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There are various conventions related to punctuation varying from time and place to another. Although there were manuscripts written on the topic, the convention that took off is attributed to Muhammad ibn Tayfour Sajawandi (d. 560 AH). [1]
There are various hadiths related to the topic, one of them being: [2]
Umm Salama narrated: "Rasulullah, when reading the Qur'an, would cut his recitation by ayah (he would stop at the verse endings). " and, giving an example from Fatiha, said "he would stop at the end of every verse."
— Musnad, VI, 302
- After a full stop, the last letter of the verse loses its vowel, if consonant, or converts the tanwin into an elongated alif, if an alif's tanwin.
These are generally placed at the top of the line they apply to in a verse.
م (m) - A mim at the top, it's an abbreviation of لازم (lazm) (necessary). It means disregarding the sign may lead to change in the meaning.
ط (ṭ) - Abbreviation of مطلق (mṭlq) (absolute). Full stop even though the verse is not complete.
لا (la) - Lam and alif glyph which means 'no' in Arabic when uttered in isolation. Forbidden stop. If stopped, the reciter should start from a place before the sign, unless it's the end of a verse. Pausing in this symbol may lead to meaning change or a incorrect statement or it will make nonsense. [3]
س (s) or سكتة (sktẗ) - Abbreviation of سكتة (sktẗ) (silence). Pause without breathing out, giving a silence effect. [4] [2]
وقفة (wqfẗ) or وقف (wqf) - Same with the previous one, but with a somewhat longer pause.
Because the reciter may feel the need to stop, for example, because of need for a breath or other bodily necessities, there are these signs placed.
ج (j) - Abbreviation of جائز (jaỷz) (permitted). It is better to stop, but in one's own discretion, may proceed also.
ز (z) - abbr of مجوَّز (mjwãz) (permitted). It is better not to stop.
ص (ṣ) - abbr of مرخَّص (mrkhãṣ) (admissible). It is better not to stop but if the reciter is tired or any other valid reason, one may stop.
ق (q) - abbr of قيل عليه الوقف (qyl glyh alwqf). It is better not to stop.
قف (qf) - abbr of يُوقَف عليه (yuwqaf glyh). It is better to stop, facilitating the understanding of the verse's meaning.
صل (ṣl) - abbr of قد يُوصَل (qd yuwṣal). The majority view is that one should pause here.
◌ۗ - abbr of الوقف أولى (alwqf ảwly̱). It is better to pause.
◌ۖ - abbr of الوصل أولى (alwṣl ảwly̱). It is better not to pause.
The reciter can stop or continue depending on his convenience.
◌ۛ - Named معانقة (mganqẗ) (hugging) signs, these three dots are usually paired and placed near each other. The reciter should stop at one of them, though which one is in their own discretion. In Indopak mushafs, these three dots are placed above a small ج sign. [5] [6]
These show the divisions of the mushaf into chapters, parts and sections. It's arranged into 114 chapters (surah). Each chapter consists of a number of verses (ayah). Verses are numbered at the end inside the full stop sign. A chapter may additionally be divided into sections (ruku'ركوع). The end of a section is shown by an 'aynع sign.
The mushafs are also divided into thirty equal parts (juz'), for those who wish to finish the recitation in a given time. These are indicated at the start of each one which occurs in 20 pages in most modern mushafs. The ajza' (pl. of juz') are further divided, which makes them 60th parts of a mushaf, hizb. There are 3 different hizb signs at the margin indicating the place in the juz': الربع for the first quarter, النصف for the half, and الثلٰثة (abbr. of ثلٰثة ارباع) for the last quarter. [5]
The word السجدة (prostration) written on the margin or on an ayah sign means that a Muslim reciting that verse and the ones listening should offer a prostration. This sign is found in 14 places in a mushaf. All the sajda verses are Meccan. [7]
There are some marginal signs used in the Indian subcontinent:
Used in the subcontinent, this indicates a difference of opinion on the pause.
وقف النبي (pause of the Prophet) for pause,
وقف مّنزَّل and وقف جبريل (pause of Gabriel) also for pause,
وقف غفران for pause,
وقف كفران for 'Do not pause'.
The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most have contextual letterforms. Unlike the modern Latin alphabet, the script has no concept of letter case. The Arabic alphabet is considered an abjad, with only consonants required to be written; due to its optional use of diacritics to notate vowels, it is considered an impure abjad.
An āyah is a "verse" in the Qur'an, one of the statements of varying length that make up the chapters (surah) of the Qur'an and are marked by a number. In a purely linguistic context the word means "evidence", "sign" or "miracle", and thus may refer to things other than Qur'anic verses, such as religious obligations or cosmic phenomena. In the Qur'an it is referred to with both connotations in several verses such as:
تِلْكَ آيَاتُ ٱللَّٰهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِٱلْحَقِّۖ فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍۭ بَعْدَ ٱللَّٰهِ وَآيَاتِهِۦ يُؤْمِنُونَ
"These are the āyahs of Allah that We recite for you in truth. So what discourse will they believe after God and His āyahs?"
The Arabic script has numerous diacritics, which include consonant pointing known as iʻjām (إِعْجَام), and supplementary diacritics known as tashkīl (تَشْكِيل). The latter include the vowel marks termed ḥarakāt.
Al-ʻAlaq is the 96th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an. It is composed of 19 āyāt or verses. It is sometimes also known as Sūrat Iqrā.
Al-Ikhlāṣ, also known as the Declaration of God's Unity and al-Tawhid, is the 112th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran.
Ar-Ra'd,, or the Thunder, is the 13th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an, composed of 43 verses (āyāt). It has Muqattat المر.
As-Sajdah (السجدة), is the 32nd chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 30 verses (āyāt). The name of the chapter has been translated as ۩ 'prostration' or 'adoration' and is taken from the fifteenth verse, which mentions those who "... fall prostrate and hymn the praise of their Lord".
Al-Mulk is the 67th chapter (surah) of the Quran, comprising 30 verses. Surah Al Mulk emphasizes the greatness of Allah and His creation, urging believers to reflect on the signs of God's power in the universe.
A juzʼ is one of thirty parts of varying lengths into which the Quran is divided. It is also known as parah in Iran and subsequently the Indian subcontinent. There are 30 ajzāʼ in the Quran, also known as سِپَارَہ – sipārah.
Dhikr is a form of Islamic worship in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly recited for the purpose of remembering God. It plays a central role in Sufism, and each Sufi order typically adopts a specific dhikr, accompanied by specific posture, breathing, and movement. In Sufism, dhikr refers to both the act of this remembrance as well as the prayers used in these acts of remembrance. Dhikr usually includes the names of God or supplication from the Quran or hadith. It may be counted with either one's fingers or prayer beads, and may be performed alone or with a collective group. A person who recites dhikr is called a dhākir.
Tayammum is the Islamic act of dry ritual purification using purified (clean) sand or stone or mud, which may be performed in place of ritual washing if no clean water is readily available or if one is suffering from moisture-induced skin inflammation or scaling or illness or hardship.
Sujūd, or sajdah, also known as sijda,sejda or shejda is the act of low bowing or prostration to God facing the qiblah. It is usually done in standardized prayers (salah). The position involves kneeling and bowing till one touches the ground with 7 bones (points): the forehead & nose, two hands, two knees and two sets of toes. In accordance with the Sunnah of Muhammad, one's elbows should be far from one's body, unless it causes discomfort to other worshippers. Some scholars hold the position that this applies only to men, and that women are encouraged to tuck their elbows in out of modesty.
In the context of the recitation of the Quran, tajwīd is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation (Qira'at). In Arabic, the term tajwīd is derived from the verb جود, meaning enhancement or to make something excellent. Technically, it means giving every letter its right in reciting the Qur'an.
Many scripts in Unicode, such as Arabic, have special orthographic rules that require certain combinations of letterforms to be combined into special ligature forms. In English, the common ampersand (&) developed from a ligature in which the handwritten Latin letters e and t were combined. The rules governing ligature formation in Arabic can be quite complex, requiring special script-shaping technologies such as the Arabic Calligraphic Engine by Thomas Milo's DecoType.
A digital Quran is a text of the Qur'an processed or distributed as an electronic text, or more specifically to an electronic device dedicated to displaying the text of the Qur'an and playing digital recordings of Qur'an readings.
Salah is the practice of formal worship in Islam, consisting of a series of ritual prayers performed at prescribed times daily. Facing the Kaaba in Mecca, it consists of units known as rak'ah, which include a specific set of physical postures, recitation from the Quran, and prayers from the Sunnah. The number of rak'ah varies depending on the specific prayer. Variations in practice are observed among adherents of different madhahib. The term salah may denote worship in general or specifically refer to the obligatory prayers performed by Muslims five times daily, or, in some traditions, three times daily.
ʿAbū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad Ibn ʿAbū Yazīd Tayfūr Sajāvandī Ghaznavī, also known as Abū al-Fazl as-Sajāwandī al-Qāriʾ was a 12th-century Islamic scholar, mystic, Qāriʾ and theologian. He is primarily known for his contributions to the Islamic traditions of recitation and pronunciation, creating a set of rules and markers used to indicate the pronunciation and pauses of Quranic recital, known as Sajawandi stop signs or Rumuz al-Awqaf as-Sajāwandī. He is also credited as being the first known person to use coloured circles as a means of separating verses in the Quran, a design choice which has persisted til today, with the addition of a verse number inside of the circle. In Persian, the term muṣ·ḥaf sajāwandī مُصْحَف سَجَاوَنْدِي may today be used to denote an elegantly written Quran, accounting for the association between Sajawandi and his use of lavish red and golden dots as pause markers. His son Ahmad ibn Muhammad Sajawandi was also a well-known chronicler, commentator on the Quran, poet and orator.
There are a variety of titles used to refer to the penultimate prophet of Islam, Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus), in the Quran. Islamic scholars emphasize the need for Muslims to follow the name of Isa (Jesus), whether spoken or written, with the honorific phrase alayhi al-salām, which means peace be upon him. Isa is mentioned by name or title 78 times in the Quran.
The Cairo edition, or the King Fu'ād Quran or the Azhar Quran, is an edition of the Quran printed by the Amiri Press in the Bulaq district of Cairo on July 10, 1924. It is the first printed Quran to be accepted by a Muslim authority, this authority being Al-Azhar.
A rukūʿ is a paragraph of the Quran. There are either 540 or 558 rukus in the Quran, depending on the authority.
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