Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Questions: sifat
Updated on 04 October 2026 at 11:01 PM
📖 5 min readThis notion is not detailed in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.
This notion is not detailed in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.
This notion is not detailed in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.
The sifat that have a counterpart are ten, in five pairs: hams and jahr, shiddah and tawassut and rakhawah, isti'aalah and istifaal, itbaq and infitah, idhlaq and ismat. The sifat that have no counterpart number nine: safeer, qalqalah, leen, inhiraaf, takreer, tafashshee, istitaalah, khafaa and ghunnah. The classification of the sifat into dhatiya (intrinsic) and 'aradiya (accidental) is not detailed in this module; see the book Qawa'id al-Tajwid on the recitation of Hafs.
Review: Sifat with counterpart and Sifat without counterpart
In the language, hams is concealment (al-khafa). In the terminology: the flow of breath upon pronouncing the letter, due to the weakness of the reliance on its point of articulation. Its letters are ten, gathered by Ibn al-Jazari in "fahaththahu shakhsun sakat": the fa, the ha, the tha, the ha (ه), the sheen, the kha, the sad, the seen, the kaf and the ta.
In the language, qalqalah is disturbance, agitation. In the terminology: the vibration of the voice upon pronouncing the letter, to the point that a strong intonation is heard in it. Its letters are five, gathered in "qubt jadd": the qaf, the emphatic ta, the ba, the jim and the dal. Its degrees: with regard to the letters, the highest in the emphatic ta, the middle in the jim, the lowest in the three remaining letters; with regard to the ranks, four: the mushaddad sakin at a stop as in الحقّ, the non-mushaddad sakin at a stop as in خلاق, the sakin in connected speech (wasl) as in خلقنا (where it reaches perfection), then the mutaharrik as in المتقِين where it retains only its origin. Its manner of execution: the most correct opinion is that it is closer to the fatha in absolute terms.
Look for the letter first among the sifat with counterpart: hams or jahr ("fahaththahu shakhsun sakat"), then shiddah, tawassut or rakhawah ("ajid qat bakat" and "lin 'umar"), then isti'aalah or istifaal, then itbaq or infitah (sad, dad, emphatic ta, emphatic za), then idhlaq or ismat ("firr min lub"): the letter then has five sifat. Then look for it among the nine sifat without counterpart: if it possesses one, that is its sixth sifah. The sifat of a letter do not fall below five and do not rise above seven.
The strength of a letter is in proportion to the strong sifat it contains, and its weakness in proportion to the sifat of weakness it contains. The strong sifat are eleven: jahr, shiddah, isti'aalah, itbaq, safeer, qalqalah, inhiraaf, takreer, tafashshee, istitaalah, ghunnah. The weak sifat are six: hams, rakhawah, istifaal, infitah, leen, khafaa. Three sifat are neither strong nor weak: idhlaq, ismat and tawassut (the bayniya).
Some letters are identical in their sifat, such as the emphatic ta and the kaf, or the jim and the dal. Added to them: the tha and the ha (ح), the dhal, the waw and the ya when mutaharrik, the meem and the noon, the waw and the ya when layyin, and the three letters of madd.
Applying the method: the ba has five sifat: jahr, shiddah, istifaal, infitah, ismat. The seen has six: hams, rakhawah, istifaal, infitah, idhlaq and safeer. The emphatic ta has six: jahr, shiddah, isti'aalah, itbaq, ismat and qalqalah. The lam has five: tawassut, istifaal, infitah, idhlaq and inhiraaf. The ha (ه) has six: hams, rakhawah, istifaal, infitah, ismat and khafaa.
The two letters share five sifat: jahr, rakhawah, isti'aalah, itbaq and ismat; the dad alone possesses istitaalah. They also differ in point of articulation: the dad emerges from one of the edges of the tongue with the part of the upper molars facing it, and the emphatic za from the back of the tip of the tongue with the tips of the two upper rows of teeth. Ibn al-Jazari says: "And the dad, by istitaalah and by the point of articulation... distinguish it from the emphatic za"; pronouncing the dad like an emphatic za is a lahn jali, for it would change the meaning intended by Allah, the Most High.