In the name of Allah The Compassionate The Loving.
Rules for ن sakinah and tanwin Part 2


Salam alaikum wa rahmatu Allahi wa BarakatuHu. Peace be upon the followers of guidance.

Nun Tanwin




May Allah reward you for your effort to learn the tajwid, continuing on the footsteps of our noble ulema. Our love for our ulema expresses our love for Allah the One Who is always without any partners.

There are 4 rules on how to pronounce ن sakinah and tanwin. Whenever you find a ن with sakoon ( نْ ) or a letter with tanwin ( ً ٍ ٌ ) like بً بٍ بٌ , the nun sound would be pronounced in one of these four ways. The way it is pronounced depends on what letter comes afterwards. This is how our noble ulema of tajwid in the past pronounced them. They are summarized in the following table:

Rule Letters Pronounciation
اظهار ء      ه    ع    ح     غ       خ
اخي هاك علم حازه غير خاسر
Clear.
اقلاب ب ن sound changes to م
ادغام يومن ghunnah
لر    non-ghunnah
Eaten by the following Letter.
اخفاء (rest of the letters) Hidden.




3. ادغام EATEN UP



The next way to pronounce the ن sakinah and tanwin is ادغام EATEN UP. In this way of pronounciation, the ن sakinah and tanwin is absorbed or eaten up by the letter following it. Whenever the ن sakinah and tanwin are preceded by the following letters, it is pronounced with ادغام EATEN UP:

يرملون

Depending on the letter following it,the ن sakinah and tanwin is joined together and pronounced with nasalization called ادغام (EATEN UP) with ghunnah, or completely absorbed and eaten up by the letter after called ادغام (EATEN UP) without ghunnah.

When the ن sakinah and tanwin is preceded by either a ل lam or ر raa , it is completely absorbed by the following letter. No sound of the ن or tanwin remains. Instead the letter connects to the ل lam or ر raa that comes after. It is like erasing the ن or tanwin, and connecting to the ل lam or ر raa after. The ن sakinah or tanwin disappears, and the ل lam or ر raa following it takes on a sakoon.



Listen to the following ayat:

{أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسۡتَغۡنَىٰٓ}
Did you notice the pronounciation of the ن in "أَن" ? It got eaten up by the "ر" that is after. This occurs anytime there is a ر raa after a ن sakinah or tanwin.



Listen to the following ayat:

{وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدٌ}
Did you notice the pronounciation of the ن in "يَكُن" ? It got eaten up by the "ل" that is after. This occurs anytime there is a ل lam after a ن sakinah or tanwin.


Listen to the following ayat:

{وَلَلۡأَخِرَةُ خَيۡرٌ۬ لَّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡأُولَىٰ}
Can you point out where there is itgham in this ayat? The tanwin got eaten up by the "ل" that is after. This occurs anytime there is a ل lam after a ن sakinah or tanwin. The ر raa in خَيۡرٌ۬ loses the tanween and connects directly to the ل lam that comes after.

Repeat after the following ayats:

{وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدٌ}

{وَلَلۡأَخِرَةُ خَيۡرٌ۬ لَّكَ مِنَ ٱلۡأُولَىٰ}

{أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسۡتَغۡنَىٰٓ}


Can you find a example of itgham without ghunnah in the mus'haf?


The other letters of itgham besides the ل lam and the ر raa are pronounced with ghunnah:

يومن
Whenever the ن sakinah or tanwin is followed by any of these four letters, it is eaten up by the following letter and pronounced with ghunnah. Ghunnah is the sound that comes from the nasal. Take a look at the last section of the emission points of the letters under nasal lettersfor a detailed description of ghunnah.

When the ن sakinah or tanwin is followed by ي yaa (or و wow) it is partially eaten up. The ن sakinah or tanwin is gone, however the attribute of ghunnah remains, and it is pronounced with nasalization. Like in:

{مَن يَقُولُ}
{وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ}

The ن sakinah is eaten up by the ي that comes after. However the ghunnah (nasalization) remains and it is not pronounced exactly like:

مَ يَّقُولُ
وُجُوهُ يَّوْمَئِذٍ

It should be pronounced with ghunnah (nasalization) and extended.

Listen to the following ayat:

{وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ۬ شَرًّ۬ا يَرَهُۥ}
Can you point out where there is idgham with ghunnah in this ayat? There are two places.

Repeat after the ayat, being sure to emphasize the ghunnah in the idgham:

{وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ۬ شَرًّ۬ا يَرَهُۥ}


Keep in mind that this rule occurs after the ن sakinah and tanwin, not after the م (meem):

{وَلَمۡ يَكُن لَّهُ ۥ ڪُفُوًا أَحَدٌ}
There is no idgham of the م (meem) in "لَمۡ" to the ي in "يَكُن"

When the ن sakinah or tanwin is followed by و wow (or ي yaa) it is partially eaten up. The ن sakinah or tanwin is gone, however the attribute of ghunnah remains, and it is pronounced with nasalization. Like in:

{مِنْ وَلِيٍّ}
{نَعِيمًا وَمُلْكًا}

The ن sakinah is eaten up by the و wow that comes after. However the ghunnah (nasalization) remains and it is not pronounced exactly like:

مِ وَّلِيٍّ
نَعِيمَا وَّمُلْكًا

It should be pronounced with ghunnah (nasalization) and extended.

Listen to the following ayat:

{تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ۬ وَتَبَّ}
Can you point out where there is idgham in this ayat? Ghunnah?

Repeat after the ayat, being sure to emphasize the ghunnah in the idgham:

{تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ۬ وَتَبَّ}


Keep in mind that this rule occurs after the ن sakinah and tanwin, not after the م (meem):

{غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ}

There is no idgham of the م (meem) in "عَلَيۡهِمۡ" to the و .

When the ن sakinah and tanwin is followed by a م (meem), it gets eaten up by the م (meem) and is pronounced with ghunnah. The "n" sound changes to a "m" sound, and pronounced for a longer duration. Like in:

{مِن مَّاءٍ}
{سُرُرٌ مَّرْفُوعَةٌ}

Keep in mind whenever there is a م (meem) with shaddah مّ , or ن (noon) with shaddah نّ, it is pronounced with ghunnah. The nasalization sound is extended. In this case with the م (meem) following the ن sakinah or tanwin, the م (meem) will always have shaddah, and the ن sakinah or tanwin is eaten up.

When the ن sakinah and tanwin is followed by a ن (noon), it gets eaten up by the ن (noon) and is pronounced with ghunnah. The "n" sound is pronounced for a longer duration. Like in:

{مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ}
{يَوْمَئِذٍ نَاعِمَةٌ}

Keep in mind whenever there is a ن (noon) with shaddah نّ , or م (meem) with shaddah مّ , it is pronounced with ghunnah. Also whenever a ن (noon) follows tanwin. The nasalization sound is extended. In this case with the ن (noon) following the ن sakinah or tanwin, the "n" sound would be extended.

Whenever you find a ن (noon) with shaddah نّ it is like having two ن (noon)s . The first ن with a sakinah, and the second with a vowel (haraqah). The "n" sound would be pronounced with ghunnah and extended.

The "n" sound (ghunnah) is extended. It is good to recite along with a shaikh, to practice the extension. This way the pronounciation will be following on the legacy of our noble ulema, on a chain going back to prophet Muhammed, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.

Repeat after the following ayats, paying attention to the pronounciation of the ن sakinah and tanwin, when it is followed by a ن (noon) or م (meem), and the ن (noon) with shaddah نّ .

{مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ}

{مِنَ ٱلۡجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ}

{قُلۡ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ أَنَّهُ ٱسۡتَمَعَ نَفَرٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡجِنِّ فَقَالُوٓاْ إِنَّا سَمِعۡنَا قُرۡءَانًا عَجَبً۬ا}

{أَوۡ كَصَيِّبٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَـٰتٌ۬ وَرَعۡدٌ۬ وَبَرۡقٌ۬}





4. اخفاء HIDDEN



The fourth way to pronounce the ن sakinah and tanwin is called اخفاء HIDDEN. In this way of pronounciation, one sort of hides the pronounciation of the ن sakinah and tanwin. This occurs whenever the ن sakinah and tanwin is preceded by any of the other letters that are not in the other three ways of pronouncing.

One should spend much time on the other three ways of pronouncing the ن sakinah and tanwin, so that it is firm and solid in the mind before moving to this last way of pronouncing. Then one could look at the letter after the ن sakinah and tanwin, and see if the pronounication falls into one of the first three ways. If not, then it would be pronounced with اخفاء HIDDEN.

In the following ayat, look at the letter following the ن sakinah:

{مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ}


The letter is ش . Is it a letter of idhhar clear? Is it any of the beginning letters of any of the words in the sentence:
أَخِي هَاكَ عِلْمً حَازَهُ غَيْرُ خَاسِرٍ


No, it is not pronounced with iddhar clear.

Is ش a letter of iqlab (flip)? No, the only letter of iqlab (flip) is ب .

Is ش a letter of itgham eaten up? Is it any of the letters of:
يرملون


No. The ش is not in the first three ways, therefore ن sakinah is pronounced with اخفاء HIDDEN .

In the following ayat, look at the letter following the tanween in ذَرَّةٍ :

{وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ۬ شَرًّ۬ا يَرَهُۥ}


The letter is ش . Is it a letter of idhhar clear? Is it any of the beginning letters of any of the words in the sentence:
أَخِي هَاكَ عِلْمً حَازَهُ غَيْرُ خَاسِرٍ


No, it is not pronounced with iddhar clear.

Is ش a letter of iqlab (flip)? No, the only letter of iqlab (flip) is ب .

Is ش a letter of itgham eaten up? Is it any of the letters of:
يرملون


No. The ش is not in the first three ways, therefore tanween is pronounced with اخفاء HIDDEN .

Any time there is a ن sakinah or tanwin, look at the letter after it, to see if the ن sakinah or tanwin is pronounced with idhhar clear, or iqlab flipped, or itgham eaten up. If it is not pronounced in any of these three ways it would be pronounced with اخفاء HIDDEN.

In the pronounciation of اخفاء HIDDEN, the ن sakinah and tanwin is pronounced between idhar (clear) and idgham (eaten up). The ن sakinah and tanwin is distorted in pronounciation, and extended to emphasize the ghunnah. One should try to keep the tongue towards the center of the mouth, instead of extending it fully towards it's emission point. It is good to practice the recitation of اخفاء HIDDEN with a shaikh in order to recite according to the way of our righteous predecessors, and correct the wrongly innovated pronounciation.

Here are some more examples of اخفاء HIDDEN. Repeat after the following ayats.

{وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءً۬}

{وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ}

{إِنَّآ أَرۡسَلۡنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوۡمِهِۦۤ أَنۡ أَنذِرۡ}

{كَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ لَيَطۡغَىٰٓ}

{وَوَضَعۡنَا عَنكَ وِزۡرَكَ}

{ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنقَضَ ظَهۡرَكَ}

{وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ۬ شَرًّ۬ا يَرَهُۥ}




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These are the ways to pronounce the ن sakinah and tanwin, may Allah spread the knowledge of our noble ulema.