The reader should therefore always pronounce the استفال letters lightly (meaning not heavy).
The rest of the letters in the Arabic alphabet have the characteristic of استفال and they are read wtih tarqeeq (lightness or no takhfeem). They have the characteristic of استعلاء that makes them have tafkheem ( heaviness). There are seven letters of tafkheem (heavy letters) grouped in the phrase: خص ضغط قظ. In order to understand the heavy fathahs or alifaat, we need to know the light and heavy letters in the Arabic alphabet. Fathah and ألف require opening of the mouth, the dhammah and واو are pronounced by circling of the two lips and the kasra and ياء need retraction of the jaw.Īmong the common mistakes many non-Arabs have in their fathah and alif is that they make them heavy or they don’t open their mouth enough while pronouncing them.
Each vowel requires an appropriate mouth and jaw movement to pronounce it properly. Fathah is the short version of the ألف, dhammah is the short version of the واو and kasrah is the short version of the ياء. They are the short versions of the three medd letters. The Fathah, dhammah and kasrah are the three vowels in Arabic. I'm Urdu speaking and my teacher said that I'm reciting the Quran in Urdu not in Arabic.
