Tilāwah: Sūrah al-Fatḥ Verses 1 – 10 & 27 – 29, Sūrah al-Balad 

Qirāʾah: Qunbul ʿan Ibn Kathīr, al-Sūsī ʿan Abū ʿAmr, Abū al-Ḥārith ʿan al-Kisāʾī

Today Shehzada Saheb (DM) did not leave any stone unturned to keep the followers of tajweed interested. His recitation was divided into three parts and all three were delivered in different qirāʾāt and riwāyāt. 

The first part of Sūrah al-Fatḥ was recited in the riwāyah of Qunbul from the qirāʾah of Ibn Kathīr al-Makkī. The first indication of this riwāyah came when Shehzada Saheb (DM) recited the letter sīn in place of the letter ṣād in the word صراط. Only two readings allow for this change, one of them being of Qunbul. This reading is also characterized with the ṣilah of the mīm al-jamʿ (the mīm of plurality). One will often hear the sound of mū while the Qur’an is being recited in this riwāyah. It also contains the ṣilah of the hāʾ al-ḍamīr (هاء الضمير) which led to Shehzada Saheb reciting the word تسبحوه as yusabbiḥuhū (the change of tāʾ to yāʾ is unrelated to the ḥukm of ṣilah) as can be heard here. 

The second part of the recitation in the narration of al-Sūsī introduces a new term related to the ʿilm al-qirāʾāt. This term is taqlīl (تقليل). It pertains to the pronouncement of the ḥarf al-madd alif and is one of its three stages. These stages are fatḥah, taqlīl and imālah. This alif, henceforth referred to as the alif layyinah, is either pronounced ‘normally’ for example in the word sīmāhum (سيماهم), or with a little slant towards the sound of the letter yāʾ but closer to the letter alif, the sound one would hear when the reciter reads the word sīmāhum with a smile. This is taqlīl. On the other hand, imālah is when the slanted alif layyinah is closer to the sound of the letter yāʾ than to the letter alif. In other words, an imālah is a slanted version of the taqlīl. The three examples can be heard here. 

The third part of the recitation in the narration of Abū al-Ḥārith from the qirāʾah of al-Kisāʾī also introduces a new term. This is the imālah of hāʾ al-taʾnīth (هاء التأنيث). Grammarians will note that there is no such thing as the “hāʾ” of taʾnīth; however, this term has become ubiquitous in the circles of the ʿilm al-qirāʾat and hence we will continue to use it in this article. Al-Kisāʾī has uniquely chosen to perform imālah on the letter occurring before a hāʾ al-taʾnīth as we heard in Sūrah al-Balad today. This is done when a reciter stops at a word that contains the hāʾ al-taʾnīth at the end of it. For example: مسغبة. Instead of reciting the final syllable of this word as bah, al-Kisāʾī chooses to slant the zabar of the second last letter, i.e. bāʾ in this case, and reads the word as masghabeh. The pronunciation of the letter bāʾ is closer to a kasrah but not entirely a kasrah (zer). Listen to the امالة هاء التأنيث here. This ḥukm is one of the unique aḥkām of tajweed and provides an interesting angle to the tilāwah.

The Maqām of Ṣabā

This is a maqām characterized with a deep emotion of sorrow and lamentation. It is a maqām, which if rendered to its greatest effect, produces tearful eyes and soulful hearts. Shehzada Saheb (DM) often incorporates the various aspects of this maqām into his recitation.
Click the following links to listen to some famous reciters performing their tilāwah in this maqām: 

1. Shaikh Abdul Basit reciting Sūrah Ghāshiyah
2. Shaikh Abdul Basit reciting Sūrah Al-Qiyāmah

Tajweed Answers

Q. What is the uniqueness of the riwayat of Hafs from Asim? And why was this qira’at opted by the Ahlul Bayt apart from it being easy to read and memorize? Please do share some light on this.

A. The reading of Hafs from Asim has been directly transmitted from Amirul Mumineen Maulana Ali b. Abu Talib AS. This may be one of the primary reasons why the reading was well acclaimed across all sections of the Islamic society.

 
Q. There were some places where Shehzada saheb didn’t applied any Saktah like سوء Sawinw in this ayat يااخت هارون…Question is why? 

A. The ḥukm of saktah varies across the different qirāʾāt. Some reciters also allow both versions - with and without saktah - in their narrations. Such aḥkām are referred to by the phrase بخلف عنه written after the ḥukm. There are other places where reciters or their narrators allow for the naql al-ḥarakah. 

Q. I noticed tht Shzsaab (DM) used to take a very short pause in between aayat itself, especially when the next word’s first letter was alif in tht particular aayat itself. Can u discuss this hukum in detail? Shukran.

A. This ḥukm is the saktah. An interesting and often delightful ḥukm, it is found commonly throughout the various qirāʾāt. Hafṣ has incorporated the saktah in five instances in his narration. Here, a person reciting the qur'an is expected to take a short breathless pause before moving on to the subsequent letter. The saktah almost always happens before the hamzah mufradah but is not limited to that. Listen to an interesting use of the saktah here.