Beautifying voice and talheen

Question:

What is the boundary between beautifying the voice and doing ﺗﻠﺤﯿﻦ? Does the prohibition of ﺗﻠﺤﯿﻦ apply to dhikr?

Answer: ﺑﺴﻢ اﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful To recite the Quran in a beautiful voice is desirable (mustahab). The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever does not recite the Quran in a beautiful voice is not from us.” (Abu Dawud) He also said, “Beautify the Quran with your voices.” (Sunan Al-Nasai) Talheen in regards to the Quran refers to elongating vowels which should be shortened or shortening vowels which should be elongated; this type of talheen is prohibited. Doing talheen (keeping the aforementioned meaning in mind) in zikr is against the etiquettes of zikr, hence one should avoid it, especially if it leads to the alteration of meaning. Nevertheless, making zikr in a beautiful voice is allowed but it should not be done in a manner which resembles the singing of sinful people.1 Only Allah knows best Written by Maulana Mohammad Ahsan Osmani Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah Darul Ifta Birmingham اﻟﻜﺘﺎب: اﻟﻤﻮﺳﻮﻋﺔ اﻟﻔﻘﻬﯿﺔ اﻟﻜﻮﯾﺘﯿﺔ 1 ﺻﺎدر ﻋﻦ: وزارة اﻷوﻗﺎف واﻟﺸﺌﻮن اﻹﺳﻼﻣﯿﺔ - اﻟﻜﻮﯾﺖ (Zamzam) 582 p. 4, v. Fiqh: Qamoosul