Izhar is the "do nothing special" rule, and that is exactly why people get it wrong. After learning ikhfa and idgham, students start adding a hum to every noon. Izhar asks you to close the noon cleanly and go straight on.

Why the throat letters?

Noon is made at the tip of the tongue. The six throat letters come from the opposite end of the mouth. Because the two points are so far apart, there is nothing for the noon to merge or blend into, so it stays clear. The letters are often remembered with the first letters of the words in this line: أَخِي هَاكَ عِلْمًا حَازَهُ غَيْرُ خَاسِرٍ.

How to pronounce it

1. Say the noon fully: the tip of the tongue touches the gum behind the upper front teeth.
2. Do not hold the ghunnah beyond its natural, very short length.
3. Release the noon and move directly into the throat letter, without a pause or an added vowel.

That third point catches people out. Some students, trying hard to be "clear", add a tiny vowel: mina-āmana instead of man āmana. The noon should stop crisply on its sukoon.

10 examples of izhar halqi in the Quran

Notice that izhar halqi happens both inside a word and across two words, and with both noon sakinah and tanween.

The other three kinds of izhar

Izhar shafawi (meem sakinah)

Meem sakinah is pronounced clearly before every letter except ب and م. Take extra care before و and ف, which are also lip letters, as in عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ. Full details in our meem sakinah guide.

Izhar mutlaq (absolute izhar)

Normally a noon sakinah before ي or و would merge. But in four words the noon and that letter sit inside the same word, so the noon stays clear: الدُّنْيَا، بُنْيَانٌ، صِنْوَانٌ، قِنْوَانٌ. If the noon merged here, the word would become unrecognisable.

Izhar qamari (the moon letters)

The lam of الْ is pronounced clearly before 14 letters, as in الْقَمَرُ and الْحَمْدُ. Before the other 14 it merges into the next letter. See sun and moon letters.

A note on ghayn and kha

In the recitation of Hafs 'an 'Asim, which most of the world reads today, noon before غ and خ is read with izhar. Some other recitations, through the narration of Abu Ja'far, read ikhfa here. If you hear a reciter hiding the noon in مِنْ خَوْفٍ, that is why. Students reading Hafs should keep it clear.

Practice drill

Read each of the ten examples above three times. First very slowly, stopping on the noon so you can feel the tongue touch. Then at normal pace. Then in its full verse. After that, open Surah al-Baqarah and see how many you can spot on a single page; there are usually several.

If you want feedback on whether your noon is clear enough, our tajweed classes cover izhar alongside the other noon sakinah rules, with a teacher listening to every example.