Question

Jazakum Allahu khairan  for all your explanations;  they are very useful and interesting.  I have printed some of your answers to help me keep in mind some of the points.  I'm not sure if you have already answered this question so I apologize if it has already been covered.

We are told that the medd letters are three: the alif saakinah preceded by a fatHah; and the ya’ saakinah preceded by a kesrah; and the wow saakinah preceded by a dhammah.  These are elongated for two counts when they make up a natural mad  the  (medd "tabee'ee").  What if these three letters the alif, the ya and the wow are saakinah but before them is different vowel from the above that is: other than a fatHa before an alif, or a kesrah before the ya’ or a dhammah before the wow?

Answer

Wa iyyakum wa al-muslimeen.  Do not worry about repeating a question, if it has already been answered, the location of the question and answer will be pointed out and you will receive the reward of helping others find that question and answer.  It may be that they were unaware of them. 

The true alif is always saakinah and always preceded by a fat-hah.  If there is any harakah, or vowel, above the alif, then it is not really an alif, but a hamzah using the alif to “sit on”.  Hamzahs tend to be lazy fellows. 

The wow saakinah is only preceded by a dhammah, as discussed in your question, or a fat-hah.  The ya’ saakinah is only preceded by a kasrah, as pointed out, or a fat-hah.  When the wow saakinah or ya’ saakinah are preceded by a fath and there is no presented sukoon following the wow or ya’ saakinah, there is a lengthening that is shorter than a natural medd (shorter than two vowel counts), but longer than a harakah (one vowel count).  An example of this is the word , in the phrase: .  This is called: (or some medd).  If there is a wow or ya’ saakinah and they are preceded by a fat-hah, and there is only ONE letter after that, and we are stopping on that word, the wow and ya’ are then lengthened 2, 4, or 6 counts.  An example of this is the last word of the first ayaah in surah al-Quraysh:

This is called the “leen” or soft medd.