Discover the meaning of the term Al-mṭbqa (مطبقة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readThat is, the emphatic letters (al-huruf al-mutbaqah), which are those in which the tongue is pressed against the upper palate, so that the sound is confined at that time between the tongue and the portion of the upper palate opposite to it. These are the sad, the dad, the ta, and the za. The application of this name to these letters is metaphorical, because what actually presses is the tongue and the palate, while the letter is what presses near them. The term was thus abbreviated to mutbaq (applied), just as that which is shared is called mushtarak (shared). The mutbaqah letters are the opposite of the open letters (al-mufattahah); thus, the sound is not confined upon their pronunciation between the tongue and the palate, but the space between the tongue and the palate remains open. The discussion regarding the open letters in terms of their naming is similar to that of the mutbaqah letters, because the letter does not open, but rather the tongue opens away from the palate upon their utterance.
That which is pronounced at the articulation point of the palate.
That which is permanent and does not get uprooted.