Title: Is Tajweed bid'ah ? Question: In Saudi Arabia Tajweed is looked down upon and is termed bid'ah . Can you shed some light on Tajweed from the Islamic perspective? Aren't we told to recite the Qur'an in a beautiful way? How can they justify their position? Ronnie Answer: Reading the Qur'an in a particular manner may be considered as correct or incorrect and a person may have his personal tastes for a particular kind of recitation. However, it would not be correct to term a particular kind of recitation as a bid`ah . A particular style of recitation can be termed as bid`ah only if the style is given an unauthorized religious status. A phenomenon does not become a bid`ah merely on the grounds that the Prophet (pbuh) did not perform it during his life. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad March 13, 2002