Question

Assalamualaikum.

I am a Muslim born lady, and of 23 years old.

My problem is that I know how to read the Holy Qur’an but not well enough. meaning that read it without knowing whether I have read it correctly in line with the Tajwid Hukum. For your information I have not yet khatam the Holy Qur’an and this has been my biggest regret and sadness in my life as a Muslimah. Now I am trying to improve my reading of the Holy Qur’an by reciting it slowly and bit by bit but I know it is not enough.

My question is that how can I improve my recitation of the Holy Qur’an and what are the methods that I can use in order to learn the tajwid by myself?

I sincerely hope that you can help me to find the solution for my problem because until now I have yet to find a place to study al-Qur’an for adult at my place. Thus I plan to study by myself till I find an appropriate place to study the Holy Qur’an. please help me because I know that if you recite even one word of the Holy Qur’an incorrectly then the meaning will go astray and Allah will curse you. So please help me I want to be a good Muslimah that can recite and understand the Qur’an correctly. May Allah bless your help.

Your faithfully,

sister in islam

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.

It is never too late to start and 23 years old is quite young. Since you have the strong desire, what  you need to do is make a lot of dua’ and start working.  If you cannot find a teacher in your area, then you will need to rely on listening to recordings of known mastered shuyookh, such as Sheikh Al-Husary or Sheikh Abudllah Basfar, and attempt to copy their recitation as far as tajweed rules and letter pronunciation.  If you do not have access to recordings there are many available on the Internet.  The link on the front page to www.reciter.org is a good one to use since the aayaat can be repeated up to seven times.

As to learning the tajweed rules, the written rules are all available on this site in the following link: http://www.abouttajweed.com/tidbitarchive.htm.  Start at the top, and slowly work your way down through the lessons, making sure you know how to apply them before moving on to the next lesson.

As to your last statement, please read through the PDF download why should we read the Qur’an with tajweed.  If you try your best to read correctly and still make a mistake, many scholars say this is not sinful. 

Please also look at the following previously posted questions and answers:

http://www.abouttajweed.com/12070101.htm

http://www.abouttajweed.com/220404.htm

http://www.abouttajweed.com/120802.htm

May Allah grant that you learn tajweed properly and apply it to your life.

Wa assalaam alaikum.