Question

Assalaamu alaikum.  When pronouncing the letter  what would you recommend to someone who has problems making the sound of the   with a sukoon "run"; sometimes it's fine and sometimes it sort of sticks.  Would you have any idea why that would be?  Your help is greatly appreciated.  Thank you and may Allah reward you.

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.

Subhana Allah, there are many problems in tajweed that can be solved through the study of the mechanism of formation of letters lessons, it is truly a foundation for proper recitation.  May Allah greatly reward the scholar responsible for spreading this knowledge and making clear the mechanism of formation of the letters in the recitation of the Glorious Qur’an.   

If we review the lessons on the mechanism for formation of letters, we see that saakin letters (outside of the medd letters) are formed by collision ( ) of the two parts of articulation for the specific letter being pronounced.  Letters with vowels (outside of the qalqalah letters) are formed by a strong separation ( ) of the two parts of articulation for the specific letter.  If the collision of a saakin letter is weak, or more like a swipe causing a meeting of the two points that cause the particular sound,  the letter becomes weak or not clearly saakin; likewise if the separation is not strong and immediate of the two parts that are used for articulation of the letter, the sound is not clear, or if a slow separation takes place, the sound will be in between saakin and voweled. 

In the case at hand, it seems like the student of the Qur’an is not making a firm separation of the two parts of articulation (the upper part of the throat), so what happens is the letter is part saakin and part voweled, and the “run” happens.  The student is hanging on to the articulation point, so a run is heard instead of a sharp sound of separation.  This is assuming that the question is about a voweled .  A   saakinah does have a  time period of running of the sound, since it has the characteristic of .