Tajwid
In the context of the recitation of the Quran, tajwīd ( "", , 'elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation ("Qira'at"). In Arabic, the term "tajwīd" is derived from the verb جود (), from the triliteral root "()", meaning enhancement or to make something excellent. Technically, it means giving every letter its right in reciting the Qur'an. History. The history of Quranic recitation is tied to the history of qira'at, as each reciter had their own set of tajwid rules, with much overlap between them. Abu  Ubaid al-Qasim bin Salam (774 - 838 CE) was the first to develop a recorded science for tajwid, giving the rules of tajwid names and putting it into writing in his book called "al-Qiraat." He wrote about 25 reciters, including the 7 mutawatir reciters. He made the reality, transmitted through reciters of every generation, a science with defined rules, terms, and enunciation. Abu Bakr Ibn Mujāhid (859 - 936 CE) wrote a book called "Kitab al-Sab’ fil-qirā’āt" "The Seven of the Recitations." He is the first to limit the number of recitations to the seven known. Imam Al -Shatibi (1320 - 1388 CE) wrote a poem outlining the two most famous ways passed down from each of seven strong imams, known as "ash-Shatibiyyah." In it, he documented the rules of recitation of Naafi’, Ibn Katheer, Abu ‘Amr, Ibn ‘Aamir, ‘Aasim, al-Kisaa’i, and Hamzah. It is 1173 lines long and a major reference for the seven qira’aat. Ibn al-Jazari (1350 - 1429 CE) wrote two large poems about Qira'at and tajwid. One was Durrat Al-Maa'nia () , in the readings of three major reciters, added to the seven in the Shatibiyyah, making it ten. The other is Tayyibat An -Nashr (), which is 1014 lines on the ten major reciters in great detail, of which he also wrote a commentary. Religious Obligation. Knowledge of the actual "tajwīd" rules is a community duty ("farḍ al-kifāya"). There is a difference of opinion on the ruling for individuals. Dr. Shadee Elmasry states that it is an individual obligation ("farḍ al-'ayn") on every Muslim to recite the opening chapter of the Qur'an ("al-fatiha") with correct tajwīd, though they do not need to know the terms and definitions of the rules themselves. Sheikh Zakariyya al-Ansari stated that it is sinful to recite  in a way that changes the meaning or changes the grammar. If it does not change these two things, then it is not sinful, even if it is a clear error. Qur'an and Hadith on Tajwīd. The central Quranic verse about tajwid is verse 73:4: "...and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation." The word (), as used in this verse, is often also used in hadith in conjunction with its command. It means to articulate slowly, carefully, and precisely. Abu Dawud's hadith collection has a chapter heading titled "Recommendation of (reciting with) in the Qur'an." It begins with the narration : "The Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said: One who was devoted to the Qur'an will be told to recite, ascend and recite carefully ( ) as he recited carefully when he was in the world, for he will reach his abode when he comes to the last verse he recites (Sunan Abi Dawud 1464)." This narration describes the importance of the manner of recitation and its positive effects in the afterlife. The next narration describes the importance of prolongation ( ): "Qatadah said: I asked Anas about the recitation of the Qur'an by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon  him. He said: He used to express all the long accents clearly () (Sunan Abi Dawud 1465)." This narration also shows that even the companions of the prophet used some terms which are still used today in rules. Arabic alphabet and grammar. The Arabic alphabet has 28 basic letters, plus hamzah (). The Arabic definite article is "al-" (i.e. the letter "alif" followed by ). The in "al-" is pronounced if the letter after it is (, lunar), but if the letter after it is (, solar), the after it becomes part of the following letter (is assimilated). "Solar" and "lunar" became descriptions for these  instances as the words for "the moon" and "the sun" ("al-qamar" and "ash-shams", respectively) are examples of this rule. Emission points. There are 17 emission points ("makhārij al-ḥurūf") of the letters, located in various regions of the throat, tongue, lips, nose, and the mouth as a whole for the prolonged ("madd" or "mudd") letters. The manner of articulation ("ṣifat al-ḥurūf") refers to the different attributes of the letters. Some of the characteristics have opposites, while some are individual. An example of a characteristic would be the fricative consonant sound called "ṣafīr", which is an attribute of  air escaping from a tube. Thickness and thinness. The emphatic consonants , known as ' letters, are pronounced with a "heavy accent" ('). This is done by either pharyngealization /ˤ/, i.e. pronounced while squeezing one's voicebox, or by velarization /ˠ/. The remaining letters – the "muraqqaq" – have a "light accent" ("tarqīq") as they are pronounced normally, without pharyngealization (except , which is often considered a pharyngeal sound).  (') is heavy when accompanied by a ' or ' and light when accompanied by a "kasrah". If its vowel sound is cancelled, such as by a ' or the end of a sentence, then it is light when the first  preceding voweled letter (without a "sukun") has a "kasrah". It is heavy if the first preceding voweled letter is accompanied by a "fatḥah" or "ḍammah". For example, the at the end of the first word of the "Sūrat "al-ʻAṣr"" is heavy because the  ("") has a "fatḥah": Prolongation. Prolongation refers to the number of morae (beats of time) that are pronounced when a voweled letter (', ', ') is followed by a "madd" letter ("alif", "yāʼ" or "wāw"). The number of morae then becomes two. If these are at the end of the sentence, such as in all the verses in "al-Fatiha", then  the number of morae can be more than two, but must be consistent from verse to verse. Additionally, if there is a "maddah" sign over the "madd" letter, it is held for four or five morae when followed by a ' () and six morae when followed by a '. For example, the end of the last verse in "al-Fatiha" has a six-mora "maddah" due to the "shaddah" on the ('). Section::::"Sākinah" (vowelless) letters. Section::::"Nūn sākinah" and "tanwīn". "Nūn sākinah" refers to instances where the letter "nūn" is accompanied by a "sukun" sign, some cases of which involve "tanwīn"s nun with a  sukun. There are then four ways it should be pronounced, depending on which letter immediately follows: Section::::"Mīm sākinah". The term "mīm sākinah" refers to instances where the letter "mīm" is accompanied by a "sukun". There are then three ways it should be pronounced, depending on which letter immediately follows: Section::::"Qalqalah". The five ' letters are the consonants . ' is the addition of a slight "bounce" or reduced vowel sound /ə/ to the consonant whose vowel sound is otherwise cancelled, such as by a ', ', or the end of sentence. The "lesser bounce" occurs when the letter is in the middle of a word  or at the end of the word but the reader joins it to the next word. A "medium bounce" is given when the letter is at the end of the word but is not accompanied by a "shaddah", such as the end of the first verse of the "Sūrat" "al-Falaq": The biggest bounce is when the letter is at the end of the word and is accompanied by a "", such as the end of the first verse of "Sūrat" "al-Masad": Section::::"Waṣl". Waṣl is the rule of not pronouncing alif as a glottal stop /ʔ/, assimilating to its adjacent  vowel. It is indicated with the diacritic waṣlah, a small ṣād on the letter alif (ٱ). In Arabic, words starting with alif not using a hamzah (ا) receive a waṣlah... In most of the cases, the vowel that must be used before the alif waṣlah is obvious (the short or long vowel before alif waṣlah); but if it is preceded by a word ending on a sukun, then these are the rules: 1 In the case of Tanwin and alif waṣlah, the intrusive kasrah between them is not graphically represented. 2 Plural mim is the ending of هُمْ or كُمْ  as noun suffixes and تُمْ as a verb suffix, which normally end as /hum/, /kum/ and /tum/ respectively. But in some cases /hum/ becomes /him/; nevertheless, it continues as /him-u/. These three always take a damma /-u/. 3 مِنْ is an exception to this, which always takes a fatha /-a/ if it be conjoined with the next word. Section::::"Waqf". Waqf is the Arabic pausa rule; all words whose last letter end on a harakah become mute (sukūn) when being the last word of a sentence. 1 Hamza on the fourth row is an exception to 'ending on any ḥarakah .' It's only in the case of hamza having fathatayn, not otherwise. In the case of the proper name عمرو /ʕamrun/, it is pronounced /ʕamr/ in pausa, and the last letter و wāw has no phonetical value (this writing convention is merely for the differentiation from the name عُمَر /ʕumar/). And in fact, عمرو is a triptote (something rare in proper nouns, since they are usually diptotes).