Letters of Isti’laa – الحروف المستعلية

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Characteristics of the Letters of Isti’laa: – The letters of Isti’laa are 7:

خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ

الحروف المستعلية  أي  الحروف التي تتصعّد في الحنك الأعلى

The characteristics of these letters require the tongue to be escalated to the upper palate and hence, the sound produced is تفخيم  (Heavy-mouthed).

 The letters of Isti’laa can be remembered via the phrase:

خصَّ ضغطٍ قظ

Phrase transliterated: Khussa Daghtin Qidh

The remaining letters are known as Huroof Al-Istifaal, whereby, the letters are ترقیق (Empty-mouthed) except, Laam (ل) and Raa (ر) in certain circumstances which will be discussed in the future InshaAllaah.

THESE LETTERS WILL ALWAYS BE HEAVY MOUTHED.

Recommended video to watch to learn the articulation of the letters of Isti’laa:

Huroof Al-Itbaaq

Out of the 7 letters of Isti’laa, there are 4 which fall under the category of Huroof Al-Itbaaq. These are:

 ص ض  ط  ظ

These letters are singled out from the 7 as these require ones mouth to pucker up inside. Resultingly, the cheeks may have a bit of air in them causing them to puff up. It is important to master the makhraj of these letters as it differentiates it from similar letters.

Common mistakes made when pronouncing the aforementioned letters:

  ض (Daad) as د (Daal) ….. ص (Saad) as س (Seen) ….. ط (Taa) as ت (Taa) … ظ (Dhaa) as ز (Zaai)