Introduction and the Articulation Points (Makhārij) · Tajweed

What tajweed is

The word tajwīd (تَجْوِيدٌ) means "making something excellent". In recitation it means giving every letter its due: producing it from its correct place (its makhraj) with its correct qualities (its ṣifāt), and applying the rules of lengthening, nasalisation, merging and stopping that the Prophet ﷺ received and taught. Tajweed is not decoration added on top of reading. A letter produced from the wrong place is a different letter, and a different letter can mean a different word. This course follows the recitation of Ḥafṣ from ʿĀṣim, the reading printed in most copies of the Qurʾān today.

The five regions and seventeen points

Scholars count seventeen articulation points (makhārij, singular makhraj مَخْرَجٌ) grouped into five regions: the empty space of the mouth and throat (al-jawf), the throat (al-ḥalq), the tongue (al-lisān), the two lips (ash-shafatān) and the nasal passage (al-khayshūm). To find the makhraj of any letter, put a sukūn on it and pronounce it after a hamza with fatḥa: أَبْ, أَتْ, أَقْ. Where the sound is cut off is the makhraj.

The seventeen articulation points

Listed from the deepest point (the throat) outward to the lips.
Region	Point	Letters
Jawf (empty space)	1. The space of the mouth and throat, with no contact	ا و ي (the three madd letters)
Ḥalq (throat)	2. Deepest part of the throat	ء هـ
Ḥalq (throat)	3. Middle of the throat	ع ح
Ḥalq (throat)	4. Nearest part of the throat, by the uvula	غ خ
Lisān (tongue)	5. Deepest part of the tongue against the soft palate	ق
Lisān (tongue)	6. Slightly forward of qāf, against the hard and soft palate	ك
Lisān (tongue)	7. Middle of the tongue against the hard palate	ج ش ي
Lisān (tongue)	8. Side of the tongue against the upper molars	ض
Lisān (tongue)	9. Front edge of the tongue against the gums of the upper front teeth	ل
Lisān (tongue)	10. Tip of the tongue against the gums above the front teeth	ن
Lisān (tongue)	11. Tip of the tongue, slightly further back than nūn	ر
Lisān (tongue)	12. Tip of the tongue against the roots of the upper front teeth	ط د ت
Lisān (tongue)	13. Tip of the tongue against the edges of the upper front teeth	ظ ذ ث
Lisān (tongue)	14. Tip of the tongue near the lower front teeth, air whistling out	ص ز س
Shafatān (lips)	15. Inside of the lower lip against the edges of the upper front teeth	ف
Shafatān (lips)	16. The two lips together	ب م و
Khayshūm (nose)	17. The nasal passage	the ghunna (nasal sound) of ن and م

Rule 1: The throat letters

Six letters come from the throat: ء هـ from the deepest part, ع ح from the middle, غ خ from the top near the uvula. English has only h in this region, so these need the most practice. ح is a strong, breathy h produced by squeezing the middle of the throat; ع is the same squeeze with the voice on. خ is the scraping sound of Scottish loch; غ is the same place with the voice on, like a French r. The throat letters matter later because nūn sākina is pronounced clearly (iẓhār) before them.

أَنْعَمْتَ
anʿamta
You bestowed favour
ع from the middle of the throat (1:7).
غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ
ghayri l-maghḍūbi
not of those who earned anger
غ from the top of the throat, twice (1:7).
اَلْحَمْدُ
al-ḥamdu
all praise
ح from the middle of the throat (1:2).
أَعُوذُ
aʿūdhu
I seek refuge
hamza from the deepest throat, then ع from its middle (113:1).
خَلَقَ
khalaqa
He created
خ from the top of the throat (113:2).

Rule 2: The tip of the tongue

Five points share the tip of the tongue, and English speakers tend to collapse them into two. ط د ت strike the roots of the upper front teeth, where the teeth meet the gum. ظ ذ ث place the tip between the edges of the upper front teeth, like English th in this (ذ) and thin (ث). ص ز س keep the tip low near the lower front teeth so that air whistles over it. ن touches the gum just above the front teeth; ر touches slightly behind that and vibrates; ل uses the front edge of the tongue along the gums.

اَلدِّينِ
ad-dīni
the Judgement
د at the roots of the upper teeth (1:4).
ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
dhāta lahabin
of blazing flame
ذ between the teeth, like English this (111:3).
ثُمَّ
thumma
then
ث between the teeth, like English thin (102:4).
زُلْزِلَتِ
zulzilati
is shaken
ز whistles over the tip near the lower teeth; ل uses the edge of the tongue (99:1).
نَسْتَعِينُ
nastaʿīnu
we ask for help
س whistles; ن touches the gum above the teeth (1:5).