Reading Small Letters and Signs in the Mushaf

Alif maqsurah is the dotless ya (ى) at the end of a word that you read as a long “aa,” and tanween is the doubled vowel mark that adds a hidden noon sound. Both look simple, yet together with the small letters and signs printed in the mushaf they cause many everyday reading mistakes. Once you know what each mark means, you can read any page of the Madinah mushaf with confidence, and a teacher in a Tajweed rules course can then refine your pronunciation.

This guide explains alif maqsurah, the three shapes of tanween, the small letters, the two kinds of zero circle, and a handful of rare signs, all according to the recitation of Hafs ‘an ‘Asim.

Why the Mushaf Has Small Letters and Signs

The Quran is written in the Uthmani script (rasm), the spelling used in the copies prepared under the third caliph, ‘Uthman. That spelling is preserved exactly, even where it differs from modern Arabic spelling. To guide readers without changing the rasm, scholars later added dots, vowels, small letters and symbols.

So when you see a tiny alif or waw, it is not decoration. It tells you how to pronounce a word whose original spelling does not show every sound. The conventions below are those of the widely used Madinah mushaf; other prints, especially in South Asia, use some different symbols.

Alif Maqsurah: The Ya That Is Read as Alif

In the Madinah mushaf, a ya at the end of a word is usually written without dots. That means the same shape (ى) can be read in two ways, and the vowel before it tells you which:

The small alif above the ya in words like عَلَىٰ is your clearest signal. Never read عَلَىٰ as “‘alee”; that is a clear error (lahn jali) that changes the word.

Alif maqsurah with tanween

Some words end in alif maqsurah and also carry tanween, such as هُدًى (guidance) and ضُحًى (forenoon). The tanween is placed on the letter before the ya shape, and the ya itself is silent while you continue:

• Connected: هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ is read hudal-lil-muttaqeen, with the tanween merged into the lam.
• Stopping: stop on هُدًى as hudaa, with a 2-count alif.

This is the same principle as madd ‘iwad, where tanween with fathah becomes an alif when you stop.

The Three Shapes of Tanween

Look closely at tanween in the Madinah mushaf and you will see it written in three ways. Each shape tells you which noon sakinah rule applies.

With staggered tanween, check the next letter: if it carries a shaddah, the merge is complete (idgham). If not, the sound is hidden (ikhfa). The same logic applies to noon sakinah: a noon with a sukun sign is pronounced clearly, while a bare noon with no sukun is merged or hidden. For the full rules, see our guide to noon sakinah and tanween.

Where the alif of tanween goes

Tanween with fathah is normally written on the letter before an alif, as in عَلِيمًا, and you read that alif only when stopping. There are two common exceptions with no alif: words ending in ta marbutah, like رَحْمَةً (stop as rahmah), and words ending in hamza after an alif, like مَاءً (stop as maa’aa).

Before moving on to the small letters, test what you have learned so far with the flashcards below.

Small Letters You Must Pronounce

When a small waw or ya after the pronoun ha also carries the wavy madd sign, as in بِهِۦٓ أَن, it is followed by a hamza and lengthened 4 or 5 counts, like madd munfasil.

There are a few well-known exceptions to silah in Hafs. In Surah Al-Furqan (25:69), فِيهِۦ مُهَانًا is lengthened even though a sukun comes before the ha. In Surah Az-Zumar (39:7), يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ is read with a short dammah and no lengthening. The mushaf marks these correctly, so trust the small letters.

The Two Zero Signs

These two look similar but mean different things, and confusing them is one of the most common errors among self-taught readers.

1. Round circle (۟): the letter is extra and is never pronounced, whether you continue or stop. Examples: the alif in قَالُوا۟ and the waw in أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ.
2. Oval zero (۠): the alif is silent when you continue and pronounced when you stop. The best-known example is أَنَا۠: read ana when connecting and anaa when stopping. It also appears in words such as ٱلظُّنُونَا۠ (Al-Ahzab 33:10).

Finally, a letter with the sukun mark (shaped like a small head of kha) is pronounced with sukun, while a bare letter with no vowel and no sukun is either silent or merged into the next letter.

Rare but Important Signs

• The wavy madd sign (ٓ): lengthen beyond the natural 2 counts, according to the type of madd. See our guide to madd muttasil and munfasil.
• Small seen above a sad: read as seen in Hafs, in يَبْصُۜطُ (Al-Baqarah 2:245) and بَصْۜطَةً (Al-A’raf 7:69).
• Small seen below a sad: in ٱلْمُصَۣيْطِرُونَ (At-Tur 52:37), both are allowed, with sad being the more common reading.
• Small seen as a pause: marks a saktah, a short pause without breath, explained in our article on sakt in Hafs.
• Special marks in single words: imalah in مَجْر۪ىٰهَا (Hud 11:41), tas-hil of the second hamza in ءَا۬عْجَمِىٌّ (Fussilat 41:44), and ishmam in تَأْمَ۫نَّا (Yusuf 12:11). These are best learned directly from a teacher.

Stopping signs such as مـ, لا and ج are a separate system, covered in our guide to waqf signs in the mushaf.

If you keep stumbling on the same marks, a teacher can listen to you read and point out exactly where. Students in our online Tajweed classes work through these signs on real pages, so the knowledge turns into habit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is alif maqsurah in the Quran?

Alif maqsurah is a long “aa” sound written with the shape of a dotless ya (ى) at the end of a word, as in عَلَىٰ and مُوسَىٰ. In the Madinah mushaf, it often has a small alif above it to show it is read as alif, not ya.

How do I know if a dotless ya is read as ya or alif?

Look at the vowel on the letter before it. A fathah (often with a small alif above the ya) means it is read as alif; a kasrah means it is a long “ee,” as in فِى.

Why is tanween written in different shapes?

The shape tells you the rule. Stacked marks mean the noon is pronounced clearly (izhar), staggered marks mean it is merged or hidden, and a small meem means iqlab before the letter ba.

Are the small letters in the Quran pronounced?

Yes. Small letters such as the small alif in ذَٰلِكَ show sounds that are pronounced but are not part of the original Uthmani spelling. Skipping them is a clear reading error.

What does the small circle above a letter mean?

A round circle means the letter is never pronounced. An oval zero, as on the alif of أَنَا, means the letter is silent when you continue reading but pronounced when you stop. Practicing with a teacher in a Tajweed course helps you read both correctly without hesitation.

Madraset El Quran Academy

Editor@madrasatelquran.com

Madraset Elquran Academy is a world-class platform for learning Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies, recognized globally for its excellence. As one of the leading online Quran schools, we offer personalized one-on-one sessions with expert native Egyptian tutors, providing high-quality education for learners of all levels.

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