Is it permissible to pause and resume at the same word in Qur'anic verses, such as: (Where are My partners), (and He forbids), and (and wipe)?

The science of Waqf (stopping) and Ibtida (starting) is among the important sciences for the reciter of the Qur’an. It is not permissible to stop except in a way that accords with the Quranic meaning. Ibn Al-Jazari pointed out an important rule, which is: A stop might be good, while starting from it is bad, and vice versa.

It is not correct to stop at: 1. ﴿أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي﴾ (Where are My partners?) then start with ﴿أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي﴾ (Where are My partners?), because the speaker is Allah - the Most High - not the reciter. 2. ﴿وَيَنْهَى﴾ (and He forbids) then start with ﴿وَيَنْهَى﴾ (and He forbids), because the prohibition is connected to what comes after it. 3. ﴿وَامْسَحُوا﴾ (and wipe) then start with ﴿وَامْسَحُوا﴾ (and wipe), because wiping is for the head and washing is for the face.

What was mentioned regarding not choosing to stop at the aforementioned places pertains to the optional stop. As for the obligatory stop, there is no harm in it; then, in starting, one relies on returning to what came before and starting from there.

The easiest way to learn waqf and ibtida is by following what is found in the Qur’anic copies (Mus'hafs) as signs for waqf and ibtida. Among the signs for waqf and ibtida in the Mus'haf are: (مـ) for a necessary stop, (لا) for prohibition of stopping, (صلي) for preferring continuation with permission to stop, (قلي) for preferring to stop with permission to continue, (ج) for permissible stop, (the three dots) for permissible stop at one of the two places.