[xanaxist]

Asalamu Alaykum.

How to pronounce Allahu Akbar?

It's the first 'a' in Akbar which I am confused about.

Mishary Al Afasy uses the soft 'a' in akbar, like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNJZA236x4Y or this one by Rabbani: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-ncGnlDnmQ

But in this video they use the hard 'a': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ50VY9Qss0

So which one of those are right? I always used the hard pakistani 'a' instead of soft arabic 'a' in everything, until I figuredout it was wrong in most sentences. But now I'm again confused, for many sheiks use both. :/

[Farson]

From the limited tajweed I studied, the 'a' is a hamza pronounced from the bottom of the throat. It emanates and finishes there and will therefore sound like a person is in pain.

[blodwarttufla]

Maybe it's a matter of accent. Most of the Arabs I know pronounce it the second way, like Soulful said, like someone in pain says "ah" and not "eh". I'm told Yemenis and the Sudanese speak what is closest to classical Arabic, and that's the way they pronounce it.

[LClan439]

The sound quality in the the 3rd vid is not good enough to discern the pronunciation of Hamzah. Go with how the hamzah sounds in the 1st vid.

[xanaxist]

Now I'm confused?

So why does Alafasy recite it wrong if it's a hard 'a'? Does it not matter?

I myself prefer the soft Akbar, for it sounds more arabic.

What about this one, he says Echkber instead of Akbar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-_wEdxRVGU (that was a joke)

[LClan439]

Now I'm confused?

So why does Alafasy recite it wrong if it's a hard 'a'? Does it not matter?

I myself prefer the soft Akbar, for it sounds more arabic.

What about this one, he says Echkber instead of Akbar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-_wEdxRVGU (that was a joke)

What's to be confused about? I suggested that you go with Alafasy (the 1st video) instead of the others.

Maybe my post wasn't clear...

[CHEAPSOFTOEMONLINE]

The hamza is pronounced as 'a' in 'cat', i.e. a sound that is between the Latin 'a' and 'e'.

As someone said it is also a matter of local dialects. For example in Arabia, in thei every day speech they pronounce ث as 't', and not 'th', and ذ as 'd', and not 'dh'. You already saw a big difference between the sounds that a qari recites and a man from an Arabic TV for example.

[Teligacio]

alMishary pronounciation is the better one ie 'a' should be pronounced as 'are' as in "are you happy" NOT as "o" as in "old man"

However, a lot of people make mistake of "thickening" the "a" because of the letter "lam" is thicken / "tafkheem" in the kalimah ALLAH (which the "a" should not be affected, ie not thicken)

Similarly we can hear people thickening the letter / hurf (which should not be thicken) in "ولا الضالين" in alfatihah... ie mistake people read as "wa loddhoolleen" whereas should be "wa laddhoolleen" in surah alfatihah.

wallaahu a'lam.

[xanaxist]

JazakAllahu Khair, I also prefer saying it like that.

In Secular R.O. Turkey, I was in mosques where the Imam would use E instead of A. Like Elhamdlulilah, or Allahü Ekber.

My old arabic teachers were pakistani and they all said Z for ذ instead of Dh. There is a lot of pronounciation problems, I guess even arabs are confused? We must try to learn to say things correctly, as it is what the sahabi did. Insha'Allah.

[seicslybearee]

The hamza is pronounced as 'a' in 'cat', i.e. a sound that is between the Latin 'a' and 'e'.
....

This is how i was taught, it nestles in between "A" and E"

Wallahu A'lam.