Imlaa - rules of spelling
We have 29 letters in the Arabic language -
Hamza is the first letter in the alphabet and Alif is a letter that is used to elongate ( laam alif)
The reason the laam was brought before the alif is for pronunciation as the alif cannot be
pronounced except with a fatha coming before it as the alif and is always sukoon.
- It is a line that is written while joining certain letters
Example:
The letters of the alphabet are broken into 3 divisions:
- letters with 1 nabira
- letters with 3 nabira
- letters with no nabira
- Letters with 1 nabira - when it is joined to another letter - there are 7 letters:
- Letters with 3 nabira - when it is joined to another letter - there are 2 letters:
- Letters that do not have any nabira - those are the remaining 20 letters of the alphabet
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Differences betwen Alif and Hamza
Alif is always sakin, it is never at the beginning
A fatha which is followed by an Alif is alif madd and it can be maqsoora or mamdooda
Hamza is pronounced and can be at the beginning, middle and end of a word and can be written
above the alif, yaa and waaw -
N.B - The rules of spelling which are in the Quran are not the same as those used in common
Arabic. Therefore because of this the Quran is NOT a basis for the Ilmaa rules in common
writing
Three kinds of Imlaa
Specific for the Quran
Specific for poetry
That which is for standard Arabic (the one in present books today)
The basis of spelling is that we write what we hear but at the same time this is not the case
Example:
So because of this the scholars of the Arabic language came up with the knowledge of the Imlaa,
the Arabic language consists of 13 sciences and from them is Imlaa.
From the words that are pronounced with an Alif but not written:
words
wrong spelling
right spelling
laakin (but)
ilaah (God)
From the benefit of learning the Arabic language is correction of the tongue with the Arabic
language which the speech of Allah was revealed in. Because of this understanding of the Arabic
language is extremely important. But the sciences of the Arabic language are difficult in the
beginning then become easier. We take the example of a house that is made out of steel, meaning
it is difficult for someone to get in but once he does it will be easier (Sharh Al Ajromiyyah pg.9)
More examples of words that are pronounced with an elongated alif.. YET not written..
words
wrong spelling
right spelling
Thaalik
Allah
haathaa
Haakatha
Point In the Quran will find a small alif
written above the letter when pronounced ..its
pronounced with an elongated alif
That writing is specific to the writing of the Quran. .in your daily writings that small alif would
not be written above the letter
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In all these examples we see that the alif for elongation is pronounced.. Yet not written.
At other times its written.. But NOT pronounced.. A silent letter
There is no particular rules in what instances that take place ..rather those specific words are to be
memorised..
One of the things that the scholars do mention for the reason for this is that in the early days of
arabic penmanship.. There were no vowels as we know them today or dots like in the case
of .. .or ..
(As Arabic writing is constantly being developed)
So because of this out of fear of confusion occur between two words.. They decided to increase
an alif thats not pronounced..in certain words Meaning its silent its a silent letter
written ..but not pronounced
Example mi ah (a hundred)
We see an alif written.. But when the word is pronounced its absent.. Not pronounced
In older times it was written like this .. without the hamza.. or the two dots for the taa
Just the nabira was present and a loop.. Representing the taa
This resembled the word ( from him)..with out the dot for the noon. Just the nabira was
present
So as to differentiate between the two words.. They increased an alif in the word mi ah
* The word .
At all times the silent alif is added even in the case where its connected to
numbers from one to nine
Example..
hundred
hundred.
hundred
. hundred
. hundred
. hundred
hundred
hundred
. hundred
***As far as the plural for .
Then the silent alif is dropped, not written
And its written as its pronounced..
.
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Hundreds
THE SILENT ALIF
A silent alif is added to the plural masculine verb..thats those verbs that an elongated is
added to the ending of the verb.. Whether it be past tense form or present tense form, or
command form..
Example.. The plural masculine verb that your speaking about, third person, in the past tense
form
he went
they went
he sat.
they sat
We see in the two examples that an extra alif was added.. It is silent.. Plus its not possible to
pronounce it.. As its proceeded by a sukoon
***present tense, masculine verb, preceded by negation
he didn't go
they didn't go
he didn't sit
they didn't sit.
***command form, plural masculine verb, those that your speaking to
(s.( you. Go
go.. plural male
sit.. You
sit plural male
This same waw.. Can be silent at times.. In the case of..
Amr
This waw is not pronounced but must be written
Rather the reason it was added, was to differentiate from the word..
Umar.
In order to prevent confusion between the two words..
So if this waw is not written it could be mistaken for Umar
- The waw with a sukoon Its pronounced yet not written these examples should be memorised
Example:
Dawood .
This is how its pronounced.. But at the same time, its not permissible to combine two waws back
to back.. In a word.. This is disliked with the arabs..
So in order to escape this.. The ulamaa decided to remove the elongated waw with a sukoon..
And leave the waw thats written with a vowel, but at the same time pronounced it as if its present
Correction. :
Example:
Tawoos. . (Name of a birdplus one of Ibn Abasses students)
We see 2 waws are adjacent to one [Link]:
This same waw.. Can be silent at times.. In the case of..
Amar. . This waw is not pronounced but must be written, rather the reason it was added,
was to differentiate from the word..Umar. in order to prevent confusion between the two
words.. So if this waw is not written it could be mistaken for.. Umar :
REVIEW IMLAA
Rules we have taken so far are those pertaining to:
Elongated Alif pronounced , but not written ()
Silent Alif , written but not pronounced()
Waw sakin pronounced , but not written ()
Waw sakin written but but not pronounced()
- Elongated Alif, that is found at the end of the word:
* Alif found at the end of a word is written in 2 form :
First form: Alif is called Alif Asaw.
- Asaw means : a stick
Meaning its an alif in the form of a stick
Second form: Alif in the form of the letter. Yaa (with out the dots)
There are around 6-7 rules that explains the difference between the two Alifs thats written at the
end of a word, we will take a few
1 Every word consisting of two letters that end with a Alif , then its Alif Asaw
Example:
2. Every Non Arabic word that ends with a Alif, then its Alif Asaw
Example:
America, Russia, Britain
So this means that all the names of the countries and non Arabic Names, that end with an Alif
will be written as Alif Asaw,
Names, like:
Zakariya.
Exception to the rule:
Four words, which are Non Arabic, ends with an Alif , but will be written with Alif in the form
of a Yaa
1 - Musa.
2 - Isa.
3 - Kisra.(country)
This is the name of the area where Imam Al Bukhari is from who
4 - Bukhara (country)
wrote Sahih Al Bukhari, and is still present today, its found on the out skirts of Russia,
Imam Al Bukharis school is still present today but has been turned into a museum
At the end of a word the alif is written in one of two forms:
or
If the alif falls as the fourth letter or more it will be written as an alif that resembles a yaa
whether is a word or a noun or a verb
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If a word as an or a then know that the alif at the end will be written in the form of a a
As far as if the alif fell in the middle of the word then in all cases then the alif must be written as
alif asaw
The Hamza
There are two types of Hamza that can be found in the beginning of a word:
- Hamzatul wasl -
Here there are no vowels written above or under the hamzatul wasl (fatha, dumma, kasra). An
Arabic word can never begin with a sukoon, rather the vowels are pronounced, not written (so it is
incorrect to write any vowel points).
This hamza is only found at the beginning of a word:
example:
NOTE: In the Quran a hamzatul wasl can be identified by a small saad ( )above it, like this:
- Hamzatul Qata -
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This type of hamza can be written in the beginning, middle and end of a word and in each case it
has its own rules.
All vowels are written above and below whether it is a noun, verb or preposition. But it will
never take a sukoon in the beginning of a word. Ex:
**Rules pertaining the hamzatul wasl at the beginning of the word**
Definition: It is that which is pronounced if it begins the word, but is not pronounced if
preceded by one or more letters.
ex: Idrub -
in this case the hamza is pronounced because it is at the beginning of the word
and not preceded by any letter
- in this case the hamza is preceded by a letter, so when we read the hamza it
ex: wa drib -
is not pronounced
Its pronunciation is like this:
-
-
Every word that begins with Alif Laam the the hamza is hamzatul wasl. The same rule applies,
it is pronounced if nothing precedes it and it is not pronounced if it preceded by one or more
letters.
Ex:
al bait -
pronunciation >
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Alif at the ending of the word
There are two types of Alif ending a word:
- Alif Asaw -
- Alif resembling a yaa
All forms of preposition will end with Alif Asaw
. . .
Ex: .
EXCEPT 4 prepositions where the Alif will take with the shape of a yaa
Ex: . . .
Other than these four all prepositions will end with Alif Asaw..
All non Arabic names where it be place , person or thing will always end with a ALIF ASAW
.
Ex:
. .
EXCEPT 5 words will end with Alif Maqsoora resembling a yaa,
All 3 letter root verbs or nouns ending with ALIF ASAW
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This is a sign that its original root is actually a waw..
These words MUST ALWAYS TAKE Alif Asaw at the end
Ex:
Verbs:
.root .
root
.root.
Nouns:
.root
..root.
If the root of the verb or noun is a yaa , then the ALIF will be written like a yaa..
Ex:
Verbs:
.root
root
root
Nouns:
root.. .
root
If the verb or noun is more than 3 letters and ends with an alif then this alif will always be written like yaa
Ex:
Verbs:
4 letters.
..
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Nouns:
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