Why stopping matters
Waqf means stopping, ibtidāʾ means starting again. A stop in the wrong place can cut a sentence so that it seems to say the opposite. Example: stopping after لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ ("do not approach prayer") without the rest of the verse (4:43) distorts the meaning.
How to stop on a word
- The last vowel becomes a sukun: الرَّحِيمِ → الرَّحِيمْ.
- Tanwin with fatha becomes a long alif: عَلِيمًا → عَلِيمَا.
- Ta marbuta (ة) becomes a ha with sukun: الْحُطَمَةِ → الْحُطَمَهْ.
- A shaddah stays: ثُمَّ → ثُمّْ.
- Then the rules of stopping apply: qalqalah kubra, madd 'arid, madd lin.
Signs in the mushaf
- مـ – lāzim: stopping is strongly recommended, because continuing could change the meaning.
- لا – do not stop here (and if you have to, go back and continue).
- ج – jāʾiz: stopping and continuing are equally fine.
- صلى – continuing is better.
- قلى – stopping is better.
- ∴ ∴ (three dots twice) – muʿānaqah: stop at one of the two places, not at both.
- (verse end) – stopping at the end of a verse is good practice.
Saktah
In Ḥafṣ there are four places marked with a small س: a short pause without taking a breath, e.g. عِوَجًا ۜ قَيِّمًا (18:1–2) and مَنْ ۜ رَاقٍ (75:27).
Starting again
- Start from a word where the meaning is complete; if you stopped in the middle of a sentence, go back a few words.
- If the word starts with a connecting hamza (ٱ): with ال read "a"; in verbs read "u" if the third letter has damma (ٱدْعُ → اُدْعُ), otherwise "i" (ٱهْدِنَا → اِهْدِنَا).
Typical mistakes
- Stopping just because you ran out of breath in the middle of a phrase – and then continuing from the next word.
- Ignoring the لا and مـ signs.
- Keeping the vowel when stopping ("ar-raḥīmi" with a pause).
Practice tip
Choose one page and plan your breaths before reciting: mark each place you will stop. Check that each stop follows the signs and that each new start makes sense.