Ikhfa letters

Ikhfa is one of the most important Tajweed rules children learn when studying Quran recitation. In this guide, you’ll learn what the Ikhfa letters are, how the rule works, examples of Ikhfa, and ways to teach it to children.

Contents

What Are the Ikhfa Letters? (free downloadable poster)

Examples of Ikhfa (free sheet)

Ikhfa presentation

Ikhfa worksheets

FAQs

Teaching Tajweed to Children?

What Are the Ikhfa Letters?

The following 15 letters are the letters of Ikhfa. 

ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك

When these ikhfa letters come after noon saakin or a tanween letter then we ‘hide’ the noon sound and stretch for around 2 seconds (or 1-2 harakahs).

If the letter of Ikhfa is a full mouth letter then the sound of ikhfa will be thicker. If the letter of ikhfa is an empty mouth letter then the sound of ikhfa will be more empty.

Examples of Ikhfa (free sheet)

Teaching Tajweed to children?

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Full mouth ikhfa letters

There are 7 full mouth letters but within the ikhfa letters, there are a total of 5 full mouth letters as listed below.

ص ض ط ظ ق

If these full mouth letters appear in the ikhfa word then the Ikhfa sound will be thicker.

Empty mouth ikhfa letters

ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش  ف  ك

If these empty mouth letters appear in the ikhfa word then the ikhfa sound will be read with an empty sound.

Ikhfa presentation

I have uploaded this Ikhfa presentation which is free to download. Simply sign up for free and download under the Tajweed tab (which is under the Resources tab in the main menu).

This ikhfa presentation goes through the rule by breaking it down into easy to understand steps. 

There are slides on what noon saakin and tanween look like. This is a must for kids to wrap their heads around before they begin to learn and implement the Ikhfa rule in their reading. The presentation also has some clear Quranic examples with parts of words highlighted, so that kids can practise what to look at and how to spot ikhfa in their sabaq. This should help them begin looking for ikhfa independently after you have provided them with some initial support.

You can go through this presentation with a class of your own kids as it is quite easy to intearctive for kids to follow.

Ikhfa worksheets

FAQs

How many Ikhfa letters are there?

There are 15 Ikhfa letters.

What does Ikhfa mean?

Ikhfa means “to hide.”

When does Ikhfa occur?

Ikhfa occurs when a noon saakin or tanween is followed by one of the 15 Ikhfa letters.

Is there ghunnah in Ikhfa?

Yes, Ikhfa is recited with ghunnah.

What is the Difference Between Ikhfa and Idgham?

Ikhfa	Idgham
Means “to hide”	Means “to merge”
Noon sound is partially hidden	Noon sound is merged into the next letter
Uses 15 Ikhfa letters	Uses 6 Idgham letters
Always recited with ghunnah	May be with or without ghunnah depending on the letter

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