The last tidbit lesson began describing the relationship of , two letters that have the same articulation point and the same characteristics, in other words, are the same two letters.  It was stated that there are three divisions of the two alike (), depending on the vowels on each of the two letters.  The three divisions are:  :   , and  .  This lesson will continue with the two alike (   ), describing these three divisions and the ruling for each of them in more detail.

The Two Small Alike

It is defined as: When the first letter of  is saakin, and the second letter of  is voweled, whether they are in one word or in two words.  Examples in one word are:

 Examples between two words are:

It is called  because of its ease and the little effort required in applying it.

Its Rule: Required Merging. 

There are two exceptions to this rule:

The First: If the first of  is a medd letter then the rule is .  The and of leen do have  when there is  as  discussed in the last tidbit lesson. 

The Second Exception: When the first letter is , and this only occurs once between verses 28, and 29 in surah Al-Haaqqah:  In this case there are two allowable options when joining these two aayaat together.

The first: Making the  clear with a light stop with no breath during the stop (this is called a ).

The second, merging the  with the  that follows it).

The Two Big Alike 

In this case, the Big ( ), the two same letters have vowels and are next to each other either in one word, such as  or in two words, such as in .  It is called because of the greater effort required. 

Its rule is required  (except in the following cases):

The first exception is the word  in surah Yusuf aayah 11   .  The noon mushaddadah in this word represents an .  This word originally was .  This word is read with either one of two possible correct ways:

1.   Merging of the two letter with a dhammah of the two lips during the ghunnah, but no sound of a dhammah. In Arabic, this is called

2.   Saying the two  clearly and stealing part of the vowel on the first noon, which is a dhammah. This means the reader only gives the dhammah 2/3 of its full timing.  This is called:

Other exceptions to the normally required  of  , (meaning there is an  ) are in the following: aayah 95 in surah Al-Kahf, and the three words :

Aayah 271 of surah Al-Baqarah, and the same word without the conjunctive letter : in aayah 58 of surah An-Nisaa’ .

These words all have .  The above four words that have  are all written with the idghaam incorporated into the written word, but are explained here for further understanding.

The Unrestricted Likeness

Its Definition:  The first letter of the two same letters has a vowel, and the second of the same letter has a sukoon.  Examples:

It is called  due to its lack of conformity to  and   . 
Its rule: Required Ith-haar ().  There are no exceptions to this rule.