Beginner guide · Plain British English
Tajweed rules explained simply: madd, ghunnah and qalqalah
Tajweed means giving every letter of the Quran its due — the right place in the mouth, the right length, the right weight. It sounds technical, but the first three rules a learner meets are mostly about timing: when to stretch a sound, when to hum it, and when to let it bounce. Quran Closer colours these three rules directly in the script, so you can see them before you can name them.
The colour key
These are the exact colours used in the reader and the qaida lessons.
- Madd — Stretch the sound (about two counts)
- Ghunnah — Hold a nasal sound on the n or m
- Qalqalah — A light echo on the closed letter
Madd — stretching the sound
Madd simply means to lengthen. When a long vowel letter — alif, waaw or yaa — carries no vowel mark of its own, the sound before it is held rather than cut short.
Where you will see it: Look for a bare ا, و or ى sitting after a letter. In our reader these letters are shown in the madd colour so you can see where to hold the sound.
How to say it: Hold the vowel for roughly two counts — about the time it takes to say “one, two” quietly. Keep the pitch level; do not slide up or down or add a new syllable.
Example · Al-Fatihah 1:3
ar-Rahmaanir-Raheem
The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Ghunnah — the nasal hold
Ghunnah is the humming, nasal sound made on noon (ن) and meem (م). It is the sound you feel in your nose rather than your mouth.
Where you will see it: Most clearly on a doubled noon or meem — a letter carrying shaddah (نّ or مّ). Those letters appear in the ghunnah colour in the reader.
How to say it: Close the mouth for meem, or place the tongue tip at the gum ridge for noon, and hum for about two counts before moving on. The sound stays in the nose the whole time.
Example · Al-Asr 103:2
Innal-insaan
Indeed, mankind…
Qalqalah — the light echo
Qalqalah is a small bounce or echo on five letters: ق ط ب ج د (remembered together as qutub-jad).
Where you will see it: When one of those five letters has no vowel — it carries sukoon, or falls at the end of a verse where you stop. The reader shows these in the qalqalah colour.
How to say it: Release the letter crisply so it echoes, without adding a vowel after it. Say “ab” with a light bounce on the b, not “aba” or “abi”.
Example · Al-Ikhlas 112:1
Qul huwa Allaahu Ahad
Say: He is Allah, the One.
All three together
The opening line of the Quran, colour-coded exactly as it appears in the reader.
Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Practising these rules
Reading rules on a page is only half the work — tajweed is learned by listening and repeating. In Quran Closer you can hear each verse recited, tap any word for its meaning, and take short quizzes on these three rules once you finish the qaida course.