Question

Assalamu Aleikum wa rahmatu lilahi wa barakatuh

I have some questions concerning vowels and consonants in the Arabic alphabets.

1. I would like to know: what are the vowels and consonants of the Arabic alphabet (as far as the Qur'an is concerned)?

2. I am a little confused regarding vowels counts. When you mention,  for example, a 2, 4, or 6 vowel counts, are you mentioning "count" in terms of seconds?

3. in the Hafs an Asim recitation, how many counts should a letter, when lengthened, have (whether it has a medd or not)?

Ma Salam

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.

1.  The vowels are the fat-hah, the kasrah, and the dhammah.  Some, using English concepts call medd letters lengthened vowels, but the scholars of the Qur’an and tajweed refer to the vowels as shortened medd letters. The letters of the Arabic alphabet then are all considered consonants, but again, this is applying the English concept of vowels and consonants. In Arabic, the vowels are not considered letters and are written above and below the letters.  The first collection of the written Qur’an in the time of Abu Bakr, and then later in the time of Caliph ‘Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them both, had no vowels written in it, but of course the Qur'an was recited with the appropriate vowels. 

2.  The speed a reader uses should be based on the time of each vowel count.  Each fat-hah, dhammah, and kasrah that is not part of a medd letter should be equal.  If a reader is reading very slowly, then each vowel count will be longer than a reader reading quickly.  The time for each fat-hah dhammah, and kasrah is one vowel count; the lengthening of a medd letter not followed by a hamzah or a sukoon then is double this.  A medd of four counts is four times the length of one vowel.  There is no specific time that can be named for a vowel, but the timing for each should be consistent and from that the lengthenings based.  A second for a vowel would be extremely long.

3.  The voweled letters for all of the ways of recitation is one vowel count, as explained above.   and in the way of recitation of  are either both four vowel counts or both five vowel counts.  Both ways are allowed.  In tareeq At-Tayyibah, different vowel counts are allowed, but tareeq Ash-Shaatibiyyah is the way most Muslims in the world read this day.
   is six vowel counts for all of the different qira’aat including Hafs ‘an ‘Aasim.

Saakinah letters have different timings depending on their characteristics.  The letters with the characteristic of have the longest timing when saakinah, the letters with  are shorter in length when saakinah, and the letters that have  the shortest timing when saakinah.  The timings of the saakinah letters can only be learned by reading to and being corrected by someone who has mastered tajweed.  No count system can be assigned to them.  Please click here for more on the timing of saakinah letters.  

Wa assalaam alaikum