Introduction:

All Praise is due to Allah, the generous, the magnificent. The one
who taught by the pen. Taught man which he did not know and we
send salutations on the greatest of intercessors. Our leader
Muhammad (SAW) who has been sent by Allah to the Arabs and
non-arabs and his blessed household and companions and those
who follow the upright way.

To proceed: This book will gather some basic lessons in the

principles of writing and dictation. Seeking thereby that the
student of knowledge corrects his writing. It is intended for
education and those who are seeking knowledge and what is
gathered herein is extracted from the books of writing and
dictation.

We ask Allah to bring about benefit with it and to ensure our

sound intention in its composition.

What is the science of Imla?

It is the knowledge of the technical principles in clarification of

correct writing and protection of errors therein.

What is the science of Imla composed of?

The science will deal with lunar and solar letters and certain
technical terms which include the tanween and the placement of
letters.

What are benefits of Imla?

Improving the handwriting and safeguarding the individual from

falling into errors in respect to his writing.

What are the merits of Imla?

Its merits and advantages are many since all sciences are in need
of it. The writing itself preserves all other sciences from being lost.

Its relation to other sciences

It is the tool for the preservation and recording of all other

sciences.

Who founded it?

Murrah bin Murrah was its founder and then it was passed on to
the grammarians of the kufa’een and Basri’een.

Where is the science of Imla extracted from?

It is extracted from sciences of morphology and Arabic grammar

What is the juridical ruling on Imla?

It is a communal obligation .i.e. Fard Kifayah

The different types of alphabets of the Arabic language:

• Tarteeb hija’i

This is the common alphabet that most people are familiar

with. It was arranged by the grammarians in particular Nasr
bin Asim. The main benefit of this alphabet is that it’s simple
and recognisable.

• Tarteeb Abjadi

This arrangement of the Arabic alphabet is traced back to the

Semites, since the Hebrew and Arabic languages are closely
related. The Abjadi system thus has its roots in these language

• Tarteeb Ayniy
 This arrangement is a special one in which a certain degree of
knowledge is needed before understanding them. It is said that
scholars usually have knowledge of it.

The writing of the Quran

The writing of the Quran is unlike any other writing and won’t
follow the rules of normal writing. The scholars differ in the
compulsion of writing in the traditional Uthmani print. There
main positions of the scholars are:

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Imam Malik

The esteemed imams are of the opinion that it is impermissible to

write the Quran contrary to the Uthmani print.

Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun differs and says it’s not compulsory to follow the
Uthmani style of writing.

Imam Izz-udeen ibn Abdu-salaam

He says it is more appropriate to write the Quran in a way that it

is comprehendible to the commonfolk, and it is impermissible to
write the Quran in a way that will cause people to fall into error
when reciting.

Lesson one: The definite laam of the lunar and solar letters

The lunar letters: (In black)

These letter won’t be assimilated when preceded by alif and

laam.

The solar letters: (In red)

These letters will be read with idghaam or will be assimilated

when it is preceded by aleef and lam.
Lesson 2
The tanween will be written with an alif attached to it when a
word is mansoob. This will always occur except in 3 instances:

• When the word ends in a taa marbuta

• When the word ends with a yaa maksura
• When the word ends with a hamzah on top of an alif

NB:

If the Hamza is separate from the word, and the word is in nasb,
the hamzah will remain
written on the line. Like in the word Jazaa’a.

If however the letter before it is a letter that is usually connected

to the last letter. Then when the alif of nasb is added it would all
be joint.

Lesson 3
The taa marbuta is written on a haa and when waqf is made upon
it will be read as haa.
There are two examples of this:
 • In a singular noun with a taa marbuta
• In broken plurals with a taa marbuta

The taa mabsuta/maftuha is a taa that gets pronounce when waqf

is made upon it. E.g.
• In singular nouns with a taa maftuha at the end
• Sound femine plurals
• In a taa ta’neeth or any of the taas at the end of
past tense verbs
NB:

Words can change from marbuta to mabsuta when dhameer

enters upon it.

Lesson 4

We will first mention words where an alif will be added and not
read.

• In verbs that have the plural waw (this differentiates

between a jam
mudhakir salim when it’s a mudhaaf

A waw will be added but not read in the following cases:

• Two Ism isharis (Oowli and Oolaa’i)
• In (Owlee/loo and Oowlaat) with the meaning male
companions and females
companions respectively.
• In the Name Amr to differentiate between Umar

We also add an “al” to the indicating noun “alathayni” to

differentiate with “alatheena”.

We will now mention words that are pronounced but not

written

• In the name Arahmaan but not if it just rahmaan

 • In the taa haa and yaa seen
• Luqmaan and ishaaq
• Isma isharis: oelaaika and haadhaa
• In the word Laakin
• When adding a number to a hundred e.g saying 300
(thalthamia)
• Dawud and tawwuus (omission of the second waw)

Lesson 5

The alif layinah will be written either in the middle or the end
of a word, and will
always be preceded by a fat’ha.

Alif al-Muraja'ah

This will be alif written as a yaa in these instances

• In these khuroof (balaa, khataa, a’laa, ilaa)

• In the 5 asmaa mubniya (annaa, mataa, ladaa, oolaa
ishari and oola mawsuli)
• In non-arab names: Moosa, Eesa, Kisraa, Bukhara,
matta
• Names with yaa following it such as: yahyaa, rabba,
thuraya
• When alif becomes a yaa in verbs and nouns e.g. al-
huda, al-wara, al-ghina,
al-adha, al-nadda – sa’aa, khakaa, jaraa, a’saa, raqaa
• In words added in which its greater than 3 letter root
e.g mar’aa, Mustafa, murtadha, mustashfa, mustakra –
naadaa, ishtaraa, ihtadaa, istaqaa, istakhla)
Alif al-Mushaalah

This alif is written as is in these cases:

• When the alif is found in the middle of the words.

E.g: (saalim, suaá d, fatak, - qaala, naala, baa’a)
• In certain khuroof e.g: lawlaa, khaasha , lawmaa
 • Certain mabni words e.g: haadha, hunaa, mahmaa,
idhaa
• Certain non-arabic words e.g: suwaysara, afrikya,
zulaykha
• Words that have before the alif a yaa such as
mutaaya, hadaaya, dunyaa,
khalaaya and manaaya and akhyaa, tazayaa,
• In words that have after that are exchanged with
waw in some forms
e.g: al-a’sa, as-sana,, al-qafa, al-khija, ar-riba – ghaza,
samaa, da’aa, danaa
rajaa

NB:

Nouns

• The asli waw will return in other forms of the word e.g. al-asaa
becomes asawani in
its dual, qura becomes qaryaa when the jam is retured to the
mufrad and the jam
muanath saalim e.g. khasaa becomes khasayaat

Verbs

• When adding taa mutakharika e.g jathaa to jathawtu. Fil maadhi

to mudhaari
e.g da’aa to yad’oo and when returning to the masdar e.g ramaa –
ramyan.

Differences between alif and hamzah

Hamzah

• Accepts harakaat and can be connected anywhere in a word

Alif

• It does not accept harakaat and cannot be at the begging of a

word joint
Lesson 6 Hamzatul-Wasl And Qat

Hamza al-Wasl- its found at the beginning of words and is

omitted when reading
There are 5 instances of this:

• The Hamza of “Al” (Al- Tareeef).

• The Hamza in 10 instances which are: Ism, Ibn, Ibna, ibnum

bi m’na ibn, imru’u. imra’a, istu bi ma’na asl, itnhnaan,
ithnataan, eemunu

• The command verb e.g. uktub, I’lam, isma’.

• The Hamza in the past tense form as well as the verbal noun
and the
command form of a 7th scale verb. E.g: Intfa’a, intafi’, Intifaa.

• The Hamza in the past tense form as the verbal noun and the
command form
On the 10th scale. Examples include: E.g: Istaghfara, istagfar,
istighfaar

Hamza al-Qat- will always be read. This is found in 5 places:

• In those other than the 10 mentioned in wasl

• Hamza of the past, masdar and present on the 4th scale. E.g:
akhsana, akhsin, ikhsaan

• In three letter verbs, in the past tense, command and verbal

noun. E.g: akhadha,

• In present tense verbs this is always thecase. E.g: Ashraba

• In all particles except “Al” E.g: Inna, Anna, Ilaa

Important points

• Hamza al- Qat is written on top of the alif if it is maftooh or

madmoom and is
written at the bottom of the alif if it is maksoor, as for the Hamza
al- Wasl it is not
permissible to write it, rather an alif will be written
independently, without a hamza.

• The instances where Hamza al Wasl with its alif will be

omitted

1. When a noun is preceded by a “Al” and before this is Laam.

2.In the word Ism in the basmalah. Two conditions are necessary:
Firstly it has to be the whole basmalah and secondly it must not be
connected with a harf al-jarr. If these two conditions are not met
the alif will remain written.

3.When a Hamza al-istifhaam comes before it you could write both

Hamza’s meaning without omission occuring, except if the Hamza
Al-istifhaam comes before a Al In this case we will substitute both
Hamza's with a madd.

• Hamza- al- wasl will always be maksoor except in Al and iymu,u,

it will receive a fatha in these cases, and it will get a dhomma in
the command form of the verb depending on what haraka is on
the ayn kalima.

• Hamza al Qat will be written on a yaa on two words which are:

La in and li ala.

• Hamza al- Qat: Will always have a fathah when found in verbs,
except present tense verbs with 4 letters e.g Akram. And It will be
maksoor when found in verbal nouns like Ikraam . As for nouns it
can be found with a fatha, dhoma and a kasra. As for particles the
Hamza al- Qat will be found either with a fatha or a dhoma.

• When a Hamza al- wasl changes to a Hamza al- Qat 1. Ithnayn

to al-ithnayn. A name of a day, as is common knowledge. 2. In
calling ny saying Yaa Allah and this is the predominant view of
writing it. Though it permissible to consider it a Hamza al- wasl. If
one considers that, then the Hamza together with its Alif is
omitted. An example would be, contrary to the example at the
beginning of the paragraph.
Lesson 7 The alif of ibn and ibna

The alif will be omitted in these two words in the following

instances

1. When an alif of istifhaam comes before them.

2. When the yaa of proclamation falls before it

3. When any of these words come between two pronouns with

certain conditions

• If it falls between two pronouns the first is connected

to the second.

• If the word ibn is not the khobar, but rather a

description of that which comes before it

• That there is not a separation between the first

pronoun and the word ibn

• That the word ibn doesn’t occur at the beginning of

the sentence/line.

• That the word ibn be singular.

In all other instances the hamza will occur.

NB:

• These include names such as Muhammed and ali, aswell as

nicknames of people who aren’t known, aswell as nicknames
given by parents.

• It is not a condition that the name be of the father it can be of

the mother as well

Lesson 8: Conditions of the Hamza Mutawasita

The Hamza mutawasita will be on top of the alif in the following

instances:
 • When the hamza is sakin and there is fatha before it.

• When the hamza is maftooh and before it is a sukoon.

• When the hamza is maftooh and before it is a established

sukoon.

Important note

You write the hamza on a alif when at the beginning of the word,
whether it is maftooh, maksoor or madhmoom. Whether it’s a
hamza al- wasl or qat.

When writing the hamza in the middle of a word however, Hamza

will be placed:

• Haraka on the hamza itself

• Haraka on the letter directly before it.

Lesson 9: Hamza Mutawasita written on a yaa.

The Hamza Mutawasita will be written on a yaa in the following

examples:

1. When the hamza mutawasita has a kasra on it whether the

haraka of the previous letter is a kasra, fatha, dhoma or
sukoon.

2. When the hamza mutawasita is preceded by a kasra,

whether the hamza is maksoor, maftooh or madmoom.

The latter scholars disagree on whether the hamza should be

written on a yaa, when it is preceded by a yaa sakina.

Lesson 10: Hamza Mutawasita written on a waw

The hamza mutawasita will be written on a waw when the letter

before the hamza is madmoom, and the hamza is not maksoor and
If the hamza is madmoom, and the letter before is either maftooh
or sakin.
 NB:

When the Hamza is written on a waw and a waw sakina

follows it then the following happens:

• When the “waw upon a Hamza” is after the waw sakina, then
you write both.

If it comes before, three opinions exist of what then

occurs:

1. Writing the hamza independently and omitting the

writing of the waw. Or writing the hamza on a yaa.

2. Writing both the waw- al- hamza and the waw sakin.

3. Omitting one waw completely, and writing the hamza

on top of the remaining waw

Lesson 11 Hamza al-Mutawasita individually

The hamza will be written individually in the following instances:

1. When the hamza has a fatha and before it is an alif.

2. When a waw mushadad with a dhoma come before the
hamza.

NB:

When a hamza occurs between an alif and a dhameer either:

• Write the hamza on top of a waw if the hamza is madmoom

• Write the hamza on top of a yaa if the hamza is maksoor

• Write the hamza independently on the line if it is maftooh

Hamza mutawasita - Summary

When the hamza is mutawasita and it is mutaharik and the letter

before is mutaharik as well write the hamza based on the
strongest haraka either being itself then the letter before it.
The strongest haraka is a kasra and what its written with is a yaa
thereafter a dhoma and what is written with it is a waw then a
fatha and what its written with is a yaa a finally a sukoon.
Position of Hamza: Whats written on hamza: Whats written before it: After it
On a alif saakin Fathah  
On a alif fathah sukoon  
On a alif fathah established sukoon  
Dhamee
On a yaa kasrah Alif r
On a yaa kasrah anything  
On a yaa kasrah,fathah,dhammah kasrah  
On a waw dhammah dhameer  
Dhamee
On a waw anything but maksoor Alif r
On a waw dhammah fathah, sukoon  
Dhamee
By iself fathah Alif r
By itself Fathah An alif  
By itself dhammah Mushaddad dhammah  

Lesson 12 Conditions of the Hamza Mutatarifa

The Hamza Mutatarifa is to be written at the end of words: The

conditions are:

1. The hamza mutatarifa will be written upon an alif, when the

letter before it is maftooh

2. The hamza mutatarifa will be written upon a yaa, when the

letter before it is maksoor

3. The hamza mutatarifa will be written upon a waw, when the

letter before it is madmoom.

4. The hamza mutatarifa will be written by itself on the line in two

cases
• If the letter before it is sakin
• If the letter before it is a waw mushadada bidhomma

General Maxim regard Hamza Mutatarifa

The Haraka on the Hamza itself is not considered while the haraka
on the letter before determines what the Hamza should be written
upon.

NB:

The hamza of the verb will be written upon an alif when it is

connected to a second alif (the alif of dual) . The hamza will be
written on the alif of the original verb. Another (minority) opinion
is to substitute the second alif with a madd.

Important maxims regarding the hamza that resembles the

hamza mutawasita.

The first is the Hamza that become mutawasita by adding a

dhameer to it, the femine or the jam'a being added to the end of it.
This is called Hamza muta’aaridan.

Exceptions to the general maxims:

The expections include:

1. A Hamza Mutawasita that has before it an alif that is sakin, if

this hamza has a fathah, it will be written on the line. If the
hamza has a dhammah or kasrah it will follow the general rule.

2. Hamza Mutawasita that has was as akin before it, if this

hamza has a fathah it will be written on the line individually. If
the Hamza has a dhamma or kasrah it will follow the general
principles.

3. Hamza Mutawasita before it a yaa sakin, this hamza will be

written on top of a yaa.

Maxims (general) for Mutatarifa:

Hamza Mutatarifa that has before it a waw mushadad with a

dhoma. This hamza will be on the line.

Lesson 13 Summary of the Principles

1. The noon of the two huroof al-jar, are assimilated when it is
followed by the mawsula (man, ma) or the harf of istifhaam

2. It is compulsory to establish the noon of Min when it is

followed by the istifhaamiyah, or the shartiyah.

3. You should join the maa istifhaamiyah with the noun and the
particle and omit the alif of maa.

4. It is permissible to omit the noon of the “an masdariya” and

“In shartiyah” if laa nafi enters upon it.

5. The omission of the yaa in weak letters occurss if the word

is not ma’rifah or Mudaf and that it is in the rafi state. These
laws will apply to the word also.

6. If two waws come together in a single word then its

compulsory to write both with the following in place:

• In the word “dhuwu” when it is in the raf state

• In a noun with a weak letter in the middle and at the

end and those weak letters are two waws and the noun
is in the form of a sound masculine plural.

• In a weak letter verb with the weak letter being

found on the ayn kalima and the laam kalima and the
waw of plurality is attached to it. Whether it is in the
past tense, present or command form of the verb.

7. It is permissible to add a yaa between the taa maksoor and a

haa in the past tense verb.

8. Connect the the adverbs by the type denoting time, space

and place. It compulsory to leave a space of one word between
two paragraphs

9. It is aesthetically pleasing to leave single letters by

themselves when they at the begging in abudance

10. It is reprehensible to write a word like Abd-Allah in two

different lines. E.g. writing Abdu at the end of the first sentence
and Allah the beginning of the next sentence. Similarly to write
the “Prophet said:..” in one line and to begin the next line with
salutations on him is as reprehensible. Every other form of this
will also be of the reprehensible.