Noon Sakinah Rules and Tanween: Izhar, Idgham, Iqlab and Ikhfa

The noon sakinah rules are four: izhar, idgham, iqlab and ikhfa. Which one applies depends entirely on the letter that comes right after the noon sakinah or tanween. They are usually the first rules a tajweed student learns, because they appear in almost every verse of the Quran. In this lesson we explain each rule with its letters and how to pronounce it, give Quran examples with exact verse references, show how the Madinah Mushaf marks each rule, and finish with a summary table and a short practice exercise.

What are the rules of noon sakinah and tanween?

That table is the whole chapter in one view. Everything below explains it in detail. The classical scholar Sulayman al-Jamzuri summed it up in the opening line of his famous poem Tuhfat al-Atfal:

لِلنُّونِ إِنْ تَسْكُنْ وَلِلتَّنْوِينِ … أَرْبَعُ أَحْكَامٍ فَخُذْ تَبْيِينِي
“The noon when it has sukun, and the tanween, have four rulings, so take my explanation.”

Verse references below are written as surah:verse, so 2:8 means Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 8. All examples follow the narration of Hafs from ‘Asim, the recitation printed in the Madinah Mushaf.

What is the difference between noon sakinah and tanween?

• Noon sakinah (نْ): a noon with no vowel. It is both written and pronounced, whether you continue reading or stop. It appears in nouns such as «الْإِنسَانَ», verbs such as «يُنفِقُونَ» and particles such as «مِنْ» and «عَنْ», in the middle or at the end of a word.
• Tanween (ـٌ ـً ـٍ): an extra noon sakinah added to the end of a noun. It is pronounced but not written as a noon; instead the vowel mark is doubled: «عَلِيمٌ», «نَارًا», «يَوْمَئِذٍ». It drops when you stop on the word.

Because tanween is pronounced as a noon sakinah, it follows exactly the same four rules. The only difference is that it always sits at the end of a word, so its rules always happen between two words.

Rule 1: Izhar halqi (clear pronunciation)

What it is: pronouncing the noon sakinah or tanween clearly from its normal place, without any extended ghunnah (nasal sound), when it is followed by one of the six throat letters.

The letters: hamzah (ء), ha (هـ), ‘ayn (ع), ha (ح), ghayn (غ) and kha (خ). Students often remember them with the Arabic phrase «أخي هاك علمًا حازه غير خاسر», where the first letter of each word is one of the six. The rule is called halqi (of the throat) because these letters come from the throat.

Why: the noon is made with the tip of the tongue, which is far from the throat. With such a distance, there is no reason to merge or hide the noon.

Izhar examples from the Quran

Izhar happens inside one word, as in «أَنْعَمْتَ», and across two words, as in «مِنْ هَادٍ». How to say it: pronounce the noon clearly, then move straight to the throat letter, with no pause and no stretching of the nasal sound.

Rule 2: Idgham (merging)

What it is: merging the noon sakinah or tanween into the next letter, so the two become one stressed (mushaddad) letter of the second type.

The letters: six, gathered in the word «يَرْمَلُونَ» (yarmalun): ya (ي), ra (ر), mim (م), lam (ل), waw (و) and noon (ن). The condition is that the noon sakinah ends the first word and the merging letter starts the next word. Idgham only happens between two words. It has two types.

Idgham with ghunnah

Four letters, gathered in the word «يَنْمُو» (yanmu): ya, noon, mim and waw. The ghunnah is held for two counts.

• ي: ﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ آمَنَّا﴾ (2:8); tanween: ﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ﴾ (88:2).
• ن: ﴿وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ﴾ (16:53); tanween: ﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةٌ﴾ (88:8).
• م: ﴿أَنَّمَا نُمِدُّهُم بِهِ مِن مَّالٍ وَبَنِينَ﴾ (23:55); tanween: ﴿فِي عَمَدٍ مُّمَدَّدَةٍ﴾ (104:9).
• و: ﴿وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ﴾ (13:11); tanween: ﴿وَرَعْدٌ وَبَرْقٌ﴾ (2:19).

Complete and incomplete merging: with noon and mim, the merging is complete, because the ghunnah you hear belongs to the letter merged into. With ya and waw it is incomplete: the noon itself disappears but its nasal quality remains.

Idgham without ghunnah

Two letters: lam (ل) and ra (ر). The noon merges into them completely, with no nasal sound.

• ل: ﴿مِّن لَّدُنْهُ﴾ (18:2); tanween: ﴿وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ﴾ (104:1), which contains two examples.
• ر: ﴿أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَىٰ هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ﴾ (2:5); tanween: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾ (2:173) and ﴿مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقًا﴾ (2:25).

Important exceptions to idgham

• Izhar mutlaq (absolute clarity): when a noon sakinah and a letter of «ينمو» meet inside one word, the noon is pronounced clearly, to keep the word’s meaning distinct. In the Quran this happens in only four words: «الدُّنْيَا»; «بُنْيَانٌ» in ﴿كَأَنَّهُم بُنْيَانٌ مَّرْصُوصٌ﴾ (61:4); «قِنْوَانٌ» in ﴿قِنْوَانٌ دَانِيَةٌ﴾ (6:99); and «صِنْوَانٌ» in ﴿صِنْوَانٌ وَغَيْرُ صِنْوَانٍ﴾ (13:4).
• ﴿وَقِيلَ مَنْ ۜ رَاقٍ﴾ (75:27): no idgham into the ra in Hafs via ash-Shatibiyyah, because of the brief pause (sakt) on «مَنْ».
• ﴿يس ۝ وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ﴾ (36:1–2) and ﴿ن ۚ وَالْقَلَمِ﴾ (68:1): the noon in the spelled letters «يس» and «ن» is pronounced clearly before the waw in Hafs via ash-Shatibiyyah.

Listening to a skilled reciter is one of the fastest ways to lock these rules in. The Rafiq Al-Taa app includes the Madinah Mushaf with several reciters, so you can open any of the verses above and replay them as often as you like, then check the rule again in the app’s tajweed lessons section.

Rule 3: Iqlab (conversion)

What it is: turning the noon sakinah or tanween into a hidden mim with ghunnah for two counts, when it is followed by the letter ba (ب).

Why: pronouncing a clear noon right before ba is awkward for the tongue, and merging is impossible because the two letters are made in very different places. So the noon becomes a mim, which shares its place (the lips) with ba and shares its ghunnah with noon.

How to say it: change the noon into a mim, close the lips lightly without pressing, hold the ghunnah for two counts, then say the ba.

• Within one word: ﴿قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ﴾ (2:33) and ﴿كَلَّا ۖ لَيُنبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ﴾ (104:4).
• Across two words: ﴿مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ﴾ (2:27).
• Tanween: ﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ﴾ (58:1) and ﴿كِرَامٍ بَرَرَةٍ﴾ (80:16).

In the Madinah Mushaf, iqlab is marked with a small mim placed over the noon instead of a sukun, or in place of the second vowel mark of the tanween.

Rule 4: Ikhfa haqiqi (hiding)

What it is: pronouncing the noon sakinah or tanween in a state between clear pronunciation and merging, without stress on the next letter, while keeping the ghunnah for two counts.

The letters: fifteen, which are all the remaining letters of the alphabet. Al-Jamzuri gathered them in the first letters of each word of this line:

صِفْ ذَا ثَنَا كَمْ جَادَ شَخْصٌ قَدْ سَمَا … دُمْ طَيِّبًا زِدْ فِي تُقًى ضَعْ ظَالِمَا

That is: ص ذ ث ك ج ش ق س د ط ز ف ت ض ظ.

How to say it: the tip of the tongue does not press fully onto the place of the noon. Instead, the tongue moves toward the place of the next letter while the ghunnah flows from the nose. The ghunnah takes on the heaviness or lightness of the next letter: it is heavy before the heavy letters (ص ض ط ظ ق), as in «مِن قَبْلِ», and light before the others, as in «مِن شَرِّ».

One example for every ikhfa letter

What is ghunnah, and how long is a count?

Ghunnah is the nasal sound that comes from the nasal passage, and it is a built-in quality of noon and mim. Try this: say a noon and then gently pinch your nose. The sound stops, which shows the ghunnah comes from the nose. A count (harakah) is roughly the time it takes to fold or unfold a finger at a steady pace. In idgham with ghunnah, iqlab and ikhfa, the ghunnah lasts two counts. What matters most is consistency: keep the same length throughout your recitation rather than stretching it in one place and cutting it short in another.

How can I spot each rule in the Mushaf?

The scholars who added the marks to the Madinah Mushaf built the rules into the script, so you can read the rule with your eyes before your tongue:

So a noon with no sukun is never read clearly, and a small mim always means iqlab. Mushafs printed in North Africa, South Asia and elsewhere may use slightly different marks, so check the explanatory notes at the back of your own copy.

Noon sakinah and tanween summary table

Altogether 6 + 6 + 1 + 15 = 28 letters, which is the whole alphabet except alif. Alif never follows a noon sakinah, because alif is always silent itself and two silent letters cannot meet here.

Practice: find the rules in Surah Al-Humazah

Surah Al-Humazah is short but packed with these rules. Read it on Quran.com or in your Mushaf, then compare with this list:

1. ﴿وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ﴾ (104:1): «وَيْلٌ لِّ» and «هُمَزَةٍ لُّ» are idgham without ghunnah.
2. ﴿الَّذِي جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُ﴾ (104:2): «مَالًا وَ» is idgham with ghunnah (incomplete).
3. ﴿كَلَّا ۖ لَيُنبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ﴾ (104:4): «لَيُنبَذَنَّ» is iqlab.
4. ﴿إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِم مُّؤْصَدَةٌ ۝ فِي عَمَدٍ مُّمَدَّدَةٍ﴾ (104:8–9): «مُّؤْصَدَةٌ فِي», when read without stopping, is ikhfa, and «عَمَدٍ مُّ» is idgham with ghunnah (complete).

A short daily recitation slot where you focus on one rule each week works well. We explain how to make your Quran portion a steady habit in our daily worship tracker guide.

Common mistakes with noon sakinah and tanween

• Stretching the ghunnah in izhar: reading «مِنْ عَلَقٍ» with a long nasal sound. The noon should be clear and short.
• Pausing in izhar: some beginners stop briefly after the noon before the throat letter. That is a mistake.
• Adding ghunnah in idgham without ghunnah: reading «غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ» with a nasal sound. The merge should be complete.
• Pressing the lips in iqlab: this makes the mim sound strong, as if it had a shaddah. Close the lips lightly.
• Turning ikhfa into izhar or idgham: pressing the tongue fully so a clear noon comes out, or stressing the next letter.
• Light ghunnah before heavy letters: reading «مِن قَبْلِكُمْ» with a thin nasal sound. It should be heavy to match the qaf.
• Merging the four excepted words: such as reading «الدُّنْيَا» with the noon merged into the ya.

How do I master these rules?

Tajweed is learned by hearing and reciting to a teacher. Reading theory alone is not enough. Here is a practical plan:

1. Memorize the letters of each rule using the classic memory aids: «أخي هاك علمًا حازه غير خاسر», «يرملون», «ينمو» and the line «صف ذا ثنا».
2. Listen to a precise reciter, such as Shaykh Mahmoud Khalil al-Husary’s teaching recitation, and repeat after him.
3. Pick one short surah a day, find every noon sakinah and tanween, and write down the rule.
4. Recite to a qualified teacher who can correct you. Some mistakes you simply cannot hear in your own voice.
5. Learn your Mushaf’s marks so you can read the rule from the page.

If you want an app for review that doesn’t distract you, we discuss why ad-free tools matter while reciting and learning in the best Islamic app without ads. For the Arabic text of Tuhfat al-Atfal and its commentaries, trusted libraries such as IslamWeb are a good starting point.

To sum up: noon sakinah and tanween have four rules, decided by the next letter. Throat letters mean izhar, «يرملون» means idgham, ba means iqlab, and everything else means ikhfa. Learn the table, apply it to one short surah every day, recite to a skilled teacher, and in sha Allah these rules will soon flow naturally in your recitation.