Juzu' Amma

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Alhamdulillahi rabbilalamin, we managed to finish reading Juzu' Amma with Shaykh Abdur Razaq yesterday and now we moved to Juzu' Tabarak. He said after we have done nearly a month of tajwid lesson, most of us have avoided major error or 'lahn jaly' which includes the changes of harakah, tashkil and letters that may change the meaning of the Qur'an thus making it basically haram. However, we have not yet perfected our recitation so inevitably we sometimes still make minor errors or 'lahn khofy' which includes the little mistakes in makhroj and sifat that do not change the letters and meaning. For example when we read Surah al-Fatihah, the last verse, we say 'wa ladhdhoolin'. When making the stopping of 'dhod', there are 7 characteristics that we must pay attention and give right to or it will become an error in recitation. To say the sukun of 'dhod', one should not make whispering, no qalqalah, no stressing, instead it is a soft letter with the characteristic of lengthening, thick and take a bit of time to make sukun. However, if we can't make it a perfect 'dhod', as long as we don't change 'dhod' to 'zho' or 'da', that's is still acceptable.

Making 'lahn khofy' in reciting al-Fatihah in salah will not nullify one's salah but if making 'lahn jaly' and change the meaning completely, then it may result in one's salah not being accepted, according to the Shaykh. ALLAHU'alam. For example to say 'yaumi-ddin'. If the 'dal' is recited with whispering thus making it into 'ta', you literally change the meaning of 'Day of Judgement' into 'Day of the Fig'. Funny? But many people make this mistake. And another example is when saying 'Iyyaka na'budu wa...'. Some people tend to do 'duu', change from 1 harakah into 2 harakah because they think that the next 'wau' for 'wa' makes 'du' into 'duu'. Also in 'sirat', changing 'sod' into 'sin'. These are not right. May ALLAH help us in our recitation and accept our deeds.

This Tuesday will be our last lesson before Shaykh Abdur Razaq has to go back to Syria again. We feel quite sad today to realise the end of the course. Before we can say anything, the Shaykh said that he will miss us when he goes back. I nearly got into tear for what he said. Indeed he is such a sincere, pious, humble, giving and knowledgeable person. I, who used to be a teacher, can understand how this feeling is like. The last time he came was in Ramadhan and I studied with him and this time when he came, he asked of all his students who attended the classes back then. Who will not be touched by that? And now he will be leaving soon and he will most probably come back again in next Ramadhan if he lives long and the mosque here invites him again. He will not ask for payment but just travel expenses and accommodation, which basically is in the mosque. Such a simple and sincere person. I don't know if I will still be in Cambridge when he comes again but surely what he has taught us will, inshaALLAH, earn reward from ALLAH and I will try my best to embody his teaching and teach them in the future if possible. For sure, he has been given ijazah for tajwid and can be traced back directly to the the Prophet Muhammad (saw) through a chain of learnt scholars, but what he has taught me is way beyond tajwid and still is what the Prophet Muhammad (saw) has taught us.

May ALLAH preserve him, raise his rank among the righteous people and grant him Paradise. Amin.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.