Islamic Literacy Level 2

Week 1 Makharij: Articulation points Surah Iklas Week 2 Recap: Vowels /Sukun

Tafkheem/ Tarqeeq & Qalqalah letters

Week 3 Shaddah: double Week 4 Moon & Sun laam Surah FalaqWeek 5 Madd Part 1: stretching Week 6 Madd Part 2: stretchingWeek 7 Letters of Al-leen & catch upWeek 8 Rules of Nun with Sukun P1 Surah NasWeek 9 Rules of Nun with Sukun P2Week 10 Rules of meem with a sukun

Lesson 1Makhārij : Articulation Points

The Articulation Points of Letters

The word makhraj in Arabic means ‘exit’ and in this science, it means ‘articulation point’. These are the places where letters emanate from. In Arabic these are called makhārij (مخارج). The singular is makhraj (مخرج).

The 5 general makhārij are:1. Throat– al ḥalq

2. Nasal cavity – al khayshūm

3. Oral cavity – al jawf

4. Lips – al shafatān

5. Tongue – al lisān

Each general makhraj has at least one specific makhraj. We shall look at the specific makhārij under each category.

Makhārij al-Halq: Articulation Points of the Throat

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The throat has 3 specific points.These are:

1. Upper part of the throat– 2. Middle part of the throat 3. Lowest part of the throat

6 letters in total come from this makhraj and are illustrated in the diagram below.

*  This is the makhraj of the hamza regardless of how it appears, as the hamza can appear in a number of ways, as shown below.

Makhārij Al-Lisan :Articulation Points of the Tongue

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The tongue has 10 specific point. The tongue is therefore the most complex of all of the makhārij as it has the most letters.These can be divided into four sections:

- Back of the tongue- Middle part of the tongue- Edge of the tongue- Tip of the tongue

Makhārij Ashafatayn: Articulation points of the lips

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ف ب و م

Makhraj al-Khayshūm: Articulation Point of the Nasal Cavity

The quality of nasalisation ghunna (غنة) comes from here, which is produced when the ن nūn or م mīm is mushaddad (ie. has a shadda) or in the appropriate cases of nūn and mīm sākinah where ghunna is done. This is held of two counts. (ie. in nūn sākin ikhfā, idghām and qalb, and in mīm sākin ikhfā and idghām). These rules will be studied later.This is illustrated in the diagram below. If you were to block you nose the ghunna would not come out. Try it.

Lesson 2: Vowels (Harakat) : Recap

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In Arabic every letter in a word has a vowel or an absence of a vowel.

There are 3 types of vowels in the Arabic language.

FatahAbove the

letter/a ث ت ب

KasraBelow the

letter0e ث ت ب

DammaAbove the

letter 1u ث ت ب

Mixed Vowel Practice

كتب جعل ترك لعبطلب طرق زكي رمسترك كدخ نبل حمد

فقطع عملك أبل ضجأ

Letters absent of a vowel : Sukun

This is when a letter does not have a vowel on it and it has the symbol ه on the letter. This indicates that you join the letter before the letter with the sukun.

For example

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أب = أ + ب= بر ب + ر= فت ف + ت هم = ه + م

كمل + ك = م + ل

Practice words which have a Sukun

بر �أ طا �ن �فل ه �م �له

رة �ن لم �أ �لم قا �خ ل ف

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ه ت � رك �و لها م يهاج ن �بإ

من �ي ن ��ش ت �كن � كرون �ي قال أها

ت ص �أ � عل �ن خلون �ي كلون ��ت م و ��

م �مح � رهي �إم

رة �ن ثرو �وين

ت �كن �

Lesson 3Tafkhīm & Tarqīq: Thickness and Thinness in LettersLetters in the Arabic language may be divided into one of three categories, with regard to a quality of thickness or thinness they may contain.1. Thickness – al tafkhīm

The letters of tafkhīm contain a thickness to the sound which is always present in the letter, regardless of what vowel the letter contains. This thickness will usually make the mouth into an ‘o’ shape, but when it contains a kasra, the nature of the kasra will make the lips flatter and closer to a smile.There are 7 letters in this category which are:

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ق غ ظ ط ض ص خ

2. Thinness - al tarqīq

The letters of tarqīq have a thin and light quality to them which is always present in the letter. Regardless of whether the letter has a fatḥa, kasra, ḍamma or sukūn, the letter will always have this thinness to it. This thinness will usually make the mouth into a smile, with the lips flat. However, when the letter contains a ḍamma, the nature of the ḍamma will force the lips to dome and will therefore resemble an ‘o’ shape.There are 18 letters in this category which are:

س ز ذ د ح ج ث ت بي ه و ن م ك ف ع ش

3. Either (ترك م �ا � ) – al mushtarak

The remaining 3 letters of the Arabic alphabet can be either tafkhīm or tarqīq depending on other factors. As opposed to the previous two categories, these 3 letters have no inherent quality with regard to tafkhīm or tarqīq – rather it is purely dependent on other factors.The 3 letters that are mushtarak are:

ر ل ا

Qalqalah : Echo

There are 5 letters in the Arabic language that produce an echo-type sound when they have a sukūn. This echo, or rebounding of the sound is known as qalqalah.

An original sukūn is one which is always vowelless, regardless of the situation. A temporary sukūn is one which is a sukūn in certain situations. The most obvious example of this is at the end of verses, where we ordinarily pronounce the last letter as a sukūn, despite there being a vowel on the last letter.For example:

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In the verse above, despite there being a fatḥa on the nūn, we would not read it as al ‘ālamīna. Rather we would read it as al ‘ālamīn, as if the nūn had a sukūn.

The 5 letters in this category are:

د ج ب ط ق

These letters are combined in the acronym:

ب جد �ق quta bujid

There are three levels of the qalqalah:

1. Strong

This occurs when a stop is made on a letter of qalqalah which has a shaddah. It is important to note that a stop can be made in the middle of an āyah with certain conditions, although a stop is most commonly done at the end of an āyah.For example:

2. Medium

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This occurs when a stop is made on a letter of qalqalah which does not have a shaddah.

3. Weak

This occurs when a letter of qalqalah has a sukūn but no stop is done.For example

Lesson 3Shaddah : doubling the letter When a letter has a shaddah on it, it means there were originally two of those letters, one weith sakun and the other with a vowel. For example:

� = ر + + برب � = أ + + يأي

� = إ + + نإن *

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In all instances, it is a mistake to make the qalqalah so strong that it adds a fatḥa. The greatest risk of this happening is in the strong qalqalah. However, the sound of the qalqalah inclines towards the fatḥa, regardless of whichever

vowel precedes the letter of qalalah.

� = م + + ممم **When you have mim or nun with a shaddah its called a ghunna (nasalisation) and you hold it for 2 counts.

صفا مم ظن مدا بس حل أش حجة كر يبث �خف سخر

When the letter meem or nun has a shaddah on it, then ghunnah ( nasalisation) takes place and you hold for two counts. We will discuss this further in week 7

Exercise: 1. Can you identify the shaddahs are in this surah?2. Can you spot the letters of qalqalah?

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Lesson 4: Laam Qamariya & Laam Shamsiya

Laam Al Qamariya : or “the Moon Laam” is the laam with a sukun on the laam. which must be pronounced clearly when is it followed one of these letters.

إب غ ح ج ك و خ ف ع ق ي م ه

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This laam occurs at the beginning of the word. For Example:

مرٱ�ق Al- Qamaru

ابٱ�ب Al- Baabu اتحةٱ�ف Al- Fatiha

Laam A-shamsiya: If after the laam or any of the remaining letters, then you do not pronounce the laam clearly.

For example:

سٱ �لش A-shamsu لسلامٱ A-salaamu جمٱ لن A-najamu

Exercise: 1. Spot any laam al-qamariya 2. Spot any laam a-shamsiya

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NOTICE THAT WITH LAAM AL QAMARIYA THE LAAM HAS A SUKUN & THE LETTER AFTER HAS A VOWEL.IN CONTRAST TO LAAM A-SHAMSIYA, THE LAAM DOESN’T HAVE A SUKUN AND THE LETTER AFTER ALWAYS HAS A SHADDAH

Week 5 & 6 Rules of Madd: StretchingMadd means to prolong the sound of the vowel. There are various types of madd, but we will be focusing on 3 types of stretching.

Type 1: Madd Asli: When a letter with a fatha is followed by at alif, a letter with a kasra is followed by a yaa and a letter with a damma is followed by a waw then you stretch the vowel for two counts. They are also known as the letters of madd (huruf al madd)

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OR mini alif, mini yaa, mini waw comes after the lettered vowel we stretch for two counts. Here are some examples. For example:

لم سباب توب جبال

كرةۦهدة هذۥءو�م � تLets find some examples of this in Surah An- Nasr:

Type 2: Madd Mutasil( connected) & Madd Munfasil (separated) : When you see this madd sign ( ) you stretch for 4 or 6 counts.

For example:

عطاؤنWhen a hamza ء comes after a letter of madd, the vowel is stretched for 4 or 6 counts.

(The hamza is either in the same word or next word. Don’t worry, you don’t need to try and work out if the hamza is in the same word or not. The madd symbol will indicate that you need to stretch longer).

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Here are some examples:

ءروق ءسو ءما�أ ما أ �بد

ي أريد إن �ءاباءك �فلماضاء ل ي أ �إن �

Lets look in the Quran to find these 4 count stretches, ( ):

Type 3: Madd Laazim: when you have a letter of madd followed by a shaddah. You stretch the vowel for 6 counts. The most obvious example is in the last verse of surah Al-Fatiha. ض is a Shamsiya letter therefore you do not pronounce the laam.

Lets look at some more examples of Madd Laazim. The vowel is stretched for 3 counts:

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ة دا ب صواف حاجولاءامين ه �بضار حاجوك

Madd Leen:This madd occurs when a ya’ or waw has a sukun and it is preceded by a fatha and has a letter after it then the madd will be read for two harakas. If however a stop is made on the word containing this madd, then it may be read with two, four or six harakas.

Week 7: Mixed Exercise

وة د �له ۥ ك �سلم عل �فيها سلم عم �وهوا ي

فرلك ت �سأ � م صلحا �ن �ة� ن! ن# ن$ ة% ن& أ��' ن( ب* ن, ل- ب/ ن0 ن1

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Week 8:Nun Sakin rules

When a nūn has a sukūn, the way we pronounce the nūn is determined by the letter which comes immediately after it. We also include the tanwīn here as the tanwīn is essentially a nūn sākinah, as shown below.

بن is in effect بــابن is in effect ببن is in effect بTherefore, when we have either a nūn sākinah or a tanwīn followed by another letter, it results in one of the following four states:

1. Iẓhār : ManifestationThe term iẓhār literally means ‘to make something manifest’ and is so termed because the nūn is pronounced clearly from its articulation point (makhraj). It is clear in that all of its qualities (ṣifāt) are articulated, and no nasalisation (ghunnah) occurs. Iẓhār occurs both within a word and within two words, meaning the nūn or tanwīn is at the end of a word and the letter of iẓhār is at the beginning of the next word as we see below.This state occurs when it is followed by any of the following 6 letters, which are also the letters of the throat. The scholars mention that the nūn is pronounced in this way due to the distance between the makhraj of the nūn, which is the tongue, and the throat. 

خ غ ح ع ه ء

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For example:

2. Ikhfā’ - ConcealmentThe term ikhfā’ means ‘to make something hidden or concealed’ as the nūn is not pronounced fully from the makhraj and nasalisation (ghunnah) occurs. The nasalisation is peculiar in that the sound of the nasalisation almost moves to the makhraj of the appropriate letter of ikhfā’. In this way, the ghunnah with a tafkhīm letter will sound tafkhīm, and likewise for tarqīq. Ikhfā’ occurs both within a word and withing two words.

The letters of ikhfā’ are 15.

سش ز ذ د ج ث تك ق طظف ض ص

More examples on Nun Sakin/tanwin Ikfa:

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Week 9: Nun Sakin continued

3. Idghām – Assimilation The term means ‘to assimilate’ as it denotes the assimilation of the nūn into the following letter. There are 6 letters in this category which are sometimes grouped together in the word يرملون

ن ملو ر يThis category divides into a further two categories:

1. Idghām bil ghunnah – Assimilation with nasalisation (deficient assimilation)

Here, a trace of the qualities of nūn remain and nasalisation is done. The letters are:

ن مو ي

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2. Idghām bila ghunnah – Assimilation without nasalisation (complete assimilation)

In this category, there is no trace of the nūn left whatsoever, hence its term ‘complete assimilation’. No nasalisation takes place. The letter following the nūn will take a shadda to account for the lack of the nūn. Complete assimilation occurs due to the proximity of the makhraj of the lām and rā’ to the nūn. It is therefore more natural to combine the letter before the nūn with the letter after, rather than pronounce the nūn separately.  Again, this only ever occurs between two words and not within a word.The letters are: ر ل

Some examples of nun sakin Idgham without ghunna

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Some examples of Tanween Idgham without ghunna

Week 10 Rules of Mīm Sākinah

When a mīm has a sukūn, the way this mīm is pronounced is determined by the letter which comes immediately after it, as with the rules of nūn sākinah. There are three possible states which result:

1. Ikhfā’ - ConcealmentThis occurs when a mīm sākinah is followed by the letter ba. Nasalisation occurs although the mīm is concealed behind the ba and not clearly pronounced. The result is the same as occurs with the qalb under the rules of nūn sākinah, where the nūn becomes a mīm. The lips do not completely seal, and there should be a wafer-thin gap. However, some scholars say that the lips are completely sealed.For example:

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Some examples of Mim Sakin Ikfha:

2. Idghām – AssimilationWhen a mīm sākinah, is followed by another mīm, the mīm will be read with ghunna (nasalisation) and assimilation will occur. This only occurs with the letter mīm م. It is sometimes referred to as idgham mithlayn, meaning assimilation into its like letter.For example:

Some examples of Mim Sakin Idgham

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3. Iẓhār – Manifestation

The remaining 26 letters of the alphabet fall under this category, and the mīm is pronounced clearly from the makhraj of the lips (shafatayn). For this reason, iẓhār is sometimes known as iẓhār shafawī.For example:

Some examples of mim sakin Izhar

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