Mutaqariban: types and ruling

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The mutaqariban: the 3 types

The mutaqariban¹ (close) are distributed into three types.

Note: a divergence has occurred about the meaning of the two "close" letters, and the best founded and most likely opinion is that the closeness intended is a relative closeness, for it encompasses everything for which idghaam has been transmitted, whether the two letters emerge from a single organ or from two different organs.

The first type

Definition: the two letters brought close by the makhraj and by the sifat; this type includes three divisions:

• the saghir: like the ta with the tha in كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ;
• the kabir: like the qaf with the kaf in مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ;
• the mutlaq: like the seen with the tha in وَلا يَسْتَثْنُونَ.

The second type

Definition: the two letters brought close by the makhraj and not by the sifat; it likewise includes three divisions:

• the saghir: like the dal with the seen in قَدْ سَمِعَ;
• the kabir: like the dal with the seen in عَدَدَ سِنِينَ;
• the mutlaq: like the seen with the noon in سُندُسٍ.

The third type

Definition: the two letters brought close by the sifat and not by the makhraj; it likewise includes three divisions:

• the saghir: like the dhal with the jim in إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ;
• the kabir: like the qaf with the dal in قَدَرٍ مَعْلُومٍ;
• the mutlaq: like the qaf with the emphatic ta in يَلْتَقِطْهُ.

The ruling of the mutaqariban saghir

The mutaqariban saghir, in the three types, has izhaar as its ruling in Hafs, except in thirty-two cases on which consensus is established not to make them apparent, and one disputed case between complete idghaam and incomplete idghaam. Among these cases: what is merged (idghaam), what is changed (iqlaab) and what is concealed (ikhfa).

What idghaam is agreed upon

1. The first: the sakin noon before the following four letters: the ya, the waw, the lam and the ra only, except for the noon with the waw in the two places يس، وَالْقُرْآنِ and ن وَالْقَلَمِ, for the reading there is by izhaar; likewise the noon with the ra in مَنْ رَاقٍ, for the reading there requires the obligatory sakt, and the sakt prevents idghaam. We have not counted the noon and the meem among the agreed letters of idghaam: the noon with the noon is mutamathilayn, and the noon with the meem is mutajanisan.
2. The second: the shamsiya lam with its thirteen letters, after the removal of the lam, for it is with them mutamathilayn.
3. The third: the lam of "qul" and of "bal" followed by the ra, except for بَلْ رَانَ because of the obligatory sakt.

The disputed case in its idghaam is the qaf with the kaf in نَخْلُقْكُمْ specifically, for two readings of Hafs exist there:

• The first: complete idghaam, which is the first opinion and the most famous; Imam al-Shatibi transmitted no other. The meaning of the completeness of the idghaam is to introduce the qaf into the kaf totally, so that nothing of its sifat remains, such as the isti'aalah or the qalqalah.
• The second: incomplete idghaam: a part of the sifat of the qaf remains, such as the isti'aalah, and another part disappears, such as the qalqalah.

This divergence is understood from the words of Imam Ibn al-Jazari: "wa-l-khalfu bi-nakhluqkum waqa'a". It should be noted that incomplete idghaam has not been transmitted there through the chains of Tayyibat an-Nashr, and Imam al-Sannudi verified it in commenting "a-lam nakhluqkum":

ما نقص الإدغام بل يتم ... من طرق النشر كما منه علم

"Incomplete idghaam was not transmitted, on the contrary it is complete... through the chains of an-Nashr, as is known."

What iqlaab is agreed upon

It is a single case: the sakin noon followed by the ba.

What ikhfa is agreed upon

It is thirteen places where the sakin noon precedes the letters of the haqiqa ikhfa, with the exception of the qaf and the kaf, for both are, with respect to the noon, mutaba'adan. The examples of all these cases are obvious to you.

The ruling of the large and the absolute

The mutaqariban kabir and mutlaq has izhaar as its ruling at all times.