As a child, I was always fascinated by magnets: why two ‘south’ or ‘north’ poles would never ever click with one another. It took a while to understand the reasoning behind it. And as with that, there’s a real wisdom behind this rule which prevents two saakin letters from meeting…

This rule has been looked at from a number of angles, however it was never formally mentioned on the site.

Man‘ iltiqaa’ al-saakinayn^[1]: preventing two saakins from meeting (following one another) is that rule which is sometimes taken for granted although the Arabic language heavily endorses it.

The rule states: if a word ending with a madd letter precedes a word which starts with a sukoon, the madd letter is dropped so as to avoid/prevent two saakins from meeting; this of course only applies when continuing recitation. In replacement of the madd letter, its respective diacritic takes places (kasrah for yaa, fat-ha for alif, dammah for waaw). Here, it is important to note that madd letters in the Arabic language do not have a diacritic. They are considered to be saakin, and hence why this rule exists.

Let’s look at some examples,

وَقَالَا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ

Read as:

when continuing: wa qaala-l-hamdu lillahi ( و قالَ الحمد لله )

when stopping: wa qaalaa .. alhamdu lillahi ( و قالا .. الحمد لله )

مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ

Read as:

when continuing: ghayra muhilli-s–saydi ( غير محلِّ الصيد )

when stopping: ghayra muhillee .. as–saydi ( غير محلّي .. الصيد )

آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ

Read as:

when continuing: aamanu-t-taqu-llaha ( ءامننُ اتقواْ لله )

when stopping: aamanoo .. ittaqu-llaha ( ءامنو .. اتقواْ لله )

Previously we noted this rule indirectly, when it occurs with hamzatul wasl (said under “circumstance 3” and on).

Also, the hamzatul wasl post contained a brief mention of this rule. Found where quoted: “Finally, I want to give an ex..”

That’s all for this post. I hope it wasn’t too complicated to repel you away from the upcoming tajweed rule! 

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