Hamzat Al-Wasl & Al-Qat'

Beginning with Hamzat Al-Wasl

Definition

Hamzat Al-Wasl: an additional Hamzah at the start of a word, pronounced only when beginning at that word, and dropped when continuing from a preceding word. In the standard Mushaf, it is marked by a small Saad above the Alif.

Hamzat Al-Qat': the Hamzah that is pronounced both when beginning and when continuing.

Hamzat Al-Wasl in the Definite Article ("Al-")

The Lam of the definite article "Al-" is read with a fatha-voweled Hamzah when beginning, and the Hamzah is dropped when continuing from what precedes. Example: ﴾At-ta'iboona-l-'abidoona-l-hamidoona-s-sa'ihoona-r-raki'oona-s-sajidoon﴿ (At-Tawbah: 112) — the Hamzah is pronounced when beginning with at-ta'iboon, but dropped in the remaining words when continuing.

Note: when an interrogative Hamzah precedes the definite article's Alif-Lam, Hamzat Al-Wasl is converted into an Alif, as in aallah in ﴾Qul aallahu adhina lakum am 'ala-llahi taftaroon﴿ (Yunus: 59), or given Tasheel, as in a'a'jamiyy in ﴾A'a'jamiyyun wa'arabiyy﴿ (Fussilat: 44).

Note: when beginning with the word al-ismu in ﴾Bi'sa al-ismu-l-fusooq﴿ (Al-Hujurat: 11), one may begin either with the Hamzah, reading alismu, or with the Lam, reading lismu.

Hamzat Al-Wasl in the Ten Fixed Nouns

Seven of these ten nouns occur in the Quran, all beginning with a kasra-voweled Hamzah, dropped when continuing from what precedes. These nouns are: ibn, ibnah, imru', imra'ah, ism, ithnan (ithnayn), ithnatan (ithnatayn, ithnata). Examples:

— ﴾Ibna Maryam﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 87), ﴾Ibnata 'Imran﴿ (At-Tahrim: 12), ﴾Imru'un halak﴿ (An-Nisa': 176), ﴾Imra'atu-l-'Azeez﴿ (Yusuf: 30), ﴾Isma rabbika﴿ (Al-A'la: 1), ﴾Ithnayn﴿ (Al-An'am: 144), ﴾Ithnata 'ashrata 'aynan﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 60)

Hamzat Al-Wasl in Past-Tense, Imperative, and Verbal-Noun Forms

●Trilateral verbs:

Imperative: idhrib, iftah, udkhul

●Quinquiliteral verbs:

Past tense: fantaqamna, ikhtalafa, iswaddat

Imperative: iqtarib, wastabir

Verbal noun: ikhtilaq, inbi'athihim

●Hexaliteral verbs:

Past tense: istakbara, wastaftahoo

Imperative: istaghfir, ista'eenoo

Verbal noun: istikbaran, istighfar

Hamzat Al-Wasl does not occur in quadriliteral verbs.

The Vowel of Hamzat Al-Wasl

• Fatha-voweled in the definite article, when beginning with it.
• Kasra-voweled in the ten fixed nouns (including the seven occurring in the Quran).

— Kasra-voweled in verbs (past, imperative, or verbal noun), when beginning, if the verb's third letter carries an original kasra or a fatha, as in ihdina in ﴾Ihdina-s-sirata-l-mustaqeem﴿ (Al-Fatiha: 6), and istaghfir in ﴾Istaghfir lahum aw la tastaghfir lahum﴿ (At-Tawbah: 80)

— Damma-voweled if the verb's third letter carries an original damma, as in udkhuloo in ﴾Udkhulu-l-jannata la khawfun 'alaykum wala antum tahzanoon﴿ (Al-A'raf: 49)

Note: if the damma is incidental rather than original, the original vowel governs instead. This occurs in five words: imshoo, iqdoo, ibnoo, imdoo, i'too. The original vowel of the third letter in these verbs is a kasra, so Hamzat Al-Wasl is kasra-voweled when beginning with them.

Voweling a Silent Letter Before Hamzat Al-Wasl

A silent letter preceding Hamzat Al-Wasl is voweled with a fatha, damma, or kasra, as follows:

— If a Tanween precedes Hamzat Al-Wasl, its Noon is voweled with a kasra, as in 'adnin-illatee in ﴾Rabbana wa'adkhilhum jannati 'adnin-illatee wa'adtahum waman salaha min aba'ihim wa'azwajihim wadhurriyyatihim﴿ (Ghafir: 8), and ﴾Falahu jaza'ini-l-husna﴿ (Al-Kahf: 88)

— If min precedes Hamzat Al-Wasl, its Noon is voweled with a fatha, as in ﴾Mina-l-jinnati wan-nas﴿ (An-Nas: 6), originally "min al-jinnah," with the silent Noon voweled with a fatha for falling before Hamzat Al-Wasl.

— If the plural Meem precedes Hamzat Al-Wasl, it is voweled with a damma, as in ﴾Alhakumu-t-takathur﴿ (At-Takathur: 1), originally "alhakumu at-takathur," with the silent Meem voweled with a damma for falling before Hamzat Al-Wasl. Likewise ﴾'Alaykumu-s-siyam﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 183) and ﴾Rabbukumu-l-a'la﴿ (An-Nazi'at: 24)

— In cases other than these two, the silent letter preceding Hamzat Al-Wasl is voweled with a kasra, as in ani-mshoo in ﴾Wantalaqa-l-mala'u minhum ani-mshoo wasbiroo 'ala aalihatikum inna hadha lashay'un yurad﴿ (Sad: 6), likewise ﴾Ani-dhrib﴿ (Al-A'raf: 160), ﴾Ani-sna'﴿ (Al-Mu'minun: 27), and ﴾Waqalati-khruj 'alayhinna﴿ (Yusuf: 31).