The Sunnah is to pause at the beginning of a verse in recitation.

The Shaykh : This is with us and with you. He asked him, "If a person has zakah, how much is obligatory for him?" He said, "With us or with you?" He said, "Is this included in that?" He said, "Yes." He said, "With you, the zakah is paid out at a rate of two and a half percent if, for example, it is from crops; if it is rain-fed, it is one-tenth, and if it is irrigated, it is half a tenth." He said, "Okay, and with you?" He said, "It is paid out on the entire wealth." So the point is that we considered this false story, which is undoubtedly false and actually a fictional reality, unfortunately, as being with us and not with you. With us, the Sunnah is that the reciter pauses at the beginning of the verse, even if it is connected to what follows it. But with you, in that philosophy, if the meaning is connected to what follows it, it is connected. And the evidence? Well, he forgot his evidence. It is written "No." Right?

The questioner : In the Noble Qur'an?

The Shaykh : In the Mushaf.
Al-Halabi : "Iydhah al-Waqf wa al-Ibtida'" by Abu Bakr al-Anbari. Did you see what he brought? Absolutely no pause and no beginning. And this indicates that the original rule is to pause at the beginnings of verses.

The Shaykh : No, we have a text from Abu 'Amr al-Dani that he pauses at the beginnings of verses, even if they are connected in meaning to what follows them. I am mentioning this in "Sifat al-Salah" now. I want to give you a benefit in the science of recitation that you do not hear from your shaykhs.
Al-Halabi : This is the transmission.

The questioner : ... May Allah forgive you, O Shaykh. Is there a Sufi shaykh, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Are there no shaykhs in recitation?

The questioner : This science is thrown into the hands of the Sufis.

The Shaykh : I do not think so.

The questioner : By Allah, I think, O Shaykh, this is what is clear in these days.

The Shaykh : To Allah we complain. Listen now. The Qur'an is the speech of Allah, without doubt or hesitation. He revealed it through Jibril to the heart of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Now, think with me carefully so that you know the knowledge and the difference between it and taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence). See how Allah spoke in these two verses: This is the speech of Allah. Did our Lord connect the verse to what follows it, or did He separate it?

The questioner : Certainly He separated it.

The Shaykh : He separated it. Good. When Jibril revealed it to the heart of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), did he connect it or separate it?

The questioner : He did as he received it.

The Shaykh : Well done. Do you see that when the Messenger taught his Companions this surah, did he separate it or connect it?

The questioner : He separated it.

The Shaykh : He separated it. So why do you not separate it, and why do you connect it? Because you do not know. You do not know except that it was said to you: if the verse is connected in meaning to what follows it, it is not correct to pause. And so they placed for you... No, no, no. And these are sticks, not just one stick, but two. Do not pause. If they knew the correct knowledge that you now have, by the grace and mercy of Allah, then let them rejoice in that. Do you hear? You are now in a state where no one can debate this. Otherwise, we would say to him: How did the Muslims know that this is a verse? If the Messenger had received from Jibril , it would have been one verse. But this is conclusive proof that the Messenger received the Qur'an from Jibril, and Jibril from the Lord of the Worlds, like this: So you, O reciters, who have been afflicted with transmission, and we, the people of the Sunnah, who have been afflicted and who afflict you with evil and good as a trial that does not let the mind wander, we have been afflicted with the study of the Sunnah. We knew this truth without that transmission, and you do not know this truth despite that transmission. So this difference between us is sufficient for you. And every vessel emits what is in it.
So you are not contradicting the system of recitation; you are contradicting Muhammad (peace be upon him). And the contradiction does not stop here only, but you are also contradicting Jibril (peace be upon him). And the contradiction does not stop here either, but you are contradicting the Lord of the Worlds. What a calamity. So here are two points that have now been clarified in these examples. First, the reciter, if he wishes, may recite with the reading of Hafs or with the reading of 'Asim. And I mentioned in that gathering the story of the three, among them 'Ammar or Bilal, whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by while he was reciting from here and a verse from there, and he said: I do not know why this hadith did not take effect in you, and you did not act upon it yourself. And you say, "This is a reading the Messenger recited, and this is a reading the Messenger recited." So this is good and this is good. I do not know why the effect of this hadith did not settle in your heart. May Allah pardon what has passed. And we are, as they say in our region in Syria, "the children of today, the children of the hour." Finally, also, so that you make another dua for me besides that dua we received, even if we did not hear it, Allah will suffice us and will hear when we are mentioned. In the hadith of Umm Hisham, no, he said, "Now I will also hear something you have certainly not heard from the scholars of transmission." And that is: if you recite with Hafs or 'Asim, two different correct readings, in the name of recitation, then as you heard from this night and that night, it is a permissible matter, without doubt. And it is the position of the great imams of recitation, at the head of whom is Abu 'Amr al-Dani. But now I will come with you a little, and perhaps you will spread out... Exactly, between you and me. But if he recites in the name of the reading of so-and-so, and it is not his reading, he has made a mistake. How is it with him?

The questioner : On this topic you are speaking about now, I have knowledge of it.

The Shaykh : I am not teaching you; I am reminding you: But it seems that you have mixed Sha'ban with Ramadan.

The questioner : This is what happened.

The Shaykh : Okay.