Ruling 989

The scholars of tajwīd have said that if a word contains the letter ‘wāw’ [و], and the letter before the wāw has a ḍammah [ﹹ], and the letter after the wāw is a hamzah [ء] – as in the word سُوء [sūʾ] – then the wāw must be given a madd [~], i.e. its recitation must be prolonged. Similarly, if a word contains the letter ‘alif ’ [ا], and the letter before the alif has a fatḥah, and the letter after the alif is a hamzah – as in the word جَآءَ [jāʾa] – then the recitation of the alif must be prolonged. Furthermore, if a word contains the letter ‘yāʾ’ (ي), and the letter before the yāʾ has a kasrah, and the letter after the yāʾ is a hamzah – as in the word جِيءَ [jīʾa] – then the yāʾ must be pronounced with a madd. If after these letters (wāw, alif, and yāʾ) there is a letter other than hamzah that has a sākin [ﹿ], i.e. it does not have a fatḥah, kasrah, or ḍammah, then again these letters must be recited with a madd. However, apparently, the validity of the qirāʾah in such cases does not depend on reciting such words with a madd, so in the event that one does not follow the above rules his prayer is still valid. However, in a case like وَلَا الضَّـــآلِّیْنَ [wa laḍ ḍāllīn] where correctly pronouncing the tashdīd and the alif is dependent on prolonging to some extent, the alif must be prolonged to that extent.