History of Tajweed Writings

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A Brief Overview of the History of Tajweed and the Readings

The history of written works in this science

The first to codify the scientific rules of tajweed were the imams of recitation and of the Arabic language, at the beginning of the era of authoring books. It was said that the codifier was al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi ¹; others said: Abu al-Aswad ad-Du'ali; and it was also said: Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam.

This came after the Islamic conquests multiplied, when many non-Arabs rallied under the banner of Islam, the language of the non-Arabs mixed with the Arabic language, and lahn (defective pronunciation) spread across tongues. The governors of the Muslims then feared that this would lead to the distortion of the Book of Allah.

They therefore worked to prevent it and to remove its causes, and they established means that guaranteed the protection of the Book of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, against lahn: they introduced the dots (an-nuqat) and the vocalization (ash-shakl), which the Uthmani mushaf lacked, and then they codified the rules of tajweed so that every reciter would comply with them when reciting a portion of the Book of Allah, the Most High.

The beginning of versified composition in the sciences of tajweed was the qasidah of Abu Muzahim al-Khaqani, who died in the year 325 AH, at the end of the third century of the Hijrah: it is considered the oldest versified text in the science of tajweed ².

As for the Quranic readings (qira'at), the first to gather this science into a book was without doubt the imam Abu 'Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam ³, in the third century of the Hijrah: he composed the book القراءات (al-Qira'at), about which al-Hafidh adh-Dhahabi said: Abu 'Ubayd has a book on the readings to which none among the Kufans has an equal. Ibn Sallam died in Mecca in the year 224 AH.

It was also said that the first to gather the readings and record them in writing was Abu 'Amr Hafs ibn 'Umar ad-Duri, who died in the year 246 AH, and something else was said as well.

Outstanding in the fourth century of the Hijrah was al-Hafidh Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid al-Baghdadi: he was the first to devote a book to the seven readings alone, and he died in the year 324 AH.

Outstanding likewise in the fifth century of the Hijrah was al-Hafidh Abu 'Amr 'Uthman ibn Sa'id ad-Dani, author of many works in this art, the most important of which is the book at-Taysir; he died in the land of al-Andalus in the year 444 AH.

In the sixth century of the Hijrah, the imam al-Qasim ibn Firruh ibn Khalaf al-Shatibi distinguished himself: he composed حرز الأماني ووجه التهاني (Hirz al-Amani wa Wajh at-Tahani), known as al-Shatibiyya, in which he summarized the book التيسير في القراءات السبع (at-Taysir of the seven readings) and counted 1173 verses in it; he died in Cairo in the year 590 AH.

Then eminent imams succeeded one another, devoting their lives to vying in the service of this science through the composition of works and verification, until Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, destined for it the imam of the verifiers, Abu al-Khayr Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Jazari: he composed many books on the Quranic readings and versified the introduction to the science of tajweed, known as al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya; he died in the city of Shiraz in the year 833 AH.

I ask Allah to make their knowledge beneficial to us and to grant them from Himself the finest of rewards on our behalf: He is the All-Hearing, the One who responds.