The Sunnah is to pause at the beginning of a verse, even if the meaning of the first verse is connected to the second.

The Shaykh : Why don't I give you an example? Because it was written to me recently that you were leading the prayer, and I prayed behind you. You recited and did not pause at the words of Allah the Exalted: You continued and connected this verse to the one after it. Is this the Sunnah?

The questioner : No.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : At the point of completion, and the most complete in meaning.

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) read it that way? You don't know. I am warning you so that you do not get yourself into difficulties and into the hole of the rabbit, and may Allah save you from it.

The questioner : I know how the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) read.

The Shaykh : No, if you knew, you would not have contradicted him.

The questioner : But, my Shaykh...

The Shaykh : Do not say "but" to me. Answer my words. I am telling you: if you knew how the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) read, you would not contradict him. Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) read ?

The questioner : Is there any obstacle to that?

The Shaykh : Look.
Al-Halabi : The scientific research, as the professor wants, answer.

The questioner : He did not read it.

The Shaykh : How did he read it?

The questioner : Pausing at the beginning of the verse is the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : And why did you contradict the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)? Because this is how you received it. This is how you received it, say it is correct.

The questioner : My Shaykh, I did not receive it this way.

The Shaykh : For you, my brother. Now, you have answered why you connected it? You justified it by saying that this verse is connected in meaning, didn't you say that? My brother, if you are one of us and among us, you want to bring out our spirit so that we reach the truth. What about if, God forbid, you were one of those people? The believer is easy and soft, may Allah bless you. You said this, not me. Where did you get this statement that if a verse is connected in meaning to the one after it, it is connected to what follows? Did you bring this from your father's house from your ignorance, or from your knowledge? Did you receive it this way? My brother, when I tell you these questions, you want to direct them to me. Do not direct them to me, because I am not a specialist. But I remind you that I am a reader. I have knowledge, I have insight. My father was one of the Shaykhs of reciters, and from him I received it until the end. But I am not a specialist in the science of Tajwid.

The questioner : Who do I go to? Whom do you trust?

The Shaykh : I say, in the thing where I have knowledge, I will tell you, welcome. The research we discussed in the house of 'Abd al-Rahman, I am knowledgeable about it, and I will debate it, and I will look into it. Let it be the Shaykh of all the reciters, whether in Egypt or in Istanbul, and so on. Because the scientific weapon is with me, not with them. They have only reception (talaqqi). And this reception is like the reception of the madhahib. There is what has its evidence in the Qur'an, there is what has its evidence in the Sunnah, there is what has its evidence in derivation (istinbat). And this derivation, some of it is correct and some of it is weak. And of this analogy (qiyas), some of it is clear and some of it is hidden, and so on. I am knowledgeable about this issue and similar ones. But I do not want to advise people. Recently, we were in a discussion with some of the attendees or others, I do not remember. He said, peace be upon him: I am knowledgeable about Tajwid. No, I do not want this claim. I will tell you, I read from my father (may Allah have mercy on him) and I completed the Qur'an with him from beginning to end on the reading of Hafs. Then I read on my own and learned and knew what is in the readings and in the science of Tajwid. There are things in it, just as there are in the science of Fiqh: something that has a basis in the Book and the Sunnah and the Ummah has it as mass-transmitted (mutawatir), and something that does not. This second type is what you dragged me into, and I did not like to be dragged with you except to finish the first issue. But what do we do? You want to come and end the topic at the same point for which I gave you an appointment. So I remembered that I wanted to show you the difference between knowledge and reception (talaqqi). So when you said, as an excuse or as a plea, that I teach people, what do you teach them? Tajwid. I tell you, do not teach people Tajwid, because you are a follower (muqallid). And this is the example now before you. Let others learn Tajwid, and you learn your religion. And the religion includes Tajwid. Read, research, and do not follow anyone in the religion of Allah if you are able to do otherwise. So now, why this contradiction? Is it not proof that you follow without knowledge? I said earlier, when I reminded you that you connected this verse to the one after it, you said yes, because they are connected in meaning, some of them with each other. Good, did you contradict the Sunnah? I did not contradict the Sunnah. Then when we asked you how the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) used to read? You said he used to read verse by verse. Why did you contradict the Sunnah? We did not get an answer. Say I made a mistake. May Allah be pleased with Abu Hamdi al-Jazairi.

The questioner : This is also one of the doubts (shubhat).

The Shaykh : Here, what does he say? When he comes, he will announce that he made a mistake. What is the doubt? Stay with the first issue and do not open the door for yourself. It is enough for you that you have one issue that you cannot delve into, what about opening a second front for yourself?
Al-Halabi : And it is a good example of what came before it and what came after it.

The Shaykh : Correct.

The questioner : My Shaykh, at the beginning you were kind and said I am not well-versed in the readings. Now, I mean, I connected it.

The Shaykh : Why?

The questioner : I said I am not knowledgeable about the readings, and now if I want to answer the issue of connecting the verse to the one after it, you will say I contradicted the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : I say, or do you?

The questioner : What is it now? I have it.

The Shaykh : Answer the question. May Allah guide you. I say, or do you? I see you are going to jump off the chair.

The questioner : You say I contradicted the Sunnah. I answered you, meaning.
Al-Halabi : We heard a good word. He says I have evidence.

The Shaykh : What is the evidence for?
Al-Halabi : For the statement they are saying.

The Shaykh : Evidence for the connection? No, I want to mention it. It is not just me who said I contradicted the Sunnah. That is why he forgot. Now, he. You are the one who said the Sunnah is to pause at the beginning of the verse, not just me.

The questioner : I say, and I still say, pausing at the beginning of the verse is the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : So why do you come and accuse me of something you think I am accused of, while you are like me?

The questioner : I want to give you the evidence. Why?

The Shaykh : Listen, my brother. May Allah guide you. You have not sat in this way, a session of calm scientific discussion. You have not sat in it with your Shaykh who taught you Tajwid, nor with anyone else. On the contrary, you imagine yourself beforeThe Shaykh : absolutely, as the Sufi school says, the aspirant (murid) is beforeThe Shaykh : like the dead before the washer. Were you not like this?

The questioner : By Allah, my Shaykh, we learned from the Sufis, and now we take from them only the Qur'an, and it does not mean... except taking knowledge only. And when we graduated, I told you frankly.

The Shaykh : The frankness you are telling me, I discovered it from behind the wall and saw it in your style.

The questioner : The researches we are talking about are from my research, not from reception (talaqqi) fromThe Shaykh : I took the reading.

The Shaykh : I am talking about your style. May Allah guide you.

The questioner : You are right. I have not sat in such sessions at this level.

The Shaykh : Subhan Allah. This humility says, be humble with me. I am enlightening you, I am making you see. Be calm in your research, because this session, you have not sat in it in your time. That hour, you tell me, because you are saying that the Sunnah is like this. Why are you saying it? You are saying, if I told you and you are contradicting, by Allah, we will stop there and say, good, what is the Sunnah, Professor? But you have spared me the trouble, and may Allah reward you with good. I tell you, you said the Sunnah is to pause at the beginning of every verse. Why did you come back to me? You are the one who said this. So I taught you a teaching, and you are not a believer?!

The questioner : No, I am a believer.

The Shaykh : Why? He was saying.

The questioner : I want to give a justification.

The Shaykh : Allow me a moment. Subhan Allah. You want to give a justification for contradicting the Sunnah? May Allah guide you. Do you not think about what you are saying? If there were a fanatic Hanafi here, he would declare you a disbeliever. You want to justify contradicting the Sunnah. What do you want to justify?! I tell you, Professor, I am warning you completely. I know what you want to say. You want to justify the reception (talaqqi) you received, not justify contradicting the Sunnah. God forbid. I have the best opinion of every Muslim, especially someone like you. God forbid that you justify contradicting the Sunnah. But you want to justify why you say, yes, I read this verse with the one after it, because the meaning is connected, some of it with each other. I know what you want to say. So what do you want to say? They say the knowledgeable one does not know.

The questioner : Shaykh, I want to direct a question to you. Those who wrote books on pausing and starting (waqf and ibtida).

The Shaykh : I will answer you in advance. Like those who wrote books of Fiqh, what is your opinion?

The questioner : Meaning, following without knowledge (taqlid) or derivation (istinbat) within the scope of Sharia evidence.

The Shaykh : I answered you just now. These are the ones who wrote the books of jurisprudence. This session has value for us. We do not want anyone to leave here unless they sit for a second session where they have truly engaged in giving and taking, not just saying, "Here is a book that says this." No, we can tell him, "You have not only contradicted the Sunnah, but you have contradicted an imam of the imams of the Muslims, one of the famous reciters. Tell me his name if you know it. Al-Dani, Abu 'Amr al-Dani. Do you know him? What do you think of him?"

The questioner : He is the one from whom the science of recitation was transmitted.

The Shaykh : You mean an imam?

The questioner : A great imam.

The Shaykh : So you have contradicted this great imam. What do you think of that in terms of transmission? Now, let us close this page and open a new one. We have closed the page that the Sunnah is like this, but at the same time, you have contradicted this imam, al-Dani, because he says that stopping at the beginning of every verse, even if it is connected to what follows it, is the Sunnah.

The questioner : I agree with this, Shaykh, and I know that. I know that stopping at the beginning of the verse, even if it is connected to what follows it, is the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : Your hand will come out, Shaykh.

The questioner : Shaykh, I know. I do not contradict you that stopping at the beginning of the verse is the Sunnah.

The Shaykh : But?

The questioner : But the science of recitation, when its rules were established.

The Shaykh : Do not be an exception. Do not be a dot and enter the sea. You cannot swim in the sea as a dot. May Allah guide you.

The questioner : Until you reach the dot you want.

The Shaykh : My brother, to reach the dot, you must be a swimmer in the seas.

The questioner : We are learning an opportunity with you to learn.

The Shaykh : The one who learns means he immerses himself in the sea.

The questioner : Let us stay on the shore.

The Shaykh : This is what I am telling you: stay in the dot. May Allah guide you. What do you have in this case? I will ask you again: why did you connect the verse to what follows it?

The questioner : I am, by nature, in my recitation, whether this verse or its like, there are issues regarding the connection of meanings.

The Shaykh : No, no, no. Turn to Allah. Turn to Allah.

The questioner : The scholars' issues, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Turn to Allah.

The questioner : There is no god but Allah.

The Shaykh : You are talking about scholars now, or the words that created the scholars?

The questioner : The words that created the scholars.

The Shaykh : You are saying there are issues in them. Think about what you are saying.

The questioner : Shaykh, it means go back to how the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited it and stopped at it. These scholars who wrote the books are, by tradition, scholars of grammar.

The Shaykh : The answer has already been given. Do you know who is angry? My neighbor here has no support.
Al-'Uwayshah : This difficulty, I mean, the difficulty of applying the stopping point, as if there is a difficulty in not having it.
Al-Halabi : ... our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : We do not want to broaden the topic. No, we want to cooperate with the professor so that he knows the path he wants to walk.

The questioner : I am grateful to learn the method of research.

The Shaykh : But may Allah bless you, be careful with your words. Your words are very dangerous. You are talking about Qur'anic verses that have issues. Yes, you are not speaking from your heart, you are speaking from your tongue only. The Muslim guards his tongue. The Messenger said and the poet took from this beautiful words: "Guard your tongue, O human being, for it will bite you, for it is a viper." The most dangerous word that comes out of a person is one that touches the Lord of the Worlds or touches one of His attributes. The Qur'an is from His speech. May Allah forgive what has passed. It was a slip of the tongue, right?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Let us go back and tell you what you mean. We raised the word "issue." Bring a substitute for it. We said, what do you mean?

The questioner : I mean that the scholars, you said it is the Sunnah, and I agree with you that stopping at the beginning of the verse is the Sunnah. If, as the question that arises, the scholars who recorded the Sunnah and the scholars who recorded the recitations and the sciences of the Qur'an, and those who differed regarding the Qur'an in terms of verses and counting verses, this is a verse according to a group of scholars.

The Shaykh : Stay in the shallow water, in the ripples. Do not go deep.

The questioner : In the shallow water. Now, these scholars who made the issues, and it is not the issue, I want to rephrase it, and it is not the issue in the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but the issue that they made in the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the one the scholars made.