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Quranic Arabic M-Pause (Mím Sákinaḧ) – Tajwid Enhancement Lesson 4

Written by Noorislam Uddin (MArch)

فَتَنَـٰزَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَهُم بَيْنَهُمْ وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّجْوَىٰ

Fatanäza’ũa ámrohuṁ bainahum waásarrūa alṇnajwaë

[Quran 20:62]

Sometimes letters are emphasised by extending them. Say the word ‘room mate‘. The two ‘m‘ sounds here feel so repetitive that you might have just merged them into a longer ‘mm‘ – giving something like ‘roo-mm-ate‘.

Pronouncing the ‘m’ sound requires two things: the lips to be closed, and air to pass through the nasal cavity (nose). To understand the importance of this latter element of pronunciation, notice the difficulty of trying to extend the word ‘gummm‘ while pinching the nose closed. This second element of air reverberation happens frequently in Arabic too, and is referred to as gunnaḧ ‘nasalisation’. Sometimes, when a reciter either reads out a Mīm (m) that has a sukūn pause on it, or stops on a word that ends with ‘m‘, the ‘m‘ sound stands to be potentially altered by the following letter. Another consonant that may alter likewise is [ ن ] Nūn (n) (also see lesson set 3. N-Pause). As it happens, there are only two letters that affect the pronunciation of the Arabic ‘m‘. These are [ ب ] Bâ, and [ م] Mīm (m), itself. Besides these letters, any other cases gives the preceding ‘m‘ what is called [ إِظْهَار ] íṿhār ‘overtness’ in Arabic, meaning that it should be pronounced clearly and fully.

There are 2 forms of Mīm sākinaḧ M-pause explained below:

  • Obscurity (Ícfâ)
  • Fusion (Ídgōm)

4.a) Obscurity (Ìcfâ)

Priority: Recommended

Summary: This type of M-pause is one that is partially ‘obscured’ by the next letter. It should occur when an ‘m‘ sound is followed by [ ب ] Bâ. To apply Ícfâ to the ‘m‘ when it is followed by such, hold the gunnaḧ nasalisation for 2 beats (approx. 1 second), while keeping the mouth closed – before proceeding on.

E.g.

فَتَنَـٰزَعُوٓا۟ أَمْرَهُم بَيْنَهُمْ وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّجْوَىٰ

Fatanäza’ũa ámrohuṁ bainahum waásarrūa alṇnajwaë

[Quran 20:62]

ذَٰلِكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَفْرَحُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَمْرَحُونَ

Välikuṁ bimā kuṅtum tafroḥūna fie alárḍi bigoiri alḥaqqi wabimā kuṅtum tamroḥūna

[Quran 40:75]

أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ

Álam ya’laṁ biáṇna Alllöha yaroë

[Quran 96:14]

4.b) Fusion (Ídgōm)

Priority: Recommended

Summary: This type of M-pause is one that is mostly or wholly ‘fused’ to the next letter. It should occur when an ‘m‘ sound is followed by another [ م ] Mīm itself. To apply ídgōm fusion to the ‘m‘ when it is followed by such, hold the gunnaḧ nasalisation for 2 beats (approx. 1 second), while keeping the mouth closed – before proceeding on. Because an ‘m‘ with a shaddaḧ double diacritic over it is equivalent to two of the same letter with the first having a sukūn pause, stopping on a double Mīm (mm) also evokes the principle of ídgōm fusion with nasalisation for 2 beats.

E.g.

ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌۭ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ

Allavīna ívã áṣöbathuṃ ṃmuṣībaẗuṅ qōlũa íṇnā liLlähi waíṇnã ílaihi röji’ūnaúna

[Quran 2:156]

أَمَّنْ هَـٰذَا ٱلَّذِى هُوَ جُندٌۭ لَّكُمْ يَنصُرُكُم مِّن دُونِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ۚ إِنِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ إِلَّا فِى غُرُورٍ

Áṃman hävā allavie huwa juṅduṇ llakum yaṅṣurukuṃ ṃmiṅ dūni alrRoḥmäni; Íni alkäfirūna íllā fie gurūrin

[Quran 67:20]

ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ

Ṫuṃma kallā saufa ta’lamūna

[Quran 102:4]


Allah knows best.


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