Shiddah and Rikhawah in Tajweed: Easy Guide with Examples
By Muhammad Hassan ·
Shiddah (Strength) and Rikhawah (Softness)
Shiddah (Strength)
The Shiddah is an Arabic word which means Strength but in terms of tajweed Shiddah means a characteristic of certain letters where the sound is completely blocked for a moment when pronouncing them,and this Sifat is applied on 8 letters easy to remember with this phrase: اَجِدُکَ قَطَبْتَ
The letter with the quality of Shiddah are called Shadidah شَدِیْدَۃ Now let's practice together اَجْ اَبْ
One important thing about this sifat that the sound of shiddah letters is not continuous. It just happened and then stopped. Want to test it?
Try holding the letter longer... اَجْجج اَبْبب You can't.
Rikhawah (Softness)
Rikhwah is a characteristic where the sound flows easily with the air, and there is no full stop of breath while pronouncing the letter.The letter with the quality of Rikhawa are called Shadidah رِخْوَۃ It is the opposite of Shiddah (which blocks air and sound),and this sifat is applied on all letters except those belonging to Shiddah and Tawassut, we have understood the Shiddah Example اَسْ ، اَفْ
The important thing about this sifat is you can prolong the letter with sifat Rikhawah As much as you want like اَسْ ، اَفْ
Tawassut
Some letters stop the sound. Others flow freely. But there are few… do something in between. That middle-ground is called Tawassut.
Tawassut means in-between,and describes letters pronounced with a balanced sound—not completely blocked like Shiddah letters, and not fully flowing like Rikhawah letters.The sound in these letters is partially restricted. The letter with the quality of Tawassut are called Shadidah مُتَوَسِّطَۃ
There are 5 Tawassat letters, which you can easily remember with the Phrase: لِنْ عُمَرْ
Examples : الله ,الرَّحْمٰنُ اَنْعَمْتَ .
We don’t count this as different sifat. This is because these letters are not as strong as the letters of Shiddah, nor are they as weak as the letters of Rikhwah. They occupy an intermediate position. Tajweed is full of these powerful sound secrets.
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