Melodies of the Qura’an: An Introduction to the Science of Maqamaat

The Maqamaat Series is brought to you by activist, educator and Director of the Maryland Youth chapter of the Muslim American Society, Sami Zaharna. 

Have you ever watched a movie directed by Steven Spielberg? If you have, you remember the eerie feeling of suspense knowing that something scary was about to happen, like a shark attack in the classic movie “Jaws”. How do we always know that something is about to happen soon?

Steven Spielberg and other movie directors are masters at manipulating viewer emotions and dictating how the viewer should feel at any given moment. One important tool used to accomplish this goal is the movie’s soundtrack. Whether it was the suspense of the “Jaws” theme, or the innocent tunes of The Shire music played in “Lord of The Rings”, we always knew what to feel when watching, even if we didn’t understand what was going on (anyone seen “Inception”?)

Interestingly enough, tunes also play a very important role in our experience of listening to the Holy Qura’an. Even if you don’t understand Arabic, chances are that you have been moved, even if only once, by a beautiful recitation of the Qura’an. It turns out that there is an entire science devoted to understanding the different musical tunes used to recite the Qura’an called Maqamaat (trans: melodies, not to be confused with the science of tajweed or qiraa’at). This science  is based on the hadith (Prophetic tradition) “Whoever does not sing with the Qura’an (i.e. recite it in a beautiful way) is not from us.”

Different melodies of reciting the qura’an can help the listener better understand and appreciate the meaning of the Qura’an. As the late 11th Century scholar Imam Al-Ghazali said, the beautification of the recitation (tarteel in Arabic) of The Qura’an is the gate for the heart to understand the beauty of the meanings. For instance, do you feel any different when listening to the two recitations below?

As a final disclaimer, this science should be learned only after one has learned the basic rules of recitation (called tajweed). It also should not be the end-all of ones Qura’an experience – since our Qura’an is first and foremost for our guidance. This is just a tool to help us reach there! May Allah (swt) give us tawfeeq.

[Image Above: Attributed to Ikhlasul Amal]