Questions: the meem saakin

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Examples of questions on the meem saakin

1. What is the meem saakin? And what are its rulings?
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   The meem saakin is the letter meem carrying a sukoon, whether original or secondary. It has three rulings: the ikhfa shafawi before the ba', the idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer before the mutaharrik meem, and the izhaar shafawi before the remaining twenty-six letters. As the author of Tuhfat al-Atfal says: "its rulings are three: ikhfa, idghaam and izhaar, and no more".

   Revision: Noon and meem with shaddah, Ikhfa shafawi, Idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer and Izhaar shafawi

2. What are the letters that cannot follow the meem saakin? And why?
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   This notion is not detailed in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.

3. How many letters for the ikhfa shafawi? And why is it called ikhfa shafawi? Illustrate it with two examples.
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   Ikhfa shafawi has a single letter: the ba', and this occurs only between two words. It is called shafawi (labial) because the meem and the ba' both come out from the lips, and ikhfa because the meem saakin is concealed at the meeting with the ba', because of the proximity between the two letters; it is necessarily accompanied by the ghunnah. Examples: تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ ءَايَـٰتُ (Aal 'Imran, 101) and رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ (al-Mulk, 12).

   Revision: Ikhfa shafawi

4. How many letters for the idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer? And why is it called thus? Illustrate it with two examples.
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   Idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer has a single letter: the meem. When a mutaharrik meem follows the meem saakin, the idghaam is obligatory with ghunnah. It is called mutamaathilayn (twins) because it is composed of two letters meeting at the point of articulation and in the characteristic, and sagheer (lesser) because the first of the two is saakin and the second mutaharrik: that is the cause of the idghaam. Examples: مِن قَبْلُ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ (al-Baqarah, 91) and وَلَهُم مَّا يَشْتَهُونَ (an-Nahl, 57).

   Revision: Idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer

5. How many letters for the izhaar shafawi? What is the reason for its name izhaar shafawi? And its cause? Illustrate it with four examples.
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   Izhaar shafawi has as letters the remaining twenty-six of the alphabet, after excluding the ba' and the meem. Its name izhaar comes from the making evident of the meem saakin at the meeting with these letters, and its name shafawi because the meem saakin, the letter that makes apparent, comes out from the lips. Its cause is the distance of the point of articulation of the meem in relation to that of most of these letters. Examples: وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا (al-Baqarah, 25), إِنَّكُمْ وَمَا تَعْبُدُونَ (al-Anbiya', 98), حِينَ تُمْسُونَ (ar-Rum, 17) and لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (al-Baqarah, 21).

   Revision: Izhaar shafawi

6. Against what does the author of Tuhfat al-Atfal warn when the waw and the fa' follow the meem saakin? And what is its ruling before them?
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   He warns against a concealment of the meem before the waw and the fa': "And beware, before a waw and a fa', of concealment... because of their proximity and union, recognize it". Before these two letters, the izhaar of the meem in intensive izhaar shafawi is obligatory, so that its concealment not be supposed as it conceals itself before the ba': this because of the identity of its point of articulation with the waw and of the proximity of its point of articulation with the fa'.

   Revision: Izhaar shafawi

7. State the ruling of the meem saakin in the following: وَهُمْ سَالِمُونَ ¹, لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ ², تَعْرِفُهُمْ بِسِيمَاهُمْ ³, لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ ⁴, يَوْمَ هُمْ بَارِزُونَ ⁵, كَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولاً مِنْكُمْ ⁶, وَيُعَلِّمُكُمْ مَا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ ⁷, وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ⁸, كَمْ مِنْ فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ ⁹, اللَّهُ يَسْتَهْزِئُ بِهِمْ وَيَمُدُّهُمْ ¹⁰, فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ ¹¹, صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ ¹².
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   The method: look at the letter that follows the meem saakin. Before the ba' → ikhfa shafawi with ghunnah (as in تَعْرِفُهُمْ بِسِيمَاهُمْ); before the meem → idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer with ghunnah; before any other letter → izhaar shafawi, intensive before the waw and the fa'. Apply thus these three rulings to each of the verses cited, first spotting the letter that follows.

   Revision: Ikhfa shafawi, Idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer and Izhaar shafawi

8. Read Surah al-Ma'arij, and extract from it the rulings of the meem saakin.
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   Proceed in the same way verse by verse: spot each meem saakin, then look at the letter that follows it. Before the ba' → ikhfa shafawi; before the meem → idghaam mutamaathilayn sagheer; before any other letter → izhaar shafawi, with the particular attention to the waw and the fa' where the intensive izhaar is obligatory.

   Revision: Noon and meem with shaddah and the three pages of the meem saakin