Mutamathilayn: idghaam and izhaar

Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Mutamathilayn: idghaam and izhaar

The mutamathilayn: a single type

Definition: the mutamathilayn (identical) are the two letters that share the same name, the same makhraj and the same sifat, like the two dals in وَقَدْ دَخَلُوا.

Their divisions

The mutamathilayn are divided into three categories:

• the saghir (small);
• the kabir (large);
• the mutlaq (absolute).

The mutamathilayn saghir (small)

It is that the first of the two letters be sakin and the second mutaharrik, as in اذْهَبْ بِكِتَابِي هَذَا.

It was named "small" for the sukun of its first letter and the movement of the second, which makes its idghaam easy given the slight execution it requires.

Its ruling: obligatory idghaam, except in two cases:

The first: that the first of the two letters be a letter of madd, as in يَا لَيْتَ قَوْمِي يَعْلَمُونَ and آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا; the ruling of such a case is then obligatory izhaar, so that the madd does not disappear through the idghaam⁴ (that is, because of it). This means the keeping of the letter of madd, which would disappear if it were merged. This is the school of those who place the ya of madd in the middle of the tongue and the waw of madd at the two lips, like their mutaharrik forms. According to the school of the majority, who take their makhraj to be the jawf, no identity (tamathul) occurs between the two, because of the difference of their makharij⁵.

And if the vowel before the waw is opened, as in عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا, or that before the ya, as in لا تَخْتَصِمُوا لَدَيَّ, their idghaam becomes obligatory for all the readers⁸, for the liquid waw and ya (layyina) emerge from the makhraj of their mutaharrik forms.

The second: that the first of the two letters be the ha of sakt, and that in مَالِيَهْ، هَلَكَ; in Hafs two options are permitted there: izhaar and idghaam. The izhaar occurs only with the sakt, and it is the more likely.

The mutamathilayn kabir (large)

It is that the two letters be mutaharrik, whether in a single word, as in مَنَاسِكَكُمْ, or in two words, as in الرَّحِيمِ، مَالِكِ.

It was named "large" because the two letters are there mutaharrik, and for the one who practices idghaam in it, the execution is more plentiful since the first letter must be given a sukun before being merged. It has also been said that it was named "large" for the frequency of its occurrence, the vowel being more numerous than the sukun³.

Its ruling: obligatory izhaar in Hafs, except in two words:

The first word: تَأْمَنَّا in Yusuf, where two options exist:

• The first: idghaam with ishmaam: the two lips are closed at the same time as the pronunciation of the first sakin noon, at the moment of its idghaam, as a sign that its origin is a damma; for "tamanna" has as its origin "tamannuna": the noon was merged into the noon, hence "tamanna".
• The second: the rawm of the first noon: the vowel is partially cut off with a furtive sound; some express it by the term ikhfa, and izhaar is indispensable with it. All of this is realized only through oral transmission.

The second word: "makanni" in the words of the Most High: قَالَ مَا مَكَّنِّي فِيهِ رَبِّي in al-Kahf; its origin is "makanni" with two noons, and Hafs read with the idghaam of the first noon into the second, hence "makanni" with a single mushaddad noon.

The mutamathilayn mutlaq (absolute)

It is that the first of the two letters be mutaharrik and the second sakin, as in مَا نَنْسَخْ.

It was named "absolute" because it is restricted neither to the small nor to the large.

Its ruling: obligatory izhaar with all the readers.