Sifāt al-Hurūf in Tajweed 101: Everything to Know About Letter Characteristics

Great! Now that we've learned Makharij (articulation points), we'll move towards Sifāt al-Hurūf (صفات الحروف) - the characteristics of Arabic letters. Let's learn Sifāt in Tajweed from the ground up in a friendly, step-by-step way so you can learn, practice, and master it. We'll use Arabic words, transliteration, and clear examples.

What are Sifāt al-Hurūf?

Sifāt al-Hurūf = the characteristics or qualities of letters.

While makhārij (مخارج) tell us where a letter comes from (tongue, throat, lips, etc.), sifāt tell us how a letter is produced — its audible and physical quality: loud/soft, heavy/light, whispered/voiced, bouncing (qalqalah), etc.

Two Big Groups in Sifaat ul Huruf

Sifāt Lāzimah (صفات لازمة) — Permanent Characteristics

These are intrinsic properties of the letter itself. If a letter always has that attribute, it's lāzimah.

Example overviews:

• Hams / Jahr — whisper vs voiced. Example: س in سَماء has hams (a whispery sound) while ب in بَاب has jahr (voiced).
• Shiddah / Rikhāwah — strength (when a letter carries shaddah) vs softness. Example: the doubled دّ vs single د.
• Tafkheem / Tarqīq — heaviness vs lightness (e.g., ص vs س). Example: صَلَاة (heavy ص) vs سَلَام (thin س).
• Isti'lā' / Istifāl — elevation (back of tongue raised: e.g., ق غ خ) vs lowering of the tongue (e.g., ب م ن).
• Qalqalah — "bounce" or echo on letters ق ط ب ج د when they are in sukoon/stop. Example: the small "click" you hear in قُطْب (on the ب with sukoon).

Sifāt 'Āridah (صفات عارضة) — Temporary Characteristics

These are attributes that happen due to context (vowels, shaddah, hamzah, etc.), not an intrinsic property of the letter.

Example overviews:

• A letter may be heavy (tafkheem) temporarily because of nearby letters or vowels.
• A letter may have qalqalah only when it has sukoon.
• Rā' can be heavy or light depending on the vowel before it.

Main Sifāt You Must Master

We'll walk through the most important sifāt that teachers use daily in Tajwīd. Here, we'll only briefly touch Tafkheem & Tarqeeq rules, Qalqalah pronunciation, Tafkheem of Rā' and Lām of Allāh rules as we have detailed lessons for them.

A — Hams (هَمْس) and Jahr (جَهْر) — Whispered vs Voiced

Concept:

• Hams → a breathy or whisper-like sound; there's audible breath and the vocal cords are not fully vibrating.
• Jahr → voiced; the vocal cords vibrate and produce a clearer voiced sound.

How to feel it:

Put a hand on your throat (near larynx). Say a voiced consonant (e.g., ب "ba") — you feel vibration. That's jahr. Say a whispered consonant (e.g., س "sa") — minimal/no vibration; you feel breath — that's hams.

Examples:

• Hams: سَ (sa) in سَماء (samā') — whispered, breathy.
• Jahr: بَ (ba) in بَاب (bāb) — voiced, feel the vibration.

Practice: contrast pairs: س vs ز (both similar place but s=hams, z=jahr). Say /sa/ then /za/ and feel throat vibration on /za/.

B — Shiddah (شِدَّة) and Rikhāwah/Basāṭah (رخاوة/بساطة) — Strength vs Softness

Concept:

• Shiddah is the characteristic of a letter when it is doubled (with shaddah). It is produced with strength and firmness and must be pronounced quickly and firmly (no vowel in between).
• Rikhāwah is the opposite (the letter is relaxed/soft — the usual form without shaddah).

Example:

• مَدّ vs مَدَّ — the second has shaddah and should be pronounced with firmness on the doubled letter.
• In الْمُلْكَةِ vs الْمَلَّكِ — shaddah makes the doubled letter stronger.

Practice: read words with and without shaddah and feel the extra pressure/instant on the doubled letter.

C — Tafkheem (تَفْخِيم) and Tarqīq (تَرْقِيق) — Heavy vs Light (Overview)

This is an extremely important concept in tajweed. Learn complete Tafkheem & Tarqeeq rules with examples.

Concept:

• Tafkheem = making a letter thick, heavy, fuller sound.
• Tarqīq = making a letter thin, light, sharp sound.

Which letters are usually heavy?

Commonly heavy letters include: خ، ص، ض، ط، ظ، غ، ق and sometimes ر depending on context. Also the Lām of اللّه can be heavy in certain cases.

Examples:

• Heavy: صَلَاة — the ص is thick (tafkheem).
• Light: سَلَام — the س is thin (tarqīq).

How to practice: Compare pairs that are identical except one letter is tafkheem: say صَ and سَ; feel the back of the tongue a little more raised for ص.

D — Isti'lā' (استعلاء) and Istifāl / Istifāḍ (استفال / استقرار) — Elevation vs Lowering

Concept:

• Isti'lā': raising the back of the tongue so the sound is produced higher in the mouth/throat — this causes heaviness (connected with tafkheem) for certain letters (e.g., ق، خ، غ، ط، ظ، ص، ض).
• Istifāl: lowering the tongue; produces a thinner sound (related to tarqīq).

Example:

• Isti'lā': ق as in قَلْب — back of tongue raised.
• Istifāl: ب as in بَاب — produced with lips, lower tongue posture.

E — Qalqalah (قَلْقَلَة) — The "Bounce" (Overview)

Here is a brief overview of Qalqalah as we have a complete Qalqalah guide with practice exercises explaining it.

Concept:

Qalqalah is a light explosive sound (a small echo/"bounce") produced when certain letters meet sukoon (are silent) or at the end of the word when stopping. It is not a full vowel — it's a brief bouncy release.

The Qalqalah letters (the famous five): ق ط ب ج د

Examples:

• In the word اِقْتِرَاب — the ق when in sukoon may have qalqalah if pronounced with pause at stop.
• When stopping on قُلْ you hear a small bounce on the ق.

Practice: stop on words with those letters in sukoon and practice short bounces — not a full vowel but a small striking sound.

F — Special Cases: Tafkheem of Rā' and Lām of Allah (Overview)

Tafkheem of Rā' (تفخيم الراء) — Overview

Concept: Rā' (ر) can be heavy or light depending on context. Learn detailed Tafkheem of Rā' rules and examples.

• Rā' heavy (tafkheem) when it has sukūn and is preceded by a fatḥah or ḍammah (or when it has a dhammah itself), or when the letter is from words/patterns that make Rā' thick.
• Rā' light (tarqīq) when preceded by a kasrah (or Rā' with a kasrah).

Examples:

• Heavy Rā': مِن رَّحْمَة — or simpler: when Rā' is in مِن رَّبِّ
• Light Rā': قِرْءَةٍ — Rā' with kasrah is light.

Tafkheem of Lām in "Allāh" (تفخيم اللام في كلمة الله) — Overview

Rule: Master Tafkheem of Lām in Allāh with detailed examples.

• The Lām of اللَّه is heavy (tafkheem) if the letter before اللَّه is pronounced with fatḥah (a) or ḍammah (u).
• The Lām is light (tarqīq) if the letter before اللَّه has a kasrah (i).

Examples:

• جَعَلَ اللَّهُ → preceding letter has fatḥah → Lām heavy.
• بِاللَّهِ → preceding letter has kasrah → Lām light.

How to Practically Learn and Master Sifāt - Step by Step

These are practical exercises and a learning path from beginner → advanced.

Stage 1 — Foundation (Beginner)

• Learn makhārij (places of articulation) first — you must know where the letter comes from. Sifāt without makhārij is unstable.
• Feel voice vs breath: practice jahr vs hams — put your fingers on the throat and repeat voiced/voiceless contrasts: ba vs fa, da vs tha, za vs sa.
• Shaddah practice: read words with shaddah and make the doubled letter strong and short — e.g., مَرَّ vs مَرَ.
• Listen to a qāri' and imitate short phrases focusing on single sifat at a time.

Stage 2 — Intermediate

• Tafkheem/Tarqīq practice: take pairs like صَ vs سَ, قَ vs كَ, and exaggerate the back-tongue raising for the heavy letters. Record and compare.
• Qalqalah drills: make lists of words ending in the qalqalah letters with sukoon and stop on them to hear the bounce: أَقْطَاب (try short examples).
• Context drills for Rā' and Lām: make short sentences to create the contexts that make Rā' heavy/light and Lām of Allah heavy/light. Repeat.

Stage 3 — Advanced

• Combine properties: read ayahs focusing on more than one sifat — e.g., letters with isti'lā' near letters with hams.
• Master degrees: qalqalah has degrees depending on stop; shaddah has length rules; tafkheem has subtle differences (e.g., between ق and غ).
• Error correction: compare your recitation to a qāri', note differences in sifat, and correct.

Common Sifāt Mistakes

Let's have a brief overview about the common mistakes people make in sifat. Learn to fix common Sifāt mistakes with correction strategies.

• Confusing tafkheem & tarqīq: Example mistake — pronouncing ص thin like س. Fix: practice minimal pairs (ص vs س) and exaggerate the back-tongue raising for ص.
• No qalqalah on stop: Some learners flatten the qalqalah letters and do not produce the small bounce. Fix: isolate the letter with sukoon at word end and practice a small "click" or echo — not a vowel, just an abrupt release.
• Rā' mispronounced (too heavy or too light): Fix: make sentences that create the vowel context that requires heavy/light and focus on the throat/back of tongue movement.
• Lām of Allāh errors: Lām pronounced light when it should be heavy (or vice versa). Fix: check the vowel before Allāh (a/u → heavy; i → light) and practice words in both contexts.
• Hams/Jahr confusion (e.g., making z like s): Fix: throat-hand test (feel vibration) and voice/unvoice drills.

Useful Practice Exercises (Reproducible Drills)

1. Throat-hand test for Hams/Jahr

Say: بَ — فَ, دَ — ثَ, زَ — سَ. Put your fingers on your throat. On the voiced letter you should feel vibration.

2. Shaddah drill

Read: الَّذِي — put emphasis on doubled لّ to feel the firmness. Try many words with shaddah.

3. Tafkheem vs Tarqīq pairs

Pair: صَ — سَ, قَ — كَ, ظَ — ذَ (note: ذ is not always direct pair but helps hear thin vs thick). Exaggerate the back of the tongue for the first of each pair.

4. Qalqalah drill

Words ending in qalqalah letters: اَقْبَضْ, اَبْقِ, قَلْب — stop and try the small bounce.

5. Lām of Allāh context drill

Say: جَعَلَ اللَّهُ (heavy Lām) then بِاللَّهِ (light Lām). Feel the difference.

6. Minimal pair recording

Record yourself reading short lists of minimal pairs. Compare to a qāri'.

How We Will Learn Sifāt

Here's a sequence we will teach you next, one lesson at a time, with exercises each time:

Practical Tips to Accelerate Mastery (Do These Every Day)

• Short daily focused practice (10–20 minutes) — one sifat each day for a week. E.g., Day 1: Hams/Jahr; Day 2: Shaddah; Day 3: Qalqalah; Day 4–6: Tafkheem/Tarqīq and special cases (Rā', Lām of Allāh).
• Record & compare — your ear is the best teacher; compare to a clear qāri' (e.g., a short surah read by an expert).
• Isolate and repeat — don't read long ayahs until you can accurately produce the sifat in single words.
• Use minimal pairs — same makhraj but different sifat (e.g., س vs ص). This trains discrimination.
• Ask for feedback — a teacher or a native-skilled reciter who can listen and correct fine details.
• Be patient — sifāt are subtle; muscle memory in tongue/throat takes time.

Frequently Asked Questions