The Prophet's Reading

Note: This article tries to reconstruct the prophet's reading in accordance with early Arab grammarians' description of the dialect of Quraysh. The main unique feature of the prophet's reading is the lack of Hamzah (glottal stop) and the lack of most of Tajweed's rules. Some academics have proposed another reconstruction that not only lacks the Hamzah but also lacks final short vowels and Tanwin. I have discussed this academic  reconstruction in a different post.

The Prophet’s Reading

Modern recitation of the Quran has two downsides:

1- None of the ten canonical readings represents the the features of the dialect of the tribe of Quraysh which the prophet belonged to. 

2- The lack of evidence for Tajweed.

The features of the prophet's reading:

1- The hamzah (glottal stop) is only pronounced when it's at the beginning of speech. 
2- The 'h' pronoun هاء الغائب  is always pronounced as "hu" or "hū", as in: bihū بهُ, ʕalayhu عليهُ and ʕalayhum عليهُم. Whereas the standard recitation pronounces the 'h' pronoun as "hi" or "hī" if the 'h' is preceded by the vowel ‘i’, ‘ī’ or ‘y’: bihī, ʕalayhi, ʕalayhim.
3- The plural masculine pronoun 'm' is pronounced as mū. As in:
ʕalayhumū عليهُمُ
 4- Most of Tajweed’s rules are absent except for Iqlāb and Idghām but without stressing غنة .
4- The ض is pronounced as ظ .
5- The 'r' is trilled. 

The Hamzah Problem
Muslims today accept ten reading traditions as the only legitimate vocalization of the consonantal text of the Quran. There used to be too many different reading traditions in the early centuries of Islam.  Ibn Mujāhid (died 324 AH) documented the details of seven of the most popular readings. His choice of the seven readings cemented the status of these readings and eventually they became the only canonical readings of the Quran. Four centuries later, Ibn Al-Jazarī added three more readings. That's how today we have the ten canonical readings.

The most popular reading today is the reading of ʕāṣim in the transmission of Ḥafṣ. The reading of nāfiʕ in the transmission of Warsh is popular in north western African countries such as Morocco.

The problem here is that none of these ten canonical readings represents the dialect of Quraysh which the prophet spoke. 

The main feature of the Qurayshi dialect is the lack of Hamzah (glottal stop). The hamzah in the Qurayshi dialect is never pronounced unless it's at the beginning of speech. None of the ten readings treats the hamzah this way. For example, in the reading of Hafs, the Hamzah is always pronounced except in very few cases such as the words "huzuwā" هزوا  and "kufuwā" كفوا where the hamzahs is replaced with "w" in accordance with the dialect of Quraysh. On the other hand, the reading of Warsh has far more cases where the Hamzah is dropped. Yet Warsh's reading is still far from representing the dialect of Quraysh. 

The evidence for the lack of Hamzah in the Quran:

1- Early Arab grammarians unanimously agree that the dialect of Quraish lacks the hamzah.

Mukhtār Al-Ghawth says in his book "The dialect of Quraish": ((Since that the hamzah is hard to pronounce, some early Arabic dialects leaned towards dropping the hamzah. This was most notable in the dialect of Quraysh as all early sources agree that Quraysh lacked the hamzah.)) p.39

2- The consonantal text of the Quran proves that the Hamzah isn't pronounced. Early Quran scholars confirm this. 


The sign for the hamzah in Arabic is ء
But the hamzah in Arabic writing is rarely represented with the hamzah sign  ء alone. In most cases, the hamzah is written by adding the hamzah sign to one of the three vowel letters like this:  أ ؤ ئ 
The letter for a long 'a' vowel (ā) is Alef ا . As in: kitāb (book). كتاب
The letter for a long 'u' vowel or the 'w' sound is: و . As in: ruuH (soul) روح
The letter for a long 'i' vowel or the 'y' sound is: ي , يـ . As in: fii (in) في 

All these different forms: ء , ؤ , ؤ, أ are pronounced the same: a glottal stop.

So why does the hamzah take all these different shapes? Why doesn't Arabic orthography represent the hamzah simply as ء or أ in all cases?

Because Arabic orthography was standardized based on the script of the Quran. And the script of the Quran represents a dialect that lacks the hamzah. In many cases, the dropping of hamzahs leads to the creation of  long vowels or the two sounds w and y. 

To fully understand this, Let's go back to the time of prophet Muhammad. At that time, the hamzah ء sign wasn't created yet. Arabic at the time used the Alef ا  sign to represent both the hamzah and the long 'a' vowel.

For example, the word for "believer" is مؤمن mu'min. Before the first half of the first century of Islam, this word used to be written as مامن  by Arabs who had the hamzah in their dialects. The Alef was the sign for the hamzah. But for Arabs who didn't have the hamzah like Quraish, they wrote the word like this: muumin مومن . The dropping of the hamzah in this word creates a long u vowel. That's why in the Quran the word is written as مومن  instead of مامن.

Nearly 25 years after the death of the prophet, the third caliph Uthman decided to create a standard copy of the Quran to put an end to disputes over the different readings of the Quran. He assigned the job to a team of scribes most of whom belonged to the Quraishi tribe except for one who was from Medina where the spoken dialect is almost identical to the dialect of Quraish. This standard copy that Uthman assembled is called the Uthmanic Quran. All Qurans in the world today follow the exact script of the Uthmanic Quran except for signs that were later invented like the dots, the hamzah and the diacritics (harakat).

In the original Uthmanic script that lacks the modern signs, the hamzah is only written when it's located at the beginning of a word. That's because in the dialect of Quraish, the Hamzah is only pronounced when it's at the beginning of speech.

Example:اغفر "ighfir" . Note that the hamzah is written as Alef because the Alef was the letter for hamzah or a long 'a' vowel.

But for a word like mu'men مؤمن , it's written in the Uthmanic script as: مومن

The hamzah is replaced with the long 'u' vowel و because the scribes pronounced the word without hamzah and the dropping of this hamzah creates a long u vowel making the word pronounced as: muumen.
See this table:

After Uthman created the standard copy of the Quran, he sent copies to all different regions of the caliphate. Arabs in these regions started basing their Arabic orthography on these Qurans. So an Arab who had the hamzah in his dialect started writing the word mu'min as مومن  instead of مامن although he kept pronouncing the hamzah in it. One century later when the sign of hamzah ء  was created, those Arabs who had the hamzah in their dialects added the hamzah sign over the long vowels, turning words like مومن to مؤمن. 

يستهزي to يستهزئ
راس to رأس

That's why Arabic today writes the hamzah in four different shapes: ء, أ, ؤ, ئ

Here are quotes attesting to the previously mentioned facts:

Ibn Jinni (d.1002 AD), a classical grammarian, says:

((The first letter of the alphabet, Alef ا, is the form of hamzah. But the hamzah also gets written as و or as ى in accordance with the dialect of the people of Hijaz (a region that includes Mecca and Medina) who drop the hazmah. If the hamzah is intended to be always pronounced then it should always be written as Alef ا .))

Sir Sinaa'at al-i'raab, Ibn Jinni, p.55 Alshamelah software  
((اعلم أن الألف التي في أول حروف المعجم هي صورة الهمزة، وإنما كتبت الهمزة واوا مرة وياء أخرى على مذهب أهل الحجاز في التخفيف، ولو أريد تحقيقها البتة(يعني ان تنطق الهمزة دائما) ، لوجب أن تكتب ألفا على كل حال...وعلى هذا وجدت في بعض المصاحف: "يَسْتَهْزِأُون" بالألف قبل الواو.)) 
سر صناعة الإعراب لابن جني باب أسماء الحروف ص 55 المكتبة الشاملة 


Al-Dani (d.1053 AD) was a major Quran scholar whose works are cited in modern Qurans as a source for the way the Uthmanic script is written, he says: 

((Most of the (Uthmanic) script is written without the hamzah in accordance with the dialect of Quraish which was the dialect of those who scribed the Quran at the time of Uthman)).

Al-MuHkam by Al-Dani, p.151 Al-Shamelah software

يقول الداني: ((اكثر الرَّسْم ورد على التَّخْفِيف وَالسَّبَب فِي ذَلِك كَونه لُغَة الَّذين ولوا نسخ الْمَصَاحِف زمن عُثْمَان رَحمَه الله وهم قُرَيْش وعَلى لغتهم اقرت الْكِتَابَة حِين وَقع الْخلاف بَينهم وَبَين الانصار فِيهَا على مَا ورد فِي الْخَبَر الثَّابِت الْمَذْكُور فَلذَلِك ورد تَصْوِير اكثر الْهَمْز على التسهيل اذ هُوَ المستقر فِي طباعهم والجاري على السنتهم)). (المحكم في نقط المصاحف للداني ص151 المكتبة الشاملة)

The prominent Iraqi Quran scholar and linguist Ghanim Qadduuri says: 

((After the Uthmanic Quran copies were sent to the different regions of the caliphate, they became the reference not only in recitation but also in orthography.

(Note: The "newly formed societies" in the next line means the  cities in Iraq that were formed after the Muslim conquest of Iraq, especially the cities of Kufah and Basrah which were the capitols of Arab grammarians who shaped standard Arabic).
The Arabic language in the newly formed societies went through a phase of linguistic mixing between the dialects of the people of the Arabian peninsula (who migrated to these newly formed cities). The Arabic language there started adopting the hamzah. This was boosted by: 1- The adoption of hamzah by the scholarly movement of Iraq because the scholars tended to study the Arabic of the tribes of central and eastern Arabia (whose dialects pronounce the hamzah). 

2- Iraq is open and connected to central Arabia. 3- Many central Arabian tribes migrated to Iraq.

People started writing the hamzah as one of the three letters ا ي و  following the steps of the Uthmanic script. It became forgotten that the Alef is the supposed shape of hamzah. And it became forgotten that the Uthmanic Qurans were written in the dialect of the people of Hijaz who drop the hamzah. People were careful to follow the Uthmanic script which was agreed upon by the prophet's companions. This made people stick to the shapes of words as written in the Uthmanic script. The hamzah in the Uthmanic script was written as the vowels  و ي ا . So when people copied this orthography, they added dots over these letters to indicate the hamzahs. Then the dot became the ء sign after Al-Khaliil invented it.))

Rasm Al-Mis-haf, Ghanim Qadduuri, p.575-577

Note: The hamzah in the Uthmanic script only exists at the beginning of words (as an alef). That's because if you start reciting with the word then the hamzah is pronounced because it's at the beginning of speech. The beginning of every word in the Uthmanic script is written the same way it's pronounced if you start reading with this specific word. If the word that starts with hamzah isn't the first word you start reciting with then the hamzah is dropped. We see this in some hamzahs in the readings of Warsh and Hamzah حمزة. 

For example: In the reading of warsh, "qad 'aflaH" قد أفلح becomes "qadaflaH" قدَ فْلح 
So although the Uthmanic script has the hamzah sign (Alef) as the first letter of أفلح , the hamzah isn't pronounced because you started the recitation with the word قد  which makes the hamzah of أفلح not at the beginning of speech. 

Another clear sign that the Uthmanic script represents a dialect with no hamzah:

We saw that dropping the hamzah in many cases results in the creation of long u, i, a vowels, w or y. But in one case, dropping the  hamzah doesn't create anything in its place. This happens when the hamzah is preceded by a non-vowelled letter. 

Example: The Arabic word "he asks" is yas'al يسْأَل . The 's' here is non-vowelled (No vowel comes after it). When you drop the hamzah, the word becomes: yasal يسَل . Nothing came in place of the dropped hamzah. This is exactly what we see in the Uthmanic script with all hamzahs preceded by non-vowelled letters. For example:

The third evidence for the lack of Hamzah in the Quran:


3- Dropping the hamzah makes some verses rhyme better.

1- Surah 55 Ar-Rahmaan.

The rhyme in this Surah is "aan" as you can see in the final words of its verses: Ar-Rahmaan, Al-Qur'aan, al-Insaan, al-Bayaan... etc.

الرحمان، القرآن، الإنسان، البيان

Now look at verses  28 - 30:

فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (28) يَسْأَلُهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ (29) فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (30)

These verses end with the words: tukathibaan. sha'n. tukathibaan.
Dropping the hamzah of sha'n شأن turns the word to: shaan شان. Which makes it rhyme exactly like the rest of verses. 

The reading tradition of Abu Ja'far reads the word sha'n without hamzah. Which is a remnant of the original reading of the Quran. Listen to this recitation of the verses in Abu Ja'far's reading and notice how the rhyme is perfect:

2- Surah 19 Maryam
The rhyme in this surah is a short vowel+yyaa: zakariyyaa, khafiyyaa, shaqiyyaa...etc.
زكريَّا، خفيَّا، شقيَّا
Verses 9, 42, 60 and 67 end with the word: shay'aa شيئا.
By dropping the hamzah, the word becomes: shayyaa شيَّا .

The reading tradition of حamzah reads the word shay'aa without the hamzah. Listen to this recitation of verse 9 in حamzah's reading:

3- Verse 47 of the same Surah ends with the word ri'yaa رئيا . Without the hamzah the word becomes: riyyaa.

Listen to the verse in حamzah's reading which drops the wrod's hamzah:

4- Surah 96 Al-Alaq
Verses from 15 to 18:
كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ (15) نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ (16) فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُ (17) سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ (18)

These verses end with the words: bil-naaSiyah, khaaTi'ah, naadiyah, zabaaniyah.

When the hamzah in the word khaaTi'ah is dropped, it becomes: KhaaTiyah خاطية . Listen to the verses in the reading of Abu Ja'far which drops the hamzah of KhaaTi'ah: 

5- Surah 69 Al-Haaqqah verses 8-10.

فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُمْ مِنْ بَاقِيَةٍ (8) وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ (9) فَعَصَوْا رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَابِيَةً (10)

The verses end with the words: baaqiyah, khaaTi'ah and raabiyah. 

By dropping the hamzah of khaaTi'ah, it becomes: khaaTiyah خاطية.

Listen to the verses in the reading of Abu Ja'far:

 

The previous examples are taken from Van Putten's "Hamzah in Quranic consonantal text", p. 101. Before Putten, Ghanim Qadduri was the first to list some of these examples as evidence for the lack of Hamzah.

The fourth evidence for the lack of hamzah in the Quran:
 4- Narrations proving that the hamzahs in reading traditions were an innovation and not based on Isnad (a chain of narrators going back to the prophet).

Ibn Mujahid who established the seven canonical readings, reports  the following two narrations:

((Al-Asma'i asked Naafi' about (the two words in the Quran) Al-Thiib الذيب and Al-Biir البير. Naafi' said if there are Arabs who pronounce the two words with hamzah then you can add the hamzah.))

source: Al-Sab'a fil-qiraa'aat, Ibn Mujahid, p346 Al-Shamelah software

(وَأخْبرنَا أَبُو سعيد عبد الرَّحْمَن بن مُحَمَّد الحارثى البصرى عَن الأصمعى قَالَ سَأَلت نَافِعًا (ونافع هو صاحب إحدى القراءات العشر، وعلى إحدى قراءاته يقرأ أهل المغرب اليوم برواية ورش عن نافع) ، قال سألت نافعا عَن الذِّئْب والبئر فَقَالَ إِن كَانَت الْعَرَب تهمزهما فاهمزهما)) (السبعة في القراءات ص346 المكتبة الشاملة).

Naafi' is the master of one of the ten canonical readings. He was asked if it's possible to add the hamzah to two words in the Quran. Naafi' didn't say you can do it only if you have a chain of narrators going back to the prophet. He said if there are Arabs who speak these two words with hamzahs then you can recite the two words with hamzahs. This narration also proves that the original pronunciation of the two words in the Quran is without the hamzah الذيب،  البير. But many readings, including Hafs, the most popular one today, do add the hamzah to the two words: الذئب، البئر.

Ibn Mujahid also reports that Qaluun, who is one of the two canonical narrators of the reading of Naafi', said: ((The people of Medina never used the hamzah until Ibn Jundub used it in the words mustahzuun مستهزون and istahzi استهزي.))

Al-Sab'ah fil-Qiraa'aat, Ibn Mujaid, p.60 Al-Shamelah software

عيسى بن مينا قالون قال: (( كَانَ أهل الْمَدِينَة لَا يهمزون حَتَّى همز ابْن جُنْدُب فهمزوا مستهزون واستهزي)). (السبعة في القراءات ص60)

And finally, Khalaf, who is the master of one of the ten canonical readings, says: ((Quraish doesn't use the hamzah. It's not in their language. The reading masters took the hamzah from non-Quraishi languages.))
Rasm Al-Mis-haf, Ghanim Qadduuri, p357
ويقول خلف: ((وقريش لا تهمز، ليس الهمز من لغتها، وإنما همزت القراء بلغة غير قريش من العرب)). (رسم  المصحف لغانم قدوري ص357)


Also the case of the word معايش in the reading of Naafi' is another sign that hamzahs are an innovation. 

The word maعaayish معايش in verse 15:20 sounds similar to words with hamzahs like fawaa'id فوائد , masaa'ib مصائب , makaa'id مكائد ...etc. The reading master Naafi' thought this word belongs to this class of words so he turned the 'y' in maعaayish to a hamzah: maعaa'ish معائش . But this turned out to be a grammatical error. Ibn Mujahid himself described this reading as an error. 

Al-Sab'ah fil-qiraa'aat p.278

Also the early Arab grammarian Al-Nahhaas (d. 949 AD) described it as an error. 
Tafsir Al-Qurtubi verse 15:20 


The myth of perfect oral mass-transmission of the Quran

Traditional Quran scholars would flatly refuse my preposition of the prophet's reading, saying that this reading doesn't have an Isnad (a chain of narrators going back to the prophet). They would also say that everything in the Qiraa'aat (The ten reading traditions) including the hamzahs and Tajweed were orally mass-transmitted to us. And this sort of transmission is so perfect that it can't be questioned by whatever evidence I present for the lack of hamzah and Tajweed in the Quran.

But the problem here is: If this supposed oral mass-transmission has preserved such fine details like the Tajweed, then how come we have lost the true pronunciation of the ض  letter?.

The loss of the original ض sound is unanimously agreed upon by Arab linguists.

The linguist and Quran scholar Ghanim Qadduri says: ((While linguists unanimously agree that a change has happened to the pronunciation of ض . And while they strongly suggest that a similar change has also happened in the pronunciation of ط. The change in the sound of ق  is still debated because the evidence is conflicting.))

Al-Madkhal, Ghanim Qadduri, p.282

 يقول غانم قدوري: ((فإذا كنا نجد اجتماع كلمة الدارسين على أن تطورا حصل في نطق الضاد القديمة، وترجيحهم حصول مثل ذلك التطور في نطق الطاء، فإن الأمر في القاف يظل معلقا لتعارض الأدلة وعدم ظهور ما يرجح أحد الاحتمالات على نحو قوي.)) المدخل ص282

ِAnother linguist, Husam Al-Ni'aimi, says: ((What we conclude is that the sound that undoubtedly changed in standard Arabic is the ض . All the rest of debated sounds are open to research although it's more likely that they haven't changed.))

Aswat Al-Arabiya p.38

حسام النعيمي: ((والذي نخلص إليه أن الذي دخله التغيير في أصوات العربية في الفصيح على سبيل القطع هو صوت الضاد القديم. وأما ما سوى ذلك ففيه متسع للبحث، والراجح أنه من غير المتحول، وإن كانت أدلة التحول في بعضه قوية، إلا أن الأدلة  المعارضة أقوى.)) أصوات العربية بين التحول والثبات ص38

It's only the change in the pronunciation of ض  that can explain why this letter isn't included in the Qalqalah letters while the ط  is a considered a Qalqalah letter. The modern pronunciation of ض is the voiced mirror of ط . They should both be Qalqalah letters. But the ض  sound changed while reciters kept sticking to the same qalqalah letters they see listed in early Tajweed books written when the ض used to to have a different sound. That's why Quran reciters today do the exaggerated Qalqalah with the letters ق ط ب ج د but not with ض .

Also: We don't see in Tajweed books any talk of Idgham (assimilation) between  ض  and ط . But if you try to read the word اضْطُرَّ with the modern sound of  ض  you would assimilate it with the ط as: iTTurra. Which means the ض  used to be pronounced differently. 


 Another evidence against the oral mass-transmission:

Imam Aasim عاصم was a master of one of the ten canonical readings. He had two narrators: Shu'ba and Hafs. The two narrations have many differences between them. Today the the reading of Aasim  according to the narration of Hafs is the most popular reading in the Muslim world.

Traditional Quran scholars claim that this reading was orally mass-transmitted to us. But what if I told you that a major classical scholar like Al-Tabari didn't even hear of the reading of Hafs?. 

Al-Tabari who lived in the third century of Islam wrote the earliest comprehensive interpretation of the Quran, wrote the first comprehensive Islamic history book and also wrote a book on the reading traditions. His book on reading traditions is lost. But from reading his interpretation of the Quran you can clearly notice that he had no knowledge of the reading of Hafs. That's because whenever Al-Tabari interprets a verse that has different readings, he lists the different readings and gives his opinion on them. 

The reading of Hafs includes specific variations that are unique to Hafs. You don't find these variations in any other reading. When Al-Tabari interprets verses that have these unique variations of Hafs he never mentions those variations.

Example: 
Verse 70:16 according to the reading of Hafs is: نَزَّاعَةً لِلشَّوَى

All the rest of readings have the word "nazzaaعatan" نزاعةً  as "nazzaaعatun". The reading of Hafs has the word نزاعةً  in the accusitave case. While the rest of readings have it in the nominative case. 

Al-Tabari says in his interpretation of this verse:

((It's correct in Arabic to read نزاعة  in the accusative but it's not permissible to read it as such because all reading masters read it in the nominative. No reading master read it in the accusative.))

Tafsir Al-Tabari verse 70:16 Al-Shamelah software

ولا يجوز النصب في القراءة لإجماع قرّاء الأمصار على رفعها، ولا قارئ قرأ كذلك بالنصب؛ وإن كان للنصب في العربية وجه

The "hu" feature 

We have seen how the dialect of Quraish lacked the hamzah. There's another feature of this dialect that I adopt in the reading of the prophet which is to always pronounce the "H" pronoun as "hu" or "huu".
For example, the word عليهم is pronounced as "alayhim" in most of the ten readings and also in modern standard Arabic. But in the dialect of Quraish it's pronounced as "alayhum".
The rule in modern standard Arabic is that this pronoun is pronounced as "hu" or "huu" except for the case when the h is preceded by a short 'i' vowel, a long 'i' vowel or a y. In this case the pronoun is pronounced as "hi" or "hii". In the dialect of Quraish it's always pronounced as "hu" or "huu" with no exceptions.

This Quraishi feature has remnants in the ten canonical readings including two cases in the reading of Hafs:

1- 18:63

وَمَا أَنْسَانِيهُ 

"ansaaniihu" instead of "ansaaniihi". 

2- 48:10

عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ
"alayhullaah" instead of "alayhillaah".
 

The early Arab grammarian Sibawayh says: ((The people of Hijaz say: "marartu bihu", "ladayhu maal" and "fakhasafna bihu wabidaarihul arD" (A Quran verse) )).
Al-Kitab p.195 Al-Shamelah software ويقول سيبويه في "الكتاب" ص195: ((أهل الحجاز يقولون: مررت بهو قبل، ولديهو مالٌ، ويقولون: " فخسفنا بهو وبدارهو الأرض")).

The problem of Tajweed 

Nearly all Islamic institutions that teach the Quran today fully adopt the rules of Tajweed as an essential part of the reciation of Quran. It's because of Tajweed that you hear Quran reciters over-stress some of the N's, such as saying: "Minnnn qabel"  منننن قبل instead of the natural: "Min qabl" من قبل. It's also why they add a short "e" vowel after some non-vowelled consonants, such as pronouncing قبل as "qabel" instead of the natural "qabl".

Most of Tajweed rules, including the previously mentioned two, are later inventions and were never used by the prophet or his companions.

The evidence:

1- The prophet's recitation contradicts Tajweed rules. 

To understand the meaning of over-prolongation of vowels (Madd), listen to the first word of this Surah and notice how the word wassamaa'i becomes: wassamaaaaaaaaa'i:

In Tajweed, there are many cases where a long vowel should be over-prolonged. The two most common cases are: 
A- When there's a Hamza (glottal stop) after the long vowel. As in: السماء As-Samaa'. It's recited as: السماااااء As-Samaaaaaaaaa'.
B-When the letter after the long vowel is stressed or non-vowelled. As in: الضالين  AD-Daalleen. The L is stressed so the word is recited as: الضااااالين AD-Daaaaaaalleen. 

In Tajweed, the case where the long vowel shouldn't be over-prolonged is called the natural lengthening المد الطبيعي.  An example of this is the Basmalah: 
Bismi llaah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem

In the Basmalah there are three long vowels (colored in red). According to Tajweed, only the long vowel in Raheem can be over-prolonged because it's at the end of the sentence (or the end of your breath). 
If you over-prolong the long vowels of llaah and Rahmaan then according to Tajweed you have made a mistake. 
Here's a recording of me reciting the Basmala over-prolonging all the long vowels:

If a Quran teacher heard me reciting the Basmalah like this, he would flatly tell me it's wrong. But what if I told you that the prophet himself used to recite the Basmalah like this?

It's narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari that Anas, a companion of the prophet, was asked, "How was the recitation (of the Qur'an) of the Prophet?' He replied, "It was characterized by the prolongation of certain sounds." He then recited: In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful prolonging the pronunciation of 'In the Name of Allah, 'the most Beneficent,' and 'the Most Merciful.

حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَاصِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا هَمَّامٌ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، قَالَ سُئِلَ أَنَسٌ كَيْفَ كَانَتْ قِرَاءَةُ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم‏.‏ فَقَالَ كَانَتْ مَدًّا‏.‏ ثُمَّ قَرَأَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، يَمُدُّ بِبِسْمِ اللَّهِ، وَيَمُدُّ بِالرَّحْمَنِ، وَيَمُدُّ بِالرَّحِيمِ‏.‏

https://sunnah.com/bukhari/66/70

The prominent Islamic Saudi scholar Ibn Uthaimin used this narration as an evidence that Tajweed isn't mandatory because the prophet's recitation goes against the established rules of Tajweed. (Full quote in the next section.)

2- Saudi traditional scholars don't use Tajweed
Quran scholars say that the Quran was transmitted to us mainly through oral transmission. They call this "Tawaatur". Meaning that hundreds of companions learned the Quran from the prophet by heart, then those hundreds taught the Quran to thousands. Every generation kept orally transmitting the Quran to the next generation until our present day. The question here is: If Tajweed was an essential part of recitation, how come we don't find this Tajweed adopted by traditional Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia, which is the homeland of Islam where you would expect the Tawaatur of the Quran to be the strongest in the world?. 

The two most revered modern Saudi scholars are Ibn Baz and Ibn Uthaimin. Ibn Baz was the grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia until he died in 1999. On Youtube you can listen to Quran recitation by these two scholars, and you can notice they skip most of Tajweed rules. They also usually pronounce ض as ظ  which Quran scholars today claim to be a grave mistake with some even claiming this pronunciation might spoil your prayer and make it unacceptable!

Here's Ibn Baz's recitation:

And here's Ibn Uthaimin's recitation as an Imam in the grand mosque of Mecca:

On youtube you can find similar recitations from other big traditional Saudi scholars including: The current grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, Saleh Al-Fozan and Saleh Al-lihedan. 
Traditional Saudi scholars also say that Tajweed isn't Wajib (a religious duty). Ibn Uthaimin says:
((I don't think it's mandatory to adhere to Tajweed rules that are detailed in Tajweed books. But I do think that Tajweed improves recitation. And improvement isn't the same as a duty. It's narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari that Anas Bin Malik was asked how the prophet's recitation was. He replied, "It was characterized by the prolongation of certain sounds." He then recited: In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful prolonging the pronunciation of 'In the Name of Allah, 'the most Beneficent,' and 'the Most Merciful.
The prolonging (of the vowel) here (in Basmalah) should be normal (according to Tajweed rules). But the narration states that it's prolonged beyond normal. )) Source: Kitab Al-Ilm, question no.70

((لا أرى وجوب الالتزام بأحكام التجويد التي فصلت بكتب التجويد، وإنما أرى أنها من باب تحسين القراءة، وباب التحسين غير الإلزام، وقد ثبت في صحيح البخاري عن أنس بن مالك ـ رضي الله عنهما ـ أنه سئل كيف كانت قراءة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ؟ فقال: كانت مدًّا، ثم قرأ"بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم"يمدّ ببسم الله، ويمد بالرحمن ، ويمد بالرحيم. والمد هنا طبيعي لا يحتاج إلى تعمده والنص عليه هنا يدل على أنه فوق الطبيعي .))

Ibn Baz too has a similar opinion. He was asked: What's the ruling on reading the Quran without Tajweed?. He answered: 

(( No problem in that. If he reads it in (correct) Arabic then no problem to read without Tajweed if he pronounces the letters clearly even if he doesn't know how to do Idgham, Tarqiq or Izhar (Tajweed rules) or such. Because these things are just preferable. I mean Tajweed is preferable and it improves the recitation. But it's not a duty. ))

source:

http://www.binbaz.org.sa/mat/19543

وسئل الشيخ ابن باز رحمه الله :

((ما حكم قراءة القرآن الكريم من غير تجويد، وخصوصاً بأنه يعلم التلاميذ؟

لا حرج في ذلك، إذا قرأه باللغة العربية لا حرج، أن يقرأه بغير التجويد، إذا أوضح القراءة وبين الحروف وأوضحها فلا بأس، ولو كان لا يحسن الإدغام أو الترقيق أو الإظهار أو ما أشبه ذلك إنما ذلك مستحب، يعني التجويد مما يستحب ومما يحسن به التلاوة، وهو من تحسين التلاوة، ولكن لا يجب على الصحيح.))

In the following video, the Saudi scholar Saleh Al-Fozan was asked about Tajweed. He answered that one must only make sure he doesn't make grammatical errors and that Tajweed is just an improvement. 

The Saudi scholar Sa'ad Al-Husain has a stronger opinion. He states that Tajweed is Bid'ah (an innovation):
((These so called (Tajweed) rulings are an innovation that were not sanctioned neither by god nor his messenger. So it's forbidden to impose it (on others).))
((أن هذه الأحكام المزعومة محدثة لم يشرعها الله ولا رسوله فلا يجوز الإلزام بها))

He also says: 

((One of god's blessings on this country and the Saudi Dawah is that I don't know anyone of its scholars - from Muhammad Bin Abdul Wahab (d.1729) to Muhammad Bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh (d.1969) -  who used Tajweed or called for it. Ibn Baz was the only one who wanted to learn Tajweed but none of his religious masters (sheikhs) knew Tajweed so he learned it from a non-Arab. Nevertheless, Bin Baz didn't use Tajweed. And you can hear his innate recitation on the Internet and it's the best recitation I have heard.))

Source: The Sheikh's website

ومن فضل الله على هذه البلاد والدّولة والدّعوة السّعوديّة المباركة أني لا أعرف عالماً من علمائها (من محمد بن عبد الوهاب إلى محمد بن ابراهيم آل الشيخ) رحمهم الله وأسكنهم الفردوس من الجنّة وقع في الالتزام أو الالزام بقواعد التجويد، ولكنّ الشيخ ابن باز وحده رحمه الله رغب في معرفة التجويد فلم يجد من مشايخه من يعرفه، فدرسه على أعجميّ، ولكنّه لم يتكلّف العمل به، ويمكنكم استماع قراءته الفطريّة من الانترنت وهي خير قراءة سمعتها.

Ibn Taymiya (d.1328), who's usually titled "The sheikh of Islam", and who's highly revered by many Sunni Muslims, especially the Salafists, criticized Tajweed and the obsession over the specifics of pronunciation. He said: 

((One shouldn't put his effort into the thing that blocked most people from realizing the truths of the Quran, which is the obsession over letters' articulation and Tarqiq, Tafkhim, Imalah, the different kinds of vowel prolongation and such things that prevent you from understanding the word of god. ))
Majmou' Al-Fatawa 50/16

(( ولا يجعل همته فيما حجب به أكثر الناس من العلوم عن حقائق القرآن إما بالوسوسة فى خروج حروفه وترقيقها وتفخيمها وإمالتها والنطق بالمد الطويل والقصير والمتوسط وغير ذلك فإن هذا حائل للقلوب قاطع لها عن فهم مراد الرب من كلامه وكذلك شغل النطق ب أأنذرتهم وضم الميم من عليهم ووصلها بالواو وكسر الهاء أو ضمها ونحو ذلك وكذلك مراعاة النغم وتحسين الصوت)). مجموع الفتاوى 16\50 .

3- Tajweed's pausal rules (Waqf) contradict the Quran

The pause or the stop in Tajweed simply means cutting off the recitation to take a breath. When you reach the end of a verse then you can take a pause then resume with the next verse. But if you run out of breath before reaching the end of a verse, then Tajweed has some rules here. You should only stop at a word where the meaning of the sentence becomes complete. If you run out of breath at a word that doesn't complete the meaning of the sentence, then after taking a breath you need to go back in recitation to the word or the words preceding the word you stopped at. Let's take this verse as en example:
18:1

[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made therein any deviance.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجًا

 If you run out of breath at the part colored in red (and has not made), this would interrupt the meaning of the sentence, so after taking a breath, if you resume with:

therein any deviance له عوجا

You notice that "therein any deviance" by itself doesn't give the desired meaning. Something is absent. So after taking a breath you actually resume in a way that makes the next thing you say more meaningful:

وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجًا

and has not made therein any deviance.   

Here's the full verse written exactly as it should be recited if you pause at "and has not made":

[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made (take a breath) and has not made therein any deviance.

 الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ (تأخذ نفس) وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجًا

 It's wrong in Tajweed to recite it like this:

[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made (take a breath) therein any deviance.

  الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ (تأخذ نفس) لَهُ عِوَجًا

 It's wrong because the meaning of what you say after the pause "therein any deviance" is attached to what you said before the pause "and hasn't made". 

That's why in Evey page of a modern Qurans you find small signs above some words indicating the pausal status of the words. Some signs tell you can stop here, other signs tell you otherwise.

The problem here is that rhymes in the Quran, which indicate the endings of verses (meaning they are pausal positions), don't observe this rule. There are lots of rhymes that split between words that are attached to each other (in meaning or in grammar). Actually, some Quran scholars really said that you shouldn't pause at such rhymes!. 

Examples of rhymes that break between words that are attached to each other in meaning or grammar (all verses according to Sahih international translation):

Surah 30

The Byzantines have been defeated (1)

In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome. (2)

Within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. And that day the believers will rejoice (3)

In the victory of Allah . He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful. (4)

 غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ (2) فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ وَهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ (3) فِي بِضْعِ سِنِينَ لِلَّهِ الْأَمْرُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ بَعْدُ وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (4) بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ يَنْصُرُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ (5)

 

Surah 87

We will make you recite, [O Muhammad], and you will not forget,(6)

Except what Allah should will. Indeed, He knows what is declared and what is hidden. (7)

 سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنْسَى (6) إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ الْجَهْرَ وَمَا يَخْفَى (7) 

Surah 96

Have you seen the one who forbids (9)

A servant when he prays? (10)

 أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَى (9) عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّى (10)

Surah 11

We only say that some of our gods have possessed you with evil." He said, "Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness [yourselves] that I am free from whatever you associate with Allah (55)

Other than Him. So plot against me all together; then do not give me respite. (55)

 إِنْ نَقُولُ إِلَّا اعْتَرَاكَ بَعْضُ آلِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ قَالَ إِنِّي أُشْهِدُ اللَّهَ وَاشْهَدُوا أَنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ (54) مِنْ دُونِهِ فَكِيدُونِي جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ لَا تُنْظِرُونِ (55)

 

Quran scholars divide stops into several kinds including what they call a repulsive stop. A repulsive stop is the one that creates a repulsive meaning. The problem here is that there's a rhyme that leads to what they call a repulsive meaning:

Surah 107

So woe to those who pray (4)

[But] who are heedless of their prayer (5)

 فَوَيْلٌ لِلْمُصَلِّينَ (4) الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ (5)

"So woe to those who pray" on it's own gives a bad meaning. Only the next verse shows the true meaning. If the two verses where one verse then according to Tajweed it would be a grave mistake to pause at the word "pray". But the word "pray" here is a rhyme. And all the ten readings agree that "pray" is the end of a verse. 

Al-Dani (d. 1053 AD), a prominent early Quran scholar called pausing at "pray" a repulsive pause!.

He says: ((Another type of repulsive stops is stopping at nouns that have descriptions showing the nouns' true meanings. Such as: "So woe to those who pray" because "woe" doesn't fit with a noun denoting a praised deed like "those who pray". But this noun here doesn't actually denote a praised deed because of the description attached to it that says: "who are heedless of their prayer".

Source: Al-Muktafa  p.15 (from Al-Shamelah library program)

ومن هذا النوع من القبح أيضاً الوقف على الأسماء التي تبين نعوتها حقوقها، نحو قوله {فويلٌ للمصلين} وشبهه، لأن ((المصلين)) اسم ممدوح محمود لا يليق به ((ويل)) . وإنما خرج من جملة الممدوحين بنعته المتصل به وهو قوله {الذين هم عن صلاتهم ساهون} .  المكتفى ص15 الشاملة.

Al-Dani is a major Quran scholar. Quran copies printed in Saudi Arabia and distributed around the world do cite Al-Dani's works as a source for the way the Uthmanic script is written. Al-Dani's opinion on pausing at "those who pray" shows that the whole made up issue of observing where one should pause is actually a path that leads to criticizing the Quran itself.

Some scholars explicitly said that verses' endings shouldn't matter  in regard to where you should stop. Meaning that if a verse's ending splits between words that are attached to each other in meaning or grammar then you shouldn't stop at it. It doesn't matter if it's the end of a verse. Source: The study and the application of stopping and starting in the holy Quran, Abdul Rsuul Abaa'i, chapter 11. 

If you read the Quran according to this rule then many rhymes in the Quran will be lost. These scholars have sacrificed an essential characteristic of the Quran in exchange for a made up rule.

 ((أنّ حكم الوقف على رؤوس الآيات كحكمه على غيرها ممّا ليس برأس آية، فحينئذٍ ينظر إلى ما بعد رأس الآية من حيث التعلق وعدمه، فإن كان له تعلّق لفظي برأس الآية فلا يجوز الوقف على رأس الآية، وإن لم يكن له به تعلق لفظي جاز الوقف، فليس ثَمّ فرق بين رأس الآية وغيره من حيث الوقف وعدمه، ولهذا وضع أصحاب هذا المذهب علامات الوقف المختلفة فوق رؤوس الآي كما وضعوها فوق غيرها ممّا ليس برأس آية. وهذا مذهب بعض علماء الوقف كالإمام أبي عبد الله محمد بن طيفور السجاوندي (ت: 560 هـ)، والعلامة الشيخ أبي محمد الحسن بن علي بن سعيد العماني، والعلامة المحقق شيخ الإسلام الشيخ زكريا الأنصاري (ت: 926هـ)، والشيخ الجليل أحمد بن عبد الكريم الأشموني.))

(الوقف والابتداء في القرآن الكريم دراسةً وتطبيقاً، لعبد الرسول عبائي، الفصل 11)

https://www.qurankarim.org/books/contentsimages/htmlfiles/waqf_ibtida2/waqf01.html#_ftn127

 It should be obvious after all this that Tajweed's stoppage rules are over-wary made up rules.

The fourth evidence that Tajweed is made up:

4- Tajweed reduces the rhyming quality of many verses.


Rhymes affected by exaggerated Qalqalah:

In Arabic, a silent letter (a non-vowelled letter) is a letter that no vowel comes after it. Such as the B and T in "absolutely" and the M, R and N in "Important".

The Qalaqalah letters are:  ق، ط، ب، ج، د 
q, T, b, j (dj) , d.

Because of the nature of articulation of these consonants, it's natural that their pronunciation includes a very short vowel when they are silent. But Tajweed has exaggerated this vowel turning it into a normal short vowel. For example the natural pronunciation of the word أقرب is aqrab. But in Tajweed, the exaggerated qalqalah turns this word to: aqerab.

In Arabic poetry, this exaggerated Qalqalah ruins the poetry meter. 
For example:

ولقد ذكرتكِ والرماح نواهلٌ *** مني وبيضُ الهندِ تقطرُ من دمي 

This classical Arabic poetry verse follows the meter of: 3 vowelled letters+ one unvowled letter + two vowelled letters + one unvowelled letter متفاعلن (this pattern gets repeated 6 times in each verse). This meter is called the Al-Kaamel.


The verse begins with: "Walaqad thakartuki". But with exaggerated Qalqalah, the first word becomes: "Walaqade". which turns the d from an unvowelled letter to a vowelled one, breaking the meter.
The second half of the verse gets also broken with exaggerated Qalqalah: "Taqtur" becomes "Taqetur".

This means that early Arabs didn't recite poetry with exaggerated Qalqalah.

The Quran doesn't follow meters, but the exaggerated Qalqalah does affect the rhyming of a huge number of verses. Here are examples I found in the last part of the Quran (The Quran is divided into 30 parts). I chose the last part because it's full of Surahs with short verses, giving us lots of rhyming words. 

1- 86:1-4
وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ (1) وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ (2) النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ (3) إِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ (4) 

These verses end with the words: Tareq, Tareq, Thaqeb, HafeTH.
The rhyme here is CaCeC. (C stands for consonant). 
So they all end with consonants. The first three ednings (q, q, b)belong to the Qalqalah group of letters. But the last one (TH) doesn't.
When these words are recited with Tajweed's Qalqalah, they become:
Tareqe, Tareqe, Thaqebe, HafeTH.
So with Tajweed's Qalqalah, the first three verses end with vowels, while the fourth ends with a consonant. 
Listen to this traditional recitation of the Surah and notice how the first three verses end with short vowels because of exaggerated Qalqalah: 

2- Surah 85 Al-Buruuj. 
All the verses of this Surah end with consonants. The rhyme here is a long I or U vowel+consonant: iiC, uuC. 
All these consonants belong to the Qalqalah letters except for verse 11 which ends with the word Kabiir كبير and the last verse which ends with the word maHfuuTH محفوظ. 
r and TH don't belong to the Qalqalah letters. 
So we have a Surah that all its verses end with Qalqalah consonants except for two verses ending with non-Qalqalah consonants. Because of this, when you read this Surah using Tajweed, the exaggerated Qalqalah would make all verses end with vowels except for two verses. Whereas Without Tajweed, all verses would end with consonants. 

3- 79:1-5
وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا (1) وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا (2) وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا (3) فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا (4) فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا (5)
Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
gharqaa, nashTaa, sabHaa, sabqaa, amraa

With Qalqalah:
gharqaa, nshTaa, sabeHaa, sabeqa, amraa

4- 100:1-5
وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا (1) فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا (2) فَالْمُغِيرَاتِ صُبْحًا (3) فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِ نَقْعًا (4) فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِ جَمْعًا (5)

Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
DabHaa, qadHaa, SubHaa, naqعaa, jamعaa

With Qalqalah:
DabeHaa, qadeHaa, SubeHaa, naqeعaa, jamعaa
The last one doesn't perfectly fit. 

5- 89:1-5
وَالْفَجْرِ (1) وَلَيَالٍ عَشْرٍ (2) وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ (3) وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ (4) هَلْ فِي ذَلِكَ قَسَمٌ لِذِي حِجْرٍ (5)

 Verses rhyming endings without Qalqalah:
 fajr, عashr, watr, yasr, Hijr.

With Qalqalah:
fajer, عashr, watr, yasr, Hijer.

6- Surah 108

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ (1) فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ (2) إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ (3)

 Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
kawthar, wanHar, abtar.

With Qalqalah:
kawthar, wanHar, abetar. 

7- Surah 103

وَالْعَصْرِ (1) إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ (2) إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ (3)

Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
  عaSr, khusr, Sabr.

With Qalqalah:
 عaSr, khusr, Saber.

8- 101:4,5

يَوْمَ يَكُونُ النَّاسُ كَالْفَرَاشِ الْمَبْثُوثِ (4) وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ الْمَنْفُوشِ (5) 

Verses rhyming endings without Qalqalah:
mabthuuth, manfuush

With Qalqalah:
mabethuuth, manfuush 

9- Surah 97

إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ (1) وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ (2) لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ (3) تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ (4) سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ (5)

Verses' rhyming endings without Qalqalah:
qadr, qadr, shahr, amr, fajr.

With Qalqalah:
qader, qader, shahr, amr, fajer.


 10- 93: 9,10

فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ (9) وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ (10) 

Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
 taqhar, tanhar.

With Qalqalah:
taqehar, tanhar. 

11- 94:1-4

أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ (1) وَوَضَعْنَا عَنْكَ وِزْرَكَ (2) الَّذِي أَنْقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ (3) وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ (4)

Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
Sadrak, wizrak, THahrak, thikrak.

With Qalqalah:
Saderak, wizrak, Thahrak, thikrak.

12- 88:13-16

فِيهَا سُرُرٌ مَرْفُوعَةٌ (13) وَأَكْوَابٌ مَوْضُوعَةٌ (14) وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌ (15) وَزَرَابِيُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ (16)

Verses' last words without Qalqalah:
marfuuعah, mawDuuعah, maSfuufah, mabthuuthah.

With Qalqalah:
marfuuعah, mawDuuعah, maSfuufah, mabethuuthah.



The correct Tajweed rules
There are only two Tajweed rules you should use: Idghaam (assimilation) and Iqlaab.

Idghaam 
Idghaam letters are: y, r, m, l, w, n. يرملون
When a silent N or a Tanween is followed by one of these letters, the N or  the Tanween disappears and the following letter becomes stressed. 
Example:
min waraa' ==> miwwaraa'
من وراء ==> موَّراء

So the "n" and "w" merge into a stressed w. But Tajweed over-stresses this w like this: miwwwwwaraa'. This over-stressing is called ghunna (nasalization). 
Avoid this over-stressing. 

Iqlab
Iqlab is changing a silent N or Tanween into an M when followed by B. Here too, Tajweed over-stresses the resulting M (Ghunnah). Avoid this over-stressing.  
Example:
min baعd ==> mim baعd
من بعد ==> مم بعد

Idghaam and Iqlab were reported in detail by early Arab grammarians, including Sibaweh, which proves that early Arabs used to employ Idgham and Iqlab in their speech. 
Also the Quran's script has some of the N's written as M's, which proves Idgham. Such as: "min maa" من ما is usually written in the Quran as "mimmaa" مما. While in a few instances it's written in the original way "min maa". 

These two rules are the only Tajweed rules you should use. Drop all the rest: over-stressed nasalizaion (Ghunnah), exaggerated Qalqalah, stopping and starting positions (Waqf), exaggerated Tafkhiim, and the lengthening of vowels (muduud) unless the vowel is before a silent letter and this silent letter is at the end of a verse then here you can prolong the vowel. You can also prolong all the long vowels as Al-Bukhari's report says about Muhammad's recitation. 
Also don't be obsessed over the fine details of pronunciation. Some Quran teachers make recitation harder than rocket science.   

Answering a counter point:
Tajweed's advocates use the following narration as an evidence that Tajweed goes back to the prophet:
Ibn al-Jazari narrates that a man was reciting the Quran to Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (a prophet's companion) and the man recited: "InnamaS Sadaqatu lil-Fuqara'i wal-Masakiin" he recited it in a cut off way. Ibn Mas’ud said, “This is not how the messenger of Allah recited it to me!”, so the man inquired, “how did he recite it to you?” so he said, “lil-Fuqar'i wal-Masakiin”, he prolonged it.

(( حَدَّثَنِي مَسْعُودُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ الْكِنْدِيُّ قَالَ: كَانَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ يُقْرِئُ رَجُلًا، فَقَرَأَ الرَّجُلُ: إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ مُرْسَلَةً، فَقَالَ ابْنُ مَسْعُودٍ: مَا هَكَذَا أَقْرَأَنِيهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ - صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - فَقَالَ: كَيْفَ أَقْرَأَكَهَا يَا أَبَا عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ؟ فَقَالَ: أَقْرَأَنِيهَا " إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ " فَمَدُّوهَا.))

Tajweed scholars claim that the meaning of this narration is that the man said "fuqaraa'i " while Ibn Mas'ud corrected it to "fuqaraaaaaa'i ", over-prolonging the vowel in accordance with Tajweed rules which sate that if a Hamzah is preceded by a long vowel then the long vowel should be over-prolonged. But that's just an interpretation of the report. In the report, the man's reading of the word is described as مُرْسَلَة (translated as: cut off). While Ibn Mas'ud's reading is described with the verb فمدوها (translated as: he prolonged it).

There's a better interpretation. In 

"fukaraa" without the hamzah while in the dialect of Quraish the hamzah here gets replaced with an i vowel. So Ibn Mas'ud corrected it to: fuqaraai. 

The word "prolong" يمد can refer to adding a hamzah after a long 'a' vowel. In grammar books, a "prolonged word" ممدود means a word that ends with a long 'a' vowel+hamzah as in فقراء . While a word that ends with just a long 'a' vowel is called Maqsuur مقصور (cut off). The earliest attestation for this can be found in Al-Farrāʾ's book Lughāt al-Qurʾān where he says regarding the name "Zakariyyā" that the people of ḥijāz pronounce it in two ways: Zakariyyā, describing it as maqṣūr. And Zakariyyāʾ, describing it as mamdūd (prolonged).

 

It's also reported in Arabic poetry rules that for the sake of accommodating the poem's meter, it's allowed to prolong maqsuur words. An example: The word ghinaa can become ghinaaʾ.

مد المقصور، مثل

سيغنيني الذي أغناك عني = فلا فقرٌ يدوم ولا غِناءُ

والأصل ( ولا غنى ) لكنه مُدَّ للضرورة

 الجائز والمفروض في علم العروض لمحمد فهمني ص139