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Fatwa CenterTajweed: Is It Obligatory or only Desirable?
Question
Assalam! I have read that Tajweed is not mandatory. If this is the case why is there an obligatory madd. Also please inform me on which salahs are better than others. For example: Fard, tahajud , duha , sunnah prayers, etc. Please include as many salahs as possible. Thank you very much.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Recitation of the Quran with Tajweed according to the rules known to the specialists of this science is desirable according to the opinion of the later scholars. On the other hand, earlier scholars say that it is obligatory, while all reciters agreed upon that, including what is called Al-Madd Al-Motasil (elongation of the vowels), or Al-Madd Al-Wajib (obligatory elongation).
Nihayat Al-Qawl Al-Mofeed fi ‘Ilm At-Tajweed by Sheikh Muhammad Makki Al-Jarisy Al-Shafi’i (died in 1322 AH) reads:
“You should know that the obligation in the science of Tajweed is divided into two divisions: 1- Religious obligation, which means there is a reward for those who abide by its rules, and punishment for those who disregard it. 2- Technical obligation, which means doing it is recommended, disregarding it is disliked. Moreover, whoever disregards it shall be subject to Ta’zeer (discretionary punishment) according to the specialists of that science. Therefore, religious obligation is what preserves the structure and meaning of the words. Thus, whoever disregards it is sinful. While Technical obligation is what was mentioned by scholars in Tajweed books such as Idgham (diphthong), Ikhfaa’ (suppressed pronunciation), Iqlab (Alternation), Tarqeeq (Attenuation), and Tafkheem (velarization), so the one who disregards it according to the opinion of later scholars is not sinful. Unlike the former scholars who see that all of this are obligatory according to Sharee’ah.” [End of quote]
Then he mentioned some statements of the former scholars that indicate the obligation, including:
The scholar Ibn Al-Jazari said:
We say that all of that are obligatory, such as the rules of the letter “Noon”, “Tanween”, Al-Madd Al-lazim, and Al-Madd Al-Motasil. There is no difference of opinion among Imams about this issue. They had different opinions only about Al-Madd Al-Motasil. Yet, they all agreed that it is not permissible to be shortened as the shortening of Al-Madd Al-Monfasil in a way.
Ibn Ghazi said in his explanation: “Al-Wajib fi ‘Ilm Al-Tajweed” is divided into two divisions: One of them is religious: it is the one that all reciters have agreed upon, such as Ikhfaa’, Idgham, Ith-har, Iqlab, disregarding Madd in cases that were unanimously agreed upon to be shortened, disregarding shortening what was agreed by scholars upon its Madd, and other instances in which there is no difference of opinion about it. Whoever disregards this obligation shall be considered as Fasiq (dissolute), and he commits a major sin, as indicated by the previous Hadeeth: “Recite the Quran with the modulations and tones of the Arabs.” [End of quote -Abridged]
As for your second question, please re-send it separately since the policy of Islamweb is to answer only one question out of multiple questions, as indicated on the question entry page.
For more benefit on the rules of Tajweed (the rules of recitation of the Quran), please refer to Fatawa 350782, 147375, 292798 and 86574.
Allah knows best.
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