The Best Books To Learn Tajweed And Quran

I don't know of any Islamic discipline that has as many books dedicated to it as Tajweed does. There's always someone writing one.

One of the possible reasons for this is that Tajweed has taken a dip in our communities.
From the 1940s to the 1980/90s, there had been an absence of Tajweed even among Arabs/North Africans. As a millennial, I'd seen what the standards were like compared to the present day (2022).

Today it's become a more standard place to hear everyone learning Tajweed. It wasn't like this before. In the last 30 years, the efforts of scholars, the spread of audio recordings, and technological advances revived Tajweed. It was this that allowed me to learn correct pronunciation during the 90s. I would listen to tape cassettes of Egyptian reciters, then audio files, and eventually went to Egypt to be with them myself.

Today, we have access to courses online, YouTube videos, articles, and resources. Books still have a place. Much of the great material is in Arabic but recently we're beginning to see more resources in English.

Seeing so many books though, presents a problem. You don't know what book you should go with. A lot of books are complicated while others are oversimplified. Every teacher has a different approach to teaching and will prefer different books. Every book has a different approach and is often copy-paste jobs of other works. I do believe there's a space for something that should cater to the youngsters of our time.

That's why I'm going to share what I've found to be the best available resources in English to date (2024). Is there a 'best Tajweed book'? How can you learn Tajweed easily? I'll give you some Tajwid book examples.

Tajwīd of the Glorious Qur'ān Made Easy
(Taysīr Al-Tajwīd li al-Qur'ān al-Majīd)

By Anisa Najam (Use QARI for a discount)

This is a brilliant quality hardback book consisting of 92 pages. I received a copy today and I can say for sure, it's a must-have for any teacher and student. Anisa has done a brilliant job of covering all the basics of Tajweed efficiently. It does the job!

My first impressions

1. It's very well presented and designed.
2. It has a decent sequence and approach to the content that makes it easy to follow from start to finish. It's a great resource for those who want to teach and for those who want to learn.
3. It's simple and straight to the point. There are a lot of books on Tajwīd that are overwhelming. This book might, of course, still be overwhelming for new students but I believe it won't take long to get to grips with.
4. The inclusion of notes and extras. These add food for thought and a chance for further explanations.
5. The inclusion of excerpts from authoritative, classical texts in the field of Tajweed, highlights the virtues and the importance of the various aspects involved. One particular thing I noted straight away was how the book subtly emphasises starting and stopping. That's an area that I always tell students to pay attention to the most after pronunciation. In my experience, it's one of the most forgotten aspects of Tajweed. So it was nice to see in this book.
6. The inclusion of motivation through the citation of Qur'ān, Hadīth, and the teachers of Tajweed (history) is also something I liked.
7. I loved the inclusion of the Makhārij Practice Poems. This is something that I have never seen before. They make for great practice!

What I think after using it

There are things that I think could be added to make it even better or things I don't like. For example:

• perhaps rethink word choices and translations (I don't agree with much of it). Having used the book to teach, students do find much of it problematic.
• for example, Arabic text and terms would benefit from the addition of harakāt (vowels) as many can't read them, and some transliteration.
• perhaps rethinking some of the design and the sequence of subjects (which can appear to be very overwhelming in certain places)
• extending the notes with practical tips
• adding notes to the virtues sections
• adding QR codes that take you to a video or audio to listen to how the rule sounds

But, overall, based on my experience at the time of writing, this would be a recommendation for most people. You can order your copy and get a discount using the code: QARI (this is not an affiliate deal or sponsored post).

Updates: Tajwid Video Lessons and A Bookmark

It now comes with video lessons and a book walkthrough alongside it which makes it even better. They have also released a Tajwid bookmark. The bookmark is great and I love the tassels. But because there's a lot of try and cover, the bookmark has very tiny text on it and this will be problematic for those who don't have great eyesight. Bookmarks should be great for quick reference, and this is exactly that but it should also be effortless to scan.

Illustrated Tajweed
(al-Tajwīd al-Musawwar)

By Dr. Ayman Rushdi Swaid
Translated by Asiya Muhammad Akyurt (read her story)

The expensive one. This is another high-quality hardback book but is slightly more advanced than Anisa's work. It covers more with illustrations and QR codes alongside the original Arabic text. I have a copy of the two-volume 1st edition from 2019. Today there's a new edition available at a variety of stores. My experience is based on the original Arabic work and the 1st edition translation.

This book is designed to be comprehensive and in many respects, I see it as an update to the work of Kareema Carol Czerepinski whose 3-volume book many of you might be familiar with. A work that is an English language commentary of the well-known poem of Tajweed, the Jazariyyah. Illustrated Tajweed in many ways has become a standard textbook and as a textbook, it's up there as the best.

I think this is a great book but isn't the most accessible or simple to understand without a teacher. It does make up for it with the interactive elements (QR codes) but of course, Tajweed isn't a subject that can entirely be learned alone. It's passed on by authourised practitioners.

I also don't particularly like the way the subject is organised in the book, it can be difficult to find things. But for those that are more advanced, this is the best book to follow on from Anisa's work.

The Ultimate Tajweed Workbook

By Iqrah Razzaq

Our dear sister Iqrah sent me a copy of this and I've had the pleasure of looking at what is a unique contribution towards teaching Tajweed to young people.

It is exactly as titled. It is the ultimate workbook. It's a perfect companion to go alongside any Tajweed book to help children learn with activities. Every teacher should consider it.

Other Tajweed Books and Resources

• The Best Beginners Tajweed book? - I have found Safar Publications to be great as it provides a lot of practice. Three pages per rule. They have books for the Madinah script as well as the IndoPak.
• There are great free resources (PDFs) by Qari Saleem Gaibie.
• I had the pleasure of being given copies of the release of The Reader's Guide to The Book of Light: A Comprehensive Study of The Rules of Tajweed in English by Abeer Ajlouni. It's a 300+ page resource on Tajweed. However, I do believe this is a bit too much.
• Do explore the classical texts once you're comfortable. Zein Hud Publications has some good books for this.

I am currently editing and overseeing two new Tajweed books which I will reveal in the Diary of A Hāfiz, so make sure you sign up!

If you have any books and recommend them, do get in touch.

Bonus: What are the best Qa'idah books to learn Arabic?

My personal to-go Qa'idah and learning to read Qur'an books are the Learn to Read bundle by Safar Publications. The Qa'idah, Tajweed, and Juz' 'Amma.

The Sweetness of Recitation Textbook
(Halawat al-Tilawah)

By Muhammad Najmul Alam & Fatima Zahra Najam

There's a common problem I have found with students. There is a pattern of weaknesses in recitation and fluency. Much of this is down to not only outdated teaching methods but also the bridge between learning to read and learning to recite with Tajweed. Qari Muhammad Najmul Alam and Fatima Zahra Najam have also seen the same thing but have done something about it.

This is a brilliant piece of work. It takes you through 3 levels that cover the basics of Tajweed. From starting with the Arabic alphabet - independently and then joined up, moving on to vowels and symbols. The knowledge of stops. Then knowledge of basic Tajweed rules, and more on stopping and the madd rules. It then goes into some advanced rules and basics of Tajweed and the virtues of recitation.

What I loved seeing

• How clear objectives and guidance for teachers accompany each level
• The presentation and explanations of the basics
• The exercises
• The boxes that provide reminders
• The traffic light system it introduces to explain the rules of stopping (waqf)
• How the presentation uses images of the mus-haf to explain the rules of Tajweed or provide exercises

Things I think would improve it

• I would work on a more logical sequence of teaching concepts by grouping relevant concepts - but this one is debatable.
• I'd revisit some translations like 'echo' for Qalqalah for example, although, it does also mention 'bounce'.
• I'd add examples to explain concepts that relate to modern-day things that young people now relate to, where possible.

This is a highly recommended book. I will update you on my thoughts as I intend to use this textbook with a student who I feel would be a perfect use case.

Conclusion

You should consider ordering your copy of Anisa Najam's book. Get a discount by using the code: QARI (again this is not an affiliate deal or sponsored post). If you are interested in studying further, get Dr. Aymans' work. And check out my recommendations.