Question

I often hear the comment in our tajweed class that the meem and noon at the end of words is not clear like in the words that end in  or .  For example in words like or .  Could you suggest anything that might help to improve these letters?

Answer

One cause for the  and  not being clear when they are saakinah (not voweled) is the absence of the characteristic of the partial running of sound.  This characteristic is an intrinsic one of both letters, and so the sound is run a slight length of time.  Another cause is the student of the Qur’an sometimes does not make collision ( ) of the two parts of articulation of the saakinah and saakinah, before going on to the next letter.  This is often noted in the  saakinah when followed by a  or a . 

In conclusion, two factors are common in the  saakinah and  saakinah not being clear at the ends of words; first, the slight running of the sound that is an intrinsic characteristic of both letters may be missing, and second, there may be an absence of  or collision of the two parts of articulation that is necessary when pronouncing these two letters without a vowel.