Labial Assimilation (Idghām Shafawī)

Labial Idghām

Mīm sākinah: This refers to the Arabic letter mīm (م) without any short vowel (Harakah), which remains in pronunciation whether reciting in continuation or pausing on the word.

It may occur in the middle or at the end of a word but never at the beginning, since Arabic words do not start with a non-voweled letter.

Mīm sākinah appears in nouns such as: ﴿ٱلۡحَمۡدُ﴾, in verbs such as: ﴿قُمۡتُمۡ﴾, and in particles such as: ﴿أَمۡ﴾.

There are three rulings for mīm sākinah: - Labial Idghām (idghām shafawī) - Labial Ikhfāʼ (ikhfāʼ shafawī) - Labial Iẓhār (iẓhār shafawī)

The details of these four rulings will be detailed in this lesson and the following ones inshAllah.

First: Labial Idghām and Its Letter

Labial idghām is the merging of a mīm sākinah(non-vowelled) into a following voweled mīm, so that the two mīms become one doubled mīm with ghunnah (nasalization) for two counts.

This type of idghām has only one letter: the mīm itself. When a voweled mīm follows a mīm sākinah, they must be merged into one doubled mīm with ghunnah for two counts. This is a case of idghām of identical letters (idghām al-mutamāthilayn).

It is called *labial assimilation* (idghām shafawī) because the letter mīm is articulated from the lips.

Second: Examples of Labial Idghām

Labial idghām does not occur within one word, but only between two words—when the mīm sākinah is at the end of the first word and the voweled mīm at the beginning of the next. Examples include: - ﴿عَلَيۡهِم مُّؤۡصَدَةٞ﴾ - ﴿وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنۡ﴾

Third: Labial Idghām in the Disjointed Letters

Labial idghām occurs in several instances of the disjointed letters of the Qur’an, particularly in the phrase ﴿الٓمٓ﴾ wherever it appears, and in the opening of Surah Al-Aʿrāf: ﴿الٓمٓصٓ﴾ [Al-Aʿrāf:1], and the opening of Surah Ar-Raʿd: ﴿الٓمٓر﴾ [Ar-Raʿd: 1]. In all of these, idghām takes place between the lām and mīm.

To explain further: the spelling of ﴿الٓمٓ﴾ is pronounced: “Alif, Lāmْ, Mīm”, where we observe a mīm sākinah followed by a voweled mīm. Accordingly, the rule of labial idghām applies—merging the two into one doubled mīm with ghunnah for two counts.