say firqoah, soadiq, zoalim,
khoalaqoa, and qoala (sounds
like “koala”), rather than qôla
(sounds like “coller”). The examples in
their names are those of my friends: Kholidin خَالِدِيْن, Toriqطَارِق , Solihin صَالِحِيْن, Mustofa مُصْطَفَى , and Ghoromah
غَرَامَه .
No comments:
Post a Comment