Question

Assalamu Aleikum wa rahmatu lilahi wa barakatu

1) In the first line of verse 28 of surat Al Kahf: "... ..." there is a letter waw after the letter daal. Since the letter waw should not be read, why is it written then? What is its role?

2) I have read the lessons on the qalqalah mechanism, and I have a few questions.

- You wrote that the qalqalah does not resemble a fatha, a dhamma, or a kasra.  It neither follows the vowel of the preceding letter or the following letter. Therefore:

a)How can it be recognized?
b)Would you please post a verse or a surah of  the Quran that has a qalqalah as an example?
c) What do you mean by "collision"?

May Allah help you find the answers inshallah.

Ma salam

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.

1.  There are several places in the Qur’an where the alif is written as a .  In the science of rasm, or writing of the muS-haf, this is called .  There are other examples with other letters, and is one of signs we see in the great care that has been taken in preserving the writing of the Qur’an just as it was at the time of the Prophet Muhammed, .  Other examples of the alif being written as a  are: , , .  There are more cases too, these are just other examples.  One book discussing the writing of the Qur’an stated the words were written like this for magnification.

2.  The qalqalah is recognized by a few things:

 a.  There is separation of the two articulation parts that are involved in articulating the letter without any accompanying vowel. 

 b.  You can hear a strong emphasis as the two parts of articulation are separated from each other. 

 These links have the first and third aayah of surah Al-Masad, in which every aayah ends with a qalqalah. Aayah 1  Aayah 3 .  You should be able to hear clearly the strong emphasis as well that there is no vowel accompanying the separation of the two parts of articulation.

Collision means colliding or hitting.  If you hit your hand to a table with strength, you will hear a sound.  Your hand and the table have collided with one another.  If we apply this to the recitation of the Qur’an, we should be hitting both parts of articulation together strongly to produce the sound of a specific letter.  For example, the in the letter , the two parts of articulation are 1) the tip of the tongue and 2) the gum of the two front top incisors.  Since the gums are not moveable, the collision needed to make the proper sound of the letter  is done by the tip of the tongue going up and hitting the gums.  This is a very important aspect in producing nice strong letters that are required in good Qur’an recitation.  When the letter is voweled and there is separation of the two articulating parts, the separation also must be done with strength, otherwise the letters will be weak and lacking in the required characteristics. 

Wa assalaam alaikum wa rahmatu Allah.