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Reasons for fatHah on


 
  

The respected Shaykh Dr. V. Abdur Rahim – 

   

was asked:

Question:

When there is no saakin letter before or after yaa al-

mutakallim, in what situations does it still show a fatHah?

For example in the following noble aayaat,

why does the yaa have fatHah and not sukuun? :

... & 
%
$"#
! 
     ...

{125: ‫}اة‬

...
"
! 
+ * )

  ( ...

{320: ‫}ل
ا ن‬

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Answer:

The Shaykh replied (quote):

Vocalising the yaa al-mutakallim with fatHah is of two

kinds:

1) Mandatory
2) Optional

Mandatory:

It is mandatory if it is preceded by:

a saakin alif or
a saakin yaa as in:

1-,  / 0
. -
 , 

‘My parents; from my parents’

Optional:

The optional kind is used on euphonic consideration i.e. to

make a word or words sound better. An example of
euphonic consideration in British English is the insertion of
an r when a word ends in a vowel and the next word begins
with a vowel, as in:

‘China and Japan’ which is pronounced: ‘China r and Japan’.

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Poetry:

In poetry, the yaa is vocalised with a fatHah for metrical

reasons. E.g.:

.<; 8 , - :
9 8
* 76 5 0 2 ,  3 2

Here, if the word -

 :
9 8
is pronounced -
 :
9 8
, the metre is
one foot less.

Non-Poetic Language:

In non-poetic language, the yaa is vocalised with a fatHah

on euphonic consideration as mentioned before. So it is an
extra-grammatical phenomenon.

The Glorious Qur’aan:

In the Glorious Qur’aan, in the qiraa’ah of =

6   which is
widely read in most of the countries, the yaa takes a fatHah
if it is followed by a word with a kasrah – as you see in the
aayahs mentioned.

This is because the yaa and the kasrah have the same point
of articulation. So dissimilation takes place. But this is only
in most cases, not always.

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Also in most cases, if the yaa is followed by a >
?

 ,  A@ B
 C
it takes a fatHah as in:

…!
" ! 

 3 2
…

{40: ‫}اة‬

But not in:

...&


" - :
 8 ...

{124: ‫}اة‬

Other D
6 E F
(Qur’aanic readings):

In other D
6 E F
we have different vocalization. E.g. in

...-G
"
! 
+ * ...

{79: ‫}ام‬

Nafi’, ibn ‘Aamir, Hafs and Abu Ja’far read the yaa al-
mutakallim with fatHah, and in other D
6 E F
it was read
with sukuun.
End Quote

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