Youll NEVER mis pronounce Hamza أ or Alif ا in the Quran after watching this Arabic 101

Every letter in Arabic has name and the names of these letters always start with the letter itself. So for example, this letter is called be and its name starts with the letter and this letter is noon and its first letter is also noon. This is true for every single letter in Arabic except for one single letter. This letter, this letter is called al if the first letter of the word al if is not an al if but it is what we call hamza. So why can't we start word with an al if and is it even possible to do that? And what is hamza? And how is it any different from al if this help us improve our Quran recitation? The answer to all of these questions can be found in learning the difference between al if and hamza. So let's find out what these differences are. But before we do that, we first need to know how they look like so that when we start talking about them, we would then know what we're going to apply the rules on. So alif in the Quran and basically all Arabic texts has four variations. First is just the generic alif letter with nothing on top or under it like in the word and the dagger alif or as we call it in Arabic al if which is that small little al if sign like in the word. Third is al if with mad sign as in the word dua and when you're reciting the Quran this al if in this position is then extended for five counts or five and at the end of words you can sometimes see it looking like that like in the word and this is called al if explained this type of al if in particular in this video. So, make sure to check it out. It is quite useful. You'll find the links in the description. So, these were all the forms and shapes which we call al if in the Quran and also elsewhere. And as for the hamza, it has five variations. First and most common is the hamza when it comes on top or under the al if as in the word orb. Second when the hamza comes completely alone like in the word. Third, when it comes on top of which we call in Arabic as in the word or fourth when it comes with this sign on top which always happens at the beginning of words beginning with like in the word al and this type of hems we call hems al make sure to Check out these two lessons if you want to learn more about this topic. You'll find the links in the description. And finally, Hamza can also look like that. And this is found in one single instance in the Quran in this word. All right. Now that we know what alif and hamza look like, let's find out what the differences are between them. And after we learn the differences, we can then properly apply them when we see them in different forms as we read the Quran. Difference number one, al if is vowel sound while hamza is consonant sound. So what does this mean? This means that al if can be extended for as long as you want. That's why it is one of the med letters in the Quran. It can be extended for two, three, four, five and even six haret. But the hamza being consonant cannot be extended. The sound is just like any other consonant sound. they cannot be extended. Now let's consider this example to understand this completely. Now, can you tell how many instances of al if and hamza you can see in this example? Well, there are five times al if in these positions and there are three times hamza in these positions. So in every one of these positions al if has the ability to extend. So when say me can extend it for two because this is what should do in this position. But also in this word can extend it up to five because this is med letter. Also, the word ends with an al if al if that can be extended for two and it can be extended for for if choose to. So may say and can also say so the al if can be extended when necessary. But as for the hamza, it cannot be extended since the nature of the sound itself comes from cutting airflow passing through your throat. So it cannot be extended. All of these instances contain hamza which is stopping of airflow. So al if is vowel extendable. Hamza is consonant cannot be extended. This takes us directly to the next difference. Difference number two, which is that al if can never receive fatha or kasra. Why? Because al if is already vowel. So you can't put vowel on top of another vowel. It is simply phonetically impossible. Hamza on the other side can take all sorts of vowel signs fat and even tenwin. Let us notice here the differences when they are both used in the Quran. Notice that all of these words contain an alif. And notice how al if in every one of these examples has no vowel on top or under it even if it comes at the end of word. Now let's have look at this example to see the difference. In this example, we see three different variations of the Hamza with three different vowels. First with in the word, then with in the word, and last with fat in the word als. So, Hamza can receive short vowels with no problems. And that was difference number two. Difference number three, starting word with al if is impossible while hamza can occur in any part of the word. Now why can't we start word with al if now since al if is vowel which means that it always has sukun on top. This means that we can never start word with al if. Why? Because in Arabic we can never start word with sukun which we explained extensively in this lesson about which you can find here and also in the description. So check it out if you want to learn more about this topic. So this means that alif can only come in the middle or at the end of the word but never in the beginning. With hamza this is not problem. it can appear anywhere in the word beginning, middle and at the end. So these were the three major differences between Hamza and al if now the fact that there are differences between them doesn't mean that we can't use them together. In fact, there are certain combinations in which the use of Hamza and al if goes hand in hand. The first combination is when al if comes first and after it comes hamza. And when this happens, we have what we call connected med like when we say there's also another combination in which hamza comes first and after it comes an al if and the result is that we will have hamza followed by natural med. But if this combination happened outside the Quranic script, it is going to look like that. However, in the Quran, we do not use this sign for this combination, which we see in many instances in the Quran in words like in this example. So hamza and then after it natural med of to. But also hamza can follow another hamza like in this example. And here you're going to notice that when you pronounce two of the same letters one after the other, the word becomes heavier. That's why if these two hems are followed by the letter, this combination will be pronounced differently. Why? Because comes very closely to where we pronounce Hamza. So when this happens, Arabs would then pronounce the second Hamza bit lightly so that it makes it easier for you to pronounce three letters that are pronounced more or less from the same position. And this happens in the Quran in one single instance. And we can directly notice the little circle on top of the second Hamza to signify that this Hamza should be pronounced bit lightly like so. rather than which is quite heavy to pronounce. And above all, and the main reason we pronounce it like that is because we learned it like that directly from the prophet peace be upon him who taught it to his companions. And his companions taught it in exactly the same way to those who followed until it reached us today. So in nutshell, al if and hamza are not the same. Al if can take these forms and hamza can be seen in these forms. Alif is vowel and therefore med letter and hamza is consonant. So it cannot be extended which means that al if always has sukun while hamza can take any vowel on top or under. And this means that you cannot start word with an al if while Hamza can come in any position in the word. And finally, and if you're still wondering whether Hamza is separate alphabet letter and whether the Arabic alphabet is 28 or 29 letters, let me tell you this. The answer to this question is still controversial to date even among the greatest Arabic grammarians. And to be honest, knowing the definite answer to this question should not affect knowing the difference between al if and hamza and applying this knowledge on your Quran recitation. Thanks for watching. hope you've learned something new today. If you did, please like and share the video for other people to learn from it. And don't forget to subscribe to our channel if you want to see more videos like this. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.