Question

Assalamu Aleikum,

1. I have a few questions concerning the lengthening of a letter in the Qur'an. In surah 18, last verse (110) of the first line: "...inna mâ..." there is a sign above the lengthened miim. What is the name of that sign?

On www.kitabullah.com , sheikh Mustafa Ismail was recited surat An Nâzi'at starting from verse 26. When he recited verse 27, he cut short the lengthened miim letter on the word "samaa" that has this sign. Is it normal? if no, why did he do it?

2. On surah 19 verse 19 first line, there is a sort of a small letter "o" above the letter "nûn" in "...a na...". How is it called and what is its role? 

3. In my last question, I was actually refering to the "Al Bazzee" recitation, and I mistakenly stated "As Soosiy". I have noticed that Al Bazzee recitation uses the plural for the miim more that Warsh does. So my question is, should all the letters "miim" be in the plural form when recited in the Al Bazzee recitation? ( you gave an example in the question 040803, number 4)? 

4. I have memorized many verses and surat from the Qur'an. I know that in order not to forget them, I need to recite them constantly. Therefore, what would be your advice so that I will never, inshallah, forget any of those surat and verses that I have learned? 

May Allah help you find the answers and May He make it easier for you to find them inshallah. Ma Salam

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh,

1.  In aayah 110 of surah Al-Kahf: , there is a medd mark on the alif after the letter .  The  is not considered lengthened, the alif has the lengthening.   

The sheikh is reading the recitation of , more specifically and in this recitation when stopping on a word with hamzah , outside of the first letter, the hamzah changes.  When the last letter of the word is a hamzah and preceded by an alif, as in the word , there are two ways he stops on this word, one way is dropping the hamzah, and with it there are allowed three possible medd lengthenings of the alif, one two vowel counts, second four vowel counts, and third, six vowel counts.  In the recitation you listened to, he lengthened the alif two vowel counts.

2. The circle above the alif on the word , is called   and it indicates that this letter is not pronounced when continuing, but when stopping is pronounced.  You may click on this link for further explanation and examples: http://www.abouttajweed.com/220802.htm

 3.  The recitation  has what is called , meaning that he reads with a dhammah on the plural  and lengthens this dhammah so that it becomes a two vowel count , if the first letter of the next word is voweled.  Warsh only lengthens it when there is a hamzah in the first letter of the next word, but in the recitation of Ibn Katheer ( is one of the two raawee of Ibn Katheer) this dhammah and lengthening occurs before all letters, except if the first letter of the next word is saakin.  

4.  If you want to keep the memorization in its finest form, you should make a schedule and make sure you review and practice everything you have memorized once a week.  This is the best way to keep it up and not to forget it. 

 Wa assalaam