What Are The Rules And Standard For Reciting The Holy Qur’an Quickly Or Slowly?

What are the rules and standard for reciting the Holy Qur’an quickly or slowly?

Reciting the Holy Qur’an is the highest dhikr. According to a narrative from Aisha (ra), the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “A person who recites the Qur’an and is skillful at this matter is with honorable and obedient angels (called) ‘safarah’. And a person who recites the Qur’an although he has difficulty in doing it will have two rewards (one of which is due to reciting it and the other is due to having hardship).” (Abu Dawud, Witr, 14, 1454).

Allah the Exalted wanted Qur’an to be recited with tarteal (hymnody) (Furqan, 25/32; Muzzammil, 73/4). The word tarteal means reciting Qur’an slowly, by thinking about its meaning, by paying attention to makhraj (point of articulation of the letters) and tajweed of letters, by raising or lowering voice according to meaning, and in a careful manner.

Qiraat (recitation) scholars expresses that the Holy Qur’an may be recited in three ways. These three ways that are related to the speed of recitation are as follows:

1. a) Tahqiq: It means reciting every letter duly in the recitation of the Qur’an, practising madds enough (suitable to their levels), sort out the harakat (vowel signs) from each other, performing shaddahs (signs of emphasis) completely, and performing ghunnahs well. In this way of recitation in which qiraat is performed in the slowest way ; madd al-tabi’i is recited by elongating 1 alif, madd al-leen is recited by elongating for the duration of 3 alifs, and other madds are recited by elongating 4 alifs for each.
2. b) Hadr: The quickest way of reciting the Qur’an with the condition of abiding by tajwid rules. Recitation with hadr means only increasing speed by not neglecting tajwid rules. In this recitation; madd al-tabi’i, madd al-munfasil, madd al-aridh and madd al-leen are recited by elongating for the duration of 1 alif (except some parts of madd al-leen in which sukoon (no vowels) is required); madd al-muttasil is recited by elongating for the duration of 2 alifs, and madd al-lazim is recited by alongating for a duration of 3 alifs. Hadr method is mostly preferred in full recitation of qur’an, muqabalahs, or tarawihs.
3. c) Tadwir: This method is a moderate way of recitation between tahqiq and hadr. In tadweer recitation; madd al-tabi’i is recited by elongating for the duration of 1 alif, madd al-leen is recited by elongating for 2 alifs, madd al-muttasil, madd al-munfasil, and madd al-aridh are recited by elongating for 3 alifs each, on the other hand, madd al-lazim is recited by elongating 4 alifs (See Karaçam, Kur’an-i Kerim’in Faziletleri (Virtues of the Holy Qur’an), p. 176-178; Gulle, Tecvid, p. 451-454).

In all recitation methods; ikhfa, iqlab and idghams with ghunnah are recited more than recitation of one letter and less than that of two words, which means closer to time of reciting one alif (See. Gulle, Tecvid, p. 318, 327, 336, 343-344).

Other than these three ways of recitation, there is another way which is not permissible and called as “hazrama” or “takhleet”. In this recitation, letters are mixed with each other and recitation gets out of order. It is not considered permissible to recite the Holy Qur’an in this way (Pakdil, Ta’lim, p. 35-36).

In conclusion, the reciter may recite the Qur’an according to any of these three methods considering the circumstances and time at that moment. He may even switch to another style of recitation while reciting according to one way, if needed. In this matter, reciter may make this choice. The most preferred method out of these is tadwir.

Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, High Board of Religious Affairs FATWA