Tajweed - Ikhfaa ash-Shafawee

[SuBMiSSioN]

Ok, so I've read through a couple of books that I have, and can't come up with an answer to a question I was given in my class last week.

What is the reason behind the ruling of Ikhfaa ash-Shafawee? Can someone provide me with a link to some answers please.

[Abdraheim]

Al-Ikhfaa Ash-Shafawee

Al-Ikhfaa Ash-Shafawee is when the letter ( ب ) immediately follows meem sakinah in between two words. It does not matter whether this sukoon that is on the meem is part of the make up of the word (sukoon asliyah ) or not (aridha li sukoon ) AND this meem does not have a shaddah on it. The ikhfaa shafawee rule is only applied between two words (i.e. one word ends with meem sakinah and the immediate word after it begins with the letter ( ب ) ).

Reason For Applying The Ikhfaa Shafawee Rule

The ikhfaa shafawee rule is applied on its letter because the letter ( م ) and the letter ( ب ) share the same articulation point as well as having many characteristics in common. Thus idgham and idhar would be too difficult to apply. Also it is called ikhfaa shafawee because the articulation point of the letter ( م ) is the lips (shefetaan).

The ikhfaa shafawee appears in the Quran as a meem without a sukoon and the letter after it does not have shaddah on it.
For example:

تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍ [Surah A-feel : 4 ]
أَم بِظَاهِرٍ [Surah Ar-Rad : 33 ]
وَمَن يَعْتَصِم بِاللّهِ [Surah Ael-E-Imran : 101 ]



http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&so...wTl48F-T4R6FkQ

[Abdraheim]

http://www.abouttajweed.com/23070102.htm

http://www.abouttajweed.com/060602.htm

[Abdraheim]

For those who can understand Arabic well, the explanation of Ash-Sheikh Dr. Ayman of the lip positioning of the ikhfa' ash-shafawee and iqlaab to a group of female Qur'an teachers in Jeddah has been digitilized by a kind brother, may Allah reward him with al-firdaws, and can be listened to at the following link:

http://audio.teamtil.net/tajweed/ayman-swayd/1422_meem/

http://www.abouttajweed.com/kb/entry/402/

[Abdraheim]

not sure if any of those give you the "reason" u seek though

[aussiemu]

You want me to ask my SIL? :P

[Houda*]

I'm guessing your SIL is her teacher? lol

[SuBMiSSioN]

lol her sis in law isn't my teacher but it's all good one of the posts above answered my question

[fatima_43]

the meem & baa have the same makhraj (lips) but different characteristics so pronouncing idh'har is difficult and heavy on the lips and because idghaam ruins the meaning, something in between is chosen and that is ikhfaa'

[Inqiyaad]

@ Submission......CHEATER!!!!







*runs away*

[fatima_43]

doesn't your teacher tell you the reason?

[SuBMiSSioN]

Finding out the reason is part of our homework. Homework = research. I did some research, and couldn't find it, so I came here to ask for some help. I'm not cheating

[Inqiyaad]

Awww.......I know how you feel....Its not that hard But you know you can always just come to those who have been there done that

[SuBMiSSioN]

lol it makes so much sense when you realise what the answer is. Alhumdulillaah, and for the heads up

[falah]

The lips close for both the 'meem' and the 'ba'. So if the 'meem' coming before a 'ba' has a sukoon, the lips will not open between the pronouncing of the two letters.

[fatima_43]

The lips close for both the 'meem' and the 'ba'. So if the 'meem' coming before a 'ba' has a sukoon, the lips will not open between the pronouncing of the two letters.

isn't that for Idh-har shafawy (clear pronunciation)

I was taught that in Ikhfaa' (hiding) you don't close the lips when saying the meem. This brother demonstrates at 55 secs

[khadouj]

The method of the ikhfa’ shafawee and the different opinions of its mechanism is not a new question. Sheikh ‘Aamer As-Sa’eed ‘Uthman, may Allah have mercy on him, around 30 years ago, gathered all the reciters in Egypt together, including Sheikh Mohammed Al-Husary, and ordered all of them to recite the ikhfa’ shafawee, and iqlaab with a very small separation of the lips to “hide” the .

Some prominent reciters became convinced that this was the correct way to pronounce the ikhfa’ shafawee, and started reciting this way and ordered their students to recite this way.

Scholars of recitation in the rest of the world did not agree with this method of doing the ikhfa’ shafawee, and instead closed their lips during the ikhfa’ of the saakinah when followed by the whether it was in an ikhfa’ shafawee or an iqlaab. A sheikh named Salaah Ad-Deen from Lebanon recited to Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthman twice, once reciting the seven qira’aat, then years later reciting the ten qira’aat. The first time he recited to Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthman, he recited the ikhfa’ shafawee with his lips closed. The second time he recited to Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthmaan, he was ordered by the Sheikh to separated his lips a small bit when reciting the ikhfa’ shafawee. We can then see that the Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthman went through two phases himself. One, closing his lips for the ikhfa’ shafawee, the second, leaving a small space between the lips for the ikhfa’ shafawee.

In the matters of tajweed we have two sources for methods of recitation. The first, that which is written in the old books by the early generations after the Prophet , and the second the authentic transmission by chain of the Qur’an from generation to generation by mouth to mouth, all recorded and documented as to who recited to who. Research of both these ways, the books and authentic transmission show that there is no documentation for leaving a small space between the lips for the ikhfa’ shafawee. The fact that a student of Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthman read to the Sheikh with two different methods leads one to the conclusion that the separation of the lips for the ikhfa’ shafawee was of Sheikh ‘Aamer ‘Uthman’s own ijtihaad, and not from a way of transmission that was passed down from before him. We do not find fault in Sheikh ‘Uthman for this, but we do not take this method from him, since it is not documented in the old books nor is it found in any authentic chain of transmission of the Qur’an outside of those who recited to Sheikh ‘Uthman and those who recited to the students of Sheikh ‘Uthman.

A final note, both methods are still named ikhfa’ shafawee, the mechanism differs, but the name does not.

And Allah knows best.

The source of this answer was taken from a lecture given by his eminence, the Sheikh Dr. Ayman Rushdi Swayd, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
http://www.abouttajweed.com/23070102.htm

[from water]

From all the teachers of Tajweed I've learned from, I was told not to close my lips when doing Ikhfaa' for the cases involving meem followed by ba (including letters that were flipped to meem and now have the meem's rules apply to them).

But from Sheikh Aiman Rushdi Swayd, who has some very informative and detailed tajweed videos online (in Arabic though), it seems he does close his lips and he said the lips do close at least in the case of iqlaab, or al-qalb. But in that case the noon switches to a meem, and then the ikhfaa' rules of the meem apply to it, so he's more or less talking about a meem followed by a ba (I'm assuming it's the same situation mid-transformation when the meem is being said and now is followed by a ba).

He said the lips definitely do close when doing the ghunna on the meem, and even put up his hands to demonstrate and there was definitely a full closing throughout the ghunna. The way I do it is that they do not close until the very last split second right before the ba is said, then they do close, and then are immediately followed by the ba.

It is really like a slow transformation from meem to ba, but you hover above the meem without actually saying it because it's being hidden, up till you get to the ba and then you have to close pronouncing the meem so that you can start the ba from the same place.

I did not see the sheikh explain it with that kind of detail, but technically the lips are being closed, albeit at the last moment. I find that way to be intuitive given the terminology (ikhfaa' meaning to hide) and the fact that I really do trust the sources I got this info from given where they studied, but I guess I'll have to look more into it. I know a guy who studied tajweed to a ridiculous degree, and I'll see what he says.