A glossary of Tajweed terms.
| Ahkaam | الأحكام | Short for aḥkām al-tajwīd (Rules of Tajweed). See Tajweed for more details. |
| Basmalah | البسملة | The opening phrase of Bismilla-hirrahma-nirrahim. |
| Hafs ʿan ʿĀṣim | حفص عن عاصم | One of the ten authentic Qur’anic readings that has been transmitted from ʿĀṣim through Ḥafṣ. This is the most widely used Qur’anic reading in the Islamic world today. |
| Ishmam | الإشمام | Literally, to cause something or someone to take in a hint of smell. In Tajweed, it means to add a hint of a harakah or another letter to an existing letter so as to denote a particular action taking place on that letter. For example: (1) Keeping the lips in the position of wāw while articulating the letter noon in the word تامنا to hint towards the ḍammah in the first noon. (2) Articulating the letter ṣād from the area immediately behind the lips instead of its original makhraj in order to add a hint of the letter zāy to the letter ṣād. |
| Istiʿādhah | الإستعاذة | The phrase recited before the basmalah at the time of beginning a Qur’anic recitation. |
| Khalaf ʿan Ḥamzah | خلف عن حمزة | One of the ten authentic Qur’anic readings that has been transmitted from Ḥamzah through Khalaf. |
| Makharij | المخارج | Short for makhārij al-ḥurūf, the emission points from which each of the 28 letters of Arabic are pronounced. There are five main “exits” viz. mouth, tongue, throat, lips and nose. |
| Maqam | المقام | Maqam is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music, which is mainly melodic. The word maqam in Arabic means place, location or position. The Arabic maqam is a melody type. It is “a technique of improvisation” that defines the pitches, patterns, and development of a piece of music and which is “unique to Arabian art music”. Reciters of the Qur’an have long employed the maqamaat in Qur’anic recitations. |
| Naql al-Ḥarakah | نقل الحركة | The passing of a harakah by skipping to the subsequent letter. |
| Readings | القراءات | The ten authentic readings of the Qur’an as compiled by al-Shatibi and al-Jazari. |
| Saktah | السكتة | A breathless pause. |
| Tajweed | التجويد | See last paragraph of “The Victory” |
| Tarteel | الترتيل | See last paragraph of “The Victory” |
| Tasdeeq | التصديق | The closing phrase of a Qur’anic recitation. |
| Tilawah | التلاوة | A Qur’anic recitation. |
| Waqf | الوقف | A stoppage during the recitation. Plural: wuqūf. Stoppages are of several kinds – complete, good, undesirable etc. |