Mastering Tajweed Rules Quran Guide for Accurate Recitation

If you’ve ever wondered how to read the Quran the right way, you’re not alone, at first you may feel that learning tajweed rules quran is difficult, but it’s actually a beautiful journey. In this guide, I’ll break it down step by step so you can read with confidence and heart. 

Tajweed Rules Quran 

Tajweed rules are many and varied, including the rules of noon sakinah and tanween, the rules of meem sakinah, the rules of tafkheem and tarqeeq, the elongations (madd), and the rules of isti’adzah and basmalah, among other rules. 

But before going into explaining some of these rules, it is necessary to clarify the ruling on learning and applying the rules of Tajweed.

Rules of Isti’adzah and Basmala

Isti’adzah means asking Allah for protection and turning to Him for safety, like Allah says in the Quran: “So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah from the accursed devil.” That’s why it’s recommended to start reading the Quran by saying: “A’udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim” before you begin. It’s one of the good manners of reciting.

As for the Basmala, it’s saying: “Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim”, that’s what we call it in short. We say the Basmala to separate between the surahs. 

Most scholars say it’s required at the start of every surah, except between Surah At-Tawbah (Bara’ah) and Al-Anfal; there’s no Basmala between those two.

Rules of Noon Sakinah and Tanween

When Noon Sakinah or Tanween meets another letter in Arabic, there are four main rules you need to know, let’s explain them in details:

1-izhar

Izhar refers to making the pronunciation clear and distinct, without any blending or hiding of the sound, in Tajweed, it refers to pronouncing Noon Sakinah or Tanween in a clear and pure way—without merging or hiding the sound—when it’s followed by one of the throat letters.

These throat letters are: ء، ه، ع، ح، غ، خ. An easy trick to remember them is this phrase: “أخي هاك علماً حازه غير خاسر”, taking the first letter of each word.

You might find Noon Sakinah followed by one of these letters in the same word, like in “ينأون”, where Noon meets ء. Or it might happen across two separate words, like in “من آمن”.

With Tanween, it only occurs across two words, such as in “كلٌ آمن”.

In short, Izhar is all about keeping the sound of Noon Sakinah or Tanween clear whenever it’s followed by any of the throat letters—whether it’s inside a word or between two words.

2-Idgham (Merging)

When you have a silent letter (like Noon Sakinah or Tanween), and after it comes a moving letter from specific letters… Here we do something called Idgham, which means we make the two letters merge together and pronounce them as if they are one stressed letter.

So instead of pronouncing each letter separately, we combine them into one smooth and easy sound, the letters that cause Idgham are six:
(ي، ر، م، ل، و، ن), and to easily remember them, you can collect them in one word which is : “يرملون”.

Types of IdghamThere are 2 types of Idgham:

• Idghaam with Ghunnah (with making a light sound from inside nose): 

It occurs with 4 letters which are: ي، ن، م، و (you can collect them in one word “ينمو” to easily remember them)
This means if any of these letters come after Noon Sakinah or Tanween, we pronounce them by making a light nasal sound.
Example: “من يعمل” – here the Noon Sakinah merges into the Yaa and they are pronounced as one letter with Ghunnah.

• Idghaam without Ghunnah: 

It happens with: ر، ل This means if one of these letters comes after Noon Sakinah or Tanween, we merge them without a nasal sound.
Example: “من لدنه” – here the Noon merges into the Laam and they are pronounced as a stressed Laam without Ghunnah.

3-Iqlab (Conversion)

Iqlab literally means “changing” or “turning something over”, while it means in Tajweed, it’s a special rule that happens when Noon Sakinah o r Tanween is followed by the letter ب (Baa).

What happens is instead of pronouncing the Noon sound clearly, we change it into a Meem sound with a light nasal sound (Ghunnah).

It’s like you’re replacing the “n” sound with an “m” sound to make it easier to say and smoother when reading.

Example:

Let’s take this word: “أنبتنا”, here, Noon Sakinah comes before ب, instead of saying “anb…”, we change it and say it like: “amb…” with a soft nasal tone.

Also for Tanween: “عليمٌ بذنبه”, we read it like: “عليـمٌم بذنبـه” (notice the “m” sound!)

4-Ikhfa (Concealment)

Ikhfa literally means “to hide” or “to conceal”, while in Tajweed, it happens when Noon Sakinah or Tanween is followed by one of 15 special letters, which are: (ص، ض، ج، د، ذ، ز، ط، ظ، س، ش، ت، ث، ك، ق، ف).
Instead of pronouncing the Noon sound clearly like Izhar, or merging it completely like Idgham, you “hide” the Noon sound a little by making a soft nasal sound.

It’s like you’re keeping the Noon sound halfway, not clear and not merged, but lightly hidden in your nose!

Example:
Look at this word: “منصورا”, Noon Sakinah (ن) is followed by the letter ص (Saad), one of the Ikhfa letters, so we don’t say “man-soora” clearly… but?
We say it with a soft nasal sound: “man˜soora” (the “n” is kinda hidden in the nose).

Another example with Tanween:
“ريحًا صرصرًا” → we read it like: “ريحا˜ صرصرا” (with that nasal hiding sound).

The Rules of Stressed Meem and Noon

In Tajweed, sometimes you see Noon (ن) or Meem (م) with a Shaddah ( ّ ) on top, this means the letter is stressed or doubled, and it’s called Ghunna (nasal sound), lasting for the duration of two counts. 

A count is about the time it takes to open or close a finger, both meem and noon in this case are called letters with ghunnah, like in the word “همّازٍ”.

The Rules of Merging (Idghaam)

Now, let’s explore the types of Idghaam (merging) in Tajweed, explaining when and how letters are merged:

 Idghaam Al-Mutamathilayn 

This type occurs when two identical letters (same articulation point and same qualities) come together, the first is silent and the second letter has a vowel, they are pronounced as one stressed letter.

 An example is in the verse: “اذهب بكتابي هذا”.

Idghaam Al-Mutajaanisayn 

This occurs when two letters which come from the same articulation point but differ in characteristics, they are pronounced as one stressed letter as well.

 An example is in the verse: “يا بني اركب معنا”.

The Rules of Silent Meem

A silent meem is a meem which doesn’t have any vowel on it, and it comes after any letter except the letters of elongation (madd), it has 3 rules according to the letter that follows:

Oral Concealment (Ikhfaa Shafawi)

This happens if the silent meem is followed by the letter ba’, and in this case we must conceal the meem sound, meaning it’s pronounced lightly with a slight ghunnah, and not fully clear. 

An example is found in : “إن الذين يخشون ربهم بالغيب”, it’s called “oral concealment” because both meem and ba’ are pronounced from the lips.

Oral Merging (Idghaam Shafawi)

In this type, a silent meem which is followed by a meem having a vowel, are pronounced as 1 stressed meem accompany with the sound of ghunnah. 

An example is: “هو الذي خلق لكم ما في الأرض جميعًا”, this is also called “merging of identical letters” as they are the same letter.

Oral Clarification (Iz-haar Shafawi)

Here, the silent meem is followed by any letter other than meem or ba’,  and the meem should be clearly pronounced without ghunnah, like in: “لعلكم تتقون”.

For more information, read also: Improve Your Tajweed Skills

Rules of the Silent “Lam” (لام الساكنة)

The silent “Lam” appears in 5 cases in Quran, as follows:

The “Lam” of Definite Article (أل):

This is the “Lam” which always comes at the beginning of an indefinite noun to make it definite, this means that when we add “أل” before the noun, its rulings are either manifestation (اظهار) or assimilation (ادغام). 

We pronounce it clearly if it is followed by a letter from the phrase “ابغ حجك وخف عقيمه”, like in “بالبرِّ”, if followed by any other letter, we pronounce it.

The “Lam” in Verbs:

This “Lam” is that the one which is a part of a verb, whether it’s past, present, or imperative, and it has 2 rulings whether it appears in the middle of the verb or at its end: 

• If this lam is followed by any letter other than “Lam” or “Ra”, we pronounce it clearly, like “أَنْزَلْناهُ”. 
• But if it is followed by “Ra” or “Lam”, we merge it, like “قُلْ رَبِّ”.
  

The “Lam” in Nouns:

This is the original “Lam” which is part of the noun itself, not an added prefix, and it is always pronounced clearly, like in “الْقَمَرِ”.

The “Lam” in Particles (Harfs):

 This is a “Lam” which is part of an original particle, and it appears in the Quran only in two words: 

• “هل” .
•  “بل”.

If this lam is followed by “Ra” or “Lam”, we merge it, like “بَلْ رَفَعَ”, and if followed by any other letter, we pronounce it clearly, like “هَلْ يَسْتَوِي”.

The “Lam” of Command (Lam al-Amr):

This “Lam” comes before a present tense verb to refer to the command, and it is always pronounced clearly, like “لْيَقْضُوا”.

Rules of Prolongation (المدود)

Prolongation (Madd) refers to extending the pronunciation of a Madd letter, there are three letters of Madd:

• Alif that follows a Fathah.
• . Waw that comes after a Dammah.
• Ya that is preceded by a Kasrah.

Additionally, Madd is categorized into two primary types:

Natural Madd (المد الطبيعي):

This is the basic Madd which is important for the letter to be pronounced, and it is prolonged for two counts, as the same time you count to two with fingers, like “بَلَى إِنَّ رَبَّهُ كَانَ بِهِ بَصِيرً”.

Secondary Madd (المد الفرعي):

This type occurs due to the presence of a Hamza (ء) or a Sukoon, and it has types:

Due to Hamza: 

which causes 4 cases:

• Madd al-Badl: This Madd happens when the first Hamzah is silent and the second is moving at the start of a word, like “الَّذِينَ اوْتُواْ الْكِتَابَ لَيَعْلَمُونَ”.
• Similar to Madd al-Badl: And this happens when a Madd letter comes after a Hamza in the middle or end of a word, like “بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَؤُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ”, both are prolonged for 2 counts.
• Madd al-Muttasil (Connected Madd): This occurs When the Hamza comes after the Madd letter in the same word, like “قروء”, in this case the prolongation is 4 or 5 counts.
  1. Madd al-Munfasil (Separated Madd):This type of Madd takes place when a Madd letter comes at the end of one word, and a Hamzaappears at the start of the next word, in this case, the elongation is extended for 4 or 5 counts, an example of this is: “إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَر”.

This category also includes Madd al-Silah, such as in the phrase: “مالهُ أخلده”.

Because of Sukoon:

• Madd Lazim: happens in this situation when a Madd letter is directly followed by a letter carrying an original Sukoon (a permanent sukoon), in this case, the elongation must be extended for six beats, an example of this can be seen in the word: “ولا الضَّالِّين”.
  • Madd ‘Arid lil Sukoon: this Madd occurs when you stop at a word ending, like “الرَّحِيمِ”.

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