INTRODUCTION: WITH THE NAME OF ALLAH THE ALL-MERCIFUL, THE VERY MERCIFUL DURUSULQUR’AAN (LESSONS OF QUR’AAN) DurusulQur’aan, a fully interactive Qur’aan reading course, has been designed to aid in learning to recite the Nobel Qur’aan using Arabic text. This course has been developed for both for the Internet and home study for the worldwide Muslims community in various formats. At the present this booklet has been translated into French and Spanish. History of the course development: Internet version using java script released in 1998 Printed version of this booklet with sound released in 2003 Interactive version developed in Adobe Flash released in 2006 Interactive version developed in HTML5 programming for all platforms including mobile devices 2016 Even though this is an independent learning course, we encourage the users to approach someone well versed in the recitation of the Qur’aan. In addition to the self-learning lessons, we feel that reading to and being corrected by an expert is the ultimate way to ensure correct pronunciation and recitation. This course includes learning the Arabic alphabet and its shapes, connecting two or more letters, vowels signs; basic "Tajweed" rules (the correct pronunciations of letters, points of articulation, - attributes etc. and much more. While ideally suited for the beginner, this course offers insight and support for the intermediate and advanced learners as well. Lastly, this course is not designed to provide instruction for the translation or explanation of the Nobel Qur’aan; such a study would require a comprehensive knowledge of Arabic vocabulary and grammar and it is beyond the scope of our intended purpose. Also this course may not be sufficient for those who want to learn to read Arabic text other than the Nobel Qur’aan. The course is based on "AHASANUL-QAWAID" compiled by Late Moulana Shamsudin Barodwee (r.a) , India. This method of learning is widely used in non-Arab countries such as the sub-continent of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Central and south East Asia. The Nobel Qur’aan printed in these regions (Ajmi edition), employs mostly ‘Nastaleeq style (font), the letters are generally large, bold and rounded. The words are clearly separated and marked and vowels signs are accurately placed over or under the letters. Another popular printed copy, widely distributed and mainly used by the middle-east population is the “Medina edition, which use Naskh style slightly differs in the diacritical marking system, however, both use the Qiraat (recitation) learned from Imam Hafs. Some differences in diacritical marking is explained in a Annex D This course consists of over fifty - (50) lessons which available in variety of formats including mobile first version. http://www.jariya.ca/katiya/qaida/index.html www.learnquran.ca http://www.as-sidq.org/durusulQuran/DurusulQuran.html Publisher: Katiya Academy Montreal Canada Email: katiyaacademy@gmail.com Research and Layout : Mohammed Siddique Katiya, Canada Sound: Sheikh Muhammed Mangera (Canada) Consultation and editing: Sheikh Aasim Rashid (Canada) All rights reserved, Free Copying of this course is permitted for personal use only. For commercial distribution and other inquiry please contact the publisher. Updated May 6, 2018 version 5.00 Lesson 1 Arabic Alphabet (Hurful Hiza) حروف الهِجَاء The Arabic language has 28 letters. Unlike Latin/Roman scripts, the Arabic is written from right to left but numerals are written from left to right The letter 'alif has two forms: (1) it represents a long vowel ا (2) letter ء hamza as a consonant Note: The Arabic consonants are pronounced from approximately seventeen different points. It is necessary that one should pronounce each Arabic letter correctly from its point of articulation. Several Arabic letters originate from the throat (Guttural letters) unfamiliar to an English speaking. For example, letter ﺡ خ ع and غ have no equivalent sound in the English alphabet. Furthermore, the vastness of the Arabic language, any small mistake in pronunciation of a letter or word may change the meaning of that word. For example, the word ‘Qalb’ (with q) means heart, if read ‘Kalb’ (with k), it will mean a dog. For further explanation please refer to Appendix xxxx Lesson 2 (A)- ARABIC ALPHABET - SHAPES AND LETTER JOINING Arabic, a pure cursive script, is written from right to left and in which most letters must join with their neighbouring letters (both hand-written or printed) to make a word in accordance with some rules. It has no upper/lower cases (capital) instead each letter may have up to four recognizable shapes depending upon the combinations used; nevertheless, the distinctive shape of each letter can still be easily recognized. Arabic writing system is widely used by several other African and Asian languages such as Urdu, Farsi,Sindhi etc. The Nobel Quran is a word (message) of Allah سبحانه و تعالى and an oral revelation, reveal gradually nearly 23 years to the Prophet Muhammed صلى الله عليه و سلم in Arabic language, more specifically dialect of Quraysh tribe through Archangel Jibrail (Gabriel) عليه السلام. It is the primary and central source of the final divine guidance to the mankind. Since the final divine message (Quran) was not revealed all at once, therefore, it was not possible to preserve the message in writing in a book form at that time. During the initial stage of Islam as well until today, major emphasis is laid on its correct recitation and through memorization as a means of preserving the message. The recitation from the memory is the principal and only source and writing is a secondary source of the Nobel Qur'an. The prophet and his companions (رضي الله عنهمه) used to memorize the message (wahy) as soon as they revealed. . Since the beginning, it remains Islamic tradition to recite and memorize the Noble Qur'aan because of its enormous spiritually benefits. Besides having the Qur’aan committed to memory, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم made special arrangements to have the Qur’aan committed to writing through his few literate companions (رضي الله عنهمه) who after writing the text used to read the verses to the Prophet sallallaho alehey wasalam to ensure there were no shortcoming. During those days paper was not readily available in Arabia; therefore, these Qur’aanic verses were mostly written on stone slabs, parchments, date branches, bamboo units, tree leaves and animal bones. The divine revelation stopped few months before the passing of the prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم at that moment, the Quran was completed and its order and arrangement and manner of reciting were approved by Almighty Allah through his messenger before his death. Since the beginning the written text of the various chapters of the revelation was kept probably in unorganized manner by few Muslims for their personal use and at least one complete manuscript was in possession of one of the wives of the Prophet soon after his passing away. After passing of the prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم, his successors were reluctant to commit the Qur'aan into writing but because of circumstances such as rapid spread of Islam beyond Arabian peninsula in short period of time, dispute over slight variation in the recitation, - they agreed to compile the Qur'aan in a book form. The first authorized written copies of Nobel Qur’aan (Mus’hab) were circulated under the supervision of Sayyidna 'Uthman رضي الله عنه the third caliph about 20 years after the passing Prophet Muhammed صلى الله عليه و سلم . It did not contain dots nor tashkeel (diacritical - vowel-points) for example letter Ba ب Ta ت and Thaa ث looked that same, this is due to the fact that the practice of placing dots nor the diacritical marks over or under letters was not customary then. At that time, those who could read were so used to this style that they had practically no difficulty in reading dot-less writing mainly because they knew the correct recitation, in case of doubt they would easily recognize the text by its the context. At that time Muslims reached a consensus on a rule that it is not permissible to write the text of the noble Qur’aan using any method other than the Uthmani Script standard. With the spread of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, and the increasing number of non-Arab Muslims, there was a greater need for facilitating reading and learning of Arabic. Since several letters of the Arabic alphabet shared the same shapes and vowels signs were not clearly indicated, some improvement was needed. As a consequence, a system of letter-pointing Nuaqt or I’jam, diacritical marks I'rab and vowel indication tashkeel including sukoon, Nunation tanween, double consonant tashdid prolongation maddah and glottal stop hamzah signs were introduced and perfected well before the first century of Islam without compromising its oral recitation, this system serves as pronunciation keys to as facilitate proper reading. The 29 letters of Arabic many be conveniently group into 17 shapes as many letters of the Arabic alphabet look similar in shape but are distinguished from one another by position of tiny dots Nuqta (diacritical) for example letter Ba ب which has one dot below the main body but letter TA ت has two dots above the similar shape. Before the advent of computers, master copies of Qurans were hand written (calligraphy) either for personal collection or for copy/reproduction purpose. Over the centuries the style of calligraphy has been evolving and there are several popular styles such have been used such as Kufic, Naskh, Nastaʿlīq and other styles. In 20th century onward two printed copies of Nobel Quran styles that have been widely circulated, one is called Mushaf al-Madinah an-Nabawiyyah convenient for Arabic speaking and available in various reciting style (riwâyahs -Hafs,warsh ad-Duriyy etc.) and second is Indo-Pak or Farsi script (no appropriate name yet is given but we shall call it Mushaf-e-Ajmi) suitable for Muslims having no knowledge of Arabic language, available in Hafs riwâyah only. Both employ Uthmani script standard slightly differ in the convention of diacritical marks. The Mushaf-e-Ajmi has been simplified so that learners do not need to know essential Arabic grammar rules such as having to differentiate between letter Alif or hamza, mute letters, simplify method for writing alif/hamza, long vowel letters Huroofe-maddah, alif maqsurah or khara-zaber, madd-e-asli maddah ya or khari-zer and maddah waw or ulta-pesh and some other minor variations. The Mushaf-e-Ajmi divides Quran in sections (Ruku') not found in Mushaf-e-Madinah, it also employs more pause/stop signs (Rumiiz al-Awqaf ) than Mushaf Madinah. For more detail of the differences refer to appendix B Remember the preservation of Nobel Qur’aan did not rest on writing alone, but rather on the strength of memory, correct recitation (oral transmission) by listening to and being corrected by the others more specifically by the experts. Uthman رضي الله عنه, did not only produce the printed copies but he also assigned Qaris, accomplished reciters of the Qur’aan, along with its copies sent out to various parts of the Muslim world so that they could teach how to read it. JOINING RULES: Nearly every-Arabic letter can be joined to its neighboring from both sides (normal letters), and they can have up to four contextual shapes: (1) Isolated or Independent (2) Initial (3) Medial (4) Final. There are six letters known as partially-connecting letters ر ز و ا د ذ that have no initial and medial shape. Therefore, they can only be written as independent or at most be joined to its previous letter only (not on both side). For more information, please refer to Appendix xxxx As a general rule, an Arabic word having two or more letters continuously joins to its neighboring letters (even in printed form) until such a word confronts partial connecting letters or final letter, in such case, continuous joining of letters is interrupted and subsequent letters, if any, will be written as separate joints (cluster). A word may have more than one cluster. A cluster is set off first as Isolated or initial shape and then one or more medial shapes and lastly the final shape. Since late 1990, the most writing software and the web browsers now have built-in algorithm to join the Arabic letters. In a normal situation a cluster of Arabic letters always written close together. For the benefit of the novice, in the next few practice exercises the words will be shown with a slight gap between each letter, so that the different shapes, as well as the joining rules may easily be recognized. With some help from tables provided. SHAPES OF ARABIC LETTERS Final Middle Initial Isolated Independent name Final Middle Initial Isolated Independent name ﻄ ﻂ ﻃ ط tā ﺎ - - أ Alif ﻆ ﻈ ﻇ ظ zā ﺐ ﺒ ﺑ ب bā ﻊ ﻌ ﻋ ع 'ayn ﺖ ﺔ ﺘ ﺗ ت ة tā ﻎ ﻐ ﻏ غ ghayn ﺚ ﺜ ﺛ ث thā ﻒ ﻔ ﻓ ف fā ﺞ ﺠ ﺟ ج jīm ﻖ ﻘ ﻗ ق qāf ﺢ ﺤ ﺣ ح hā ﻚ ﻜ ﻛ ك kāf ﺦ ﺨ ﺧ خ khā ﻞ ﻠ ﻟ ﻝ lām ﺪ - - د dāl ﻢ ﻤ ﻣ ﻡ mīm ﺬ - - ذ dhāl ﻦ ﻨ ﻧ ﻥ nūn ﺮ - - ر rā ﻮ - - ﻭ wāw ﺰ - - ز zāy ﻪ ﻬ ﻬ ھ hā ﺲ ﺴ ﺳ س sīn ئ ﺆ ﺄى ﺌ ﺋ ء hamza ﺶ ﺸ ﺷ ﺵ shīn ﻲ ﻴ ﻳ ﻱ yā ﺺ ﺼ ﺻ ص sād ٹہہ ﺾ ﻀ ﺿ ض dād Lesson 3 ARABIC ALPHABET - SHAPES AND ITS JOINING شر سد خط حج جل تم تر بس لم كن قل فذ غم ضد صب عذ نظ فب نت فج ير ئذ هل نك بغ ئع عه صة به مة كل لا بى فى تى كا يم نج بق نع نى لى LESSON 4 - ARABIC VOWELS (Hara’kaat ): ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ حَرَكَاْتٌ In any vocalized language, vowels play an important role as a central and most prominent sound of a syllable. The vowels help join letters together, so that a proper sound can be achieved. In English, there are at least five (5) vowel letters a,e,i,o,u and (sometimes y), which are clearly spelled out in a text. By comparison, in Arabic, there are no exact equivalencies , Arabic vowels may differ in quality and they often behave differently depending on the circumstances in which they are used. There are 2 letters in the Arabic alphabet all consonants. The Arabic vowels Hara’kaat (movement) Fat’hah ﹷ (a) Kasrah ﹻ (i) and Dammah ﹹ (u) are not part of Arabic alphabet, but they are naturally pronounced when letters are joined to make words and words are joined to make sentences. The letter Alif . ا.Waw ﻭ and Ya ﻱ also function as weak vowels حُرُوْفُ الْعِلَّةِ (Huroofe-Maddah) and diphthongs (Maddah Lin) as well. (refer to Lessons xxxx) With the spread of Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula, and the increasing number of non-Arab Muslims, there was a greater need for facilitating reading and learning of Arabic. Since several letters of the Arabic alphabet shared the same shapes, and since vowels were not clearly indicated, some improvement was needed. As a consequence, a system of Nuaqt or I'jam (letter-pointing), and Tashkeel (vowel indication) including Sukoon (resting) ـۡ Tanween (Nunation) ـً ـٍ ـٌ Tashdid ـّ (double consonant), and Maddah (prolongation), hamzah (glottal stop) signs were introduced and perfected well before the first century of Islam. They serve the same purpose as pronunciation keys shown in any language dictionary for a proper pronunciation of a word. Even today, modern Arabic writing such as newspapers and textbooks, the vowel signs are often omitted, and similar words may have to be interpreted from the context in which they are used. The indication of vowel signs is only shown when there is the possibility of confusion. As far as the Qur’aan is concerned, these vowel signs are a must and absolutely necessary in this age, particularly given its large readership of non Arabic Muslims. Unlike the previous generations, the Arabic colloquial language continued to be influenced by other languages and as a consequent, a native Arabic speaker is not able to read the Nobel Qur’aan properly without the vowels and other signs and also must learn the art of tajweed, obligatory rules governing proper pronunciation and recitation of Nobel Qur’aan as recited by the Prophet and the early Muslims. Lesson 5 Arabic Short Vowels (Hara’kaat) ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ حَرَكَاْتٌ Fat’hah (Zabar) ﹷ فَتْحَةٌ is an Arabic short vowel sign (diacritical symbols) - a tiny diagonal stroke above a letter. It produces the sound "ā" like " Ba" (slightly soft side) in “Banana" Arabic Short Vowels (Hara’kaat) ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ حَرَكَاْتٌ Kasrah (zer) ﹻ كَسْرَةٌ is an Arabic short vowel sign (diacritical symbols) - a tiny diagonal stroke below a letter. It produces the “ī “ sound like 'Be" (slightly soft side) in “Banana" Arabic Short Vowels (Hara’kaat) ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ حَرَكَاْتٌ Dammah (Pesh) ﹹ ضَمَّةٌ is an Arabic short vowel sign (diacritical symbols) - a tiny letter waw و above a letter. It produces the sound “ū” like “oo” in Book Sukoon (jazm) ﹿ حَرْفٌ سَاْكِنٌ In Arabic the vowel signs ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ are called Haarakah (movement) - A letter having a vowel sign is called Mutaharrik حَرْفٌ مُتَحَرِّكٌ (moved). If a letter is without a vowel sign, it is called saakin سُكونٌ (resting) which is indicated by ﹿ sign (Sukoon - jazm). When there is a letter with any short vowel sign and the next letter has a sukoon sign then the both letters will jointly produce a single (syllable) uninterrupted sound. You will also learn in next lessons that Tanween sign ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ (in lesson 8) and Tashdid sign ﹽ Double Vowels - Nunation (TANWEEN) ﹰ ﹴ ﹲ التَّنْوِيْن The Tanween is a term for a letter having a short vowel with a hidden Nun saakin. Instead of writing any short vowels ﹷ ﹻ ﹹ plus letter Nun saakin نْ - respective vowel sign is doubled as a shortcut. TheTanween signs are generally indicated at the end of a noun, which make a noun indefinite. example بَنْ will written as ﺑً will sound as "ban". Fathatain (Dou Zabar) ﹰ Fathatain ﹰ vowel sign consists two components (1) Fat’hah ﹷ "ā" sound (2) Second Fat’hah vowel sign is an unwritten letter Nun saakin نْ that will produces “n” sound, Thus ﹰ will produce “an” sound. Fathatain generally follows by long vowel letter Alif ا. Double Vowels - Nunation (TANWEEN) ﹰ ﹴ ﹲ التَّنْوِيْن Kasratain (Dou Zer) ﹴ Kasratain ﹴ vowel sign consists of two components (1) Kasrah ﹻ that produces “ ī ” sound and (2) second Kasrah sign is an unwritten letter Nun Saakin نْ that produces “n” sound. Thus ﹴ will produce “in” sound. Example بِنْ will be written as ﺑٍ will sounded "Bin" Double Vowels - Nunation (TANWEEN) ﹰ ﹴ ﹲ التَّنْوِيْن Dammatain (Dou Pesh) ﹲ Dammatain ﹲ vowel sign consists of two components (1) Dammah ﹹ that produces “ū” sound and (2) second Dammah, sign is an unwritten letter Nun Saakin نْ that produces “n” sound. Thus ﹴ will produce “in” sound. Example بُنْ will be written as ﺑٌ will sound "Bun" Long vowel Letters (Huroofe-Maddah) ا وْ يْ Three letters Alif ا Waw وْ and Ya يْ which are described by the Arabic grammarians as weak or irregular letters (hurfu al illah), they function as weak vowel (letters of Madd or long vowel) Their primary function is to stretch (lengthen) the sound of a letter having short vowel. Letter Alif ا corresponds to Fat’hah ﹷ ; letter Waw وْ corresponds to Dammah ﹹ and letter Ya يْ corresponds to Kasrah ﹻ . When weak letters are used as lengtheners, and they do not admit any vowel sound. In most cases, the duration of long vowel letters (Huroofe-Maddah Asli Madd) is equal to that of two measures of harakah (duration) or one measure of Alif ا. Maddah Alif أَلِفٌ مَمْدودَةٌ As a general rule, when a letter with a Fat’hah ﹷ and next letter is Alif ا, then the sound of Fat’hah and Alif is stretched by two measures of harakah. “aa” , (compare the sound of this exercise with lesson 5 which measures as a single harakah) Note: In this lesson, letter Alif ا is a true Alif (Madd) . If anytime the letter Alif ا appears with vowels or sukoon اَ اْ أ , this is not a true Alif but it is letter ء Hamza. Letter Alif appears always empty and never the first letter in a word, It may come with Madd آ sign (lesson 23) and always comes after another letter, whereas the letter Hamza may come as the first letter in a word. Long vowel letter Waw (Mad Asli) واوٌ مَمْدودَةٌ When a letter has a Dammah ﹹ and next letter is waw و , then the sound of letters having Dammah ﹹ and wawو is lengthened by two measures of haarakah. “uu” (Compare the sound of this exercise with lesson 7 which measures as a single haarakah) Long Vowel Letter YA (Madd-e-Asli) ياءٌ مَمْدودَةٌ When a letter has a Kasrah ﹻ and the next letter is “Ya” ى the sound of letters having Kasrah ﹻ and yaى is lengthened by two measures of haarakah. “ii” (Compare the sound with lesson 6 which measures as a single haarakah) Long Vowel Letters (Huroofe-Maddah) shorthand version word Madd means to stretch In classical Arabic, occasionally the long vowels are written in a shorthand version, Superscript or subscript alef or inverted damma top or below a letter. These are pronounced exactly the same way as their corresponding long vowels, even though they look different Upright Alif Standing Alif or Khara Zabar Alif Kashira- Khara Zaber Superscript alef اَلف قَصِيْرَة Upright Kasrah Standing Kasrah or Khari Zer Madd-e-Asli Maddah Ya -Khari Zer subscript alef Inverted Dammah Upside down Dammah or Ultaa Pesh Madd-e-Asli Maddah Waw ulta Pesh inverted damma أَلِف مَقْصُورَةٌ The miniature (dagger, superscript alef) Alif ٰ a small vertical stroke plus Fat’hah َ placed above a consonant is an alternative method to writing a letter having Fat’hah َ and letter Alif ا thus will render the same sound- Length: two measures of haarakah. ( Long Vowel Letter (Madd-e-Asli) MADDAH YA (Khari Zer) When maddah ya are placed below a letter is an alternative method to write a Kasrah and ya saakin, thus, and will render the same sound. - Length: two measures of haarakah. Please compare the sound of lesson 13 - (same sound) Long Vowel Letter (Madd-e-Asli) Maddah Waw (ulta Pesh) When maddah Waw is placed above a letter is an alternative method to write Dammah and letter waw saakin thus and will render the same sound. - Length: two measures of haarakah. Please compare the sound of lesson 12 . inverted damma subscript alef alef muskura ى superscript alef alef wasla ءَاخَـرَ Diphthong - Leen letters (Layyinah) The letters Waw وand Yaa ي are also called Leen letters because they are flexible letters. They blend with the vowel sound from the previous letter, allowing two vowel sounds. When a letter having Fat’hah is followed by letter Waw و the vowel sound starts off as an ‘a’ sound and ends as a ‘u’ sound (rhymes with Cow). it produces "ow" sound ("au" some cases). This is called waw Leen or “soft waw” (1) In Linguistics, a diphthong (soft letters) is a complex speech sound or glider that begins with one vowel, e.g., (Fat’hah) ﹷ and gradually changes to another weak vowel waw within the same syllable. Diphthong - Leen letters Yaa Saakinah When a letter having Fathah - is followed by letter ى‘Ya’, the vowel sound starts off as an ‘a’ sound and ends as an ‘i’ sound (rhymes with Ice). it produces "ay sound (some cases "ai"). This is called ‘Ya Leen’ or ‘soft Ya (1) In Linguistics, a diphthong (soft letters) is a complex speech sound or glider that begins with one vowel e.g., ﹷ and gradually changes to another weak vowel ي within the same syllable. Silent letters: Special Rule: Because of certain Arabic grammar rules, the short vowels on the weak vowels such as Alif waw and Ya are removed. Also letter ‘Lam’ frequently becomes silent where the definite article (al) is prefixed to a word beginning with a letter having its Makharaij ’ points of articulation’ is closed to letter (refer to lesson 31-4 for some examples. (Hurful Samsiyatu)(1) Exception to the silent letter rule is Maddah Alif refer to lesson 11) Alif Maqsura letter ya without two dots under (ى) is strictly used at the end of words; never at the beginning, or middle. The Alif Maqsura, or another form of the final Alif, is used when Alif cannot occur at the end of a word. It makes the same sound as Alif, and takes markings such as Hamza, like a regular Alif. (1) Hurful Samsiyatu letters are: Special rule for letter Hamza ءْ or Alif اْ When there is a letter Hamza ءْ or (Alif) اْ with sukoon, it should be pronounced clearly and sharply (with slight jerk) . Note: When a vowel sign appears over or under the letter Alifاَ اِ اُ اً اٍ اٌ اْ , it is in fact letter Hamza Mushaddah (Tashdid) ﹽ A Tashdid ﹽ sign over a letter represents two of the same letter (Double consonant). The first letter having sukoon and the second letter having its short vowel. The two letters must be distinctly pronounced twice - first letter having sukoon must be joint with previous letter as single (syllable) sound. Tashdid sign is called ‘Mushaddad’ Mushaddah (Tashdid) ﹽ Maddah (Prolongation) Maddah sign indicates to prolong (stretch) the Madd letters Alif waw and ya . (1) (1) There are several kind of Maddah, Duration of stretching (2 ½ to 5 length of haarakah) and it depends on adjacent letters in a word. The detail rules are essential for advanced learner only and should be master from a qualified teacher. Maddah (Prolongation) Revisiting Sukoon (jazm), resting The sukoon sign does not only link two letters but it frequently links two or more word in a sentence. Remember that the Tanween (lesson 8) and Tashdid signs (lesson 21) both contain a letter with sukoon . We will learn in subsequent lessons how sukoon , Tanween and Tashdid join (liaison) two or more words in a verse thus slightly alter the pronunciation. IDGHAAM (Assimilation) Idgham (assimilation) means to enter one thing into another. When two letter having a similar point of articulation or similar kind appear side by side first letter with (saakin ) and the second letter with Tashdid with following characteristic (1)Same letters Example and and (Idghaam Mithlayn) (2) Letters with similar origin Example and - and - and and Idghaam Mutaqaaribany (3) Related letters Example and or and - and - and (Idghaam Mutajaanisayn) In such cases the letter with (saakin) will assimilate (suppressed or not pronounced) with the second letter. There are many exceptions to this rule namely, such as nun saakin and letters having Tashdid - Idgham (assimilation);Iqlab (conversion); Izhar (sharp pronunciation) and Ikhfa (suppressed pronunciation) Some of the basic rules will be explained in the following lessons. The rules of Nun Saakin نْ and Tanween The letters of Idgham (naqqis and tam) are ن و ل م ر ي and they are divided in two distinct group (1) Idgham-e-Naqqis (partial assimilation) (2) Idgham-e-Taam (complete assimilation). . Lesson 27 Idgham-e-Naqqis (partial assimilation of letters) When nun saakin نْ appears at the end of a word (including Tanween ً ٍ ٌ) and the first letter in the next word is either ي و ن having Tashdid ّ In such cases there will be a slight alteration in pronunciation - Nun saakin نْ become partially assimilated (blended) and the connecting letters ي و ن will be pronounced with a partially nasal sound (Ghunnah)- If the letter following Nun saakin نْ is letter Meem م then the letter Nun نْ will not be pronounced - It will read with meem (mashaddad Ghunnah) The symbol of Idgham is Tashdid ّ that appears on the letter of Idgham. Note: An Idgham or assimilation is not possible within a single word Idgham-e-Naqqis (partial assimilation of letters) (Continued) The rules of Nun Saakin AND Idgham (Continued) Idgham-e-Taam (Complete assimilation of letters) When Nun saakin نْ appears at the end of a word and the first letter in the next word is either letter ل or ر having ّ then there will be a slight alteration in pronunciation - In such case the letter with nun saakin نْ is fully assimilated (without nasal sound) In another words, the sound of Nun saakin نْ will disappear completely. Iqlb or Qalb الإقلاب (Conversion) ۘ Tiny Meem When there is Nun saakin نْ (including Tanween) and the next letter is Ba ب then the sound of Nun saakin نْ will become silent and substitute with sound of Meem saakinمْ with Ghunnah (nasal sound). Note this rule applies both within a single letter or two words side The most manuscript of the Holy Qur’aan, a tiny Meem ۘ is placed between the letters hinting such sound alteration. Tiny Nun substitution of Tanween NOON QUTNI نون قطني In some instances if there is a letter with Tanween and next letter is Hamza then the Tanween ٌ ٍ ً is written into two separate components: (1) Tanween ًٌٍ will change to corresponding single vowel َُِ (2) a tiny Nun with Kasrah is written under letter Hamza . This substitution is generally provided in most manuscripts of the Holy Qur’aan.   Waqf (Pause) The proper pausing (waqf) and starting (ibtida) while reciting is essential for a reader of Glorious Qur’aan. With an improper pause or start at a word or verse, the meaning of a sentence could be distorted. There are established methods for pausing and starting while reciting the Holy Qur’aan. A pause may occur due to one of the following reasons: (1) shortage of breath (2) Recommended pause (3) Mandatory pause. (refer to Table xx) The rules for Waqf (pause) and Ibtida (start) are many but the following are essential for the beginner. As a general rule, a pause should be made at the end of a complete verse which is usually indicated by round circle ﴿۲۰﴾ ۝. Other marks are: namely لا, م ز , ج , ص , ط, ق , قف , مع , وقف النبي , صلي , وقفه , سكته - for beginners when (meem) appears make pause there must be a break both in the breath and in the sound After making a pause, one should not continue recitation without a fresh breath. and when appears do not stop, stop is permissible if it at the end of ayaa. If one does not pause at a place of waqf (pause) including at the end of a verse, the last letter of the word (on which a pause could have been made) must be pronounced with the its own haarakah (vowel). How to Pause (Waqf) Rule 1. As a general rule, if a pause is made at any word for any reason whatsoever, in most case the last letter of a word must be pronounced saakin ْ Exception: Fathatain ً and letter Ta (Marbuta) ﺔ these exceptions will be explained in next lessons As explained in the previous lesson, the beginner should pause at various punctuation marks that appear in the middle or end of a verse. Exceptions when sign (meaning No) appears in middle of a verse one must not pause, therefore, do not need to substitute the last short vowel as saakin. If a pause is made here, it is better to go back and read over again. A fresh start from a word immediately after sign is not approved, however, a pause is permitted when is end of a verse. Waqf (Pause) (Continued) Rule 2: If a pause is made at a word ending with a Fathatain ً (with or without an Alif including silent letters ى ) pronounce last letter as Madd alif ٰ (Tabi‘i Madd) Rule 4:. If a pause is made over a letter having Tashdid ّ at the end of a word, its haarakah (vowel) will drop, but the letter must be pronounced with force in order to distinguish between a sukoon ْand a Tashdid ّ Rule 3: If a pause is made at a word ending with round Ta (Marbuta) ﺔ with vowel sign will be pronounced as letter ‘Ha’ saakin |ـهْ This exception does not apply to long Ta (tawila) ت Waqf (PAUSE) ۝ (Continued) As a general rule, a pause should be made at the end of a complete verse which is usually indicated by round circle ﴿۲۰﴾ ۝ . (In many printing the verse number is also inserted inside the circle). There are many other punctuation marks that generally appear in the middle or end of a verse. The detail of this is beyond the scope of this course. As a general rule for the beginner, make a pause whenever one find such marks namely لا, م ز , ج , ص , ط, ق , قف , مع , وقف النبي , صلي , وقفه , سكته Wherever a pause is made, there must be a break both in the breath and in the sound. After making a pause, one should not continue recitation without a fresh breath. If one does not pause at a place of waqf (pause) including at the end of a verse, the last letter of the word (on which a pause could have been made) must be pronounced with the its own haarakah (vowel). ۝ ﴾ ﴿ The Conclusion of an Ayah (verse) Waqf e Taam (Perfect Stop) represents end of a ayah. a reciter ought to pause here - it is permissible to continue without a pause provided that reciter is very familiar with other rules مـ The Compulsory Stop The sign of “Waqf e Laazim” (imperative) a reciter must make full pause here - failure to do so the entire meaning of the sentence may alter radically. لا Do not pause One should not pause here, it is permissible to pause if لا sign appears at end of ayah.- if one not able to read continuously one can stop at any place including لا but while continuing, one should repeat one or more words before a place which one stopped. ط The Absolute Pause “Waqf e Mutlaq” is stop sign to indicate to the reader to take a gap in reciting the long passage by taking breath and discontinue the recitation for an instantaneous period of time. It is better to stop here because it makes the reading process easier by fully grabbing the meaning of already read text. ج The Permissible Stop “Waqf e Jaaiz” points toward completion of matter discussed in that fragment of the Ayah, so one needs to stop here, although it is not obligatory to do so, so that it can absorb the meaning discussed in previous part, and get ready to know about new matter in the following part of same verse ز Continue Reading The sign of “Waqf e Mujawwaz” means one does not need to take a pause and continue the recital process, although there is no prohibition on stopping here. ص permissiable Pause “Waqf e Murakh-khas” is a symbol that permits the reader to take a break and take a breath in case if getting tired only, but it is highly advisable to carry on reading. صلي Preference for Continuation “Al-wasl Awlaa” indicates towards continue recitation of the verses with no need to stop. ق Better not to Stop “Qeela ‘Alayhil-Waqf” is a sign that shows not to stop recitation although there are differing opinions on whether to stop reading the verses or not. صل The Permissible Pause “Qad Yusal” specifies about the permission of continue reading although one should stop here. قف The Anticipation Mark “Qif” is inserted on the stop sign when a reader might expect the pause sign was not necessary. س سكته The Silence Symbol “Saktah” is a sign at which the reader should take a brief pause without breaking its breath before keeping on reading further. وقفتہ The Longer Pause “Waqfah” indicates the longer pause than Saktah with the same gist of not breaking one`s breath while taking the break. believe ‏ Sign of Ruku Generally Ruku is indicative of some shift in Quranic subject, always appears at end of ayah, also it intended to divide the entire Qur'an into about 540 portions which facilitate reciters to complete the Nobel Quran within the 27 days during month of Ramdhan performing 20 rakats of Taraweeh prayers. ك Similar Meaning as Previous Sign “Kadhaalik or “like that” applies the same connotation of action as suggested by the preceding symbol. ∴ The Embracing Stop “Mu’aanaqah” is a sign that signifies about stopping at either of the triplet included in it, with no discontinuation simultaneously وقف النبی The Pause of Prophet PBUH “Waqf-un-Nabi” shows the parts of Quran where the Messenger ﷺ of God Himself stopped and took pause وقف غفران The Sign of Supplication “Waqf e Ghufraan” is a symbol indicating a place where the recite and listener should stop and make sujud (prostrate) وقف منجّل The Pause Sign of Jibrael A.S “Waqf e Manzil” is the sign indicating the Angel, Jibrael`s stopping and taking pause at the time of revealing the Quranic Instructions over the Holy Prophet ﷺ. وفق كفران Harfi Muqatta’at (Isolated letters) حروف مقطعات Many Surahs (chapter) of the Qur’an begin with these isolated (disjoined) letters. They are believed to be symbols of mysteries, the meaning of which is known to Allah alone. There are about 20 different scholarly opinions based on guesswork. There are only 14 letter of the Arabic Alphabets are involved always beginning of 29 out of 114 Surahs of the Nobel Qur'an with 14 unique combinations of two, three, four or five letters. The most frequent are ʾAlif Lām Mīm الٓمّٓ and Ḥāʾ Mīm حٰمٓ , occurring six times each and ʾAlif Lām Rā. الٓرٰ five times. Each letter must be pronounced independently without of any vowel sound, except for letter Alif all remaining 13 letters must be pronounced with certain prolongation with its proper measure. COMPARISION BETWEEN MUSHAF In 20th century onward two printed copies of Nobel Quran styles that have been widely circulated, one is called Mushaf al-Madinah an-Nabawiyyah convenient for Arabic speaking and available in various reciting style (riwâyahs -Hafs,warsh ad-Duriyy etc.) and second is Indo-Pak or Farsi script (no appropriate name yet is given but we shall call it Mushaf-e-Ajmi) suitable for Muslims having no knowledge of Arabic language, available in Hafs riwâyah only. Both employ Uthmani script standard slightly differ in the convention of diacritical marks. The Mushaf-e-Ajmi has been simplified so that learners do not need to know essential Arabic grammar rules such as having to differentiate between letter Alif or hamza, mute letters, simplify method for writing alif/hamza, long vowel letters Huroofe-maddah, alif maqsurah or khara-zaber, madd-e-asli maddah ya or khari-zer and maddah waw or ulta-pesh and some other minor variations. The Mushaf-e-Ajmi divides Quran in sections (Ruku') not found in Mushaf-e-Madinah, it also employs more pause/stop signs (Rumiiz al-Awqaf ) than Mushaf Madinah. APPENDIX A - Makharaij (points of articulation) 1. (Alif) (Waw) and (Ya) , originate from the emptiness of the mouth (interior cavity). Huroof Hawaiyah –These letters also know as long vowel letters (Huroofe-Maddah) refers to lesson 11-13 for more detail 2. (Hamza) and (Haa) originate from the throat (nearest to the chest - Aqsa-e-Halq (Hurofe-Halqi - Guttural letters) 3. (Ain) and (Haa ) originate from the throat (middle or centre region - Wasatoul Halq) (Hurofe-Halqi - Guttural letters) 4. (Ghain) and (Khaa) originate from the throat (nearest to the mouth - Adnal Halq). (Hurofe-Halqi - Guttural letters) 5 (Qaff) originates when raising of the farther back of the tongue touching the soft palate lahwiyyah- 6. (Kaaf) emitted away the farther back of the tongue touching the hard palate, a little nearer toward the front of the mouth. Lahwiyyah 7. (Jeem ) (Sheen) and (Yaa) originate when the tongue (centre region) touches the hard palate Huroofush Shajariyyah 8. (Daad) originates when tongue (edge) - either side - touching molars and pre-molars (upper or lower) 9. (Laam) originates from tongue (edge) touching the gums all upper front teeth including both upper pre-molars Huroofe-Tarfiya 10. (Nun) originates when tongue (edge) touching the gums extending both upper canine Huroofe-Tarfiya 11. (Raa) originates when the edge of the tongue touching the gums of area covering that includes central and lateral incisors Huroofe-Tarfiya 12. (Taa) (Daal) and (Taa) originate with the tip of the tongue touching the gums of the upper two front teeth Huroofun Nat’iyyah 13. originate with the tip of the tongue touching the edge of the upper two front teeth Hurooful Lathwiyya 14. (Zaa) (Seen) and (Saad) originate with the tip of the tongue touching the edge of the Thanaaya Sufla (lower two front teeth), and lightly touching the upper two front teeth as well. These letters are known as Huroofus Safier because of the whistling sound produced when saying them. 15. (Faa) originates when inner portion of the lower lip meets the edge of upper central incisors 16. (waw) (Baa) and (Meem) (Ba) originates from the moist part of the lips (Meem) originates from the dry part of the lips and (waw) originates with partial meeting of the lips (Houroufoesh Shafawiy) 17.Ghunna or Khaishoon which means to pronounce letter (Nun) or (Meem) from the nostrils (nasal cavity) APPENDIX B ARABIC ALPHABET SAHPES Courtesy:Omniglot.com a guide to writing systems Simon Ager © 1. Because of different style of calligraphy, some letters may have more than one style or shape. For example initial form of letter "Ba" may have up to two different shapes and the final shape of letter "Ta" may have up to four different shapes. 2. In some instance Letter Ta (al maftuha) functions as non-normal letter and change in shape (round Ta) (marbuta) Refer to Lesson 31-2 for more detail. 3. Non-normal (partial connecting) letters can only be written as (1) Isolated or (2) final. In theory theses letters have no middle and initial shape (Isolated shape also function as initial) and only join to its previous having normal letters. 4. Although letter Hamza is a normal letter, in some instances it may be written differently. APPENDIX C ARABIC ALPHABET - SHAPES AND ITS JOINTS LETTER JOINING