Pure Tajweed Topics
18. Madd Laazim – Huroof al-Muqatta’aat
20. Full Ghunna Meem and Noon Mushaddad
The literal meaning of the word Waqf is to stop. In terms of Quran, it means to stop on a complete word, separated from the following word. Stopping correctly is an important element of reading the Quran. There are different reasons why you would need to stop. The most obvious reason is because you have reached the end of an Ayah and other times due to running out of breath. We will explore the rules of stopping in this section.
Stopping on single vowels – Fathah, Dhammah and Kasrah
When you stop on one of the three single vowels Fathah , Dhammah or Kasrah it changes into a Sukun (ْ). For example, ، الْعَـٰلَمِينَ نَسْتَعِينُ ، مَـٰلِكِ will change toالْعَـٰلَمِينْ ، نَسْتَعِينْ ، مَـٰلِكْ. As for Tanween (double vowels), both double-Dhammah and double-Kasrah behave in the same way, and change into a Sukun. Some examples are: ظُلُمَـٰتٍ ، عَظِيمٌ will change to ظُلُمَـٰتْ ، عَظِيمْ. Also, if the last letter has a Sukun, you also read it as a Sukun, i.e. no change.
Stopping on a Double-Fathah (Fathatain)
However, when you stop on a double-Fathah (Fathatain), you change it to a single-Fathah and elongate it by two Harakahs (two seconds). Note that some letters containing double-Fathah may have a Yaa (ى) instead of an Alif (ا) – both are treated in the same way. For example, نَارًا ، مُتَشَـٰبِهًا طُوًى ، become مُتَشَـٰبِهَا طُوَا ، نَارَا ،. Similarly when you stop on a Hamzah with a double-Fathah, you read it in the same way (stretch and read with single Fathah). For example, شَيـًٔا becomes شَيْـَٔا.
Another letter that undergoes a change is the round-Taa (ة). When you stop on a round-Taa, you read it as a small-Haa (ه) with a Sukoon on it. For example جَهۡرَةً becomes جَهۡرَهْ . This is another special feature of the Arabic language.
Flexibility with stopping
Often it is necessary to stop in the middle of an Ayah and so this needs to be managed correctly. A common reason is that readers run out of breath. In this situation, you need to stop as if there is a proper Waqf, following the rules above. As for continuing (from where you stopped), it is best if you can go back to a point where the recitation is meaningful. This requires a good understanding of the Quran. If however, this is not possible, go back at least one or two words and continue reading in one breath. Always try to read as much as possible in a single breath, aiming to read all or most of the Ayaat in one go. It is possible to stop as many times as necessary if you run out of breath – just apply the rules correctly.
Symbols of Stopping – Waqf
There are a range of different symbols in the Quran for stopping. Only some of the symbols will be discussed here. These symbols are represented by smaller versions of letters and are found in between verses. The compulsory symbols are م and ط. These require you to stop. The لا on the other hand means you must continue without stopping. Also there are some places where you will see a set of two Jeem with three dots on top of each, within a sentence, separated by words. You can stop at either one of the points, but not both. In addition, there are other symbols for desirable, recommended and optional pauses and continuations. The following tables gives a summary.
www.puretajweed.org 