Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Words joined by consensus
Updated on 04 October 2026 at 11:01 PM
📖 5 min readThey are limited to twenty-two words, laid out as follows.
It is joined by consensus of the masaahif, as: إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ ¹ (al-Anfal), إِلاّ تَنْصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ ² (at-Tawbah), وَإِلَّا تَغْفِرْ لِي وَتَرْحَمْنِي أَكُنْ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ³ (Hud). It has already been said that the meaning of their joining is the Idghaam of the noon into the laam, orally and by the rasm.
The masaahif agreed on its joining, as: أَمَّا اشْتَمَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ أَرْحَامُ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ ¹, at the two occurrences of al-An'am, أَمَّا يُشْرِكُون ² (an-Naml), أَمَّاذَا كُنتُم تَعْمَلُونَ ³, in the same surah. Among them is the conditional "amma" like فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلا تَقْهَرْ، وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلا تَنْهَرْ ⁴ (ad-Duha), which is likewise joined by consensus. ⁵
The masaahif agreed on its joining in: فَنِعِمَّا هِي ⁶ (al-Baqarah), إِنَّ اللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ ⁷ (an-Nisa'), and there is no third one in the Quran.
The masaahif agreed on its joining throughout the Quran, as: كَأَنَّمَا يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ ⁸ (al-An'am), فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ ⁹ (al-Hajj).
The masaahif agreed on its joining in: أَيَّمَا الأَجَلَيْنِ قَضَيْتُ فَلا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ ¹⁰ (al-Qasas). It is conditional, ¹¹ and its reply (jawab) is: فَلا عُدْوَانَ عَلَيَّ.
The masaahif agreed on its joining in: وَقَالُوا مَهْمَا تَأْتِنَا بِهِ مِنْ آيَةٍ ¹² (al-A'raf).
On this word, the grammarians have three views: the first, that it is single and not compound, the view chosen by Ibn Hisham; the second, that it is composed of "مه" and the conditional ma; the third, that it is composed of the conditional ma and a superfluous ma, whose alif of the first part was replaced by a Haa. ¹
The masaahif agreed on its joining in: رُبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ² (al-Hijr), and there is no second one in the Quran.
The masaahif agreed on their joining wherever it occurs in the Quran, as: وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَنْ يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ ³ (al-Baqarah), وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلاً مِمَّنْ دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحاً ⁴ (Fussilat).
The interrogative ma there is stripped of its alif, and the masaahif agreed on their joining in: فَلْيَنْظُرِ الْإنْسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ ⁵ (at-Tariq). There is no other occurrence in the Quran.
The interrogative ma there is stripped of its alif, and the masaahif agreed on their joining wherever it occurs in the Quran, as: قَالُوا فِيمَ كُنتُمْ ⁶ (an-Nisa') and فِيمَ أَنْتَ مِنْ ذِكْرَاهَا ⁷ (an-Nazi'at). Know that when the interrogative ma is in the genitive, its alif is dropped in writing and orally, in order to distinguish the interrogation from the statement. ⁸
The interrogative ma there is stripped of its alif, and the masaahif agreed on their joining, in a single occurrence: عَمَّ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ ⁹, at the beginning of surah an-Naba'.
"وي" with "كأن": وَيْكَأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ ¹ (al-Qasas). And "وي" with "كأنه", with the addition of the Haa compared to the preceding word, in the same verse: وَيْكَأَنَّهُ لا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَ ².
Hafs is among those who stop on the noon of the first word and on the Haa of the second, and that is what is most correct and the choice retained among the schools of all, by imitation of the majority and by application of the correct analogy, as said in an-Nashr. ³
The masaahif agreed on its joining wherever it occurs, as: وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى وَعِيسَى وَإِلْيَاسَ كُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ⁴ (al-An'am), وَإِنَّ إِلْيَاسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ⁵ (as-Saffat).
In the words of the Most High: قَالَ يَا ابْنَ أُمَّ لا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِي وَلا بِرَأْسِي ⁶ (Taha), the masaahif agreed on its joining and made it a single word. Originally it is composed of three words: "يا", "ابن" and "أم"; the alif of "يا" and that of the hamzat al-wasl were dropped, the two joined to "أُمَّ", and its hamza took the form of a waaw, so that it became a single word. On this, stopping is permitted only on its end.
The masaahif agreed on their joining wherever it occurs, as: وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاضِرَةٌ ⁷ (al-Qiyamah), وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ ⁸ and وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاعِمَةٌ ⁹, the two occurrences in surah al-Ghashiyah. It is a single word that only allows stopping on its end.
In: وَأَنْتُمْ حِينَئِذٍ تَنْظُرُونَ ¹ (al-Waqi'ah), the masaahif likewise agreed on their joining and made it a single word, like "يومئذ"; stopping there is permitted only on its end.
In surah al-Mutaffifin: وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ ², and they do not occur elsewhere in the Quran. The two words were written in all the masaahif joined by ruling, the proof being the dropping of the alif after the waaw of the plural; this indicates that the waaw is not detached and is therefore joined.
There has been divergence over the pronoun "هم": a detached pronoun in the nominative or an attached one in the accusative? The correct view is that it is in the accusative, for it is attached by the rasm, the proof being the dropping of the alif; for if the pronoun were in the nominative, the alif would have separated it, ³ as in the words of the Most High: وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ (ash-Shura, verse 37), contrary to the preceding; for "غضبوا" is one word, and "هم" a nominative pronoun of separation starting a new statement, the phrase "يغفرون" being its predicate, the proof being the keeping of the alif after the waaw. That is why stopping there is correct in case of necessity or examination, but it is not correct to begin with هُمْ يَغْفِرُون, because of the separation between the condition and its reply; it is obligatory to begin with إِذَا.
In every occurrence, all the masaahif agreed on its joining with what follows; as if, by its great frequency, it had taken the rank of an integral part of its genitive and thus become joined, ⁴ as in: الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ ⁵ (ar-Rahman).
The Haa serving as an exclamation of alerting (Haa at-Tanbih): هَاأَنْتُمْ هَؤُلاءِ ⁶ (Al 'Imran) and elsewhere. The Haa there serves as an alert, and the masaahif agreed on its joining with what follows, and stopping there is never permitted; for, due to its intense fusion with what follows, it has become like a single word, and it is not permitted to stop on a part of a word.
The yaa of the vocative, very frequent in the Quran, as: يَا مَرْيَمُ اقْنُتِي لِرَبِّكِ ¹ (Al 'Imran), يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَصُوحًا ² (at-Tahrim). The masaahif agreed on its joining; for, its alif having been dropped, it has remained on a single letter and thus become joined. ³