The poet says: "after perfecting the letters, one must know the stops and the starts." Knowing where to stop and start completes tajweed, because it protects the meaning. Waqf (الوَقْف) is cutting the sound on a word for the time of a normal breath, intending to continue. Sakt (السَّكْت) is a brief cut without breath. Qat' (القَطْع) is ending the recitation. Ibtida' (الابْتِدَاء) is starting to recite after a cut or a stop.
Kinds of stopping
| Kind | Meaning | Ruling |
|---|---|---|
| Waqf Idtirari (الوَقْف الاضْطِرَارِيّ) | Forced by shortness of breath, sneezing or forgetting | Allowed on any word, then restart from a suitable place |
| Waqf Intizari (الوَقْف الانْتِظَارِيّ) | To combine readings during teaching | Allowed for teaching |
| Waqf Ikhtibari (الوَقْف الاخْتِبَارِيّ) | To show how a word is written or read, in a test | Allowed; linked to the rules of joined and separated words |
| Waqf Ikhtiyari (الوَقْف الاخْتِيَارِيّ) | Chosen freely by the reciter | Four kinds, as below |
The four kinds of chosen stops
Look at the words before the stop: if the meaning is complete and has no link with what follows in wording or meaning, it is Tamm; if linked in meaning only, Kafi; if linked in wording, Hasan; if the meaning is incomplete, Qabih.
| Kind | Stopping and starting | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Waqf Tamm (الوَقْف التَّامّ) | Good to stop and start after it; common at verse ends and the ends of stories | ﴿وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَوَاُولٰٓئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُوْنَ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:5) ثم ﴿إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْاِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:6) |
| Waqf Kafi (الوَقْف الكَافِي) | Good to stop and start after it | ﴿لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَلَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:6) ثم ﴿خَتَمَ ٱللَّهُخَتَمَ اللّٰهُ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:7) |
| Waqf Hasan (الوَقْف الحَسَن) | Good to stop on, but not to start after it, unless it is a verse end | ﴿ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِاَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ﴾ (Al-Fatihah 1:2) |
| Waqf Qabih (الوَقْف القَبِيح) | Not to be done on purpose; if forced, go back and restart | ﴿لَا تَقۡرَبُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلٰوةَ﴾ (An-Nisa 4:43) ﴿وَمَا مِنۡ إِلَٰهٍوَمَا مِنْ اِلٰهٍ﴾ (Ali 'Imran 3:62) |
The poet excepted the Ru'us al-Ay (رُؤُوس الآي), allowing a stop on them in all cases, because the Prophet ﷺ used to recite verse by verse, as in the hadith of Umm Salamah. He also said there is "no stop in the Quran that is obligatory or forbidden except for a reason": no stop is sinful in itself to make or to leave, unless the reciter intends a wrong meaning.
Starting
Starting is always by choice, so one starts only with words whose meaning stands on its own. A bad start is one that suggests a false meaning, such as starting with ﴿يَدُ ٱللَّهِ مَغۡلُولَةٌۚيَدُ اللّٰهِ مَغْلُوْلَةٌﵧ﴾ (Al-Ma'idah 5:64) or ﴿ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَدٗاۗاتَّخَذَ اللّٰهُ وَلَدًاﶈ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:116).
Stop signs in the Madinah Mushaf
| Sign | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ◌ۘ | Stop required | ﴿إِنَّمَا يَسۡتَجِيبُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡمَعُونَۘ﴾ (Al-An'am 6:36) |
| ◌ۗ | Stopping is better; joining allowed | ﴿عِندَ ٱللَّهِۗ﴾ (Ali 'Imran 3:163) |
| ◌ۚ | Stopping and joining equally allowed | ﴿قٓۚ﴾ (Qaf 50:1) |
| ◌ۖ | Joining is better; stopping allowed | ﴿وَقِفُوهُمۡۖ﴾ (As-Saffat 37:24) |
| ◌ۛ ◌ۛ | Waqf al-Mu'anaqah (وَقْف المُعَانَقَة): if one stops at one of the two places, do not stop at the other | ﴿لَا رَيۡبَۛ فِيهِۛ﴾ (Al-Baqarah 2:2) |
| ◌ۜ | A light pause without breath (the four places of Hafs) | ﴿عِوَجَاۜ﴾ (Al-Kahf 18:1) |
Stop signs in the Indo-Pak Mushaf
The stop signs of Indo-Pak copies are more numerous than, and different from, those of the Madinah Mushaf. Every example in the table was found automatically in the text of the Mushaf itself.
| Sign | Meaning | Example from the Mushaf |
|---|---|---|
| ◌ﶉ | Mim: Required stop: one must stop here, since joining may suggest a wrong meaning | فَانْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْﶉ (Al-Hijr 15:79) |
| ◌ﵧ | Ta': Absolute stop: one should stop here | مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰهِﵧ (Al-Fath 48:29) |
| ◌ﵐ | Jim: Permitted stop: stopping is better, joining is allowed | ظُلُمٰتٌ وَّرَعْدٌ وَّبَرْقٌﵐ (Al-Baqarah 2:19) |
| ◌ﵟ | Zay: Allowed stop: stopping is allowed, joining is better | الْـٰٔنَ حَصْحَصَ الْحَقُّﵟ (Yusuf 12:51) |
| ◌ﵣ | Sad: Licensed stop: join, but stopping is allowed when needed, such as for breath | مَتَاعٌ قَلِيْلٌﵣ (An-Nahl 16:117) |
| ◌ۖ | Sila: Joining is better | بِمَا فِيْٓ اَنْفُسِهِمْۖ (Hud 11:31) |
| ◌ﵯ | Qaf: Some said one may stop here; joining is better | هُدًي مِّنْ رَّبِّهِمْﵯ (Al-Baqarah 2:5) |
| ◌ﵴ | Qif: Stop: stopping is better | قٓﵴ (Qaf 50:1) |
| ◌ﶈ | La: Do not stop; at the end of a verse stopping is allowed | فِيْ قُلُوْبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌﶈ (Al-Baqarah 2:10) |
| ◌ﶌ | Saktah: A light pause without breath | وَقِيْلَ مَنْﶌ رَاقٍ (Al-Qiyamah 75:27) |
| ◌ﶋ | Waqfah: A pause longer than Saktah, without breath | بِمَآ اٰتَيْنٰهُمْﵧ فَتَمَتَّعُوْاﶋ (Ar-Rum 30:34) |