Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Questions: makharij
Updated on 04 October 2026 at 11:01 PM
📖 5 min readIn the language, the makhraj is the place of exit; in the terminology, the name of the place from which the letter emerges and by which it is distinguished from the others, just as madkhal is the name of the place of entry. In the language, the harf is the extremity; in the terminology, a sound that relies upon a muhaqqaq (verified) or muqaddar (estimated) makhraj. The makharij are to the letters what the scales are to quantities: it is by them that their measures are known.
The muhaqqaq (verified) makhraj is the one that relies upon a specific part of the parts of the mouth, such as the halq or the tongue. The muqaddar (estimated) makhraj is the one that relies upon none of the parts of the mouth, such as the makhraj of the alif, which emerges from the jawf.
Pronounce the letter sakin or mushaddad, then precede it with a connecting hamza carrying a vowel, any one. Where the sound stops, there is its verified makhraj. For the letters of madd, precede one of them with a letter carrying the vowel that suits it, then listen: it ends with the end of the air leaving the cavity of the mouth, which shows that its makhraj is estimated (the jawf).
The secondary letters are those that emerge from two makharij or that hesitate between two letters or two sifat, and they are eight in number. Four of them: the hamza mushkila, which is pronounced between the hamza and the alif, as in أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ; the alif mumala of مَجْرَاهَا, specific to Hafs, which is pronounced inclined toward the ya; the ya mashma' with the sound of the waw, as in قِيلَ in the reading of al-Kisa'i; and the alif mushabba', which takes on the emphasis of the emphatic letter it follows, as in الطَّامَّة.
They are limited to five: the jawf (the cavity), the halq (the throat), the tongue, the two lips, and the khayshoum (the nasal cavity). These are the ones that contain one makhraj or more.
Some counted seventeen, contained in the five general makharij: this is the opinion of Khalil ibn Ahmad, chosen by Imam Ibn al-Jazari. Others counted sixteen, by removing the makhraj of the jawf and distributing its letters: this is the opinion of Sibawayh, chosen by Imam al-Shatibi. Still others counted fourteen, by making the lam, the noon and the ra a single makhraj: this is the opinion of al-Farra'. The opinion acted upon, the most famous, is that of the seventeen: "The makharij of the letters are seventeen... according to what the one who tests and verifies chooses".
The halq contains three makharij: aqsa al-halq, the deepest toward the chest, from which the hamza and the ha (ح) emerge; wast al-halq, the middle, from which the ayn and the ha (ح) emerge; adna al-halq, the closest to the mouth, from which the ghayn and the kha emerge. These six letters carry the designation halqiya, for their emergence from the throat.
The jawf is the space extending from the throat to the mouth; it contains a single makhraj, undelimited. Its letters are the three letters of madd: the alif, and the waw and the ya sakin preceded by the vowel corresponding to them. They are called jawfiya, for their emergence from the jawf, and also hawa'iya, because their emergence ends with the end of the air of the mouth; that is the reason for these designations.
The two lips contain two makharij: that of the fa, emerging from the inner part of the lower lip with the tips of the upper incisors without squeezing; and that of the waw, the ba and the meem, emerging from between the two lips, with closure for the ba and the meem. These letters carry the designation shafawiya (labial), for their emergence from the lips.
The hamza emerges from aqsa al-halq, the deepest part of the throat, with the ha (ح). The jim emerges from the middle of the tongue facing the middle of the hard palate, with the sheen and the ya. The lam emerges from the front edge of the tongue, from the dad up to the teeth: it is the widest makhraj. The emphatic za emerges from the back of the tip of the tongue pressed against the tops of the upper incisors, with the dhal and the tha. The fa emerges from the inner part of the lower lip with the tips of the upper incisors. The alif emerges from the jawf, its makhraj being estimated and not delimited.