Question

I have mat-or pauses when I read some things, especially the basmalah, . Do you have any suggestions?

Answer

The word in Arabic means prolongation or stretching.  In tajweed, the word  is used to indicate that a vowel has been elongated more than the one vowel count that it should be.  The term can also be used if a natural two vowel count medd is prolonged to longer than two vowel counts. 

Many non-Arabs have problems with elongation of vowels, as covered in the first tajweed tidbit lesson (now in the archived files) when they first start out learning the Qur’an. 

The referral to the basmalah makes one wonder if you don’t have a problem with the articulation point of the or .  When there is a problem colliding with the articulation point of a saakin letter (please see the newest tidbit lesson), some elongate the vowel before the problem letter trying to search for the correct articulation point, or simply have some hesitation from lack of confidence, and therefore elongate the vowel. 

Another reason for elongation of vowels, especially in the basmalah, is when the student has been told that their kasrah or dhammah is not complete.  In attempt to fix the sound of the vowel, they sometimes elongate it. 

The solution in all cases is practice with a teacher, and work on developing an inner clock for the timing of each vowel so that they are equal to each other.