Alif Lam Makrifah

Alif-Lam Al-Syamsiah: is the laam which occurs at the beginning of a word, whereby it is merged with the letter that follows it.

a) In the case where the laam is merged, the “ll” sound it makes is completely eliminated.

b) For the laam to be merged, it must be a silent laam.

c) Considering no word in the Arabic language can start with a sukoon, the merging of the laam cannot happen unless the word begins with “Al-“. This is because – had there been no alif before the laam – there would be nothing to “make possible” the merging of the “ll” sound.

d) You will notice, part of the Quranic scripture, that there is a shaddah on the letter that invokes this merging.

e) For the laam to be merged, it cannot be part of the original make up of the word.

Now let’s see examples:

On the right is the letter example and the Quranic script, on the left is how it is read.

Alif-Lam Al-Qamariah: or “the Moon Laam” is the laam saakinah (sukoon on the laam) which must be pronounced clearly. This laam occurs at the beginning of the word (Al- ..) and occurs in nouns.

Pronouncing it clearly happens with the remaining 14 letters that aren’t covered in the lam syamsiah. 

These letters for laam qamareeyah can be remembered by noting the phrase:

إبغ حجك و خف عقيمه

To reiterate, these letters are:

ا   ب   ج   ح   خ   ع   غ   ف   ق   ك   م   و   ه   ي

yaa – haa – waaw – meem – kaaf – qaaf – faa – ghayn – ‘ayn – khaa – haa – jeem – baa – alif

You will notice in Quranic scripture a little haa looking shape (حـ) above the laam. This is just to act as a reminder for reciters: to make sure that you remember to say Al-… and not merge the laam into the next letter.

Examples of alif-lam al-qamariah: