The definite article ال
In Arabic, "the" is written ال (alif + lam). The alif is a connecting hamza: you only pronounce it (as "a") when you start with the word. The question is what happens to the lam.
Lam qamariyya – the "moon" lam
Before 14 letters the lam is pronounced clearly with sukun. The name comes from الْقَمَر (the moon). The letters are gathered in the phrase ابْغِ حَجَّكَ وَخَفْ عَقِيمَهُ:
- ا ب غ ح ج ك و خ ف ع ق ي م ه
Sign in the mushaf: the lam has a sukun and the next letter has no shaddah, e.g. الْحَمْدُ، الْقَمَر، الْمُسْتَقِيم.
Lam shamsiyya – the "sun" lam
Before the other 14 letters the lam is not pronounced; it merges into the following letter, which becomes doubled. The name comes from الشَّمْس (the sun):
- ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن
Sign in the mushaf: the lam has no sukun and the next letter carries a shaddah, e.g. الشَّمْس، الرَّحْمَٰن، الدِّين، النَّاس.
A simple trick
Most sun letters are made with the tip or front of the tongue – close to where the lam itself is made, which is why the lam merges into them. Moon letters come from the throat, the lips or the back of the tongue.
Typical mistakes
- Saying "al-rahman" instead of "ar-raḥmān".
- Swallowing the lam before a moon letter: "a-hamdu" instead of "al-ḥamdu".
- Forgetting to double the sun letter, so النَّاس sounds like "anās".
- Adding a vowel to the moon lam ("ala-qamar").
Practice tip
Go through Surah al-Fatihah and Surah an-Nas and underline every ال. Decide for each: sun or moon? Then recite and listen whether you doubled the sun letters.