What is Idhar? Examples in the Quran Tajweed

Idhar is a way to pronounce some letters in the Quran while reciting and it is one of the tajweed rules. Learning the Quran Tajweed’s meaning is to give every Arabic letter its right and pronounce it from the correct place in the mouth/nose/throat.  

The word itself means “to make pronounce better” The Quran is more than a book that sets out the story of creation and the laws that Muslims are to follow and the description of Jannah and fire. It also preserves the Arabic language, which was used by Allah to transmit His revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Muslims who study the Quran can develop not only the pronunciation of the pure Arabic language but a deeper understanding of the meaning of the text itself. 

The Quran is meant to be recited out loud as Allah’s saying: “and recite the Qur’an with measured recitation.” To do this properly, you must know Tajweed rules. When you learn how to read the Quran with Tajweed pronunciation, you will be able to articulate the Quran accurately as the prophet Muhammad (PBUH).  

Idhar and Ikhfaa meaning in Quran Tajweed 

Noon (ن) is a unique sound in the Holy Quran like any other sound. Noon has variations with short vowels these are fat-ha, Kasrah, and Dammah on top of it. نُ، نَ، نِ . Which is pronounced Na, Ne, No. But when Noon has Sukoon نۡ which is this sign on top or no sign at all ن, The five consequences to having Noon sakin نۡ in the Holy Quran are:  

1. Ghunnah 

2. Iqlab 

3. Idhar 

4. Idgham 

5. Ikhfaa

Idhar Halqi meaning

Our topic “Idhar” literally means “showing” or “clear” the letter noon and normally pronounced Noon. if noon came after it one of the throat sounds.  

 These are the six throat letters of Idhar: (ء) (ه) (ع) (ح) (غ) (خ)

 
We pronounce Idhar if a Noon sakin or Tanween is followed by any of the six throat letters, the Noon sakin or Tanween is pronounced clearly from its respective origination without any Hiding.  

 let’s have examples on Noon sakin: (نۡ)

 إِنۡ هَٰذَآ إِلَّآ أَسَٰطِيرُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِينَ

here we pronounce the noon clearly because it is followed by هـ letter.

examples on Tanween: ( ٍ ، ٌ ، ً )

تَوَلَّوۡاْ قَوۡمًا غَضِبَ ٱللَّهُ

Tanween fat-ha followed by غ here we pronounce the noon of tanween.

Ikhfaa Haqiqi meaning

It means to “Hide” To understand what that means we will take a look at the things you need to do to pronounce a proper Noon.

• First, you need to let air through your nose or the Nasal cavity.
• Second, the tip of the tongue should be pressed against the upper teeth.
• To apply “Ikhfaa” you will need to keep the first but remove the second and replace it with the shape that your mouth will take the following sound which will take only “two harakat” or movements:

 To pronounce the word “الإنسان” your mouth should be getting ready to pronounce the letter seen “س” while letting air through your nose.

The way of pronouncing Noon in Ikhfaa’:

If any letter other than the letters of Idhar, Iqlaab, or Idgham letters follows the Noon sakin or tanween, we should hide the Noon sakin or Tanween. this requires the reader to make Ghannah(Nasal Sound) for 2 beats.

the Ghunnah of the Ikhfaa’ is divided into two:

1- Heavy Ghunnah

2- Light Ghunnah

• The sound Ghunnah is Heavy if the Noon sakin or Tanween is followed by one of the heavy letters (خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ)
• The sound Ghunnah is light if the Noon Sakin or Tanween is followed by a light letter.
  

The Tajweed at the time of the prophet

At the time of the prophet (PBUH), there was no need for people to study Tajweed because they already talked with what is now known as Tajweed. It was so natural for them. When the Arabs started mixing with other civilizations and non-Arabs as Islam spread, mistakes in the Quran recitation started to appear, so the scholars had to record the rules of Tajweed. Even Arabs nowadays have to study Tajweed rules because their everyday Arabic has changed so much from the classical Arabic or the “Quranic Arabic”.

Is learning Tajweed Obligatory?

The Islamic scholars bring the proofs to show the obligation of Tajweed, Allah says in the Quran:

And recite the Qur’an with measured recitation.”

Surah Al-Muzzamil: 4

‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said,

“The one who is proficient in the recitation of the Qur’an will be with the honourable and obedient scribes (angels) and he who recites the Qur’an and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have two rewards.”

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The common mistakes in Tajweed

Islamic scholars have divided the types of mistakes into two types while reciting the Holy Quran:

• Clear mistakes
• Hidden mistakes

Clear mistakes must be avoided by all by learning the Tajweed rules. If a person knows Tajweed and makes clear mistakes, this is considered a sin. Even Muslims shouldn’t pray behind a person who makes clear mistakes in the Salah.  

How Prophet Muhammad read the Quran

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to recite the Quran in slow, measured tones as Allah had instructed him.

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah never listens to anything as He listens to the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting Qur’an in a pleasant sweet sounding voice.” A companion of Abu Huraira said, “He means, reciting the Qur’an aloud.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 

“And no people sit in a Masjid reciting Allah’s Book, studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them and they are enveloped in the mercy, and surrounded by the angels”. Hadith of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A believer who recites the Quran is like an orange whose fragrance is sweet and whose taste is sweet; a believer who does not recite the Qur’an is like a date which has no fragrance but has a sweet taste, and the hypocrite who recites the Qur’an is like basil whose fragrance is sweet, but whose taste is bitter, and a hypocrite who does not recite the Quran is like the colocynth which has no fragrance and has a bitter taste.

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