Definition: The place from which the sound of a letter originates.

How is the Makhraj of a Letter Determined?

The scholars of tajweed explain that the makhraj of an Arabic letter is determined by:

1. Putting a sakin or shaddah (shaddah is preferred) on the letter you are trying to determine the makhraj of.

2. Putting a hamzah with any vowel before the letter.

Where the sound stops is the makhraj of the letter.

Jawf (Empty Space in Mouth and Throat)

The first makhraj that we will cover is the jawf or empty space in the mouth and throat. What that means is that the tongue is relaxed on the bottom of the mouth, and the empty space between the top of the tongue and the roof of the mouth is known as the jawf.

So when you pronounce the letters of the jawf, the tongue is not involved at all, and air simply flows from inside the body out of your mouth.

The letters that come from the jawf are:

• Alif sakin with a fatha before it
• Wow sakin with a dhammah before it
• Yaa sakin with a kasrah before it

 

al Halq (The Throat)

The throat has three different makharij:

• Aqsal halq – lowest part of the throat (closest to chest)

The letters from this makhraj are: ء ه

• Wastal halq – middle part of the throat

The letters from this makhraj are: ع ح

• Adnal halq – highest part of the throat

The letters from this makhraj are: غ خ

 

al-Lisaan (The Tongue)

There are a few Makharij that are found on the tongue. Inshallah we will cover them one at a time.

Aqsal Lisaan (Deepest Part of the Tongue)

The Makhraj of ق is from the extreme back of the tongue going up and hitting the top of the mouth (soft palate).

The Makhraj of ك is from the back of the tongue, right in front of the ق, hitting the top of the mouth (hard palate).

Wastul Lisaan (Middle of the Tongue)

The makhraj of Wastul Lisaan is the middle of the tongue hitting the top of the mouth. The letters from this makhraj are:

Note: The ي here is different from ي that we covered in the Makhraj of Jawf. Also when you pronounce this ي the tongue curves up and the two sides (where the ي are in the picture) go up and touch the top of the mouth.

Hafatul Lisaan (Sides of the Tongue)

 

• The Makhraj of ض is pronounced with the sides of the tongue touching the gums close to the upper molars (white teeth in the picture). There are actually three ways to say the ض:

1. Left side of the tongue touching the gums on the left
2. Right side of the tongue touching the gums on the right
3. Both sides of the tongue touching the gums on both sides

• The Makhraj of the ل is pronounced from the tip of tongue touching the gums premolars from one side to the premolars of the other(blue to blue on the picture) side of the top of the mouth.

Tarful Lisaan (Front Tip of Tongue)

 

• The makhraj of the ن is the part of the tongue, slightly behind the ل (see picture above) hitting the palate right above it(the portion of the tongue).

• The makhraj of the ر is the part of the tongue, slightly behind the ن touching the palate right above it.

• The makhraj of ت د ط is the front tip of the tongue touching the gumline of the top front two teeth.

• The makhraj of ص س ز is with the font tip of the tongue touching the back of the bottom front two teeth. It is mportant to note that when pronouncing the letters of ص س ز there is a slight gap between the tip of the tongue and the teeth and not a hard/strong meeting of the two.

 

• The makhraj of ث ظ ذ is pronounced from the front tip of the tongue touching the tip of the top front two teeth.

Shafataan (Lips)

• The makhraj of م is the touching of the dry portions of the top and bottom lips.
• The makhraj of ب is the touching of the wet portions of the top and bottom lips.
• The makhraj of و is the incomplete touching of the lips (lips must also be rounded).