How are the 2 instructions reconciled? Is the ikhfaa before qaaf read with tafkheem and a closeness..

Assalaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu.

I know that the ikhfaa of the noon saakinah before the letters of qaaf and kaaf is read closer to ith-haar due to the distance between the makhraj of the noon and the qaaf and kaaf.

Since qaaf is from the letters of tafkheem, the ikhfaa of noon saakinah before the qaaf is read with tafkheem also.

How are the 2 instructions reconciled? Is the ikhfaa before qaaf read with tafkheem and a closeness to ith-haar and the ikhfaa before kaaf read with a closeness to ith-haar only?

I suppose what I am getting at is: is there a difference between the ikhfaa of noon saakinah before a qaaf and kaaf?

jazaakallahu khairan

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

The ikhfa’ of the  saakinah and tanween when followed by the letters  and  is done by the tongue getting very close to the articulation point of the  and  to the point where the tongue actually almost touches the articulation point of the letters  and .  The tip of the tongue though is far from the articulation point of the .  The written statements you may find in tajweed books about it being closer to an  is just an explanation.  There is nothing we do with our tongues to try and make an or get close to an  with our tongues or with the ghunnah during the ikhfa’.  The ghunnah that accompanies the ikhfa’ is the furthest possible sound from the  before the and .   The tongue during the ghunnah of any ikhfa’ always is preparing for the next letter, getting close but not at the next letter and this includes the characteristics of the next letter. 

 There is then  during the ikhfa’ before the letter , but this should not be a problem.  There is a definite difference in the sound of the ikhfa’ before a  and  because of the tafkheem of the ghunnah during the ikhfa’ before a  , and the tongue will be positioned close to each of the letters.  The  and  are close in articulation point, but not at the same exact point, with the  using the deepest part of the tongue and that which lies opposite to it of the soft palate of the roof of the mouth, wherein the  uses the deepest part of the tongue and that which lies opposite to it of the hard palate of the roof of the mouth.   

We would like to repeat that the term  “closeness to  “ is just a description, since  letters tend to be far away from the letter that being read clearly, and idhgaam letters tend to be close.  This does not mean that we try to make or attempt to get close to an   when making an ikhfaa’ of the saakinah or tanween before a  or .  It is incorrect if the sound of the is heard clearly during any ikhfa’ of the . 

Wa iyyaakum wa-l-muslimeen.  Wa assalaam alaikum.