Rulings of Raa

The letter «Raa» is among the letters whose states and rulings are most varied; the rulings of «Raa» revolve around obligatory Tafkheem (heavy pronunciation) in some positions, obligatory Tarqeeq (light pronunciation) in others, or permissibility of either.

Raa Has Three States

• Tarqeeq
• Tafkheem
• Permissibility of either Tarqeeq or Tafkheem

First: Tafkheem of Raa

The Raa is given Tafkheem in the following cases:

1. When voweled with a damma, as in: absaruha, ruhama'.
2. When voweled with a fatha, as in: rabbana, farshan.
3. When silent after a damma, as in: al-ghurfah.
4. When silent after a fatha, as in: Maryam.
5. When silent after an original kasra, followed within the same word by an Isti'la (elevated) letter, as in: mirsadan.
6. When silent after an incidental kasra, as in: ami-rtaboo, limani-rtada. Tafkheem applies in these cases whether continuing or stopping.
7. When silent after a silent letter other than Yaa, and the letter before that silent letter carries a damma or fatha, as in: wa-l-fajr, al-kufr, al-umoor. This is given Tafkheem only when stopping. When continuing, one looks at its own vowel: if fatha or damma, Tafkheem; if kasra, Tarqeeq.

Second: Tarqeeq of Raa

The Raa is given Tarqeeq in the following cases:

1. When voweled with a kasra, as in: rizqan, mareej.
2. When silent after an original kasra, not followed by an Isti'la letter, as in: shir'atan, al-firdaws.
3. When word-final and silent, preceded by a silent Yaa, as in: baseerun, khayrun.
4. When word-final, silent, preceded by a silent letter other than Yaa, and that letter preceded by a kasra, as in: adh-dhakar, as-sihra.
5. When word-final and silent, preceded by an original kasra, as in: nasira, al-qadir, when stopping.
6. When word-final and silent, preceded by an original kasra, followed by an Isti'la letter at the start of another word, as in: andhir qawmaka, fasbir sabran.

Third: Permissibility of Either Tarqeeq or Tafkheem

This occurs in cases such as: kullu firqin, bimisra, al-qitr. It is permissible in three cases:

1. When silent, preceded by a silent Isti'la letter, which is itself preceded by a kasra, as in: Misr, al-qitr.
2. When silent, preceded by an original kasra, and followed (within the same word) by a kasra-voweled Isti'la letter, as in: firqin.
3. When silent due to stopping, kasra-voweled when continuing, and followed by a dropped Yaa, as in: yasri, nudhuri.

First: When the Raa Is Continued

It is given Tarqeeq in two cases:

First case: when voweled with a kasra, whether that kasra is original, as in: rijal, wa-l-gharimeen, wa-l-fajr, or incidental, as in: wa'andhiri-n-nas. A kasra-voweled Raa is always given Tarqeeq, without condition.

Second case: when silent, provided certain conditions are met: it must be preceded by an original kasra directly connected to it, and not followed by a connected, fatha-voweled Isti'la letter. If a silent Raa meets these conditions together, Tarqeeq is obligatory, as in: Fir'awn, shir'atan.

Tafkheem applies in cases other than these two:

• When not kasra-voweled, being instead fatha-voweled, as in: rabbana, or damma-voweled, as in: rusulun.
• When silent without meeting the conditions for Tarqeeq mentioned above, silent after a fatha, as in: barqun, or after a damma, as in: al-Qur'an.
• Or silent after an incidental (not original) kasra, as in: -rji'ee, when beginning with the connecting Hamzah.
• Or silent after an original kasra not directly connected to the Raa, as in: alladhi-rtada (the kasra of "dhal" being separate from the Raa).
• Or silent after an original kasra directly connected to the Raa, but followed by a connected, fatha-voweled Isti'la letter. This occurs in five words in the Holy Quran:

﴾Qirtas﴿ (Al-An'am) — ﴾Wa'irsadan﴿ and ﴾firqatin﴿ (At-Tawbah)
﴾Mirsadan﴿ (An-Naba') — ﴾Labi-l-mirsad﴿ (Al-Fajr)

In all these cases, the silent Raa is given Tafkheem, since it does not meet the conditions for Tarqeeq.

When the Isti'la letter following the silent Raa carries a kasra — as in ﴾firq﴿ (Ash-Shu'ara) — scholars have differed: some give it Tafkheem due to the presence of the Isti'la letter, while others give it Tarqeeq due to its kasra; the kasra weakens the case for Tafkheem, making Tarqeeq the preferred view.

When the Isti'la letter following the silent Raa is separated from it, occurring instead in another word, as in: wala tusa"ir khaddaka fasbir sabran, the Raa is given Tarqeeq, without regard to the Isti'la letter, since it is not directly connected to the Raa.

Second: When Stopping on the Raa

It is given Tarqeeq in three cases:

1. When preceded directly by a kasra, as in: basa'ir.
2. When preceded by a kasra separated by a silent Istifal (non-elevated) letter, as in: sihr, adh-dhikr.
3. When preceded by a silent Yaa, as in: qadeer, al-khayr.

Tafkheem applies in cases other than these three, as in: al-qamar, an-nudhur, wa-l-fajr.

This is the ruling when stopping on the Raa with plain silence, and likewise when stopping with Ishmam. When stopping with Rawm, however, the ruling is the same as when continuing: if you stop on ﴾Biyadika-l-khayr﴿ with plain silence or Ishmam, the Raa is given Tarqeeq, since it falls after a silent Yaa; but if you stop with Rawm, the Raa is given Tafkheem, since it is damma-voweled — and just as a damma-voweled Raa is given Tafkheem when continuing, it is likewise given Tafkheem when stopping with Rawm, since Rawm behaves like continuing.

Words with Differing Views

When stopping on the Raa of Misr or the Raa of al-Qitr (Saba), both Tarqeeq and Tafkheem are valid.