Noon sakinah and tanween rules: izhar, idgham, iqlab and ikhfa

What noon sakinah and tanween are

Noon sakinah is a noon with a sukoon (نْ), or a noon with no vowel. Tanween is the doubled vowel at the end of a word (ـً ـٍ ـٌ), which is pronounced as an extra noon sound. Because tanween sounds like a noon sakinah, both follow exactly the same rules.

Izhar (clear)

Before the six throat letters, ء ه ع ح غ خ, the noon is pronounced clearly, with no ghunnah held.

• مَنْ ءَامَنَ: noon sakinah before hamzah.
• مِنْ عِلْمٍ: noon sakinah before ‘ayn.
• عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ: tanween before haa.

Idgham (merging)

Before the six letters ي ر م ل و ن (remembered as يَرْمَلُونَ), the noon merges into the next letter. There are two kinds:

• With ghunnah before ي ن م و (remembered as يَنْمُو): مَن يَقُولُ (Al-Baqarah 2:8), خَيْرًا يَرَهُۥ (Az-Zalzalah 99:7).
• Without ghunnah before ل ر: مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ (Al-Baqarah 2:5), هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ (Al-Baqarah 2:2).

Exception: idgham only happens between two words. Inside a single word, a noon sakinah before ي or و is read clearly. There are four such words in the Quran: دُنْيَا, بُنْيَانٌ, صِنْوَانٌ and قِنْوَانٌ.

Iqlab (changing)

Before ب, the noon sound changes into a hidden meem, held with ghunnah. The mushaf usually marks it with a small meem.

• مِنۢ بَعْدِ: noon sakinah before baa.
• سَمِيعٌۢ بَصِيرٌ: tanween before baa.

Ikhfa (hiding)

Before the remaining fifteen letters, the noon is partly hidden: the tongue does not fully touch the place of the noon, and the sound passes through the nose with ghunnah while the mouth prepares for the next letter.

The fifteen ikhfa letters: ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك

• أَنتُمْ: noon sakinah before taa.
• مِن قَبْلُ: noon sakinah before qaf.
• يُنفِقُونَ: noon sakinah before faa.

Summary chart

Rule	Next letter	What you do	Ghunnah
Izhar	ء ه ع ح غ خ	Say the noon clearly	No
Idgham with ghunnah	ي ن م و	Merge into the next letter	Yes, about 2 counts
Idgham without ghunnah	ل ر	Merge completely	No
Iqlab	ب	Change to a hidden meem	Yes, about 2 counts
Ikhfa	The other 15 letters	Partly hide the noon	Yes, about 2 counts

In the standard Madinah mushaf, the way tanween is written gives a clue: the two marks are stacked directly above each other for izhar, and staggered when the noon is merged or hidden. A small meem shows iqlab.

The same pattern continues with meem sakinah rules, and the nasal sound itself is explained in ghunnah meaning. For every rule family in one place, see our tajweed rules guide. To practise with a teacher who can hear you, join our tajweed course or see our online tajweed classes.