First of all, I really, really enjoyed the documentary we watched in class on Tuesday. I found it to be a very insightful look into the importance of Qur'anic recitation (as we have learned through our readings in Sells' Approaching the Qur'an).
What interests me most about Qur'anic recitation is the practice of tajwid - I find the codification of how one must pronounce various syllables (and so on) very interesting. And, as we have witnessed through the documentary on Tuesday, it makes for an enchanting and hauntingly beautiful style of recitation. I am rather curious about the improvisation apparent in individual recitations of the Qur'an. As I believe I heard while watching the documentary, each and every person improvises the melody they use (while, of course, following tajwid). To me, this seems as if it would make each person's recitation deeply personal - the melody "comes" to the person as they recite, almost making eaching person "one" with the text. Thus, wouldn't recitation be the ultimate way of understanding and incorporating the Qur'an into one's religious life? As Sells discusses in his text, the harmony and musical quality of the recitation almost gives "emotional coloring" to the meaning of the texts and the act recitation itself.
Anne Reynolds
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