Idgham

Rulings of Idgham (Merging)

Definition of Idgham: covered in the previous section.

Letters of Idgham: the silent Noon and Tanween are merged into six letters, remembered by the word (Yarmaloon): ي ر م ل و ن.

Categories of Idgham: two categories — Idgham with Ghunnah, and Idgham without Ghunnah.

Idgham with Ghunnah (Nasalization)

This occurs when the silent Noon or Tanween is followed by one of the letters of the word (Yanmu): ي ن م و.

It has two sub-types: complete Idgham with ghunnah, and incomplete Idgham with ghunnah.

Complete Idgham with Ghunnah: has two letters, Meem and Noon. The remaining ghunnah when the silent Noon or Tanween merges into these two letters belongs entirely to the letter merged into — hence it is called "complete". Example:

◆ Silent Noon with Noon

﴾وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 219)

◆ Tanween with Noon

﴾وُجُوهُ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةً﴿ (Al-Ghashiyah: 8)

Note: Idgham with ghunnah must be held for the duration of two counts, as explained in the section on Madd.

Incomplete Idgham with Ghunnah: has two letters, Waw and Yaa. It is "incomplete" because the remaining ghunnah is a quality of the merged letter itself rather than belonging fully to it. Example:

◆ Silent Noon & Tanween with Waw

﴾وَمَا لَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلاَ نَصِيرٍ﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 107)

◆ Silent Noon & Tanween with Yaa

﴾فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ﴿ (Az-Zalzalah: 7)

Idgham without Ghunnah

This occurs when the silent Noon or Tanween is followed by Lam or Raa. Merging into these two letters is always complete.

◆ Silent Noon with Lam

﴾وَيُإْتِ مِن لَّدُنْهُ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا﴿ (An-Nisa': 40)

◆ Silent Noon with Raa

﴾أُوْلَـئِكَ عَلَى هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ﴿ (Al-Baqarah: 5)

Exceptions

1. Idgham requires that the merged letter and the letter merged into occur in two different words. If they occur within the same single word, Idhar (clarity) is required instead — this is called Idhar Mutlaq (absolute clarity). Four words in the Quran have this: dunya, sinwan, qinwan, bunyan.

2. Exceptions to the standard Idgham rules include ﴾يس وَالْقُرٴانِ الْحَكِيمِ﴿ (Ya-Sin: 1–2) and ﴾ن وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ﴿ (Al-Qalam: 1), where Hafs pronounced the Noon of the letter-names clearly (Idhar), as transmitted through Ash-Shatibiyyah.