It was mentioned to you that you say the rulings of tajwid are divided, from a legal standpoint, into obligatory and non-obligatory, so we ask for clarification?

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh- May Allah preserve you - , it was mentioned to us that you say the rulings of tajwid are divided, from a legal standpoint, into obligatory and non-obligatory, so we ask you to clarify the criterion, and may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh: Yes, I mentioned this, and I gave a well-known example for it. Now I admit that I am not a specialist in the science of tajwid, and although - by the grace of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He - I received the Qur'an and read it from one of my scholars; he is my father - may Allah have mercy on him - and he has, according to the method followed by reciters to this day, an ijazah stating that he received the Qur'an from the recitation of Hafs, and according to his rules and style in reading the Qur'an. I completed the Qur'an with him - may Allah have mercy on him - , and I recite it well to a great extent, and I know many of its rulings, but I am not a specialist. And in much of what I remind people of, when matters become confused for some of the general public who have no knowledge, and when a matter becomes difficult for them in a certain issue; some of the scholars say, for example, that it is forbidden, and others say it is permissible, or one says a thing is obligatory, and the other says it is recommended. When such two contradictory statements come to him, he should consider the qualities present in each of the two differing scholars to prefer the statement of one over the other. And among what I used to mention - and still do - is that one should look at which of them is the specialist in this science where his statement differs from that of another.
And now, if I tell you here that I am not a specialist, I do not mean that I am ignorant of the rulings and rules of tajwid, but I mean that if you hear from a scholar a statement that contradicts what I mentioned and what you will hear from me as an example; if you hear from him what contradicts me, there is no wonder in that; because disagreement is a reality that inevitably occurs. And if there had been a way out and salvation from disagreement in some opinions and ideas, the people most deserving of that would have been the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); so how is it when they disagreed on many issues, which I do not need to mention any of now?!
And it is sufficient for me to return to the issue; which is: that the scholars of tajwid - for example - say that mad (elongation) is in three categories. A category they call natural mad, and they say that it is moved for two counts. A category they call disconnected mad, and they say that it is permissible to elongate it for two, four, or six counts. The disconnected mad and the connected mad are only elongated for five counts. So I gave this as an example, and I said: It is not permissible for them for the reciter to elongate the natural mad for more than two counts. If he elongates it for three counts or four, he has contradicted the transmitted recitation from generation to generation. But as you heard from me just now, they say regarding the disconnected mad: It is permissible for you to elongate it for two, four, or six counts; so this is an expansion in the mad. It is permissible for you to elongate this disconnected mad like the natural mad, and it is permissible for you to elongate it for six counts, more than the connected mad, where they do not permit elongating it for less than five or more than that. And I said, and with that I summarize the answer to this question, just as it is summarized in the legal rulings. Such detail is permissible, recommended, or not permissible. Likewise, it is said in the rulings of tajwid: some of it is permissible, and some of it is not permissible.
And it is known from the things that are not permissible on this occasion is reading the Qur'an to licentious tunes, musical tunes. For the Qur'an is the speech of Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - so it is more sacred than to be read in a manner resembling the recitation of songs, and what is similar to that of licentiousness.
And in conclusion, I say: A man came to 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar and said to him: "I love you for the sake of Allah." So 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar preempted him with the opposite of what he thought he would preempt him with; where he said to him: "As for me, I hate you for the sake of Allah." He said: "Amazing! I say: I love you for the sake of Allah, and you say: I hate you for the sake of Allah?!" He said: "Yes; because you make mistakes in your adhan, and you take a wage for it." If it is not permissible to make mistakes in the adhan, and the intention behind it - as is clear and apparent - is to make it melodious as some mu'adhdhins do in some Arab countries; where they raise the voice and lower it, and elongate what is not permissible to elongate, and shorten what should be elongated, thus considering musical laws, then if this is not permissible in the adhan, which is not the Qur'an; then it is even more so that the like of it is not permissible in the recitation of the speech of Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - . And this is my opinion regarding the science of tajwid.
Yes.