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In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful

Lesson 26 : Rules of the Definite Article

the Arabic letters  ال means 'The' in English

The 1st letter of the word that follows would determine the pronunciation depending on whether it is a sun or moon letter

Out of the 28 Arabic Alphabet there are 14 of the letters are known as lunar (moon) letters. These are :

ء ‌ ب ‌ ج ‌ ح‌ خ ‌ ع ‌ غ ‌

ف ‌ ق ‌ ك ‌ م‌ ه ‌ و ‌ ي

and there are 14 of the letters are known as solar (sun) letters. These are :

ت ‌ ث ‌ د ‌ ذ ‌ ر ‌ ز ‌ س ‌

ش ‌ ص ‌ض ‌ ط ‌ ظ ‌ ل ‌ ن ‌

Note: To hear the interactive sound, please use “Internet Explore”. Our interactive sound may not compatible with other browsers such as Mozilla FireFox. Sounds are taken from quranicsciences.com

Rule # 1 : The Sun Letter If  ال followed by a Sun letter

a. the letter alif of the  ال is assimilated with the sun letter

b. the letter laam of the  ال is ignored

c. the sun letter carries a shaddah

  شَمْسٌ Sun
  اَلْ The
اَلْ + شَمْسٌ = اَلشَّمْسُ
The + Sun = The Sun

This is pronounced as 'ash-shams' and not 'al-shams'

d. If you want to join the preceding word onto the  ال word, then you ignore the ال completely

وَالشَّمْسِ وَاصُّبْحِ
بِالصَّبْرِ  وَالشَّفْعِ
وَالتِّيْنِ وَالصَّيْفِ

Rule # 2 : The Lunar (Moon) Letter If  ال followed by a Sun letter

a. the l  ال is pronounced

b. If you want to join the preceding word onto the ? ال word, then you only ignore the letter alif of  ال completely

فَاِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ وَالَّيْلِ
اَلْمُدَّثِّرُ لِحُبِّ الْخَيْرِ
اِنَّ الَّذِينَ اَلْمُزَّمِّلُ
فَعَّالٌُ لِّمَا يُرِيْدُ اِلاَّ اَلَّذِيْنَ

Please Click here to view a printable chart depicting the solar and lunar letters.

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Duaa at end of gathering

‘How perfect You are O Allah, and I praise You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance.’