Detailed Ghunnah Explanation: Types, letters and Examples

Learning Tajweed, including Ghunnah, is crucial – it beautifies the recitation, along with ensuring the message is not distorted by mistake. Reciting Quranic verses without Tajweed could alter the meaning of words since there are rules defined to differentiate similar letters. In a similar way, incorrect elongations can change the meaning.

Reading the Quran benefits the readers in different ways. Here is one particular hadith that explains the reward of reciting the holy verses beautifully. Aishah (May Allah SWT be pleased with her) said:

Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said,” The one who is an expert in the recitation of the Holy Quran will be with the obedient and honorable scribes (angels), and he who recites the Holy Quran and finds it hard to recite, doing his best to recite in the best possible manner, will have two rewards.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

When one recites the Quran, Allah SWT takes note of the time and effort that his servant put in to read His message, even if they never achieve perfection. In this article, we’ll cover a specific type of technique used to recite the Quran with the correct pronunciation. So, if you wish to know what is Ghunnah in Tajweed, keep reading this post!

What Does Ghunnah Mean

The linguistic definition is a sound generated from the nasal passage with no function of the tongue. Coming to its applied definition, Ghunnah in English means an unconditional nasalized sound fixed on the Arabic letter ن, even if it is a tanween and the م. This indicates that it is an inherent sound in the ن and م whether they have a vowel or not.

Now, here comes some important questions:

– How to Do Ghunnah?

It is a nasalized sound that falls between a hum and a moan.

– What Are the Letters of Ghunnah?

Ghunnah letters in Arabic are ن and م, where ن (noon) includes a tanween.

Types of Ghunnah

There are four types of Ghunnah, depending on their level.

• Most Complete (أكمل) – This is the longest Ghunna, found in ن and م with Shaddah over them or in idgham with Ghunnah if one of these letters (ن م ي و) is preceded by a noon Sakinah or a tanween.
• Complete (كاملة) – It is the second longest Ghunna found in Al-Ikhfaa’ Alhaqiqi, Al-Ikhfaa’ Ash-Shafawi, and Al-Iqlab.
• Incomplete (ناقصة) – Also called short Ghunna, it is shorter in timing than the complete one. This type is found during the recitation of ن and م (with Sukoon over it) with Izhar.
• Most Incomplete (أنقص) – It is the shortest of all found when reciting the ن and م with vowels. You can see the difference between these degrees is the time of these kinds of Ghunna, and this difference in timing is quite minimum.

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Examples of Ghunnah from Quran

Some of the many examples of ghunnah from Quran in Arabic are as follows:

• (Az-Zalzalah: 7) فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ
• (Al-Asr: 2) اِنَّ الۡاِنۡسَانَ لَفِىۡ خُسۡرٍۙ
• (Al-Fil: 4) تَرْمِيهِم بِحِجَارَةٍۢ مِّن سِجِّيلٍۢ

Idghaam with Ghunnah Examples

Idghaam of Noon Sakinah and Tanween is among the most important Tajweed rules that we all should recite the Quran with. There are two types of Idghaam. The one that we are going to cover in this post is Idgham with Ghunnah. This happens when any of these letters (ي، ن، م، و) follows Noon Sakinah or Tanween.

Their joining with Ghunnah letters happens in two groups. The first one is Full Idghaam – it indicates that the humming is quite powerful than it would be if the lesser one was generated. This is mostly used with letters (ن، م). The second one is sounded for two counts, like the time it takes to say the words “one-two”.

Online Quran Reading with Tajweed

It is hoped that going through this post gave you an idea of what is Ghunnah in Arabic. There are still many techniques that should be followed to recite Quran. To learn those techniques, consider Riwaq Al Quran and get in touch with our qualified teachers, who will help you recite the Quran in the right and best manner.

As Allah SWT has facilitated the Muslims with technology, you should take advantage and join our Online Tajweed Course to master the Quranic recitation and properly apply Tajweed.