Classification of Letter Characteristics (Sifatul Huruf)
📌 The characteristics of letters are divided into four aspects: breath (nafas), sound (shout), tongue root (pangkal lidah), and tongue coverage (kelengketan lidah).
🌬️ The breath aspect is divided into Hams (air/breath escaping) and Jahr (no breath escaping).
💨 Letters with Hams include $F, H, Sh, K,$ and $T$. Hams is tested by placing a hand in front of the mouth to feel for escaping air, especially noticeable when the letter is given a sukun (e.g., $F\text{ }\text{/}\text{ }\text{K}\text{ }\text{/}\text{ }\text{T}\text{ }$).

Sound Characteristics (Sifat As-Shout)
🔊 Sound characteristics are divided into Shiddah (sound held back), Tawassut (medium flow), and Rakhāwah (sound flowing freely).
🛑 Letters with Shiddah (which often exhibit *Qalqalah* when given sukun) include $B, J, D, Hamzah,$ and $T$ (mnemonic: $\text{Baju di Toko Agatha}$).
🔉 Tawassut letters require a medium flow; for example, when a Tawassut letter is given sukun, the sound should not stop abruptly (like Shiddah) but should flow slightly (e.g., $L$ or $N$ sound modification).

Tongue Position Characteristics
⬆️ The tongue root aspect is divided into Istʻlā (tongue root rises towards the palate, e.g., $Kh, Gh, Q$) and Istifāl (tongue root does not rise).
👅 The tongue coverage aspect relates to the contact surface area: some letters have sound collected between the tongue and the palate (nearly touching the palate entirely, like $Sad$), while others have the tongue separated from the palate.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Sifatul Huruf is crucial as a supplement to Makhārijul Huruf (articulation points) to ensure clarity and differentiation between similar-sounding letters.
➡️ Mastering the distinction between Hams (breathy) and Jahr (non-breathy) is essential for accurate recitation.
➡️ Proper application of sound characteristics (Shiddah, Tawassut, Rakhāwah) prevents pausing where flow is required, or vice versa.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 21, 2025, 01:04 UTC