Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L1: ARABIC LETTERS IN CONNECTED FORM
Arabic letters look slightly different when they are joined together to make words. Most letters have
their tails cut off when they are connected at the beginning or in the middle of a word, but they keep
their true form when connected at the end of a word. They are recognized by their heads and their
number of dots positioned above or below the letter:
‫ــ‬
‫ــ‬
‫ــ‬
‫ ــ‬
&‫(ـ'ـ‬
‫
ــ‬
‫ــ‬
‫ــ‬
)‫ـ*ـ‬+
‫ــ‬
‫ــ‬
‫ "ـ!ـ‬#‫ـ‬$‫ـ‬%
,‫ـ‬-‫ـ‬.
‫ــ‬
Some of the Arabic letters change forms when connected, there are others which connect only at the
end of a word, and some do not connect at all to any letters to make a word. Following are such
exceptional letters that we need to recognize, practice, and remember:
CHANGING FORMS
These five letters Change
their forms completely when
they connect to other letters
0‫ـ‬1‫ـ‬2 3‫ـ‬4‫ هـ‬8‫ـ‬6‫ آـ‬9‫ـ‬:‫>ـ=ـ< ;ـ‬
END-CONNECTORS
?‫ ـ@ ـ‬A‫ ـ‬B‫ ـ‬C‫ـ‬
D‫ـ‬
These six letters do not connect to any
letter following it at the beginning or in
the middle of a word. They only
connect at the end of a word.
Laam Alif: This double letter is laam and alif written together as one letter. It too is
connected only at the end or by itself.
E‫ـ‬
Ta’ Marbutah: This double letter is ta and ha written together as one letter. It too is
connected only at the end of a word or written by itself.
F‫ـ‬
NON-CONNECTORS
Hamza: This is a selfish letter, because it does not connect to any
letter. It can be written alone by itself, or can be placed over or under
Alif, over Waw, or over Ya. It makes the same sound as an Alif (‘a’).
‫ة‬
‫ـ ء‬L‫أ إ ؤ ئ ـ‬
Practice the different Arabic alphabets in their connected forms, in the beginning, middle and end or
words from the Qaidah.
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L2: THE HARAKAAT (ARABIC VOWELS)
The word Harakah means movement. The Harakah or Short Vowels make the sound of the letters
move, therefore the vowels in Arabic are symbols placed just above or below the letter to move its
sound, one harakah in a certain direction. There are three Arabic Short Vowels or Harakaat: Fatahah
(Zabar) producing an ‘a’ sound (as in Car, Caught, hat), and Dammah (Pesh) producing an ‘u’ sound (as
in Put), and Kasrah (Zer) producing an ‘i’ sound (as in Big).
Harakah
Looks
Fathah (Zabar):
This is written as
slanting stroke
above the letter
Dammah (Pesh):
It’s a large comma
above the letter
Kasrah (Zer):
It’s a slanting stroke
below a letter
(‫)ـــََــ‬
(‫)ـــُــ‬
With Different Letters it Sounds different
It Sounds like:
With letters ‫ ح‬and ‫ ع‬it sounds like ‘a’ as in Car, Hart
With Mufakkham letters it sounds like
‘au’ as in Caught
With all other letters it sounds like ‘a’ as in Cat, Sat
With all the letters it sounds the same ‘u’ as in Put, Pull
With Mufakkham letters it sounds thick
‘i’ as in ْ‫ِـ‬
(‫)ـــِــ‬
With all other letters it sounds crisp thin
‘i’ as in Big, Sit
QQ-L2: MUFAKKHAM (Strong/Thick/Heavy) LETTERS
The vowels may have different sounds when they are on different letters, therefore at this point, it is
important to know some of the characteristics of certain letters that would affect the way the vowels are
sound in a word. The Mufakkham Arabic letters make the vowels sound heavy or thick.
Always Mufakkham Letters:
With all harakaat:
These four letters are read as
strong/heavy/thick all the time.
(‫)ــَــًـــُـــٌـــِــٍـ‬
Sometimes Mufakkham:
These letters are read as
strong/heavy/thick only when
they have a single or double
fathah and single or double
dammah on them.
Only with some:
‫ص ض ط ظ‬
‫ر‬
‫ق غ‬
‫خ‬
(‫)ـــَــًـــُـــٌـ‬
Practice the different vowel sounds of Mufakkham vs. Light/Thin letters from the Qaidah.
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L3: SUKUUN ON THE LETTERS
The word Sukuun means peace, so the sound stops the movement when it lands upon a letter with the
Sukuun. It is a symbol placed on top of the letter in a shape of a small letter Daal or a small circle. The
Sukuun connects a letter to the one before it. The letter with a Sukuun on it, is called Saakin.
Sukuun (Jazm)
The job of a Sukuun is to
connect. The letter with a
sukuun on top of it will
connect to the letter before it.
It looks like:
(‫ )ـــــ‬or (‫)ـــْــ‬
No Harakah sound of Sukuun
The harakah sound from the first letter stops on
the Sukuun, so you hear just the beginning
sound of the letter which has Sukuun over it
Ex.
jin ِْ‫ـ‬
kul ْ‫آُـ‬
QQ-L3: QALQLAH (BOUNCY) LETTERS
Certain Arabic letters are hard, so when they are Saakin, it makes the vowel sound bounce up a little
when it lands on them. That’s why they are called QALQALAH (bouncy) letters. This bounce is only
half a harakah long. There are five Bouncy letters which can be remembered easily by the word:
‘Qu-Tu-ba-ja-da’
The five Qalqalah (bouncy) letters are hard letters.
When the first letter’s harakah sound lands on the
bouncy letter with a sukuun, then the end sound
ّ َ‫ـُْ ـَْ ـَـْ ـَْ ـ‬
bounces up a little. Ex. ْ‫قْ طْ بْ جْ د‬
QQ-L3: H E M S (WHISPERING) LETTERS
There are eight Arabic letters that always let out air as you say them. There are two more letters which
normally don’t, but when they are Saakin, they let out air (by adding a small ‘h’ sound to it). These TEN
letters are called HEMS or Whispering letters. These can be remembered easily by the word:
‘FaHathThaHu, ShaKhSun; SaKaT’
Always Hems Letters:
These letters make a whispering
sound (let out air) as you read them.
Ex. Saff ْ‫َـ‬
‫ﻑ حث ه ش خص س‬
Sometimes Hems Letters- These two letters make a whispering sound (add h to
it ) when there is a Sukuun over it. Ex: ‘Alimath َْ‫ !ـَـ ِــ‬dhikhra "
َ ْ‫ِذ آـ‬
ْ‫ ْ ْ ت‬
QQ-L3: DAUD SAAKIN – Swallow the bouncing sound of daal
When the letter Daud has a sukuun on it, then there should be NO bounce on it. It
should NOT sound like the Saakin Daal. You just swallow the end bouncing sound,
before reading the next letter after it.
Ex. ُ ‫ْـ‬$َ‫ـ‬% faD.lu
ْ'‫ ـَ&ْـ‬ba’D.
ْ‫ض‬
QQ-L3: HAMZAH SAAKIN (Glottal Stop) ALIF SAAKIN
Hamzah saakin (alone or above an Alif, Ya, or Waw) makes a jerky sound of the vowels ‘a’, ‘i’, ‘u’, so
DONOT lengthen them. In the Persian script, the Hamzah saakin on the Alif is represented by a
sukuun only, so it looks like an Alif saakin. Ex. ِ ‫ ِـ(ْـ‬ji’ti ُ ‫ُـ*ْ )ِـ‬+ yu’minu ٌ‫ْ ن‬-‫ َـ‬sha’nun
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L4: TANWEEN (Double Harakaat)
Tanwiin means adding an ’n’ sound to the vowel ‘a’, ‘u’ or ‘i’ by doubling the Fathah, Dammah or
Kasrah. Actually, Tanween is just another way of writing ‘an’, ‘un’ or ‘in’. The Tanween are the
Fathatain, Dammatain and Kasratain, and they only occur at the end of a word. Note: After the
Fathatain an Alif appears, but it will not be read. Practice the lessons with Tanween from the Qaidah.
Shortened Harakah
Fathatain
(Double Fathah
or double Zabar)
Dammatain
(Double Dammah
or double Pesh)
Kasratain
(Double Kasrah
or double Zer)
It looks like:
It’s position:
(‫)ـــًـ‬
It’s placed on Top
of the letter
(‫)ـــٌـ‬
It’s placed on Top
of the letter
(‫)ـــٍـ‬
It’s placed just
under the letter
It sounds like:
‘an’ sound (as afwaajan)
ً‫َا!ـ‬$‫َا ْـ‬
‘un’ sound (as nuurun)
ٌ‫ْ ر‬$‫&ُـ‬
‘in’ sound (as Tabaqin)
ٍ'‫)َـ(َـ‬
NOTE: In the Uthmani or Madani Script, the Tanween is written in two ways:
-
When the Tanween is written in its proper form, the Nuun is pronounced sharply and clearly.
When the Tanween is written in a slightly staggered form, then the Nuun is pronounced with a
Ghunna or nasalization.
QQ-L5: MADDAH LETTERS (Long vowels Sounds)
Maddah letters help the vowels to stretch the letter’s sound to two harakaat. There are three Maddah
letters, each one works together with a particular vowel of its own kind. Alif and fathah together makes
the long ‘aa’ sound, Waw and Dammah together makes the long ‘uu’ (oo) sound, Ya and Kasrah
together makes the long ‘ii’ (ee) sound. Practice the difference in the sound of one harakah vs. two
harakaat of long vowels from the Qaidah.
Maddah letters (‫)ا ﻭ ي‬
It looks like:
It sound like:
If the first letter has a fathah and the
second letter is Alif, then the ‘a’ sound of
fathah is stretched for 2 counts as ‘aa’.
‫ ا‬+ (‫)ـــَـ‬
‘aa’ sound (as in albaab)
If the first letter has a dammah and the
second letter is Waw, then the ‘u’ sound of
dammah is stretched for 2 counts as ‘uu’.
ْ‫ ﻭ‬+ (‫)ـــُـ‬
‘uu’ sound (as in nuur)
If the first letter has a kasrah and the
second letter is Ya , then the ‘i’ sound of
kasrah is stretched for 2 counts as ‘ii’(ee).
ْ‫ ي‬+ (‫)ـــِـ‬
‘ii’ sound (as in fiil)
‫ب‬
ٍ َ‫ـْ(ـ‬- ‫أ‬
ْ‫ْ ر‬$‫&ـُـ‬
ْ/‫ْـ‬0‫ِــ‬
NOTE: In the Persian Script the ‘Yaa’ and the ‘Waw’ of the long vowels have a Sukuun over them, but
in the Uthmani or Madani Script there are NO Sukuun on ‘Yaa’ and the ‘Waw’ of the long vowels.
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L5: SHORT HAND SYMBOLS OF LONG VOWELS
Sometimes the long vowels are written in a short hand version, as symbols on top or below the letter.
These are pronounced exactly the same way as their corresponding long vowels, even though they look
different. Practice reading the words with these special long vowel symbols from the Qaidah.
Short hand Harakah
It looks like:
It is the same as:
It sounds like:
Upright Alif
(Standing Alif
or Khara Zabar))
(‫)ـــــــ‬
‫ ا‬+ (‫)ـــَـ‬
‘aa’ sound (as muusaa)
‫ا‬
Inverted Dammah
(Upside down Dammah
or Ultaa Pesh)
(‫)ـــــــ‬
ْ‫ ﻭ‬+ (‫)ـــُـ‬
‘uu’ sound (as lahuu)
Upright Kasrah
(Standing Kasrah
or Khari Zer)
(‫)ـــــــ‬
ْ‫ ي‬+ (‫)ـــِـ‬
‘ii’ sound (as in bihii)
23$ُ
‘4‫ـَـ‬4‫ـِـ‬5
‫ا‬
NOTE: In the Uthmani Scripts, these shorthand signs are replaced by a mini Yaa’ and a mini Waw.
QQ-L6: LIIN LETTERS (Dual Vowel Sounds)
The letters Waw and Yaa are also called Liin letters because they are flexible letters. They blend with
the vowel sound from the previous letter, allowing two vowel sounds. When a Fathah is followed by a
Saakin ‘Waw’, the vowel sound starts off as an ‘a’ sound and ends as a ‘u’ sound (rhymes with Cow).
When a Fathah is followed by a Saakin ‘Ya’, the vowel sound starts off as an ‘a’ sound and ends as an
‘i’ sound (rhymes with Ice). Practice reading the words with Liin letters from the Qaidah.
Liin letters (‫) ﻭ ي‬
If the First letter has a fathah and
the second letter has a Waw with a
Sukuun on it, then the two vowel
sounds (‘a’ and ‘u’) are blended.
If the First letter has a fathah and
the second letter has a Ya with a
sukuun on it, then the two vowel
sounds (‘a’ and ‘i’) are blended.
It looks like:
Mixed vowel sound
ْ‫ ﻭ‬+ (‫)ـــَـ‬
‘a+w ’ sound (as Sawfa, yawm)
ْ‫ ى‬+ (‫)ـــَـ‬
‘a+y’ sound (as in Khayr, bayth)
‫ﻑ‬
َ ْ$َ6
ْ:ْ‫ـ‬0‫;َــ‬
ْ‫ْ م‬$‫َـ‬8
ْ<ْ‫ـ‬0َ‫ـ‬5
NOTE: In both the Persian and Uthmani Scripts, the ‘Yaa’ and the ‘Waw’ of the mixed vowels will
have Sukuun on them.
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L7:
FAR’I MADD (Sign of Stretching of Vowels)
The word Madd means to stretch, therefore when a wavy line of Maddah is place over a long voweled
letter, the vowel sound is stretched even more, up to 3-6 harakaat (counts or seconds). To have a rough
estimation of the # of harakaat, while saying the vowel move your thumb to touch the tips of that many
fingers. Read the short Maddah sign 3-4 harakah long, and the long Maddah sign 4-6 harakah long:
Short Maddah
Long Maddah
When a Maddah is at the end of a word,
and an Alif or Hamza follows it, at the
beginning of the next word.
3-4 counts
Optional
When a Maddah is in the middle of a
word, and an Alif or Hamza follows it, in
the same word.
4-5 counts
Obligatory
When after a Maddah there is a letter
(other than Hamza or Alif) which has a
Sukuun or Shadd on it.
6 counts
Obligatory
When the Maddah is on some special
letters which are read by their letter
names (not as a word).
6 counts
Obligatory
Qaaluuu
=&‫إ‬
innaa
?$ُُ‫ـ‬- @
Qaaaaa’iman
ً‫ِـ‬A Bَ‫@َـ‬
addaaaaaalliin
C
َ ْ‫ـ‬0D‫ـ‬- Bَ‫ـ‬E- ‫ا‬
alif LaaaaamMiiiiim
~
‫ــ‬- ‫ا‬
QQ-L7: SHADDAH (ٍSign of Shiddah or Force)
The word Shiddah means to intensify or to put strong emphasis on something. Therefore when a
Shaddah, a small w like symbol appears over any letter, it is read with force or intensity. The letter
with the Shaddah is read twice: first the letter connects with the previous letter (like with a Sukuun),
and at the same time it is read again with its own vowel sound. When the Shaddah appears on letters
with special qualities (such as Bouncy, Liin, or Ghunna letters), it makes their qualities intensify:
A Shaddah connects the letter with the
one before it and then it is read with its
harakah. The letter with a Shaddah is a
double letter, so read it with force.
If the Shaddah is on a Nuun or a Miim,
it first connects them to the letter before it,
and then the Ghunnah (nasal sound) on
the Nuun or Miim is held for 2 counts
If the Shaddah is on a Liin Letter (‫) ﻭ ي‬,
it first connects the two vowels, and then
the Liin letter is read with its harakah.
If the Liin Letter (‫ ) ﻭ ي‬has a Shaddah
over it, and before it there’s a Tanween
or nuun Saakin, then make a nasal
sound while connecting the Tanween
with it, and then read it with its harakah.
watabba = watab+ba
(‫)ــَـ‬+(‫)ــّـ( = )ــْـ‬
(َ‫)ن‬+(ْ‫)ن=( = )ن‬
(َ‫)ﻭ‬+(ْ‫)ــَ =ﻭ( = ) ــَ ﻭ‬
(ُ‫)ي‬+(ْ‫ي( = )ــَ ي‬
L َ‫)ــ‬
(َ‫)ﻭ‬+(ْ‫)ــٍ =ﻭ(= ) ــٍ ﻭ‬
(َ‫)ي‬+(ْ‫ي(= )ــً ي‬
= ً‫)ــ‬
H
=َ َ‫ـ‬Iَ‫ﻭ‬
innahuu = in + nahuu
ُ4‫إ &=ـ‬
awwalu
‫ل‬
ُ ‫َا =ﻭ‬
‫َـ‬N‫ـ‬L8 ‫َا‬
lahabinwwa ‫ﻭ‬
=H
ٍ ‫َـ‬Nَ‫ـ‬ayyuhaa
manyya’mal
ْ/َ‫ْـ‬O=8 ْCَ
Qira’atul Qur’an: Basic Rules
QQ-L7: PUNCTUATION SIGNS (Stopping Signs)
If possible, we should read an Aayah in a single breath, but if the Aayah is too long or we can’t hold
our breath for that long, then we should try to stop only at appropriate stopping places (in order not
to affect the meaning of what has been said by Allaah). These appropriate stopping places are
indicated by small punctuation signs above and between the words in the Aayah:
‫)ـ‬
Stop at this sign, if it is within the ayah
- - ‫ط ج ز ق‬
Can stop or continue reading at this sign
3
..
45‫و‬
‫س‬
Don’t Stop at this sign, continue reading
..
Stop at one of these signs, but not both
489:
Pause at this sign, but do not break here
QQ-L7: STOPPING RULES
It’s Sunnah to momentarily stop at the end of each Aayah. If the recitation is stopped at the end of an
Aayah or paused momentarily just to catch a breath, observe the following rules:
When stopping at a letter with Fatahatain
pronounce as Alif + Fathah
maa’aa
ً‫ـْ(ـ‬0‫َر@ِـ‬
raqeebaa
When stopping at a letter with Ta’
Marbutah, pronounce it as a Saakin ha’
ٌRَ0‫َ ِـ‬S
ٌR‫َـ‬T‫ـََ ِر‬Uْ‫ـ‬-َ‫ا‬
Haamiyah
alqaari ‘ah
H
= َ‫ـ‬I‫ﻭ‬
watabb
C
= ‫ُـ‬Nَ3 َ(‫ـ‬-ِ
libaasahunn
ْ:َ‫ـ‬NْVَ‫ـ‬I
2WLE- ‫َﻭ ٱ‬
tanhar
wadduHaa
ٌْ‫ـ‬0‫ِـ‬Xَ‫ـ‬T
‫ب‬
ٍ َ(ْ‫ـ‬- ‫أ‬
‘Adheem
albaab
When stopping at a letter with Shaddah
drop the Harakah, read with Shaddah
When stopping at an Alif Maqsurah or a
Saakin letter, read without change
In all other cases, drop the last Harakah
(make the last word Saakin)
‫ ًء‬Bَ
QQ8. Now you are ready to learn and practice more advanced Rules of Tajweed from
the Tajweed Practice Sheets!