Exceptions to the rule of (merging)
The last two lessons described the merging of the saakinah and tanween at the end of a word, with any of the letters of the group at the beginning of the next following word. The , or merging was further broken down into two sub-groups:
1. (idghaam without a ghunnah).
2. (Idghaam with a ghunnah).
The (idghaam without a ghunnah) was described as occurring when the saakinah or tanween was at the end of a word and the first letter of the next word was either a or a . The second sub-group, (idghaam with a ghunnah) was determined to take place when the saakinah or tanween was at the end of a word and the first letter of the next word was one of the letters of the group: .
This lesson explains a few cases in the Glorious Qur’an when there is a saakinah at the end of a word, and the next word starts with one of the letters of the group , but there is no (merging), instead the is recited clearly, or with an .
The first case is in aayah 27 of surah Al-Qiyaamah: . The second word of this aayah ends with a saakinah, and the first letter of the next word is a . Under normal circumstances, there would be , or an idghaam without a ghunnah, since the is one of the letters that cause an when it follows a saakinah. In this aayah though, there is a brief breathless pause, known in Arabic as a between the word , and the next word: . This short pause without a breath prevents the saakinah of the word from meeting with the of the following word, . There is therefore, no , or merging, of the saakinah with the here. If you look at the aayah, you will see a small letter above the word . This indicates to the reciter that there is a .
The next two examples involve the individual separate letters that start some different surahs. These letters are read as if each letter is written out, for example in surah Al-Qalam, , the first letter , is recited just as you would read the word: . This word ends with a saakinah. If we were to join this individual letter, recited as the word with the next following word, we notice that the next word starts with a . Usually if there is a saakinah followed by a , the rule applies. In this case, however, Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim by the way of Shatabiyyah, does not make an , but instead recites the saakinah clearly, then recites the next word. It is preferred and most common, to stop on the end of the individual letter , but continuing is allowed. The same things said about this example can be said about the saakinah at the end of the individual separate letter in the first two ayaat of surah Ya-Seen: . The second separate letter of the first aayah is the letter which ends with a saakinah. The first word of the second aayah starts with the letter (actually the first word is the letter ). If we were to join the first and second aayah together, there would be a saakinah (the last letter of the word ) meeting with the letter . As the previous tidbit lesson stated, there normally would be , but as above Hafs ‘An ‘Aasim by the way of Shatibiyyah, does not make an idghaam when joining these two aayaat together; instead the saakinah of the word is recited clearly ( ), then the next word, the letter is read with the accompanying vowel.
These are the exceptions to the idghaam rule for the saakinah and tanween. This ends the explanation of the rule of the saakinah and tanween. The next tidbit, insha’ Allah, will explain the (changing) rule.