Pure Tajweed Topics
18. Madd Laazim – Huroof al-Muqatta’aat
20. Full Ghunna Meem and Noon Mushaddad
Makhraj is the place where the sound of a letter originates from. There are 17 places of Makhaarij. These are divided into five main categories: cavity, throat, tongue, lips and nose. This is the view of Muhammad ibn Al-Jazaree who states:
“The articulation points of the letters are seventeen. According to those who chose it by examination.”
The description of these letters and how they should be pronounced are provided for identification and awareness, rather than for learning the sounds. That is to say, you will only be able to learn how to pronounce and articulate each letter by learning with a competent teacher of Quran and Tajweed. The accurate and compliant recitation of the words of Allah requires a fine blend of the science and art of Quranic recitation.
The elongation letters ا و ى come from the cavity, the inner-middle part of the mouth (Jawf). These are pronounced from the emptiness of the mouth. The throat letters (Huroof Halqi) come from different parts of the throat. The letters ء ه are uttered from the bottom of the throat, ع ح from the centre and غ خ from the top of the throat.
Letters ق ك ج ش ى ض ل ن ر ت د ط ث ذ ظ ز س ص originate from different parts of or relate to the tongue (Lisaan). Letters ق and ك are called Huroof al-Lahaatiyyah. You mustpronounce ق from the extreme back of the tongue when touching the palate. As for ك, it is pronounced from the middle-back of the tongue when touching the palate. The letters ج ش ى are called Huroof al-Shajriyyah and are pronounced from the middle of the tongue. Harf al-Haafiyyah refers to the letter ض, which is pronounced when the back edge of the tongue touches the upper back teeth. The three letters ل ن ر are called Huroof al-Tarfiyyah and Zalqiyyah. Letter ل is pronounced when the sides of the tongue touch the gums of the premolars. Letter ن is pronounced when the sides of the tongue touch the gums of the canines. And letter ر is pronounced when the sides of the tongue as well as the tip touch the gums of central and lateral incisors. Another trio of letters, ت د ط, which are called Huroof al-Nit’iyyah, and are pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the roots of the upper central incisors. As for Huroof al- Lithwiyyah letters, these areث ذ ظ and are pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the edge of the upper central incisors. The final three letters in this subcategory are ز س ص and are called Huroof al- Asaliyyah. These are pronounced when the tip of the tongue touches the edge of the lower central incisors.
In this category, there are only four letters that relate to the lips (Shafatain), which are ف ب م و, they are called Huroof al-Shafawiyyah. The letter ف is pronounced when the edge of the upper front teeth touch the bottom lip. The letters ب م و are pronounced from both lips.
The final category refers to a sound rather than any letters. That is the sound produced from the nose (Khayshoom). This is a ‘special sound’ called Ghunna and is made when some letters are combined with other letters and or vowels (Harakaat).
These descriptions of how to pronounce the letters may seem quite overbearing, and it may well be. You can see the limitation of a well-intended Tajweed guide, that is you cannot learn to pronounce the sounds of Arabic letters from a book. A good concise learning book is a starting point. However, what is essential is that you learn from a competent Tajweed teacher.
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