 

Tajweed Me
ALL FOR QURAN & TAJWEED

Category: Sifaat

Levels of Ta몭heem: Pt 2

 MARCH 14, 2012  15 COMMENTS

As with all personalities, letters can sometimes be strong and buff, and
sometimes silken soft. Let’s 몭nd out what agitates these letters, and what keeps
them as sweet as buttercups…

In the previous post, we studied letters that are always mufakham (always said
with tafkheem). This post hones in on the letters which are sometimes
mufakham, and sometimes muraqqaq (not said with tafkheem).

These letters are four in total, the are

 Follow
‫ ﻏﻧﺔ‬    ‫ﺭ‬      ‫ﻝ‬      ‫ﺍ‬

ghunnah     raa’     laam     alif

As the rules may get lengthy, I will only look at the letters laam, alif and ghunnah
in this post.

The Tafkheem and Tarqeeq of Laam

The only time the letter ‘laam’ is mufakham is in lafthul jalaalah, i.e. the name of
Allah – referring to the word itself: “Allah”. This occurs when the lafthul jalaalah
is preceded by a fat-ha or dammah, or when you are starting recitation with it;
such as in the examples:

Allahu-samad

Radiya-llahu

Wa litukaburu-llaha

Notice: the fat-ha from the “a” sound starting the word Allah in the 몭rst example,
is what makes the laam mufakhamah. This also happens but from the fat-
ha from the word radiya in the second example. As for the third example, the
dammah comes from the word litukabbiroo… the waaw madeeyah is dropped
(see why here), so the dammah before it becomes the acting diacritic, hence
making the laam in lafthul jalaalah mufakhamah.

However, when lafthul jalaalah is preceded by a kasrah, it is said with tarqeeq,

examples of this are:

Lillahil-mashriqu

Wa man yu’min billahi

Man yattaqillaha

Qulilaahumma

In all other cases, the laam is said with tarqeeq, whether it has sukoon, fat-ha,
dammah, or kasrah. Note from the third example above, “Allahumma” is just
another form for the lafthul jalaalah, and so this rule still applies.

The Tafkheem and Tarqeeq of Alif

The letter Alif that is being spoken about here, is speci몭cally the Alif madeeyah.
It’s rule is simple. Alif is mufakham when it follows a mufakham letter; and it is
muraqaq when it follows a muraqaq letter. This means, when it follows any one
of the 7 isti‘laa’ letters, alif is mufakham, when it follows the laam mufakhamah in
lafhul jalaalah, the alif is said with tafkheem. Similarly, when it follows a laam
or raa’ mufhakhamah (keep in mind that raa’ may be said with tafkheem
sometimes – next post insha Allah), the alif is also said with tafkeem. Examples
of this are,

Al-Daaleen

Al-Thaaneena

Qaala

Radiya-llahu

Khaa’ifeena

Raaji‘oona

In all other cases, the alif madeeyah is said with tarqeeq.

The Tafkheem and Tarqeeq of the Ghunnah

The ghunnah, although not a letter itself, is a very important characteristic that

completes the noon and meem sound – especially evident when they are saakin.
As part of the rules of noon saakinah, when the letters not listed in ith-haar,
idghaam or iqlaab follow a noon saakinah, ikhfaa’ is made (ikhfaa’ post here). As
the reciter makes ikhfaa’ a ghunnah is sounded. This ghunnah can
be mufakham or muraqaq.

It is mufakham when these 몭ve letters follow a noon saakinah:

‫ﻕ‬    ‫ﻅ‬    ‫ﻁ‬    ‫ﺽ‬    ‫ﺹ‬

qaaf      thaa’      taa’      daad      saad

What this means, is that the deep tongue is raised slightly higher (towards the
roof of the mouth) while the ghunnah passes through the nasal passage,
producing a heavier sounding ghunnah.

Baghtatan Qaaloo

Mandood

Min teen
 Yunsaroon

At all other times, the ghunnah is said with tarqeeq. This beautiful sound should
be soft, adding a light tone to the recitation.

Insha Allah next post I’ll focus on the rules of tafkheem and tarqeeq for the letter
Raa’. I promise once you get that one down pat, it should be easy cruising for
tafkheem and tarqeeq.

Resources Link:

– Sifaatul Huroof – Jadwal (Table of the Characteristics of the Letters)

– Sifaatul Huroof – Jadwal – by Sifah

– Sifaatul Aaridah – Tafkheem

Note, these documents are found on the resources page.

Levels of Ta몭heem: Pt 1

  MARCH 4, 2012  3 COMMENTS

Sometimes we can forget the numbers and fatten up…. not the waistline, I mean
the seven letters of isti‘laa’… and the only way to do that is by using some
tafkheem thickshakes… they’re deliciously guilt free!

In continuation from the previous posts about the characteristics of the letters,
tafkheem is a sifah ‘aaridah (redundant characteristic).

Tafkheem ( ‫ ) ﺗﻔﺧﻳﻡ‬means ‘fatness’ or ‘thickness’ added on to a letter as a

redundant characteristic (noting that it still must be exercised). Within tafkheem
are categories and levels. This post hones in on the 몭rst category, letters that are
always said mufakham (with tafkheem). These letters are the seven letters of
isti’laa’ (elevation).

ْ‫ٍﻁِﻗ‬
‫ﻅ‬ ‫ْﻐ‬
‫ﺿ‬
َ‫ﺹ‬‫ُﺧﱠ‬

These seven letters are always mufakham and are present across four “levels of
tafkheem”, referred to as “maraatib al-tafkheem“.

1. The strongest level of tafkheem occurs when one of the 7 letters has a fat-
ha on it, and is followed by an alif

Lil-taa’ifeena

2. The second level of tafkheem occurs when one of the 7 letters has a fat-ha on
it, but is not followed by an alif

Tahhir 
 Yafqahoon

3. The third level of tafkheem occurs when one of the 7 letters has a dammah on
it

Unthur

Udkhuloo

4. The weakest level of tafkheem occurs when one of the 7 letters has a kasrah
under it

Sinwaanun

Qibala

When one of the 7 letters of tafkheem has sukoon on it, the diacritic on the letter
preceding it is looked at to determine the sub-level.

2. a) if the saakin letter has a fat-ha before it, it becomes the “third level of
2. a) if the saakin letter has a fat-ha before it, it becomes the “third level of
tafkheem“, written here as 2. a) as it slots between the second and third level
noted above.

Wal-maghrib

3. a) if the saakin letter follows a dammah, it becomes the “fourth level of

tafkheem“, written here as 3. a) as it slots between the third and fourth level
noted above.

Muthlimoon

4. a) if the saakin letter has a kasrah before it, it becomes the “몭fth level of
tafkheem“, written here as 4. a) as it slots in with the fourth level noted above.

Ani-drib

So the levels of tafkheem can be summarised in a few ways. The 몭rst structure is
as shown above. The other two are below.

There are 4 levels of tafkheem, with three sub-levels. These are:

1. Isti‘laa’ letter has fat-ha on it and an alif maddeeyah after it

2. Isti‘laa’ letter has a fat-ha on it

2. a) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a fat-ha before it

3. Isti‘laa’ letter has a dammah on it

 3. a) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a dammah before it

4. Isti‘laa’ letter has a kasrah under it

4. a) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a kasrah before it

This structure is just a re-organised version of the one shown above.

The other structure states there are 5 levels of tafkheem. These are:

1. Isti‘laa’ letter has fat-ha on it and an alif maddeeyah after it

2. Isti‘laa’ letter has a fat-ha on it

3. Isti‘laa’ letter has a dammah on it

4. Isti‘laa’ letter has a sukoon on it

a) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a fat-ha before it

b) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a dammah before it

c) Isti‘laa’ letter is saakin and has a kasrah before it

5. Isti‘laa’ letter has a kasrah under it

I personally 몭nd the 몭rst (and second) structure to make more sense as a saakin
tafkheem letter with fat-ha before it would naturally be “stronger in tafkheem”
than a tafkeem letter with dammah on it. Simply, the notion of understanding that
the sub-levels are a part of their own respective level is also clearer.

There is another school of thought which states there are only three levels of
tafkheem, where the strongest has a fat-ha, middle has a dammah, and weakest
has a kasrah. It combines the sub-levels of the saakin letter under their own
respective level.

This concludes the 몭rst category of tafkheem. The next category may be looked
at over a couple of posts. It’s nothing to fret about, though

Resources Link:

Sifaatul Aaridah: Letters of Tafkheem

Sifaatul Huroof Pt 2

 FEBRUARY 22, 2012  LEAVE A COMMENT

This post wraps up sifaatul huroof by noting the de몭nition of sifaatul ‘aaridah, as
well as pointing out some important notes.

Sifaatul ‘Aaridah as brie몭y discussed in the previous post, is translated

to ‘redundant characteristics’. A sifah ‘aaridah is that characteristic which “adds
to” or “completes” a letter, such that if it were to be removed from it, it would not
affect the actual letter; it is an additional right [which must be exercised] of the
letter. Examples of sifaatul ‘aaridah include rules such as tafkheem, idghaam,
ikhfaa, and imaalah. Most of these rules of tajweed have been studied closely on
the site as independant tajweed rules.
 

To conclude sifaatul huroof, there are a few things to note.

Firstly, hamzah is of two types: hamzatul wasl, and hamzatul qat‘. Follow the
links on each to read about them in detail.

Secondly, although the letters yaa and waaw come in two forms
(vowels/maddeeyah and consonant) the letter alif is always a vowel (madd
letter). Since a word can only begin with a consonant sound, if the written form
of the alif begins a word, really it is a form of hamzah (see hamzah posts).

Finally, enjoy the documents uploaded to the resources page containing a table
of the letters and their sifaat, as well as the makhaarij of the letters [these may
take a couple of days to go live].

Sifaatul Huroof
 FEBRUARY 14, 2012  6 COMMENTS

As we encounter new people in our lives, we pick up on their characteristics, their

qualities and way of being. We learn to appreciate or criticise these. In the same
way, the letters of tajweed all have rights which we must abide by. They have
characteristics, or qualities, most of which we must embrace, and few which we
must avoid…
Sifaatul huroof [1]: directly translates to “characteristics of the letters”. It is
important to study these to ensure they are present during recitation, such that
letters emerging from the same makhraj (point of articulation) are differentiated.
Perfection in pronunciation cannot be obtained unless both the sifah
(characteristic/quality) and makhraj are correct.

Sifaatul huroof are divided into two categories:

1. Sifaatul laazimah (al-thaatiyyah) [2]

translated to ‘permanent characteristics’ is that characteristic which is part

of the makeup of the letter, it cannot be removed from it; it is a right [which
must be exercised] of the letter.

2. Sifaatul ‘aaridah (al-zaa’idah) [3]

translated to ‘redundant characteristics’ is that characteristic which “adds

to” or “completes” a letter, such that if it were to be removed from it, it would
not affect the actual letter; it is an additional right [which must be exercised]
of the letter.

In this post, we’ll hone in on sifaatul laazimah. Within this category, there are 17
characteristics spread across two branches. The 몭rst branch is sifaatul
mutadaaddah[4] which means opposing characteristics (that is, for any given
characteristic, there is an opposite characteristic). The second branch is sifaat
ghayr mutadaaddah[5] which means characters without opposites.

Sifaatul Mutadaaddah

Five characteristics, with 몭ve opposites total ten of the 17 sifaat. Each letter has
at least 몭ve characteristics, one from either pair of opposites.Below is the list of
몭ve pairs in the format of sifah, then opposing sifah.
몭ve pairs in the format of sifah, then opposing sifah.

1. Al-Hams ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﻬﻣﺱ‬whispering: 몭ow of breath upon pronunciation due to being

fairly independent of the makhraj; applied to the letters

 ‫ ﻫـ‬  ‫ ﻙ‬  ‫ ﻑ‬  ‫ ﺹ‬  ‫ ﺵ‬  ‫ ﺱ‬  ‫ ﺥ‬  ‫ ﺡ‬  ‫ ﺙ‬  ‫ﺕ‬

gathered in the sentence

ْ‫َﻛ‬
‫ﺕ‬ َ‫ﺹ‬
‫ﺳ‬ ْ
ٌ‫َﺧ‬‫ﱠﻪ‬
‫ُﺷ‬ َ
‫َﺣﺛ‬
‫ﻓ‬

2. Al-Jahr ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺟﻬﺭ‬audibility: of the letters which traps air 몭ow due to heavy
reliance on the makhraj; applied to all the remaining letters not included in hams.

3. a) Al-Shiddah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺷﺩﺓ‬strength/force: is when the 몭ow of sound is trapped in

the makhraj; this is due to a heavy reliance on the makhraj and is applied to 8
letters

‫ﻙ‬ ‫ﻕ‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺕ‬ ‫ﺏ‬ ‫ﺃ‬

gathered in the sentence

ْ‫َﻛ‬
‫ﺕ‬ َ
‫ْﺩ ﻗ‬
‫ٍﻁ ﺑ‬
َ ‫ﺃﺟ‬
ِ

3. b) Al-tawasut/Al-bayneeyah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺑﻳﻧﻳﺔ‬is a middle characteristic, lingering

betwen shiddah and rakhaawah (the opposite sifah); this is when the sound
emerges but does not 몭ow; applied to the letters

‫ﻥ‬ ‫ﻡ‬ ‫ﻝ‬ ‫ﻉ‬ ‫ﺭ‬

gathered in the sentence

‫ْﺭ‬ُ‫ْﻥ‬
‫َﻣ‬
‫ﻋ‬ ‫ِﻟ‬

4. Al-Rakhaawah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺭﺧﺎﻭﺓ‬weakness: such that there is a 몭ow of sound upon

pronunciation; applied to the remaining 16 letters not included in shiddah or al-
bayneeyah.
5. Al-Isti’laa’ ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻻﺳﺗﻌﻼء‬elevation: of aqsal-lisaan (deep area of the tongue)
towards the roof of the mouth when pronouncing one of the seven isti’laa’ letters

‫ﻕ‬ ‫ﻍ‬ ‫ﻅ‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﺽ‬ ‫ﺹ‬ ‫ﺥ‬

gathered in the sentence

ْ‫ٍﻁِﻗ‬
‫ﻅ‬ ‫ْﻐ‬
‫ﺿ‬
َ‫ﺹ‬‫ُﺧﱠ‬

these letters are sometimes referred to as “the grumpy letters”, because the lips
move in when pronouncing them, and because they’re heavy – hence quite a
mouthful to say!

6. Al-Istifaal ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻻﺳﺗﻔﺎﻝ‬lowness: referring to the lowering of the deep area of the

tongue (aqsal lisaan) to the 몭oor of the mouth during the emergence of the letter;
applied to all the remaining letters not mentioned in isti’laa’. These letters are
often called “the happy letters” because the lips form a small smile when
pronouncing them.

7. Al-Itbaaq ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻹﻁﺑﺎﻕ‬closing: referring to pressing the majority of the tongue

against that which corresponds to it from the hard palate; it is applied to four
letters

‫ﻅ‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﺽ‬ ‫ﺹ‬

8. Al-In몭taah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻻﻧﻔﺗﺎﺡ‬opening: referring to the separation of the tongue (or

most of the tongue) from the roof of the mouth upon pronunciation of a letter;
applies to the remaining letters not mentioned in itbaaq.

9. Al-Ithlaaq ( ‫ْﺫﻻﻕ‬
‫ – ) ﺍﻹ‬ease or 몭uency: of the letters emerging from the tip of the
tongue and lips, which are

‫ﻥ‬ ‫ﻡ‬ ‫ﻝ‬ ‫ﻑ‬ ‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﺏ‬

gathered in the sentence

ُْ
‫ﺏ‬ ‫ْﻥ ﻟ‬
‫ﱠﺭَﻣ‬
‫ِﻓ‬

10. Al-Ismaat ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻹﺻﻣﺎﺕ‬refrain or restraint: of the emergence of the letter from

within the mouth and throat; this rule relates to Arabic grammar, but can be taken
as stated above for simplicity; applied to the letters not mentioned in ithlaaq.

Sifaat Ghayr Mutadaaddah

Encapsulates the remaining 7 of 17 characteristics. Some of the above

letters have an additional sifah ghayr mutadaaddah. The actual sifah and it’s
corresponding letter(s) are listed below.

1. Al-Safeer ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺻﻔﻳﺭ‬whistling: that sound emerging from the tip of the tongue
and upper front teeth, audible even when reciting in a whisper. Applied to the
letters

‫ﺹ‬ ‫ﺱ‬ ‫ﺯ‬

 with note that the letter zaay has a more buzzing sound than the whistling
sound in seen and saad.

2. Al-Qalqalah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﻘﻠﻘﻠﺔ‬ vibration/echoing: occurs at the makhraj of the saakin

letter upon pronunciation due to the letter’s strength (shiddah) and audibility
(jahr) correlating to the prevention of breath and sound 몭ow. (This means, when
qalqalah is exercised, a burst of the sound and breath occur, hence making the
letter audible). Applied to the letters

‫ﻕ‬ ‫ﻁ‬ ‫ﺩ‬ ‫ﺝ‬ ‫ﺏ‬

gathered in the sentence

‫ﺏَﺟﺩ‬
ُ‫ﻁ‬ُْ
‫ﻗ‬

3. Al-Leen ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﻠﻳﻥ‬ease: in pronouncing the letter (emergence of the letter

without exertion). Applied to the letters waaw saakinah and yaa saakinah that
follow a fat-ha

ْ  ‫ْﻭ‬
‫ﻱ‬

such as in the words

such as in the words

Khawf

Al-sayf

4. Al-Inhiraaf ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻻﻧﺣﺭﺍﻑ‬inclination: of the tongue, such that the makhraj for the
two letters laam ( ‫ ) ﻝ‬and raa ( ‫ ) ﺭ‬is slightly inclined from the makhraj of noon ( ‫ﻥ‬
). Another explanation of this sifah states: it’s the inclination of the letter after it
emerges from it’s makhraj towards another makhraj. This applies to the letters

‫ﺭ‬ ‫ﻝ‬

such that laam inclines towards the tip of the tongue and the letter raa inclines
back towards the makhraj of the laam.

5. Al-Takreer ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺗﻛﺭﻳﺭ‬repetition: or rolling the tongue upon pronouncing the

letter. This quality applies to the letter

‫ﺭ‬

and should be avoided by pressing the tip of the tongue against the hard palate
and letting it ‘roll’ back once (to produce the sound of raa).

ّ
6. Al-Tafashee ( ‫ﺷﻲ‬
ِ ‫ – ) ﺍﻟﺗﻔ‬diffusion: of air in the mouth upon pronouncing the
letter. Applies to the letter

‫ﺵ‬
7. Al-Istitaalah ( ‫ – ) ﺍﻻﺳﺗﻁﺎﻟﺔ‬elongation: referring to the length of the makhraj; or
the extension of sound over the entire edge of the tongue. It is a characteristic of
the letter

‫ﺽ‬

and is particularly noticeable when the letter has a sukoon, such as in the word

Al-fadli

That wraps up the 몭rst category of sifaatul huroof. I’m hoping a cosy feeling has
set upon you as you’ve realised that some of the sifaat ghayr mutadaaddah are
actually tajweed rues we’ve covered before. Links to them are above.

Resources link:

–Makhaarij Al-Huroof document

–Muthakarah Fit-tajweed [page 53 – 56]

[1]
‫ﺻﻔﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﺣﺭﻭﻑ‬
[2]
‫ﺻﻔﺎﺕ ﻻﺯﻣﺔ – ﺍﻟﺫﺍﺗﻳﺔ‬
[3]
‫ﺻﻔﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻌﺎﺭﺿﺔ – ﺍﻟﺯﺍﺋﺩﺓ‬
[4]
‫ّﺓ‬
‫ﺻﻔﺎﺕ ﺍﻟﻣﺗﺿﺎﺩ‬
[5]
‫ّﺓ‬
‫ﺻﻔﺎﺕ ﻏﻳﺭ ﻣﺗﺿﺎﺩ‬
PLEASE DONATE

Alhamdulillah you've found this site in your search of knowledge. May you bene몭t from it, and may it
help you in your Quranic journey. If you could take a moment to donate kindly, your donation will help
maintain this site and keep it here on the web for many more years to come inshaAllah. May Allah
accept and multiply your reward. Aameen!

SITE SEARCH

Search …

SUBSCRIBE

enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive noti몭cations of new posts by email.

Email Address

SIGN ME UP!

Join 707 other subscribers

TAJWEED INDEX

Follow this link to view this blog's complete tajweed rules index.

CATEGORIES

Makhaarij (6)

Sifaat (4)

Tajweed (36)

Advanced Tajweed (13)

 Basic Tajweed Rules (21)

Tajweed Quizzes (1)

Uncategorized (1)

ARCHIVES

February 2013

November 2012

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

December 2011

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

August 2011

July 2011

June 2011

May 2011

April 2011

March 2011

February 2011

January 2011

December 2010