Question

Assalamu-alaikum wa rahmatullahi,  

May Allah reward you for providing this valuable resource.

My question is concerning the degree of Hams in the Ta, Kaf and Daal when not saakin (Hafs-bin-Asim min tarikatil Shaatibee). I have heard that when these letters are not saakin there is no hams at all. This is difficult and requires the tongue to move back to eliminate the hams when the letter is mutaharik and changes the pronunciation of these letters.  

However I have also heard and believe is the correct view, that the Hams is present in all forms of the letter, but strongest when saakin.  

Do you know what is the correct amount of Hams for these letters? I would be grateful if you could indicate the source of your opinion since both opinions I have mentioned are from people with Ijaaza with short sanads from eminent scholars, so as a humble student with no such background it is difficult to know what to follow.

Jazakallah khayran

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh. Jazakum Allahu khairan for the dua’.
The letter  does not have the characteristic of , but the two other letters mentioned in the question, the  and  do.   The group of letters that have the characteristic of  are the letters in the phrase: . 

The characteristics such as  and  are called   which means inherent or intrinsic characteristics.  In other words, these characteristics are part of the inherent make of the letter and never leave it.   These characteristics are part of the make of the Arabic letters and do not change from one way of recitation to another. 

The characteristic of  is heard with more distinction when a letter of the group of  is saakin, but the characteristic is always present.  There is no difference of opinion on this among the scholars, all agree that these are inherent characteristics. 

Sometimes, students of the Qur’an, use the teeth instead of the gum line of the two front top incisors with the letter  and en extra incorrect sound comes out.  The sound becomes close to the sound of the .  Some call this too much of , but the more correct wording is an extra sound, since  is supposed to be heard.

A similar mistake can be made with the letter , but this is less common, in which an extra sound comes out if the articulation point is too far forward on the hard palate.  Many times Western English speaking Muslims have this last mistake, since the English K has this extra sound.

If you need a reference, even though there is no difference of opinion among the scholars  that the inherent characteristics never leave the letter, the book  by Ash-Sheikh Muhammed Makkee Nasr, p. 43 states:

Meaning: …and the second like the “hams” and “jahr” and their likenesses from all of the required characteristics of the letter in all cases, whether is was saakin or voweled with any kind of vowel. 

Wa iyaakum wa-l-muslimeen

Wa assalaam alaikum