Question

Could you please inform me about the stop that appears in the Qur'an copy that Urdu speaking people use which is written  ?  I have read your explanations of the different stops but the  with the meaning of : -must not stop-or must not start- does not fit these editions of the Qur'an.  I have checked and whether the copy was published in India or in Saudi Arabia these stops appear in many places at the end of ayaat or more precisely between ayaat. I wonder if you would have such information.  Thank you very much and may Allah reward you.

Answer

Wa iyyakum wa-l-muslimeen, and you are welcome.

The copies of the Qur’an generally used by Urdu speaking Muslims put markings at the end of some aayaat consistent with the other markings for the stops that are used in the same copies for places other than the end of the aayaat.  These marks give us an indication what kind of link there is grammatically or in meaning between one aayah and the next following aayah.  We know it is sunnah to stop at the end of an aayah, but it is not forbidden to join one aayah with another.  Some aayaat are linked with each in meaning and grammar, so if one is reading  joining aayaat with each other he/she would especially want to link these.  These are the aayaat that are marked with  at the end of the aayah in the copy of the Qur’an generally used by Urdu speakers.  Of course, stopping on the end of these aayaat is perfectly correct, since as stated earlier, it is sunnah.  These same copies of the Qur’an sometimes put other stop markings on the end of aayaat also, such as the  stop  mark symbol.  More often than not, these same copies of the Qur’an have no stop markings at the end of the aayaat.

These end of the aayah stop markings were eliminated from the Medinah copy of the Qur’an since they are not necessary, and stopping on the end of each aayah is the norm, or more correctly put, preferred.