The Three Nufal

The mighty idghām prides itself on being one of the most versatile ḥukm ever to grace the art of tajweed. Not only does idghām occupy an influential position in the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ, it is arguably one of the most intricate elements in the riwāyah of al-Sūsī ʿan Abū ʿAmr. Idghām which means “assimilation” comes in all shapes and sizes. There is an idghām kabīr i.e. the greater idghām and there is an idghām ṣaghīr i.e. the lesser idghām. There is an idghām kāmil i.e. a perfect idghām and there is an idghām nāqiṣ i.e. an imperfect idghām. There is an idghām for mutamāthilayn letters i.e. a pair of identical letters and there is an idghām for mutaqāribayn or mutajānisayn letters i.e. a pair of proximal letters (proximal in terms of their egress points and their characteristics or either of the two). It wouldn’t be possible to incorporate all the provisions of idghām in a single article such as this for the sake of brevity.

Let us now discuss some of the interesting features of al-Sūsī that are prominently seen in recitations.

1. The idghām ṣaghīr of al-Sūsī: Apart from the regular idghām on the silent nūn which is found in the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ, Sūrah Qāf from v. 16 to v. 45 contains one instance of al-Sūsī’s idghām ṣaghīr in the phrase (verse 19) وَجَآءَت سَّكۡرَةُ where the silent letter tāʾ was assimilated into the vowelled letter sīn turning the phrase into (trans.) wa jāʾas-sakratu.

Al-Sūsī assimilates:

• The silent letter dhāl (ذال) into the vowelled letter tāʾ in all conditions.
• The silent letter dhāl (ذال) of the word idh (إذ) into the following letters: ت، ز، ص، د، س، ج (Listen here)
• The silent letter dāl (دال) of the word qad (قد) into the following letters: س، ذ، ض، ظ، ز، ج، ص، ش (Listen here)
• The feminine silent tāʾ into the following letters: س، ث، ص، ز، ظ، ج (Listen here)
• The letter lām of the word hal (هل) into the letter tāʾ in the phrase: هل ترى
• The silent letter bāʾ of the word yaghlib (يغلب) into the letter fāʾ in the phrase: يغلب فسوف
• The silent letter thāʾ (ثاء) into the letter tāʾ in all conditions.
• The letter dāl into the letter dhāl in the phrase: كهيعص ذكر
• The dāl (دال) of the word يرد into the letter thāʾ in the phrase: يرد ثواب
• The silent letter rāʾ (الراء) into the vowelled letter lām in the phrase: يغفر لكم

(Listen all from Point 5 onwards here)

2. The idghām kabīr of al-Sūsī: There are several instances of the greater idghām in the aforementioned excerpt. Al-Sūsī assimilates identical and proximal vowelled letters when they occur in direct succession. Before delving into some of the technicalities (which are several) let’s first discuss the instances of idghām kabīr in the aforementioned excerpt:

• وَنَعۡلَمُ مَا to وَنَعۡلَم مَّا
• قَرِينُهُۥ هَٰذَا to قَرِينُه هَّـٰذَا
• قَالَ لَا to قَال لَّا
• ٱلۡقَوۡلُ لَدَيَّ to ٱلۡقَوۡل لَّدَيَّ
• نَقُولُ لِجَهَنَّمَ to نَقُول لـِّجَهَنَّمَ
• رَبِّكَ قَبۡلَ to رَبِّك قَّبۡلَ
• نَحۡنُ نُحۡيِۦ to نَحۡن نُّحۡيِۦ
• أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا to أَعۡلَم بِمَا

As you have seen, idghām kabīr is when two vowelled i.e. mutaḥarrik letters of a certain characteristic are assimilated into one another. There are several rules regarding the idghām kabīr for al-Sūsī, listing them all would cause this article to exceed its limits. However, it is important to at least list out the letters for which such idghām has occurred in its operative sense.

In the case of the idghām kabīr on identical letters (mutamāthilayn) in two words (the last letter of the first word and the first letter of the successive word), the corresponding letters are seventeen, as follows:

ب، ت، ث، ح، ر، س، ع، غ، ف، ق، ك، ل، م، ن، هـ، و، ي

Click here to listen to some examples.

In the case of the idghām kabīr on proximal letters (mutaqāribayn or mutajānisayn) in two words (the last letter of the first word and the first letter of the successive word), the corresponding letters are sixteen, as follows:

ب، ت، ث، ج، ح، د، ذ، ر، س، ش، ض، ق، ك، ل، م، ن

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the examples of all sixteen letters.

The assimilative quality of the ḥukm of idghām bears a great lesson for those who love tajweed. The idghām’s quality of readily mixing two elements together regardless of existing differences demonstrates how muʾmineen of different backgrounds, professions, origins and capabilities come together and assimilate with each other for serving our Mawla and our Qiblah al-Dai al-Ajal Syedna Aali Qadr Mufaddal Saifuddin (TUS), may Allah Taʿālā help us perform the idghām within and outside the Qurʾān with the sole aim of attaining the khushi mubarak of our Mawla; and may He prolong the presence of our Mawla in health and safety till the day of judgement. Ameen.