Principles of Tajweed One who wishes to learn a science needs to know its principles so that he will gain insight into the sought science.  There are several principles in the science of tajweed that should be understood:

1.  Its definition

By linguistic definition: BettermentApplied definition: Articulating every letter from its articulation point and giving the letter its rights and dues of characteristics.

Rights of the letters are its required characteristics that never leave it.  The dues of the letters are its presented characteristics that are present in it some of the time, and not present at other times.  i.e. the medd, idgham

2.  Its formation

The words of the Glorious Qur'an and some said Honorable Hadiths also.

3. Its fruits

It is preserving the tongue from mistakes in pronunciation of the Glorious Qur'an during reading.

4.  Its precedence

It is one of the most honored of sciences and one of the best of them due to its relation to Allah’s words.

5.  Its place within the sciences

It is one of the Islamic Law sciences that are related to the Glorious Qur'an.

6.  Its founder

The rule setter from the practical point of view is the Messenger of Allah because the Qur'an was revealed to him from Allah, the most High, with tajweed, and he, was instructed on it from the Trustworthy, Jibreel, peace be upon him, and taught it to his companions, who then taught it to their followers and so on until it came to us by these chains.  The rule setters from the scientific point of view are the scholars of Qur'anic sciences, such as Abu 'Ubaid Al-Qasim bin Sallaam.

7.  Its precept

Knowledge of tajweed is fardh kifayaah, meaning some of the Muslim community must know it, and its application is fardh ‘ain, required by all Muslims (men and women) who have the complete Qur'an or part of it memorized, even if only one surah.

8.  Reasons for its rules

Guarding the Glorious Qur'an and preserving it from distortion.  The Arabs mixed with non-Arabs after the spread of Islam, and the Muslims feared that the Arab tongue would become corrupted with this intermixing.  It then became mandatory for rules to be put down that would preserve the recitation of the Qur'an from mistakes, and guarantee the reader of the Qur'an integrity of pronunciation.

9.  Its principles

The knowledge of tajweed is contingent on four matters:

1. Knowledge of the articulation points of the letters2. Knowledge of the characteristics of the letters 3. Knowledge of what rules change in the letters due to the order of letters4. Exercising the tongue and a lot of repetition.

Places of Articulation Introduction to articulation points of the Arabic letters

The articulation point of a letter is the place the letter is emitted, meaning a sound that comes out of the mouth relying on a specific place of articulation or an approximate one.  Using the correct articulation point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly, and of course this is even more important when reciting the book of Allah, the Holy Qur’an. 

Almost all the articulation points in Arabic are specific places, but there are some that have a general area of articulation. 

There are ways for you to see what articulation point YOU are using for a letter (not necessarily the correct one), so that you can compare what you are using to the correct way of articulating a letter:

1.      Pronounce the letter with a shaddah; in other words, double the letter. 

2.      Pronounce the letter with no vowel and put a hamzah before the letter you are checking.

You can then check the position of your tongue, mouth, or feel what area of the throat you are using.

There are five general areas of the throat and mouth that have within them the specific or general articulation points of the Arabic letters. 

1. The empty space in the mouth and throat has in it one articulation point for the three lengthened letters, which are wow with no vowel with a dhammah before it, ya’ with no vowel with a kasrah before it, and an alif with a fath before it. 

2. The Throat: It has three articulation points for six different letters which are pronounced from the deepest, middle, and closest part of the throat

3. The Tongue: It has ten articulation points for eighteen letters 4. The Two Lips: The lips have two articulation points for four letters 5. The nasal passage: From the hole of nose towards the inside of the mouth,

here there is one articulation point, that of the ghunnah

The following pictures shows these areas:

The empty space in the throat and mouth

The empty space in the mouth and throat is a place and an articulation point at the same time.  The three medd (lengthened) letters originate from this general area, these letters are:

1.The alif preceded by a letter with a fat-hah (and the true alif is only in this state); the Arabic alif never takes a vowel and is always preceded by a

fathah  ( )

2. The wow with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a dhammah

3. The ya’ with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a kasrah

 These three medd letters do not have a specific place that they are pronounced from, unlike all the other letters; instead these letters finish articulating with the stopping of the sound. 

The medd letters are lengthened two counts if they are not followed by a hamzah or a sukoon. 

The articulation points of the throat

There are three places of articulation in the throat, each place has two letters emitted from therein. 

1. The deepest part of the throat 2. The middle part of the throat 3. The closest part of the throat (closest to the mouth)

The deepest part of the throat

The deepest part of the throat is the furthest away from the mouth and the closest to the chest.  Two letters are articulated from here.  They are the

hamzah and the ha’ .  

The middle part of the throat

The middle part of the throat lies half way in between the beginning and the

end of the throat.  The two letters that are emitted from here are: and

. 

The closest part of the throat

The closest part of the throat is the beginning of the throat, or the closest to

the mouth.  Two letters are articulated from this area, they are: and

. 

Articulation points of the Deepest part of the TongueThere are two letters that use the deepest part of the tongue in articulation. 

They are and .

Is articulated from the deepest part of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the roof of the mouth in the area of the soft palate.

Is articulated from the deepest part of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the roof of the mouth in the area of the hard palate.  This letter is closer to the mouth than the

.

Areas of the tongue used for articulation

There are four areas of the tongue used for articulation.  The deepest part, the middle, the sides, and the tip.  The following picture helps pinpoint these areas.

 

Middle of the Tongue

Three letters use the middle of the tongue for their articulation.  They are

, , and the

These three letters are articulated from the middle of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the roof of the mouth.  This means the middle of the tongue collides with the roof of

the mouth when these letters are articulated without a vowel, and the middle of the tongue separates with strength from the roof of the mouth when the letters are voweled. The ya’ here is not the medd letter ya’, which was previously stated to be articulated from the non specific area of the empty space in the throat and mouth.  The medd letter ya’ is a ya’ saakinah preceded by a kasrah, NOT a fath.  When the ya’ saakinah is preceded by a fath, this currently discussed articulation point is used. 

The Teeth

The Side of the TongueThere are two letters that use the side of the tongue for articulation.  

They do not use the same part of the side of the tongue, rather the uses the posterior two thirds of the side (or edge) of the tongue, and the

uses the anterior one third (closest to the mouth) portion of the side of the tongue.

The letter

This letter is articulated from the one or both sides of the tongue and from the molars and the gum area next to the molars.  The posterior one third of the side of the tongue is used for this letter.  This letter can be articulated from one side (right or left) of the tongue alone, or from both sides of the tongue simultaneously.  

has the characteristic of compression of the sound, as well as tafkheem (heaviness), so the deep part of the tongue  raises up when pronouncing it and compresses the sound at the same time.

The letter

This letter has the widest articulation points of all the Arabic letters.  It is articulated from the anterior one third of the sides of the tongue until the sides end at the tip, and what lies opposite to them of the gums of the two top front incisors, the two top lateral incisors, the two top canines, and the two top premolars.  The articulation of this letter is then in the shape of an arc, with both sides until the tongue ends at the tip meeting up with with gums of all the mentioned teeth.  It is to be noted that it is a fine line of the sides of the tongue that meets up with the gums, and it does not include the

top of the tongue.  The articulation of the is an upward movement, not a forward movement like “L” is in English. 

The Tip of the Tongue

1. Articulation points of the and the

The letter

This letter is articulated from the tip of the tongue and what lies opposite to

it from the gum of the two front top incisors. is articulated a bit

forward on the gums from the place of the .This letter is not always pronounced clearly, and the articulation point is only applied when it is pronounced clearly, namely when it has a vowel on it, or if it has a sukoon on it and is followed by one of the following six letters:

The letter

This letter is emitted from the tip of the tongue with the top of the tip and what lies opposite to it of the gums of the two front top incisors.  The tip with the top of the tip need to strike the gums to produce this sound correctly.  There should be no trilling of the tongue when pronouncing this letter.

2. The articulation point of the  

These letters are pronounced from the top side of the tip of the tongue and the gum line of the two front upper incisors. The gum line is exactly where the gum meets the teeth. The part of the tongue used in these letters is a small part of the top of the tip, not any farther back than the very tip area. 

3. Articulation points of the

These three letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue and the plates of the two front top incisors, at a point just above the two front lower incisors.  There is a little space left in between the tip of the tongue and the plates of the teeth when pronouncing these letters.  The term “plate” refers to the long axis of the tooth, and in this case, the long axis that is on the internal side, rather than the external side of the teeth. 

These letters are also called  letters, which means “whistle”.  They are called that due to the accompany whistle type sound heard when they are emitted properly. 

4. Articulation point of the

These letters are emitted from the tip of the tongue (from the top side of the tip) and the bottom edges of the two top front incisors.  Care should be taken to make sure the top of the tip is really colliding or separating (depending whether there is no vowel or a vowel) with the edges of the teeth and not the plates of the teeth. 

The articulation point of the fa' and the two lip

Articulation point of the letter

The articulation point of the  is between the inside of the lower lip and the tips (or edges) of the two top front incisors.  This means that there is a meeting of these two parts of articulation to make the correct sound of this letter. 

Articulation point of the two lips

There are three letters that are articulated from the two lips, but they do not all three share the same mechanism in articulation. 

The unlengthened  is articulated by forming a circle of the two lips without the two lips meeting completely.

The  is articulated by closing the two lips together

The letter is articulated by closing the two lips together, but a stronger closing than the meem.

Ranks of the ghunnah

 

Its linguistic definition: It is a sound that is emitted from the nasal passage, without any function of the tongue.

Its applied definition: A unconditional nasalized sound fixed on the

 -even if it is a tanween- and the .  

This means that the ghunnah is an inherent sound in the  and ,

whether the  and  have a vowel or not.

The letters of the ghunnah: The  and the .  The noon includes the tanween.   Articulation point of the ghunnah: The opening of the nose that connects with the back of the mouth (the nasal passage).  The fact that the ghunnah is emitted from the nose can be demonstrated by closing off the nostrils, and trying to emit the sound of the ghunnah.  It is impossible.   Ranks of the ghunnah   There are four levels of the ghunnah:

1. Most Complete

2. Complete

3. Incomplete

4. Most Incomplete

 1.   Most complete ghunnah ( ) :  This is the longest ghunnah.  The

 with a shaddah and with a shaddah fall into this category, as

well as when there is an (idghaam with a ghunnah).   This means

when there is a  saakinah or tanween followed by one of the letters in

the " " group, or when there is or a the ghunnah is given its most complete timing.  Examples of these are:

   

,

 

 

2.    Complete ghunnah ( ):  This is the second longest ghunnah.  The

hidden  and ikhfa’ shafawee (hidden ) fall into this category. 

When the saakinah or  saakinah are followed by one of the letters of ikhfa’ the ghunnah that results from this ikhfa’ is the complete in its timing, but not as long as the most complete ghunnah.  Examples of this are:

3.  Incomplete ghunnah ( ): This ghunnah is shorter in timing than the

complete ghunnah. The  saakinah and  saakinah that are recited

with , or clearly, are in this category of length of ghunnah.  Examples are:

4.  Most incomplete ghunnah ( ):  This is the shortest ghunnah of all.

The  and  with vowels are in this category of length of ghunnah.    Note: The difference in timing between these different categories of ghunnah is very minute.  Only an experienced reader and listener can tell the difference. To say the ghunnah with complete technique, it is necessary that the

heaviness or lightness of the letter that follows the   of a  saakinah

is observed during the ghunnah.  If the  saakinah or tanween is

followed by one of these letters: the ghunnah then will have tafkheem or in other words, be heavy.  This tafkheem will be the same rank of  tafkheem which the next letter will have depending on its vowel, and whether or not there is an alif after it.  The concept of tafkheem and the ranks of tafkheem will be covered in later tidbit lessons, insha’ Allah.

The Ghunnah

The ghunnah is defined as: a nasal sound that is emitted from the nose. This

is a required characteristic of the  and .  The ghunnah  cannot be separated from these two letters and is an inherent part of their makeup. 

The ghunnah is not a letter but a characteristic of these two letters, but it has its own distinct place of articulation. 

The ghunnah is articulated from : the hole in the nose that continues back towards inside the mouth.

It is a nasal sound coming from the nasopharynx without any influence from the tongue. If you hold your nose closed you will not be able to produce the ghunnah sound, but the letters themselves that have this associated sound with them are not articulated from the nose.

The  and  with a shaddah

Anytime the letters and have a shaddah on them, they are held for a length of time, and the ghunnah described above is present during the lengthening.

A shaddah represents two of any letter. When the symbol for a shaddah (a small ) is over any letter, there are two of that same letter recited, the first with a sukoon, the second with the vowel written above or under the shaddah mark.

The length of time to hold the  and  that have a shaddah on them cannot be given in counts, instead the timing must be picked up from a teacher who has a strong background and has learned their recitation at the hands of masters in recitation.  The concept of two counts for a ghunnah is not a correct concept.  The ghunnah has different timings depending on

whether there is a shaddah, or if there is hiding of the  or , or if the two letters are recited clearly with a sukoon on them, or a vowel.  The longest timing for the ghunnah is when there is a shaddah on one of the two letters. 

If we take a look at a few aayaat, we can pick out where the  and

 have a shaddah on them, and therefore the sound of the ghunnah should be lengthened when reciting them.

The next two aayaat there are three different  that have a shaddah on them. They are in red.  Each of them are held for a length of time, equal to each other with a ghunnah (nasalization) accompanying the lengthening.

In this aayah, there are two different with a shaddah on them. One in the second word, the other in the third word.  Each of them should be held for a period of time, equal to the other, elongating the sound with a ghunnah

emitted from the nose. 

Noon Saakinah and Tanween

Noon saakinah is a noon free from any vowel .  It remains unchanged in its written form and as well as in pronunciation when continuing to read after it and when stopping on it. Noon saakinah occurs in nouns and verbs in the middle of the word and at the end of the word, and

occurs in prepositions and particles only at the end of the word.  The

noon saakinah can have a sukoon on it, as in : , or can be written with

no vowel on it, as in : .  Either way, it is considered a noon saakinah

The tanween is a term for an extra noon saakinah not used for emphasis, found at the end of nouns when continuing the reading, but absent from the noun in the written form (the noon of the tanween is pronounced but not written), and abandoned in pronunciation when stopping.  The tanween can

be accompanying a fathah, a dhammah, or a kasrah, as in: . 

When there is a noon saakinah or tanween, we need to look at the next letter following the noon saakinah or tanween.  The letter that follows determines how the noon is pronounced, depending on the rule that is applied.  There are four rules of tajweed applied to the noon saakinah and tanween. The rules are applied to the noon saakinah in the same way that they are applied to the tanween.  The four rules are:

 The Making Clear : In this case the  is read clearly

The Merging : In this case the  is merged into the next letter either partially or completely.

The Changing :  Here the  is changed into another letter.

 The Hiding: The  is hidden so it is not a clear noon, but at the same time, not merged into the next letter.

Over the next few weeks, Insha’ Allah, each of these rules will be discussed with an explanation of their application in recitation.

The (making clear) of the Noon Saakinah and TanweenIZHAR

The word  is defined linguistically as: clear or obvious.

The applied definition of the  is: Pronouncing every letter from its articulation point without a ghunnah [in this case, without a prolonged ghunnah] on the clear letter. 

In other words, when this  rule is applied to the  saakinah or

tanween, the  is pronounced clearly, and articulated from its articulation point. 

There are six letters which when immediately follow the  saakinah or

tanween, they cause the  to be pronounced clearly.  These letters are the “throat” letters, or the six letters which are articulated from the throat: 

.  The  saakinah can be in the middle of a word or at the end of the word, the tanween is only at the end of

a word, namely a noun.  When the  saakinah or tanween is followed by

any of these six letters, the  is then pronounced clearly. 

In surah ‘Abasa, aayah 18, there are examples of both a  saakinah

followed by a letter of , and a tanween followed by a letter of :

.  The first word of the aayah ends with a  saakinah, and is followed by a hamzah.  The third word of the aayah ends

with a tanween kasrah, and is followed by the letter .  Both the

hamzah and the  are of the six letters that cause the  saakinah

and tanween to be said clearly, in other words, with an . 

The last aayah of surah Al-Ikhlaas has an example of an  of the

tanween. . 

An example of a  saakinah in the middle of a word, followed by one of

the  letters is found in the second aayah of Al-Kawthar.

In conclusion, when the  saakinah or tanween are followed by any of

the the six letters , the  is then

pronounced clearly.  Please remember we are only discussing  saakinah, which means it has no vowel on it.  If there is a vowel on the

, then it is pronounced from its articulation point with the accompanying vowel.

IDGHAM

The  is defined linguistically as merging or inserting. Its applied tajweed definition is: The meeting of a non-voweled letter with a voweled letter, so that the two letters become one emphasized letter of the second [letter] kind.

In the idghaam of saakinah and tanween, the  is a saakin (non-voweled) letter on the end of a word, and the first letter of the next word is

one of the letters that cause the  to merge or insert into it.  The letters

that cause this  or merging are all the letters in the group: .  This

means if a  saakinah or tanween are at the end of a word, and the

letter  or , or  or  or , or  is the first letter

of the next word, the  then merges into this next letter. 

There are two subdivision of the :

1.      which is a complete merging, also known as  which is merging without any ghunnah (nasalization). 

2.       which is an incomplete merging, also known as , or idghaam with a ghunnah (nasalization). .

The  or complete merging of the  saakinah or tanween into

the first letter of the next word, is done when the  saakinah or

tanween are at the end of a word and are followed by a or a  as

the first letter of the next word.  As stated, this is also known as ,

or idghaam without a ghunnah, since the  completely merges in to the

 or  and there is no left over ghunnah from the .  When

there is this type of , the  is not pronounced whatsoever, instead

the reciter proceeds from the letter before the  or the vowel that is with the tanween, directly to the first letter of the next word which will have

a shaddah (the little ) on it because of the  (merging).  Examples of this are:

In this aayah, there is a tanween dhammah on the letter (this first

 has nothing to do with the rule for the tanween here), followed by a

 as the first letter of the next word.  The reciter should go directly from

the dhammah on the  which is the last letter on the first word to the

 that is the first letter of the next word.  The idghaam or merging of the

 saakinah of the tanween is complete into the  which becomes

emphasized (doubled) as a result of this merging.  This doubling of the  

is represented by the shaddah mark, or little  over the letter.

The same process takes place whether the  saakinah is actually a

written  such as the next following example, or an unwritten  in the case of the tanween. 

 

.

Idghaam with a ghunnah

This is the fourth lesson concerning the  saakinah and tanween. 

In all the rules concerning the  saakinah and tanween, the letter that

immediately follows the  is what determines which rule is applied.  The

last lesson stated that when the saakinah or tanween (the tanween is only at the end of a word) is at the end of a word, and the first letter of the

next word is one of the letters in the group:  the  then merges

into the next letter.  The idghaam, or merging of the  saakinah and

tanween is further divided into two groups,  (idghaam with a

ghunnah) and  (idghaam without a ghunnah).  Ghunnah means

nasalization.  The last lesson outlined the sub-group of  which

occurs when the  saakinah or tanween is followed by either a  or

. 

This lesson will explain the other idghaam sub-group, that of , or idghaam (merging) with a ghunnah.  If we look at the letters that cause

idghaam, or merging of the  saakinah and tanween, that being the

letters in the group , and remove the letters of the idghaam without a

ghunnah group, the  and , we have left four letters, the ,

, , and , or if we put them in a word, the letters of the word:

.  When there is a  saakinah or tanween at the end of a word, and

the first letter of the next word is one of the four letters in the group ,

the  merges into the next letter, with a prolonged nasalization, or

ghunnah accompanying this merging.  In the case of the saakinah or

tanween merging with the  or  the ghunnah is a left over from the

, since this characteristic is not present in these two letters, and the

merging is  (an incomplete merging), since the characteristic of the

ghunnah of the  remained.  In the case of the  saakinah or

tanween merging with the  or , the majority of scholars agree that this is a complete merging, and the ghunnah that is heard is from the

 or the  ,now with a shaddah that the  saakinah or tanween has merged into.

Examples of :

In this above aayah, there are two occurrences of , the first one with

a  saakinah at the end of the first word of the aayah.  This  is

followed by a , which is the first word of the next word.  The  as far as an articulating letter is not pronounced, instead we directly go from

the letter before the , which is a , to the , and hold the sound with an accompanying ghunnah, or nasalization, which is a left over

characteristic of the .  The second occurrence of idghaam in this

aayah is in the last two words.  The next to the last word   , ends with a

tanween (which, as we know, is vowel, plus a  saakinah), and the first

letter of the next following word is a .  The  of the tanween then

merges into the  with an accompanying ghunnah, or nasalization,

which is left over from the . 

Other examples of  are:

The idghaam of the  saakinah and tanween can only occur between

two words.  If there is a  saakinah in the middle of a word followed by

one of the idghaam letters, there is no merging, instead the  is pronounced clearly

(with an ).  In the Glorious Qur’an this only occurs with the  

saakinah followed by a  or a , and in only four words. 

This is called: (absolute clearness). 

In the next lesson, insha’ Allah, we will cover exceptions to the idghaam rule.

Exceptions to the idghaam rule of the noon saakinah

Exceptions to the rule of (merging)

The last two lessons described the merging of the  saakinah and

tanween at the end of a word, with any of the letters of the group  at

the beginning of the next following word.  The , or merging was further broken down into two sub-groups: 

1.  (idghaam without a ghunnah). 

2.  (Idghaam with a ghunnah). 

The (idghaam without a ghunnah) was described as occurring

when the  saakinah or tanween was at the end of a word and the first

letter of the next word was either a or a .  The second sub-group,

 (idghaam with a ghunnah) was determined to take place when the

 saakinah or tanween was at the end of a word and the first letter of

the next word was one of the letters of the group: . 

This lesson explains a few cases in the Glorious Qur’an when there is a

 saakinah at the end of a word, and the next word starts with one of

the letters of the group , but there is no  (merging), instead the

 is recited clearly, or with an .

The first case is in aayah 27 of surah Al-Qiyaamah:

.  The second word of this aayah ends with

a  saakinah, and the first letter of the next word is a .  Under

normal circumstances, there would be , or an idghaam without a

ghunnah, since the  is one of the letters that cause an  when

it follows a saakinah.  In this aayah though, there is a brief breathless

pause, known in Arabic as a  between the word , and the next word:

.  This short pause without a breath prevents the  saakinah of the

word  from meeting with the  of the following word, .  There is

therefore, no , or merging, of the  saakinah with the  here. 

If you look at the aayah, you will see a small letter  above the word . 

This indicates to the reciter that there is a .  

The next two examples involve the individual separate letters that start some different surahs.  These letters are read as if each letter is written out, for example in surah Al-Qalam,

, the first letter

, is recited just as you would read the word: .  This word  ends with a

 saakinah.  If we were to join this individual letter, recited as the word

 with the next following word, we notice that the next word starts

with a .  Usually if there is a  saakinah followed by a , the

 rule applies.  In this case, however, Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim by the way of

Shatabiyyah, does not make an , but instead recites the  saakinah clearly, then recites the next word.  It is preferred and most

common, to stop on the end of the individual letter , but continuing is allowed.  The same things said about this example can be said about the

 saakinah at the end of the individual separate letter in the first

two ayaat of surah Ya-Seen: .  The

second separate letter of the first aayah is the letter  which ends with

a  saakinah.  The first word of the second aayah  starts with

the letter  (actually the first word is the letter ).  If we were to join

the first and second aayah together, there would be a  saakinah (the

last letter of the word ) meeting with the letter .  As the previous

tidbit lesson stated, there normally would be , but as above Hafs ‘An ‘Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah, does not make an idghaam when joining

these two aayaat together; instead the  saakinah of the word  is

recited clearly ( ), then the next word, the letter  is read with the accompanying vowel.

These are the exceptions to the idghaam rule for the  saakinah and

tanween.  This ends the explanation of the  rule of the  saakinah and

tanween.  The next tidbit, insha’ Allah, will explain the (changing) rule.

Changing (iqlaab) rule of the noon saakinah and tanween

The  (changing) of the  saakinah and tanween is defined in applied tajweed as: The changing of noon saakinah or  the tanween into a

, when followed by a  with the observance of a lengthened

ghunnah on the letter . 

If the letter occurs immediately after a  saakinah in the same

word, or between two words (meaning the  saakinah or the tanween

would be at the end of word, and the the first letter of the next word),

it is then required that the reader changes the  saakinah or tanween

into a hidden , with a ghunnah present.  The  saakinah is changed into a meem in pronunciation, not in the written word.  You may note that most copies of the Qur’an have a very small meem written over or under the noon in this case, or the second line of a fat-h or kasrah tanween

or dhammah of the tanween is replaced by a small meem.  The little in this case has a tail on the end of it. 

The  hidden, not by leaving a small space between the lips, as some

modern scholars have said, but by closing the lips and holding the  for

the length of the ghunnah, then opening them with the .  This is the

correct way of “hiding” the  as written in the books of the old scholars, and as passed down in applied recitation by chains of transmission that go

back to the Prophet Mohammed, . 

Examples of the :

word, starts with the letter .  The  is then changed in pronunciation to a

In this first example above, the  saakinah is the last letter of the

next to the last word of the written part of the aayah.  The next , and

this  is held with a ghunnah, then the lips are separated pronouncing

the letter . 

In this example above, the  saakinah is in the middle of the word and

followed by the letter .  The  saakinah is changed into a  just as in the previous example.

 

These two different aayaat are examples of the tanween being followed by

the letter .  The , or changing of the  saakinah of the

tanween into a , is done in the same way as the other examples.  The

little  can be seen written over all of these examples.  The little  takes the place of the second dhammah, fat-h, or kasrah of the tanween. 

Hiding (ikhfa') rule of the noon saakinah and tanween

This lesson defines the , the last of the four rules for the  saakinah and tanween. 

The  is linguistically defined as: hiding or concealment 

The applied definition of the  is: The pronunciation of a non-voweled letter stripped of any shaddah, characterized somewhere

between an and an  with a ghunnah remaining on the first

letter, in this case the  saakinah and the tanween.

The letters of the  for the  saakinah and tanween are all the remaining letters in the Arabic alphabet after we remove the letters that

cause , , and .  There are 15 letters in the Arabic alphabet,

all causing , or hiding of the  saakinah and tanween; they are: 

If a  saakinah or tanween is followed by any of these 15 letters, we

hide the .  The  can take place between two words (as will always be the case with the tanween) or in the middle of a word.  To hide the

 our tongue does not touch the teeth or gum, instead our tongue moves close to, but not at, the articulation point of the next letter, which is

the letter causing the  (hiding).  We then hold this sound with an accompanying ghunnah (nasalization) for the amount of timing appropriate

for the .  The  (or hiding) of the  saakinah or tanween is

also known as .

The technique of the of the  takes practice to perfect.  There is

no difference in the  or in the technique of the  whether it is a

written  that is being hidden, or a tanween.  Some students simply

keep their tongue at the articulation point of the  during the , and prolong the sound with a ghunnah (nasalization).  This is not the correct technique.  Others let the back portion of the tongue rise up to the roof of the mouth and rest it there, which is again, incorrect.  The tongue shouldn’t be touching the roof, gums, or teeth, but should be close to the articulation point of the next letter, as stating previously. 

Examples of the  of the  saakinah and tanween:

In this example above, there is a  saakinah in the middle of the second

word, followed by the letter , one of the letters of .  We don’t let

our tongue touch the articulation point of the , but instead put our tongue in a position close to, but not touching the articulation point of the

letter , and hold this sound with a ghunnah for a period of time.  The exact period of time cannot be explained in writing, but instead should be learned and copied from a qualified Qur’an teacher.  It is not correct to state that the ghunnah is held for two counts.

In this example there is a tanween at the end of the second word, followed

by a  as the first letter of the next following word.  The is one of

the letters that causes hiding of the  saakinah and tanween.  The technique is similar to that described above, except our tongue should get

close to the articulation point of the  instead of the .

This aayah has a  saakinah as the last letter of the first word, it is

followed by a , which is one of the letters that causes hiding of the

 saakinah.  Again, as previously stated, we don’t let our tongue go to

the articulation point of the , but instead bring our tongue close to, but

not touching, the , and hold the sound with an accompanying ghunnah for the appropriate period of time.

Tafkheem and Tarqeeq

The definition of tafkheem: Fattening

Its applied definition:  It is a heaviness that enters the body of the letter, so that the mouth is filled with its reverberation (echo). The method of making a letter have the characteristic of tafkheem is: elevating the posterior tongue to the roof of the mouth (soft palate), creating more space between the roof of the mouth and the bottom of the mouth, and focusing the pressure of the letter to the roof of the mouth.

The linguistic definition of tarqeeq : Thinness

Its applied definition:  It is a thinness that enters the body of the letter, so the mouth is not filled with its reverberation (echo).

The Arabic letters are divided into three groups as to tafkheem and tarqeeq:

        1.   Letters that always have tafkheem.  These are the seven letters in

the group .  They are also called the tafkheem letters.

        2.   Letters that have tafkheem sometimes and tarqeeq other times. 

                          a)   The lengthened alif.

                          b)   The  in the Glorious name of    .

                          c)   The   

         3.  Letters that always have tarqeeq.  This group consists of the rest of the Arabic alphabet. 

 The Letters That Always Have Tafkheem  

The seven letters of   group make up this category.  The letters of

 are

  .  These letters do not all have the same degree if tafkheem, instead there are differences according to the letter’s characteristics, and the strength or weakness of these characteristics.  Every time a letter has a

strong characteristic, its tafkheem is stronger.   letters ) )

are stronger in tafkheem than the rest of letters due to the adhesion of the tongue to the roof of the mouth in conjunction with the elevation of

the tongue.  The ranking of letters from strongest is  then

, then , then , then , then , then . 

ALIF

- The alif is not characterized as having tafkheem or tarqeeq, but instead it is known to follow the letter preceding it as to tafkheem or tarqeeq. If a tafkheem letter precedes it then it also has tafkheem.  Examples of this are in:

       

         and  

  and

    If the alif occurs after a letter with tarqeeq, the alif also then has tarqeeq, as

in:  and

          . It is a common mistake not to give the alif the full level of tafkheem required after a letter of tafkheem.  

The lam of the name of The Majesty

The  of the Glorious name of Allah sometimes has tafkheem and sometimes tarqeeq, depending on the pronounced vowel on the letter

preceding the .  The alif that follows the  will follow the  in tafkheem or tarqeeq because as stated above, the alif follows the letter

preceding it.  It is therefore necessary to make sure both the  of the Glorious name of Allah and the accompany alif have both tafkheem and tarqeeq together, according to the rules stated below.    The lam of the Glorious name of Allah has tafkheem in the following states:   If what precedes the name of Allah has a fat-ha, such as in:  

and          and  

    

 If what precedes the name of Allah has a dhammah, such as in:

      If what precedes the name of Allah is saakin and what is before that has a fat-h or a dhammah. An example of this is in:  

  The Lam of the Name of Allah Has Tarqeeq in the Following States:                    If it was preceded by an original kasrah or presented kasrah even if it is connected to it (the name of Allah) or separated from it. For example:  

 (original permanent kasrah),  and (presented kasrah).    

   If it was preceded by a saakin and the letter before that has a

kasrah, such as in:  and

Tafkheem of the letter

The  has 8 cases in which it has tafkheem, 4 cases in which it has tarqeeq, and 2 cases that allow either tafkheem or tarqeeq.  

The Eight cases in which the   has tafkheem:

1.  If it has a fat-hah, such as in  

2.  If it is saakinah and before the  is a letter with a  fat-ha, as in:

3.  If it is saakinah and the letter before it has a sukoon, and the letter before

that has a fat-h, as when stopping on the word:  

4.  If it has a dhammah, as in  :

5.  If it ( ), has a sukoon, and the letter before it has a dhammah, such

as in :  

6.  If the  is saakinah, preceded by a saakin, which is preceded by a

dhammah.  As when stopping on the word: .  

7.  If the  is saakinah and preceded by a presented kasrah ( this is in

the hamzah wasl).  The  is pronounced with tafkheem when preceded by hamzah wasl, if we start on the hamzah wasl with a kasrah, or if

continuing from the previous word.  Examples:  

         

8.  If the  is saakinah and before is a kasrah, and after the a letter

of   that does NOT have a kasrah; meaning it has any vowel (including

the sukoon) except a kasrah.  As in:    

These then are the eight circumstances for tafkheem of the letter .

The Four Cases in Which the  Has Tarqeeq

 1.          If the   has a kasrah, as in :

        

 2.           If the   is saakinah, and a kasrah precedes it, such as:

       

 3.           If the  is saakinah, and the letter before it is saakin, and the letter before that has a kasrah.  This would occur when stopping, as in the example:

      

 4.          If it is saakinah, and a  saakinah precedes it.  The in this

case has tarqeeq no matter what kind of vowel precedes the  saakinah.  This is exemplified in the following words:

  

    

          (when stopping on these words).