What Is Ikhfa in Tajweed? The 15 Letters, With Examples

Ikhfa is the tajweed rule you will meet most often in the Quran. It applies before fifteen different letters, so on almost every page there are several examples. Getting it right makes a big difference to how smooth your recitation sounds.

This guide explains what ikhfa is, which letters trigger it, how to produce the sound, and the most common mistakes.

What does ikhfa mean?

Ikhfa (إخفاء) means "to hide" or "to conceal". In tajweed, it means that a noon sakinah (نْ) or tanween is partly hidden before certain letters: it is pronounced somewhere between a clear noon and a full merge, carried on a nasal sound (ghunnah) of about two counts.

In simple terms: the noon is not said clearly (that would be izhar), and it does not disappear into the next letter (that would be idgham). It hovers in between.

The fifteen letters of ikhfa

Ikhfa applies before every letter that is not part of the other three rules:

Classical teachers remember all fifteen with a line of poetry from Tuhfat al-Atfal, where each word begins with one of the letters: صِفْ ذَا ثَنَا كَمْ جَادَ شَخْصٌ قَدْ سَمَا دُمْ طَيِّبًا زِدْ فِي تُقًى ضَعْ ظَالِمَا.

Examples from the Quran

• مِن شَرِّ — min sharri, noon sakinah before sheen (Al-Falaq 113:2)
• مِّن سِجِّيلٍ — min sijjeel, noon sakinah before seen (Al-Fil 105:4)
• إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ — innaa anzalnaahu, noon sakinah before zay inside a word (Al-Qadr 97:1)

How to produce the ikhfa sound

1. Look at the next letter before you reach the noon.
1. Move your tongue towards that letter's position, without fully closing it.
1. Let the sound pass through your nose for about two counts. If you pinch your nose, the sound should stop — that is how you know it is nasal.
1. Release into the next letter cleanly.

Heavy and light ikhfa

The ghunnah takes on the "colour" of the letter that follows:

• Before the five heavy letters (ص ض ط ظ ق), the ghunnah is full and deep — as in مِن قَبْلِ.
• Before the ten light letters, it stays light — as in مِن شَرِّ.

Common mistakes

• Saying a full, clear noon — that is izhar, not ikhfa.
• Turning it into a meem, especially before ف, by closing the lips.
• Too short a ghunnah — rushing through it in less than two counts.
• Too long a ghunnah — holding it for four counts or more.
• Pressing the tongue to the gum as in a normal noon, which makes the sound clear instead of hidden.

Ikhfa compared with idgham

Read our guide to idgham for the full comparison.

A related rule: ikhfa of the lips

There is a second kind of ikhfa for meem sakinah before ب, called ikhfa shafawi. It is explained in our guide to the rules of meem sakinah.

How to practise

1. Read Surah Al-Falaq and Surah Al-Fil, and circle every noon sakinah and tanween.
1. For each one, check the next letter: throat letter → izhar, ي ر م ل و ن → idgham, ب → iqlab, anything else → ikhfa.
1. Hold each ikhfa for two even counts using your fingers.
1. Recite to a teacher. Ikhfa is one of the rules where self-checking is hardest.

Continue with ghunnah, follow the full order in our Tajweed guide, or learn it with feedback in our online Tajweed course.