Makharij al-Huruf: The Articulation Points of the Letters

Makharij al-huruf are the points of articulation: the exact places in the mouth and throat where each Arabic letter is produced. They are the foundation of tajweed: pronounce a letter from the wrong point and you can change the word entirely. Scholars most commonly count 17 articulation points grouped into five main regions: the oral cavity, the throat, the tongue, the lips, and the nasal cavity.

Getting the makhraj right is what separates clear, correct recitation from an accent that distorts meaning. Here are the five regions and the letters each one produces.

The five regions of articulation

1. Al-Jawf: the oral cavity (empty space)

The hollow of the mouth and throat, which produces the three madd (lengthening) letters: ا, و and ي in their vowel-stretching form. The sound is shaped by empty space rather than a contact point, giving these letters their open, flowing quality.

2. Al-Halq: the throat (three points)

The throat gives six letters across three points, from deepest to shallowest:

• Deepest throat: ء (hamza) and ه (haa).
• Middle throat: ع (‘ayn) and ح (Haa).
• Upper throat: غ (ghayn) and خ (khaa).

These same six letters are the ones that trigger Izhar in the noon sakinah rules. That is not a coincidence: their throat origin keeps the noon clear.

3. Al-Lisan: the tongue (the largest region)

The tongue produces the majority of the letters, across several points: the back of the tongue against the soft palate (ق, ك), the middle of the tongue (ج, ش, ي), the sides of the tongue (ض), the edge and tip against the gums and teeth (ل, ن, ر, then ت د ط, then ص س ز, then ظ ذ ث). This is the busiest and most detailed region, and where many articulation mistakes happen, for example confusing ق with ك, or ض with د.

4. Ash-Shafatan: the lips (two points)

The lips produce four letters: ف (from the inner lower lip against the upper teeth) and ب م و (from the two lips together, or rounded for waaw).

5. Al-Khayshum: the nasal cavity

The nasal passage produces the ghunnah, the nasal sound held on noon and meem in rules like idgham, ikhfa and iqlab. It has no letter of its own. It is the source of the nasalisation those rules require.

Every rule of tajweed sits on top of the makharij. Master where each letter comes from, and the rest of tajweed has something solid to stand on.

The 17 makharij, point by point

Ibn al-Jazari sets out the 17 points in al-Muqaddimah al-Jazariyyah, his teaching poem on tajweed. The list below follows his order, from the deepest point in the throat out to the lips. The throat and lip letters appear in the sections above; this puts all 17 points in one place.

Al-Jawf, the oral cavity: 1 point

• 1. The open space of the mouth and throat: the three madd letters (ا after a fatha, و sakinah after a damma, ي sakinah after a kasra).

Al-Halq, the throat: 3 points

• 2. Deepest part of the throat: ء (hamza) and ه (haa).
• 3. Middle of the throat: ع (‘ayn) and ح (Haa).
• 4. Upper throat, nearest the mouth: غ (ghayn) and خ (khaa).

Al-Lisan, the tongue: 10 points

• 5. Back of the tongue against the soft palate: ق (qaf).
• 6. Back of the tongue, a little further forward than qaf: ك (kaf).
• 7. Middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth: ج (jeem), ش (sheen) and ي (yaa) when it is not a madd letter.
• 8. One or both sides of the tongue against the upper molars: ض (daad).
• 9. The edge of the tongue, from the sides to near the tip, against the gums of the upper front teeth: ل (lam).
• 10. Tip of the tongue against the gums just above the upper front teeth: ن (noon).
• 11. Tip of the tongue, a little further back on its upper surface than noon: ر (raa).
• 12. Tip of the tongue against the base of the upper front teeth: ط (taa, the heavy t), د (dal) and ت (taa).
• 13. Tip of the tongue near the lower front teeth, with air passing under the upper front teeth: ص (saad), س (seen) and ز (zay), the whistling letters (safeer).
• 14. Tip of the tongue against the edges of the upper front teeth: ظ (dhaa, the heavy dh), ذ (dhal) and ث (thaa).

Ash-Shafatan, the lips: 2 points

• 15. Inside of the lower lip against the tips of the upper front teeth: ف (faa).
• 16. Both lips: ب (baa) and م (meem) with the lips closed, and و (waaw) when it is not a madd letter, with the lips rounded.

Al-Khayshum, the nasal cavity: 1 point

• 17. The nasal passage: the ghunnah, the nasal sound carried on noon and meem. It has no letter of its own.

Not every scholar counts 17. Ibn al-Jazari follows al-Khalil ibn Ahmad. Sibawayh and al-Shatibi count 16: they drop al-jawf and place each madd letter with its nearest point (alif with hamza, yaa with the middle of the tongue, waaw with the lips). Al-Farra’ counts 14 by also treating lam, noon and raa as one point. The disagreement is about how to group the points, not where any letter is made.

Why makharij matter so much

Arabic distinguishes letters that sound similar to a non-native ear (ق and ك, ح and ه, ض and د, ص and س), so a small error in the articulation point can change one word into another and alter the meaning of a verse. That is why tajweed treats the makharij as the first thing to get right.

Hearing the letters from their points

The best way to fix a makhraj is to hear it clearly and imitate it. RecitID’s audio from 130+ reciters, with verse-by-verse playback from 24 of them, lets you hear each letter articulated correctly, and reading along in the Tajweed Mushaf pairs the sound with the text.