Izhar Shafawi means reading a silent Meem (مْ) clearly, with the lips closed gently and no hum in the nose, when the next letter is any of 26 letters — that is, every Arabic letter except ب and م. It is the first and easiest of the three rules of Meem Sakinah, and it is the default: if the letter after the Meem is not ب and not م, you are already doing it.

Here is the problem that brings most learners to this page. You close your lips on the Meem of أَلَمْ تَرَ, hold them a fraction too long, and a small hum escapes through the nose. What comes out sounds like أَلَمّ تَرَ — a doubled Meem that is not in the text. The rule itself takes thirty seconds to learn. Hearing your own extra hum is the part that takes practice, and this page is built around that.

What Does Izhar Shafawi Mean?

The name is two words, and each one tells you something useful.

Put together: a Meem made at the lips and left completely clear. You will also see it written Izhar Shafawee, Ith-har Shafawi or Idhhar Shafawi in English books — all the same rule, spelled from the same Arabic word إظهار شفوي.

This matters because Meem Sakinah has a partner chapter. The parallel rules for the silent Noon are covered in our guide to the Noon Sakin rules, and both chapters sit inside the wider set of Tajweed rules. Izhar Shafawi is the one place in Tajweed where the correct action is, in effect, to do nothing extra at all.

Izhar Shafawi Letters: All 26

There is no list to memorise here, and that is the whole point. Take the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet, remove م and ب, and everything left over — 26 letters — is Izhar Shafawi. Learn the two exceptions and you have learned the twenty-six.

The two letters you must be extra careful with: و and ف

Twenty-six letters behave identically — except that two of them are far harder than the rest, and almost no English page says so. Scholars give this pair its own name: Izhar Shafawi Aqwa, the most emphasised Izhar.

The reason is anatomical. و is made at the two lips — exactly the same makhraj as the Meem — and ف is made right beside them, at the inside of the lower lip against the upper front teeth. When two sounds share a place of articulation, the mouth wants to blend them. Left alone, the Meem slides into the letter after it and a ghunnah leaks out.

The instruction is mechanical: close the lips → release them → then start the و or ف. Three separate movements, in that order. If you start shaping the next letter while the lips are still shut, the hum has already happened.

The Izhar Shafawi Rule in Meem Sakinah

One sentence: when a Meem Sakinah is followed by any letter other than ب or م, read the Meem clearly and move on. There are no conditions attached — it works inside a single word and across a word boundary, in every surah, with no exceptions to memorise.

Beginners often miss the trigger rather than the rule. A Meem Sakinah is simply a Meem carrying no vowel: either written with a sukoon (مْ) or sitting unvowelled at the end of a word. The everyday plural endings are full of them — هُمْ, لَكُمْ, عَلَيْهِمْ, أَنْتُمْ — and so are mid-word forms like الْحَمْدُ and يَمْشُونَ. Every one of those is a decision point.

Those three rules are the entire chapter of Meem Sakinah. Nothing else is hiding in it. Read them together in the parent guide to the rules of Meem Sakinah, and you have closed one of the shortest and most useful chapters in Tajweed.

How to Pronounce Izhar Shafawi (4 Steps)

Four movements. The second one is where the mistake lives.

Listen & Copy: record yourself

Listen to Sheikh Al-Husary, record the same phrase in your own voice, then play the two back to back. Most learners hear their own extra ghunnah the first time they do this. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored — the recording stays in your browser and disappears when you close the page.

Izhar Shafawi Examples from the Quran

Ten short Izhar Shafawi Quran examples, covering mid-word and end-of-word Meems and both of the difficult letters. The Meem Sakinah is marked in blue and the letter after it in orange. Every clip is a short excerpt in the recitation of Sheikh Mahmoud Khalil Al-Husary.

Surah Al-Ikhlas is the best place to start drilling. It is four short ayat you already know by heart, it contains two instances of this rule in a single line, and you can recite it slowly enough to catch your own hum before the next word arrives.

Izhar Shafawi vs Ikhfa Shafawi vs Idgham Shafawi

Do not try to remember three rules. Remember two letters and a default. Look at the letter that comes straight after the مْ: is it ب? Then Ikhfa Shafawi. Is it م? Then Idgham Shafawi. Anything else, all 26 of them, is Izhar Shafawi. That single question answers every Meem Sakinah in the Quran.

Read the two exceptions in full: Ikhfa Shafawi covers the Meem before ب, and Idgham Shafawi covers the Meem before another Meem. The parallel chapter for the silent Noon is the Noon Sakin rules — same logic, four rules instead of three.

4 Common Izhar Shafawi Mistakes

Practise Izhar Shafawi: Spot the Rule

Twelve real Quranic phrases, one at a time. Look at the letter after the highlighted Meem and tap the rule. Instant feedback with the reason, and audio on the ones recited by Sheikh Al-Husary. No sign-up.

Play: Eagle of Izhar Shafawi (Free Game)

Recognising a rule with time to think is one skill. Recognising it in half a second is another. Fly the eagle, catch only the letters that trigger Izhar Shafawi, and avoid ب and م. It works on phones and tablets, and no account is needed.

Game not loading? Open it in a new tab · or browse all our free Tajweed games.

📚 Continue Learning

Izhar Shafawi is one third of the Meem Sakinah chapter. Here is what to study next:

All of them sit inside the wider set of Tajweed rules, and are taught step by step in our courses for adults and kids.

Izhar Shafawi FAQ

May Allah beautify your recitation and accept it from you. 🤲