المدّ الطبيعي
natural madd
No hamza and no sukūn after the madd letter: no cause, it is the basis.
two counts
Madd — Lengthening
Basic and secondary madd: natural, badal, ʿiwaḍ and ṣila; muttaṣil, munfaṣil and ṣila kubrā; lāzim, ʿāriḍ and līn; and their counts
Core idea
Madd is holding the voice on a madd or līn letter. Its basis is two counts, and it grows only because of a cause after it: a hamza makes it four or five; a sukūn that stays in the word makes it six; a sukūn that appears only at a pause makes it two, four or six, depending on the pace of reading.
Why it matters
Madd is the most asked-about topic in tajweed, because a mistake changes the word and its rhythm. For Qālūn it differs from Ḥafṣ in the separate madd, where qaṣr is the preferred wajh.
Lesson
The madd letter is an alif sākin after a fatḥa, a wāw sākin after a ḍamma, or a yāʾ sākin after a kasra. The līn letters are a wāw or yāʾ sākin after a fatḥa, as in «al-bayt».
A ḥaraka is the time it takes to say one moving letter: a fatḥa, ḍamma or kasra. Madd is measured in counts, and a count's length follows the speed of reading: four counts in taḥqīq are longer than four in ḥadr.
The basis is two counts, with no cause: the natural madd and what is attached to it. The branch goes beyond two counts because of a cause after the madd letter: a hamza or a sukūn. The sections below are sorted by count, and the last part is a key that shows how to tell which count applies.
Each count has one colour across the tree, the cards and the examples. Every example shows Ḥafṣ and Qālūn, and the word that carries the madd is highlighted.
In detail, with examples
The madd at a glance
By number of counts
Two counts (2)
The basis and what is attached to it. It does not go beyond two counts: no hamza after the madd letter, and no sukūn that lengthens it.
basic
البدل
substitute madd (badal)
A hamza before the madd letter, as in «āmanū»: it is the hamza that is lengthened.
two counts
A special case of the natural madd: two counts.
العِوَض
ʿiwaḍ madd
Tanwīn naṣb stopped on becomes an alif, as in «jamʿan».
two counts
In connection it is read as tanwīn. After tāʾ marbūṭa there is no ʿiwaḍ: the tanwīn drops and the word stops on a sukūn.
الصلة الصغرى
short ṣila of the pronoun hāʾ
The pronoun hāʾ between moving letters with no hamza after, as in «innahu ʿalā».
two counts
Joined with a wāw if it has ḍamma, with a yāʾ if it has kasra; two counts, in connection only.
No ṣila when a sākin letter stands before or after the hāʾ, when the hāʾ itself is sākin, or when it belongs to the root or is a hāʾ al-sakt.
حروف (حي طهر) في أوائل السور
from the muqaṭṭaʿa letters
In the surah openings the letters are read by their names; in ḥā, yā, ṭā, hā and rā the madd is natural.
two counts
Four or five counts (4–5)
A madd letter, or the pronoun hāʾ, before a hamza: the hamza lengthens it to four or five. For Qālūn the munfaṣil and ṣila kubrā are two counts (qaṣr) first, or four.
المتصل
muttaṣil madd
A madd letter followed by a hamza in the same word, as in «al-samāʾ».
four or five counts
Wājib for every reader; in Ḥafṣ four or five counts.
المنفصل
munfaṣil madd
A madd letter at the end of a word and a hamza at the start of the next, as in «bimā unzila».
Ḥafṣ: 4 or 5 counts
Qālūn: two counts (qaṣr first) or four (tawassuṭ)
Jāʾiz: readers differ on its lengthening and shortening. In Ḥafṣ four or five; for Qālūn, qaṣr first (see Ḥafṣ and Qālūn).
«yāʾayyuhā» and «hāʾulāʾi» are written joined, but the madd in them is munfaṣil, not muttaṣil.
الصلة الكبرى
long ṣila of the pronoun hāʾ
The pronoun hāʾ between moving letters, with a hamza of qaṭʿ in the next word, as in «mālahu akhladahu».
Ḥafṣ: 4 or 5 counts
Qālūn: follows the munfaṣil: two counts (qaṣr first) or four
Four or five counts, joined to the munfaṣil. For Qālūn it follows the munfaṣil: two counts first, or four.
Six counts (6)
A madd letter followed by a permanent sukūn, in the word or in the name of a letter in the openings of surahs: six counts for every reader.
المدّ اللازم
lāzim madd
A madd letter followed by a permanent sukūn, in the word or in the name of a letter in the surah openings.
six counts
kalimī: heavy «al-ḍāllīn» (a doubled letter after), light «ālāna» (no doubling).
ḥarfī: heavy or light by the letter's name; see the examples.
Variable: 2, 4 or 6
A sukūn that appears only at a pause. It is read in one of three wajhs; the reader chooses by pace and keeps the choice to the end.
العارض للسكون
madd ʿāriḍ li-s-sukūn
A madd letter followed by a sukūn that appears only at a pause, as in «al-bayān».
two, four or six
Read as two, four or six: qaṣr in ḥadr, tawassuṭ in tadwīr, ṭūl in taḥqīq; keep the one you began with.
مدّ اللين
madd on a līn letter
A līn letter (a sākin wāw or yāʾ after fatḥa) followed by a sukūn that appears at a pause, as in «al-bayt».
two, four or six
Read like the ʿāriḍ, with the same three wajhs.
Attached to it: the ʿayn of the muqaṭṭaʿa letters, as in «kāf hāʾ yāʾ ʿayn ṣād»: four or six, by the Shāṭibiyya.
How do I know the count?
Answer in order. The first «yes» decides the madd; on «no», go to the next question.
- 1
Is there a hamza after the madd letter?
- yes, in the same wordmuttaṣil: 4 or 5 (wājib)
- yes, at the start of the next word, and the madd letter is a pronoun hāʾṣila kubrā: 4 or 5
- yes, at the start of the next wordmunfaṣil: 4 or 5 (jāʾiz); for Qālūn qaṣr 2 first
- no: → next question
- 2
Is there a sukūn after it?
- yes, it stays in the word, even in connectionlāzim: 6
- yes, it appears only when you stopʿāriḍ li-s-sukūn or līn: 2, 4 or 6
- no: → next question
- 3
Is there a hamza before the madd letter, as in «āmanū»?
- yes, a hamza followed by a madd letterbadal: 2
- no: → next question
- 4
Is it an alif that replaces tanwīn naṣb at a pause?
- yes, at a pause on a word ending in tanwīn fatḥaʿiwaḍ: 2
- no: → next question
- 5
A pronoun hāʾ between moving letters, with no hamza after it?
- yes, the ṣila of the hāʾ, in connection onlyṣila ṣughrā: 2
- no: only the natural madd is left: two counts
Openings of surahs: read each letter by its name
The muqaṭṭaʿa letters are read by their names, and each name takes its own madd. The table sums it up.
| Letters | Ruling | Counts | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| alif | no madd | — | |
| ḥayy-ṭuhr | natural: two counts | 2 | |
| sanaqṣ lakum | lāzim: six counts | 6 | |
| ʿayn | attached to līn: four or six | 4 · 6 |
Ḥafṣ and Qālūn
Separate madd in Qālūn: qaṣr first
For Qālūn the separate madd is either qaṣr or tawassuṭ; qaṣr is the preferred one in recitation, and tawassuṭ is the other sound wajh. For Qālūn the ṣila kubrā follows the separate madd. For Ḥafṣ the counts are four or five, as above.
Qālūn: qaṣr 2 (preferred) or tawassuṭ 4
In your mushaf
In the mushaf each madd has a tajweed colour, explained under «Tajweed colours». Here each count has one colour, so it is easy to tell apart in the tree, the cards and the examples; the variable madd has its own colour.
Key points
- 1
Basis: two counts. A madd goes beyond them only because of a cause after it: a hamza, or a sukūn.
- 2
A hamza after the madd letter: in the same word it is muttaṣil (4 or 5, wājib); in the next word it is munfaṣil (4 or 5, jāʾiz).
- 3
A sukūn that stays in the word is lāzim: six counts. A sukūn that appears only at a pause: 2, 4 or 6, and the reader keeps the one he began with.
- 4
A pronoun hāʾ between moving letters is joined by a wāw or a yāʾ: two counts if no hamza follows, four or five if one does.
- 5
For Qālūn the munfaṣil is qaṣr of two counts first, or tawassuṭ of four, and the ṣila kubrā follows the munfaṣil.
Glossary
المَدّ
al-madd
holding the voice on a madd or līn letter
الحَرَكَة
al-ḥaraka
the time to say one moving letter: fatḥa, ḍamma or kasra
المُتَّصِل
al-muttaṣil
madd followed by a hamza in the same word; wājib
المُنْفَصِل
al-munfaṣil
madd at the end of a word, hamza at the start of the next; jāʾiz
الصِّلَة
al-ṣila
joining the pronoun hāʾ with a wāw or yāʾ, so that it becomes a madd
البَدَل
al-badal
a hamza before a madd letter, two counts
اللَّازِم
al-lāzim
madd before a permanent sukūn: six counts
العَارِض لِلسُّكُون
ʿāriḍ li-s-sukūn
madd before a sukūn that comes from pausing: two, four or six
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