Makharij al-Huruf: The 17 Articulation Points Explained
Every Arabic letter comes out of one of 17 specific places in the throat, tongue, lips or nose — learning where each letter is made is the foundation of correct Tajweed.
Key takeaways
- Makharij are the places in the mouth and throat where each Arabic letter is made — 17 points in 5 areas.
- The 5 areas are the throat, the tongue, the lips, the nasal passage, and the mouth cavity.
- Two letters that sound similar are usually made in different places — knowing the place is what tells them apart.
- Makharij are learned one point at a time, by listening and repeating with a teacher, not by memorising a list.
What makharij are, and why they come first
Makharij al-Huruf means the articulation points of the letters — the exact places in the throat, mouth and nose where each Arabic letter is produced. Every letter has its own place: the back of the tongue touches one spot, the tip of the tongue touches another, the lips come together, or the sound passes through the nose. The place where the sound is made is the letter’s makhraj, and there are 17 of them altogether.
This is why Tajweed starts here. Before the rules about merging letters, hiding sounds, or stretching vowels, there is a simpler question: are you making each letter in the right place? If a letter is made in the wrong place, it comes out sounding like a different letter — and no later rule can fix that. The rules of Tajweed describe what happens when letters meet, but they all assume the letters themselves are being made correctly.
The 5 areas: throat, tongue, lips, nasal passage, mouth cavity
The 17 points sit in 5 areas, and learning the areas first makes the whole subject much easier to hold in your head. The throat holds 3 points, the tongue holds 10, the lips hold 2, the nasal passage holds 1, and the mouth cavity holds 1. Three plus ten plus two plus one plus one is 17 — and once you know the areas, you can work through them one at a time.
The throat is the deepest area, its 3 points running from the bottom of the throat up to the top. The tongue is the busiest, with 10 points across its tip, middle, sides, and back. The lips hold 2 points, the nasal passage 1, and the mouth cavity 1, for the long vowel sounds shaped in the open mouth.
| Area | Points | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| Throat | 3 | Sounds made deep in the throat, from bottom to top |
| Tongue | 10 | Sounds made by different parts of the tongue touching the mouth |
| Lips | 2 | Sounds made by the lips, or the lower lip against the teeth |
| Nasal passage | 1 | The nasal sound that passes through the nose |
| Mouth cavity | 1 | The long vowel sounds shaped in the open mouth |
| Total | 17 | Every Arabic letter has one of these 17 places |
A beginner does not need to learn this table by heart. It is a map: most letters are made by the tongue, a few by the throat and lips, and one each by the nose and the open mouth.
The 17 points, grouped simply
Within the 5 areas, the 17 points are best learned in small groups, one group at a time. Start with the throat: one point at the bottom, one in the middle, and one at the top. Each point makes a pair of letters, and the pairs sound different because they are made at different heights. Feel the bottom of your throat, then the middle, then the top — once you can feel the difference, the throat letters start to separate in your ear as well.
Next come the tongue’s 10 points, the largest group. The tip touches the front of the mouth, the middle rises towards the roof, the sides press against the teeth, and the back lifts towards the back of the mouth. Learn one position at a time — feel where the tongue goes, make the sound, and listen to the difference from the point beside it.
The lips hold 2 points: one where the two lips come together, and one where the lower lip touches the upper teeth. The nasal passage holds 1 point, for the nasal sound, and the mouth cavity holds 1 point, for the long vowel sounds. That is the whole map: 3 in the throat, 10 on the tongue, 2 on the lips, 1 in the nose, and 1 in the open mouth.
The letters most learners get wrong: throat letters and emphatic letters
Two groups of letters cause most of the trouble for beginners. The first is the throat letters: six letters made in the three throat points, two at each point — a pair at the bottom, a pair in the middle, and a pair at the top. English speakers struggle with them because English has almost no sounds made this deep, so the ear hears them as similar and the mouth reaches for the nearest English sound. The fix is to learn each pair at its own height, and let your teacher tell you when the sound is right.
The second group is the emphatic letters: a small group pronounced with a full, heavy sound, as if the mouth were filled with the sound. Beginners often read them lightly, which flattens the recitation and makes different letters sound the same. The fix is the same: slow practice, one sound at a time, listening for the fullness of the sound. Once the ear learns to hear the heaviness, the mouth follows.
What both groups have in common is that they cannot be learned from a page alone. You can read about where a sound is made, but you cannot hear your own mouth from the inside. A teacher listening to you, saying the sound, and having you repeat it until it matches — that is how these letters are learned.
How to practise makharij: one point at a time, with a teacher listening
The way to practise makharij is slow and simple: one point at a time, with a teacher listening. Do not try to learn all 17 points in a week. Take one area — the throat is a good place to start — and work on it until the sounds are distinct. Your teacher says a sound, you repeat it, and the teacher corrects the place it is made until it sounds right. Then practise that point for a few minutes a day until the right place feels natural.
A few habits help. Always practise aloud — makharij are sounds, learned by hearing and saying, not by reading about them. Practise in front of a mirror sometimes, so you can see what your lips and tongue are doing. Record yourself and listen back: you will hear the sounds as a listener hears them. And keep sessions short — ten focused minutes on one point beats an hour of rushing through all of them. A teacher listening to a short passage can hear which points need work — and a trial class does the same for a beginner.
Nouman Ali Khan’s approach fits this way of learning well: the Quran opens up when you understand its Arabic, and he teaches language, structure and meaning in plain English through Bayyinah Institute. Makharij are the first step of that understanding — not a list to memorise, but the sounds themselves, learned properly.
How makharij fixes recitation mistakes you didn’t know you had
Many learners come to makharij thinking their recitation is already fine, and discover that it is not. A wrong sound feels right to the person making it: if you have always made a throat letter in the wrong place, that wrong place feels like home, and the correct sound feels strange at first. Learning makharij is the moment those hidden mistakes come into the open. Finding a mistake is the first step to fixing it, and a mistake found early is a small fix.
The effect of fixing even one point is often larger than learners expect. Two letters that used to sound the same suddenly sound different, and words that used to blur together become clear. The recitation slows down a little — and that slower, more careful reading is itself an improvement. A recitation in which each letter is made in its own place sounds clear and distinct; one in which several letters share one place sounds flat and muddy.
That clarity is the whole point of Tajweed, and makharij are where it begins. The later rules — the merging, the hiding, the stretching — all describe what happens to letters already being made correctly. Learn the places first, and the rules will make sense when you meet them. Start here: one point at a time, a few minutes a day, with a teacher listening.
✅ Checklist — learning makharij
- ✔ Learn the 5 areas first: throat, tongue, lips, nasal passage, and mouth cavity.
- ✔ Practise one point at a time.
- ✔ Always practise aloud, so your ear learns the sound as well as your mouth.
- ✔ Give the throat letters extra time — they are the hardest for English speakers.
- ✔ Listen for the full, heavy sound of the emphatic letters, and let your teacher correct it.
- ✔ Keep sessions short and daily — ten focused minutes beats an hour of rushing.
- ✔ Bring your reading to a teacher regularly, so hidden mistakes are found while they are still small.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are makharij in Tajweed?
Makharij are the articulation points of the letters — the exact places in the throat, mouth and nose where each Arabic letter is produced. Every letter has its own place, and learning where each letter is made is the first step of Tajweed, because the later rules all assume the letters themselves are being made correctly.
How many makharij are there?
There are 17 makharij altogether, grouped into 5 areas: 3 in the throat, 10 on the tongue, 2 on the lips, 1 in the nasal passage, and 1 in the mouth cavity. A beginner does not need to memorise the number; what matters is learning the points one at a time, with a teacher listening.
What are the 5 areas of makharij?
The 5 areas are the throat, the tongue, the lips, the nasal passage, and the mouth cavity. The throat holds 3 points, the tongue holds 10, the lips hold 2, the nasal passage holds 1, and the mouth cavity holds 1. Together they cover all 17 articulation points.
Which letters come from the throat?
Six letters come from the throat, made in three pairs: one pair at the bottom of the throat, one pair in the middle, and one pair at the top. They are the hardest letters for English speakers, because English has almost no sounds made this deep, so they need slow practice with a teacher listening.
How do I learn makharij as a beginner?
One point at a time, by listening and repeating with a teacher. Your teacher says the sound, you repeat it, and the teacher corrects the place it is made until it sounds right. Practise that point for a few minutes a day between lessons, then move to the next one. Short daily sessions work better than long rare ones.
Why do makharij matter?
Because a letter made in the wrong place comes out sounding like a different letter, or like no letter at all, and no later Tajweed rule can fix that. Makharij are the foundation: the rules about merging, hiding and stretching all describe what happens to letters that are already being made in the right place.
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