Izhar halqi in Tajweed: the six throat letters and how to read them

Izhar halqi (clear pronunciation before the throat letters) is the easiest of the noon sakinah rules to say and the easiest to spoil. When a noon sakinah or tanween is followed by hamzah, ha, 'ayn, ha (the breathy one), ghayn or kha, you pronounce the noon clearly from its own place. You do not hide it, you do not merge it into the next letter, and you do not hum through the nose. This guide goes letter by letter. For the four rules side by side, read the noon sakinah and tanween overview first.

What is izhar halqi in Tajweed?

Three plain words appear in every noon sakinah lesson, so here they are once:

• Izhar means clear pronunciation. The letter is heard fully, with nothing done to it.
• Halqi means "of the throat" (the Arabic word halq is the throat). So izhar halqi is "clear pronunciation because of a throat letter".
• Makhraj means the point where a letter is made. The makhraj of noon is the tip of the tongue touching the gum above the front teeth. The makhraj of the six letters is the throat.

Noon sakinah is a noon that carries a sukun (no vowel), like the noon in min or man. Tanween is the doubled vowel at the end of a word (-un, -in, -an), which is pronounced as an extra noon sound. Both follow the same rule here: if a throat letter comes next, the noon is read clearly.

Imam Ibn al-Jazari lists this rule first among the noon rules in al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah, and the Tajweed books of the Hafs 'an 'Asim recitation all teach it the same way. It is the rule with the most examples in the Qur'an, so you meet it on almost every page.

Which are the six throat letters, and where is each one made?

The throat is divided into three parts. Two letters come from each part, which gives six. Moving from the deepest part up toward the mouth:

The letters are usually listed in that order: hamzah, ha, 'ayn, ha, ghayn, kha. Two things help you tell the two "ha" letters apart. The light ha is the "h" of "hello" and comes from deep down. The breathy ha is thicker in sound and comes from the middle of the throat, a little higher.

Ghayn and kha are also heavy letters (letters read with a full, raised sound). The other four are light. That has no effect on whether the noon is clear, but it does change how your mouth feels when you move from the noon into them. See the guide on heavy and light letters. For the full map of where every letter is made, see makharij al-huroof.

Why is the noon kept clear before these letters?

The other three noon rules all depend on closeness. Noon is made at the tongue tip. When the next letter is also made near the tongue, as in the letters of idgham (merging) and ikhfa (hiding), the two sounds sit close enough that the noon can blend into the next letter or become hidden behind it. You can read about those in the overview.

The throat letters are the opposite. They are made at the far back of the mouth, while the noon is made at the front. The distance between the two places is the largest there is. With this distance:

• Merging (idgham) is not possible. The tongue tip and the throat have nothing in common, so one cannot melt into the other.
• Hiding (ikhfa) is not possible. To hide a noon you move the tongue toward the next letter's place. Here the next place is in the throat, where the tongue tip cannot go.
• So the noon is left as it is. It is heard fully and clearly, then you move to the throat letter.

This is the reason scholars give for the rule. It is not a special exception made up for these six letters. It is the natural result of the distance between the two makhraj. When you understand that, you do not need to memorise the rule as a list: you just remember "throat is far, so noon stays clear".

How does izhar halqi sound, and how do you do it?

Take the pair "min 'ilm". Here are the steps:

• 1. Say the noon fully. Put the tip of your tongue on the gum above the front teeth. Let the sound come out, short and clean.
• 2. Release the tongue. Drop the tongue away from the gum so the noon ends. It should end cleanly, without a tail.
• 3. Go straight to the throat letter. Move to the 'ayn without a pause and without adding any breath or extra sound between them.
• 4. Do not hold the noon. It is not long. Think of a plain, ordinary noon, like the noon in the English word "ten".

The noon in izhar is also called a light, clear noon. It has its natural small nasal quality, because noon always has some, but it has no ghunnah (the nasal hum held for about two counts) added to it. A "count" here is one short beat, roughly the time of one finger movement. Ghunnah is held for about two counts in the noon rules that need it. Izhar has none. See ghunnah in Tajweed for where it does apply.

What are examples of izhar halqi in the Qur'an?

Here are examples for every letter, read in Hafs 'an 'Asim. The noon sakinah or tanween is shown, then the throat letter that follows it. Verse numbers follow the standard Madinah mushaf.

Listen to a good reciter of Hafs 'an 'Asim say each of these and repeat after them. In every one of them the noon stays plain.

Is it different in the same word or in two words?

The sound is the same. The only difference is where the noon and the throat letter sit.

• Noon sakinah and the throat letter in two words. The noon ends the first word, the throat letter starts the next: man amana, min 'indi, min ghillin. This is the most common case. Do not run the two words together; keep a clean break between them, while still not stopping.
• Noon sakinah and the throat letter in the same word. Both letters sit inside one word: an'amta, wanhar, yanhawna, wal-munkhaniqatu, fa-sayunghiduna. The rule is the same: say the noon plainly, then the throat letter.
• Tanween. Tanween only ever comes at the end of a word, so a tanween case is always two words: kitabun anzalnahu, 'adhabun 'azim. You read the double vowel and its noon sound clearly, then move to the next word's throat letter.

Two edge cases students ask about. First, when you stop (waqf) on a word that ends in tanween, the tanween sound is dropped, so this rule does not apply at a stop. See waqf signs and symbols. Second, there is a different rule for a noon sakinah followed by ya or waw inside a single word (like the word dunya), which is also read clearly but belongs to another rule and is not part of izhar halqi.

What are the common mistakes with izhar halqi?

• Hiding the noon. The reader blurs the noon toward the throat letter, as if it were ikhfa. Fix: touch the tongue tip to the gum, make the noon, and then release.
• Adding ghunnah. The noon is held and hummed for two counts. This turns the noon into a long sound. Izhar has none. Fix: keep the noon short and plain.
• Nasalising. A strong "ng" sound through the nose, so min 'ilm becomes "ming 'ilm". Fix: lift the back of the tongue away from the throat and let the tongue tip do the work.
• Pronouncing the noon with tashdeed. Making it double, as in minn, mann. That changes the word. Fix: one light noon, never two.
• Weak throat letter. Hamzah turned into a soft "a", or 'ayn turned into a plain "a". Fix: use the throat; practise each letter on its own first.
• Mixing up the two ha letters. Reading the breathy ha as the light one, or the reverse. Fix: say them side by side until you hear the difference.
• A pause after the noon. Stopping to find the throat letter breaks the flow. Fix: practise the pair as one smooth movement.

The best fix is a teacher who listens to you recite. Most of these mistakes are hard to hear in your own voice, and a teacher catches them in minutes.

How can I practise izhar halqi at home?

This routine takes about ten minutes a day.

• 1. Warm up the six letters alone (2 minutes). Say them in order, deepest to nearest the mouth, three times each: hamzah, ha, 'ayn, ha, ghayn, kha.
• 2. Slow drill (3 minutes). Take two or three pairs from the list above. Say each very slowly: noon, tiny release, throat letter. Do ten repeats per pair.
• 3. Fast drill (2 minutes). Say the same pairs at normal reading speed. Keep the noon plain even when you hurry.
• 4. Slow again (1 minute). Finish slowly, so the slow version is the last thing your mouth remembers.
• 5. Record yourself. Use your phone. Read three verses from the table, then play them back. Listen only for the noon: is it plain, short, and free of humming?
• 6. Compare. Play a reciter of Hafs 'an 'Asim next to your recording. If the noon in yours is longer or more nasal, repeat steps 2 to 4.

If you are new to Tajweed, our guide on how long it takes to learn Tajweed gives a realistic plan, and Tajweed rules for beginners shows the order to learn things in. To check yourself, try the free Tajweed quiz.

Short quiz: five questions

• Q1. Name the six throat letters.
• Q2. Which two letters are made nearest the mouth?
• Q3. Why can the noon not be hidden or merged before these letters?
• Q4. Is there a ghunnah of two counts in min 'indi?
• Q5. In kitabun anzalnahu (38:29), what is the rule on the tanween and why?

If you want a teacher to listen to your recitation and correct the noon, the Basic Tajweed course covers this rule in a live class, and the Advanced Tajweed course goes further. See all courses.

Sources

1. The Qur'an, in the Hafs 'an 'Asim recitation: Al-Fatihah 1:7; Al-Baqarah 2:7, 2:62, 2:101, 2:149, 2:215, 2:228, 2:263.
2. The Qur'an: Al-Ma'idah 5:3; An-Nisa 4:125, 4:157; Al-An'am 6:26; Al-A'raf 7:43, 7:59; Ar-Ra'd 13:7; Al-Isra 17:51; Sad 38:29; Fussilat 41:42; Al-Kawthar 108:2.
3. Ibn al-Jazari, al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah: the chapter on the rules of noon sakinah and tanween, and the section on the makharij.
4. Ibn al-Jazari, al-Nashr fi al-Qira'at al-'Ashr: the chapter on the makharij al-huruf, throat letters.
5. Mulla 'Ali al-Qari, al-Minah al-Fikriyyah (commentary on al-Jazariyyah): izhar halqi and its reasons.
6. Sulayman al-Jamzuri, Tuhfat al-Atfal: the chapter on noon sakinah and tanween.
7. Hidayat al-Mustafid fi Ahkam al-Tajwid: the section on izhar halqi.
8. Muhammad Makki Nasr al-Juraysi, Nihayat al-Qawl al-Mufid fi 'Ilm al-Tajwid: izhar halqi and the makhraj of the throat letters.