The word · The Qur’an
المَدّ
Madd
Lengthening a vowel with alif, waw or ya, held for a set number of counts.
Also written · Mad · Mudd · Maddah · Madd rules · Madd tabi'i · Madd asli · Madd lazim · Madd muttasil · Madd munfasil · elongation · lengthening · stretching vowels
The meaning
What Madd means in Islam
The natural madd is two counts and needs no sign in the text. Longer types are triggered by a hamzah or a sukun after the vowel and stretch to four, five or six counts depending on the type and the reading. Getting the count wrong can change a word entirely, which is why madd is drilled so hard.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- TajwidThe rules for pronouncing the Qur'an correctly: each letter from its place, with its proper qualities.التَّجْويد
- Makharij al-HurufThe points in the mouth, throat and nose where each Arabic letter is produced.مَخارِجُ الحُروف
- Warsh an NafiThe reading common in North and West Africa, transmitted by Warsh from Nafi of Madinah.وَرْشٌ عَنْ نافِع
- Tuhfat al-AtfalThe beginner's tajwid poem students memorise, alongside al-Jazariyyah and, for the readings, ash-Shatibiyyah.تُحْفَةُ الأَطْفال
More from The Qur’an
- Al-Ahruf as-Sab'ahThe seven modes in which the Qur'an was revealed, an ease for the community; what a mode is stays disputed.الأَحْرُفُ السَّبْعَة
- Hafs an AsimThe reading found in most printed mushafs today, transmitted by Hafs from his teacher Asim of Kufa.حَفْصٌ عَنْ عاصِم
- Isti'adhahSaying I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan before beginning to recite.الاسْتِعاذَة
- MufassirA scholar who writes or teaches tafsir, trained in Arabic, the readings, the Sunnah and the occasions.المُفَسِّر
- Qira'atThe canonical ways of reciting the Qur'an, each carried by chain from the Prophet through a named reader.القِراءات
- TadabburSlow reflection on the Qur'an, letting a verse work on you instead of passing over it.التَّدَبُّر