Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Questions: dropping and keeping
Updated on 04 October 2026 at 11:01 PM
📖 7 min readDropping (hadhf) and keeping (ithbat) concern the three madd letters: the alif, the yaa and the waaw. Their keeping or dropping belongs specifically to the characteristics of the Uthmani script, which it is legally obligatory to follow.
The reader is bound to follow the script in his recitation: he stops with keeping on what is kept in the script, and with dropping on what is dropped from it; for the stop, as a rule, follows the script, except for the exceptions justified by transmission (riwayah).
Four forms hold when stopping on a word ending with a madd letter: the letter kept in the script and in wasl, as in قَالا رَبَّنَا: one stops there with keeping; the letter dropped in the script and in wasl, as in وَلَمْ يَخْشَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ: one stops there with dropping; the letter kept in the script and dropped in wasl, as in الظُّنُونَا and نُنْجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ: one stops there with keeping; the letter dropped in the script and kept in wasl, as in إِنَّهُ هُوَ: one stops there with dropping. The stop therefore follows the state in the script, in keeping as in dropping.
Excepted from this rule: the alif of سَلاسِلا in ad-Dahr and the yaa of آتَانِيَ in an-Naml, for which Hafs has when stopping two permitted views, keeping and dropping; and the alif of ثَمُودَ at the second occurrence in Hud, as well as in al-Furqan, al-'Ankabut and an-Najm, kept in the script but dropped when stopping and in wasl, against the rule. In all of this the consideration goes to transmission, and the recitation is a followed sunnah.
The alif kept in the script and when stopping, dropped in wasl, counts eight types: the alif dropped in wasl to free oneself from the meeting of two sakinas, as in فَإِنْ كَانَتَا اثْنَتَيْنِ and وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ; the alif of the word "ayyuha" throughout the Quran, except in three places where one must stop with dropping; the alif of certain verse-initial words like الظُّنُونَاْ and قَوَارِيرَاْ; the alif substituted for the noon of light emphasis, as in وَلَيَكُونًا; the alif substituted for the tanween of the accusative, as in اهْبِطُوا مِصْرًا; the alif of the word "idhan" carrying tanween; the alif of the pronoun "ana" throughout the Quran; and the alif of "lakinna" in لَكِنَّا هُوَ اللَّهُ رَبِّي.
The alif of سَلاسِلا is kept in the script and dropped in wasl, with both views permitted when stopping: keeping and dropping. The view of its keeping follows its keeping in the script and agrees with the recitation of the one who carries the tanween on it; as for the view of dropping, it is against the rule and takes wasl into account, for it is dropped when it is joined. It is the only word of the Quran in this state.
This concerns two words: "Thamud" in four places, among them أَلا إِنَّ ثَمُودَ كَفَرُوا رَبَّهُمْ in Hud, وَعَادًا وَثَمُودَ in al-Furqan and وَثَمُودَ فَمَا أَبْقَى in an-Najm: the keeping of the alif in the script there allows the recitation of the one who carries the tanween on it in wasl, and its dropping when stopping follows its dropping in wasl, against the rule; and "qawarir" at the second occurrence of قَوَارِيرَ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ in al-Insan, where the alif is likewise dropped when stopping and in wasl.
The ruling on the yaa kept in the script and followed by a vowel is its keeping when stopping and in wasl, following its keeping in the script; this occurs in many places of the Quran, whether it is attached to a letter, a verb or a noun.
The module states that these kept yaa's with counterparts are found in seventeen words occurring in twenty-two places, and that their counterparts dropped in the script are found in sixteen words in eighteen places, dropped when stopping and in wasl following their dropping in the script. Mentioning a thing with its counterpart is closer to understanding; the detailed list of these places is not laid out in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.
The yaa kept in the script and followed by a hamzat al-wasl endowed with the article "al" has as its ruling its keeping when stopping and its dropping in wasl, because of this sakina. This type comprises four forms: the yaa attached to the sound masculine plural, in six words pointed to by the verse "وموقف معجزي محلي حاضي آتي المقيمي ومهلكي باليا دري"; the yaa attached to the verbal noun, like "'ahdi" in قَالَ لا يَنَالُ عَهْدِي الظَّالِمِينَ; the yaa attached to the verb, like "yurbi" in وَيُرْبِي الصَّدَقَاتِ; and the yaa attached to nouns in general, like "mukhzi" in وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ مُخْزِي الْكَافِرِينَ.
In فَمَا آتَانِ اللَّهُ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا آتَاكُمْ in an-Naml, Hafs joins with a yaa carrying fathah, and stops on it either with keeping, taking wasl into account, or with dropping, following its dropping in the script. It is the only word in which keeping in wasl is accompanied by divergence when stopping.
This waaw is kept in recitation when stopping only, for its keeping in the script; as for wasl, it is dropped to free oneself from the meeting of two sakinas, like "tatroo" in وَاتَّبَعُوا مَا تَتْلُوا الشَّيَاطِينُ and "jaaboo" in وَثَمُودَ الَّذِينَ جَابُوا الصَّخْرَ بِالْوَادِ.
Apply the basic rule: the stop follows the script, in keeping as in dropping, except for the exceptions of transmission. قُلْنَا احْمِلْ فِيهَا: alif kept in the script, dropped in wasl, kept when stopping. إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ and عِنْدَ ذِي الْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍ: Haa al-Kinaya without Madd, the letter of joining being dropped when stopping. أَيُّهَ الثَّقَلانِ: the alif of "ayyuha" there is dropped in the script, hence dropping when stopping as in wasl. نُنْجِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ in Yunus and إِنَّا مُرْسِلُو النَّاقَةِ: letter kept in the script and dropped in wasl, keeping when stopping. وَتَظُّنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا: alif of a verse-initial word, keeping when stopping. وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ and الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُوا عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ: letters dropped in wasl, kept when stopping. وَثَمُودَ فَمَا أَبْقَى: alif of "Thamud", dropping when stopping against the rule. إِنَّا مُرْسِلُو النَّاقَةِ has already been cited; أَيَحْسَبُ أَنْ لَمْ يَرَهُ أَحَدٌ and سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ: waaw of "sanad'oo" dropped in the script, hence dropping when stopping as in wasl.
Review: Dropping and keeping, Ruling on the alif, Ruling on the yaa and Ruling on the waaw