15 Ikhfa Letters In English, Rule And Examples In Quran

Ikhfa literal means to conceal or hide something. Continue reading to find out the meaning of ikhfa, what are the 15 ikhfa letters, what is their rule as well as examples of ikhfa letters in the Quran.

What Is The Meaning Of Ikhfa?

Ikhfa is the last of the four rules for the  saakinah and tanween. The applied definition of ikhfa is the pronunciation of a non-voweled letter stripped of any shaddah, characterized somewhere between an izhar and an idgham with a ghunnah remaining on the first letter.

How Many Ikhfa Letters?

In Tajweed, there are fifteen (15) ikhfa letters. The letters of the ikhfa for the noon saakinah and tanween are all the remaining letters in the Arabic alphabet after we remove the letters that cause izhar, idgham, and iqlab.

Ikhfa Letters In English

There are 15 letters in the Arabic alphabet, all causing ikhfa, or hiding of the noon saakinah and tanween; they are:

• Ta   ت
• Tha   ث
• Jim   ج
• Dal   د
• Dhal   ذ
• Zay   ز
• Sin   س
• Shin   ش
• Ṣād   ص
• Ḍād   ض
• Ṭāʾ   ط
• Ẓāʾ   ظ
• Fa   ف
• Qaf   ق
• Kaf   ك

How To Remember Ikhfa Letters?

To remember letters of ikhfa, there is poem which collected the all fifteen letters. If you are able to memorize it, you can easily remember the letters of ikhfa.

They are the first letter of each word in this verse;   

صِفْ ذَا ثَنَا كَمْ جَادَ شَخْصٌ قَدْ سَمَا # دُمْ طَيِّبًا زِدْ فِي تُقًى ضَعْ ظَالِمَا

The meaning of this verse is Describe the possessor of praise. How generous is a person whom has attainted such status? Always be good. Increase in piety. Leave an oppressor.

Although the line gives advice to the reader. Its initial purpose is to highlight the letters of Ikhfaa which are shown at the beginning of every word in the verse.

See also Qalqalah Letters In English And Arabic

Ikhfa Letters Rules

The rule of ikhfa is if a noon saakinah or tanween is followed by any of these 15 letters, we hide the noon (ن). The Ikhfa can take place between two words (as will always be the case with the tanween) or in the middle of a word.

To hide the noon (ن) our tongue does not touch the teeth or gum, instead our tongue moves close to, but not at, the articulation point of the next letter, which is the letter causing the (hiding).

We then hold this sound with an accompanying ghunnah (nasalization) for the amount of timing appropriate for the Ikhfa.

The technique of the of the ikhfa takes practice to perfect. There is no difference in the Ikhfa or in the technique of the ikhfa whether it is a written ن that is being hidden, or a tanween.  

Some students simply keep their tongue at the articulation point of the ن during the ikhfa, and prolong the sound with a ghunnah (nasalization). This is not the correct technique.

Others let the back portion of the tongue rise up to the roof of the mouth and rest it there, which is again, incorrect.

The tongue shouldn’t be touching the roof, gums, or teeth, but should be close to the articulation point of the next letter, as stating previously. 

Examples of the ikhfa of the nun saakinah and tanween:

Example 1

إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لَفِى خُسۡرٍ

Surah Al Asr verse 2. 

Here is the audio that teach you how to pronounce it correctly.

In this example above, there is a ن saakinah in the middle of the second word, followed by the letter س, one of the letters of ikhfa.

We don’t let our tongue touch the articulation point of the ن, but instead put our tongue in a position close to, but not touching the articulation point of the letter س, and hold this sound with a ghunnah for a period of time.

The exact period of time cannot be explained in writing, but instead should be learned and copied from a qualified Qur’an teacher. It is not correct to state that the ghunnah is held for two counts.

Example 2

سَيَصۡلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ

Surah masad verse 3

Listen to correct pronunciation here.

In this example there is a tanween at the end of the second word, followed by a ذ as the first letter of the next following word. The is one of the letters that causes hiding of the ن saakinah and tanween.

The technique is similar to that described above, except our tongue should get close to the articulation point of the ذ instead of the س.

Example 3

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

Surah Al Falaq verse 2

Listen to the correct recitation below.

This aayah has a ن saakinah as the last letter of the first word, it is followed by a ش, which is one of the letters that causes hiding of the ن saakinah.

Again, as previously stated, we don’t let our tongue go to the articulation point of the ن, but instead bring our tongue close to, but not touching, the ش, and hold the sound with an accompanying ghunnah for the appropriate period of time.

Ikhfa Letters Examples

Here you can look at the fifteen (15) letters of Ikhfa in the Quran. The examples are divided into two sections, the first section is Ikhfa Tanween examples and the second section is Ikhfa Noon Saakin examples.

Ikhfa Tanween Examples

Here are the examples of Ikhfa tanween in the Quran.

Ikhfa Noon Saakin Examples

Here are the examples of Ikhfa noon saakinah in the Quran.

Conclusion

This is just the summary of Ikhfa lessons. The exact rule cannot be explained in writing, but instead should be learned and copied from a qualified Qur’an teacher.