Noorani Qaida Lesson 2: Joined Letters (Huroof Murakkabat)

What does lesson 2 teach?

In lesson 1 every letter stands alone. In the Quran, however, letters almost always join together inside words, and when they join most of them lose part of their shape. Lesson 2, called Huroof Murakkabat (compound or joined letters), trains the eye to recognise a letter from its "head" and its dots, whatever position it is in.

At this stage there are still no vowel marks. The learner reads a joined group by naming each letter: با is read "Baa, Alif", not "baa". Naming every letter slowly is what builds accurate reading later, so resist the temptation to rush ahead to sounding out words.

The four shapes of a letter

Most letters have up to four shapes: on their own (isolated), at the start of a word (initial), in the middle (medial) and at the end (final). Arabic is read from right to left, so in the table below the isolated form is on the right.

The connecting line (tatweel) is only there to show where the next letter would join.

The six letters that never join to the next letter

Six letters connect to the letter before them but never to the letter after them. Whenever a child sees one of these, the next letter starts fresh in its initial or isolated shape:

A simple way to remember them: Alif, Daal, Dhaal, Raa, Zaay, Waaw. Teachers often ask children to circle these six in a page of text; it quickly trains the eye.

Letter families: read the dots

When letters join, several of them share the same small "tooth" shape. The only way to tell them apart is the number and position of the dots, so lesson 2 is really a lesson in counting dots:

• ب ت ث ن ي look identical at the start and in the middle of a word: one dot below, two above, three above, one above, two below.
• ج ح خ share a shape: one dot below, no dot, one dot above.
• س ش, ص ض, ط ظ, ع غ and ف ق come in pairs that differ only by dots.
• ه changes the most: هـ ـهـ ـه. Children often fail to recognise it in the middle of a word.
• ل followed by ا forms the special shape لا (Laam Alif).

Practice lines (read by naming each letter)

Mistakes teachers correct most often

1. Guessing instead of counting dots. A child who has memorised the page may "read" بت correctly without looking. Point to letters in a different order to check real recognition.
2. Sounding out too early. In lesson 2 we name letters; vowels arrive in lesson 4 (harakat).
3. Losing heavy letters. Even when joined, ص ض ط ظ ق خ غ keep their full, heavy sound.
4. Mixing up ح and ه. The name of each letter must still come from the right place in the throat.

A 10-minute daily routine for parents

Most children need two to four weeks on joined letters. Do not move on until your child can name letters in any order, not just in the order they memorised.

Our teachers take children and adults through every Qaida lesson one-to-one in the Noorani Qaida course. Next: lesson 3, Huroof Muqatta'at, or book a free trial and let a teacher assess where your child is.