Question

Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatu Allah

Recently I heard the recitation of surah Al Qiyamah and at the end of aayaat 10 () and 13  ( ), the reciter held the ra () saakinah mushaddadah for longer than "tawassat" length; it seemed to me that it was done to show the shaddah on the ra.  Is that a situation when the tawassat quality being doubled as it were by the shaddah, becomes more like rikhawah length?  Jazamu Allah bikulli khair.

 Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.

When there is a shaddah on the last letter of a word, and we are stopping on this word, we should put an "accent" or emphasis on  the last letter to make clear that there are two letters, this is called a .  This is done by slightly raising the pitch of the voice on the vowel of the letter preceding the last  letter that has a shaddah.  There is, however, the usual timing of the tawassat (), and the timing is not doubled.  It may what you heard was a . 

There is are two exceptions to this case of the ; if the last letter that has a shaddah on it is a or , there is no need for an "accent" since the most complete ghunnah makes clear that there is a shaddah on the last letter.  The other exception is if the last letter of the word is a qalqalah letter and has a shaddah there is no need for a , since there is a different mechanism for each of two letters; the first letter of the shaddah will be formed by collision of the two parts of the articulation point of the letter, and the second letter of the shaddah will have the qalqalah on it, so two distinct letters will be heard, and all will know that the last letter has a shaddah. 

Wa iyyakum wa-l-muslimeen.