Pure Tajweed Topics
18. Madd Laazim – Huroof al-Muqatta’aat
20. Full Ghunna Meem and Noon Mushaddad
In addition to the origin of letters, you need to learn the qualities (Sifaat) of letters. There are two types: Mutadhaaddah مُتَضَادَّهْ and Ghair- Mutadhaaddah غَيْرْمُتَضَادَّهْ . Mutadhaaddah مُتَضَادَّهْ have opposites to each other and Ghair–Mutadhaaddah غَيْرْمُتَضَادَّهْ do not have opposites.
There are 11 types of letters that have Mutadhaaddah qualities. These are divided into five pairs and a single type. Each pair contains letters with opposite qualities. The 11 types are called ‘whispered’ (hams), ‘voiced’ (jahr), ‘hard’ (shiddat), ‘soft’ (rikhwa), ‘medium’ (tawassut), ‘raised’ (isti’laa), ‘low’ (istifaal), ‘closed’ (itbaaq), ‘open’ (infitaah), ‘ease’ (izhlaaq) and ‘sharp’ (ismaat).
The 10 ‘whispered’ (Hams) letters are ف ح ث ه ش خ ص س ك ت. The sounds of the letters are read low, so that the breath remains flowing. For e.g. theث in يَلْهَثْ. The remaining 18 letters, i.e., ا ب ج د ذ ر ز ض ط ظ ع غ ق ل م ن و ى are called ‘voiced’ (Jahr) letters. The sound is read so high that the breath will stop. For example the ء in مَأْكُوْلٍ .
There are eight ‘hard’ (Shiddat) letters, which are ا ج د ق ط ب ك ت and the sound of which are read ‘hard’. For example, the د in اَحَدْ . The remaining 20 letters are called ‘soft’ (Rikhwa) letters. These are ث ح خ ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ظ ع غ ف ل م ن و ه ى. The sounds of these letters are read so high that the breath will stop. For example, the ء in مَأْكُوْلٍ. There is another category of five letters which are read in a ‘medium’ (Tawassut) way. These are ل ن ع م ر and their sounds are read in-between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’. For example, ل in قُلْ.
The ‘raised’ (Isti’laa) letters are a group of seven, which are خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ. These letters are read with most of the tongue from the back raised towards the palate. For example, the خ in خَيْرٌ. The remaining 21 letters are known as the ‘low’ (Istifaal) letters, these are ا ب ت ث ج ح د ذ ر ز س ش ع ف ك ل م ن و ه ى. These letters are read with most of the tongue from the back not raised towards the palate. For example, ذ in كَذَالِكَ.
The four ‘closed’ (Itbaaq) letters are ص ض ط ظ. These are read with the centre of the tongue touching the palate. For example, ط in مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرْ. As for the remaining 24 letters of this category, they called the ‘open’ (Infitaah) letters. They are read with the centre of the tongue not touching the palate. For example, ك in كَمْ. The ‘open’ letters are ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن و ه ى
The final pair of numbers have six and 22 letters grouped as ‘ease’ (Ithlaaq) and ‘sharp’ (Ismaat) letters respectively. The 22 ‘sharp’ letters are ا ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ق ك و ه ى. These are read firmly and slowly. For example, ض in وَاضْرِبْ. The six ‘ease’ letters are ف ر م ن ل ب and these are read easily and quickly. For example, م in اَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ.
www.puretajweed.org 