What does Al-mstʿlya mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-mstʿlya

Discover the meaning of the term Al-mstʿlya (مستعلية) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Al-mstʿlya

Al-mstʿlya according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

That is, the letters of elevation (musta'liya), which are those by which the tongue rises towards the palate, and that is why they were named as such. They are broader than the letters of occlusion (mutbaqa). And you know that the existence of the specific necessitates the existence of the general without the reverse. Therefore, they said that the letters of elevation are the letters of occlusion, the dotted Kha and Ghayn, and the Qaf. Elevation does not necessarily entail occlusion, but occlusion necessarily entails elevation. Do you not see that when you pronounce the Kha, the Ghayn, and the Qaf, the back of the tongue rises towards the palate without occlusion, and when you pronounce the Sad and its sisters, the tongue also rises and the palate adheres to the middle of the tongue? As for naming those letters with the term of elevation, it is metaphorical, because the tongue rises towards them to the palate; thus the tongue rises at their occurrence, just as the metaphor in their saying his night is sleeping and his day is fasting, meaning his occupant slept in it and his occupant fasted in it.

Al-mstʿlya according to Maqalid al-'Ulum (As-Suyuti)

That by which the tongue rises towards the palate.

Related terms: Al-mstʿlya