The 
Saakinah
rules (part one)
The definite article 
The definition of the definite
article 
is: It is an extra laam
saakinah added to the basic makeup of the word. This noun is preceded by a hamzah al-wasl
( 
)
that is read with a fat-hah when starting the word, dropped when continuing from a previous word. This definite article is
like the English word “the”.
The noun that follows the
definite article maybe
a regular noun that stands on its own without the definite article (such as 
or 
), or it maybe irregular in that it cannot be
broken down further from the (such
as 
). The of
the definite article can precede a noun beginning with any of the Arabic
letters.
When there is the definite
article preceding
a noun (it only enters nouns) there are only two possible rules for the :
1. 
2. 
We will now explain when each of these occurs.
The clear pronunciation of
the definite article
( 
of
)
If the definite article precedes a noun beginning with any of the
fourteen letters in the group :
The of the definite article is said clearly
or with .
The of
the definite article is then
is called 
.
Examples of this are in the
following two words: 
The saakinah
of the definite article is pronounce clearly in these words. A reminder: the
first letter of the word is a hamzah wasl, and it is only used if we are
starting on the word. If we start a word that has the definite article as
the second letter, we start on the hamzah al-wasl with a fat-hah.
The merging of the definite
article ( 
of
)
If the of
the definite article “the” precedes
any of the fourteen remaining letters of the Arabic alphabet, there is then an (merging) of the of the definite article into the next
letter. The fourteen letters that merges
into are: 
.
As we know, when there is an , the two letters merge into one, and the
letter that the two merge into acquires a shaddah In this case then, the
letter immediately following the , will have a shaddah on it. This is called 
.
Examples of laam shamsiyyah are in the following two words:
In the above cases, the of
the definite article “the” is not pronounce at all, instead the reciter
proceeds from the letter before the ,
which will be the fat-hah on the
hamzah al-wasl if started the word, or the last letter and its accompanying
vowel of the previous word if continuing, to the letter immediately following
the .
This letter will have a shaddah on it, so will have two mechanisms of
formation: first, collision
( 
)of
the two articulating parts for the saakin part of the shaddah, then
separation
( 
)
of the two articulating parts with the appropriate jaw and mouth movement for
the voweled part of the shaddah.
The Glorious Name of Allah has a shamsiyyah,
but it is an example of a word that cannot be broken down into a noun that
stands by itself without the added definite article