أ / إ / ء
Hamza  ·  Arabic Letter Not in the alphabet

The letter Hamza, The glottal stop, the breath before the word, the pause that is itself a sound

Hamza is the glottal stop. The closure and release of the glottis that precedes certain vowel sounds.

Letter
أ / إ / ء
Letter
ء
Name
Hamza
Sound
glottal stop
Position
Not in the alphabet
Abjad value
1
Element
Fire

What does Hamza mean in Ilm ul Huroof? Hamza is the glottal stop. The closure and release of the glottis that precedes certain vowel sounds. In the Science of Letters Hamza is read as a quality a name carries, not as a prediction. Names opened or shaped by this letter are listed below.

Ilm ul Huroof  ·  The Letter Hamza

Hamza is the glottal catch. The smallest possible articulation, the threshold at which sound begins. In Ilm ul Huroof Hamza is read as the first audible mark of being. Names with Hamza begin precisely.

أ / إ / ء Arabic Form
glottal stop Sound
Not in the alphabet Position in Alphabet
1 Abjad Value
The Letter Itself

What Hamza encodes

Hamza is the glottal stop. The closure and release of the glottis that precedes certain vowel sounds. It shares Abjad value 1 with Alif (as it often sits on an Alif seat). The principle is the originating pause: the moment between silence and sound, the breath held before speech begins. أصل (asl. Origin, root) begins with Hamza.

✦   ✦   ✦
Ilm ul Huroof

Ibn Arabi and the Science of Letters

Hamza encodes the principle of origin in the form of the pause before beginning. Al-Awwal (the First) carries the Hamza-Alif quality. A name beginning with Hamza-on-Alif begins with the deepest moment before articulation. The origin of the origin.

"Hamza as a first letter governs the outward self. The primary mode through which the person meets the world and is met by it. Everything else in the name operates within the field this letter establishes."

Ilm ul Huroof · The Science of Letters
In a Name

Hamza as the first letter

Names beginning with Hamza-Alif (like Ahmad, Amina, Asad) carry the originating quality. There is something foundational about how they present to the world, a quality of coming first or establishing ground.

✦   ✦   ✦
Quranic Resonance

Hamza in the Quran

Hamza appears in أحد (Ahad, One, from Surah Al-Ikhlas), أمر (amr, command), and the opening of Bismillah where the Alif carries Hamza. The origin principle appears at the Quran's most essential moments.

Names That Carry Hamza

Names opened or shaped by Hamza

Each of the following names carries the Hamza principle. Either as the opening letter that governs the outward self, or within the name where it shapes the interior life. Click any name to read its full reading.

Oumou أم Ahad أحد Amal أمل Amel أمل Anas أَنَس Anes Anes أَنَس Anta أنت Asad أسد Aws أوس Elif أَلِف Emel أمل Enes أَنَس Ezel أزل Ibou إبو Loay لؤي Louay لؤي Luay لؤي Naba نبأ Roa رؤى Roua رؤى Sebaa سبأ Alaa علاء Baha بهاء Baraa براء
Related Letters

Letters whose principles interact meaningfully with Hamza:

Alif Ya
Writing Hamza

Hamza is not a letter of the joined alphabet in the way the others are. It is the sign for the glottal stop, the catch in the throat you make between the two halves of uh-oh. Written bare it joins to nothing on either side. More often it rides a seat: alif in أحمد, waw in مؤمن, ya in قائد, and then it takes whatever shape its seat takes. This is why the same sound appears in so many different-looking places in a name.

ءIsolated
‍ءFinal
Hamza and the definite article

The sun and moon division sorts the twenty-eight letters by what happens to the l of ال in front of them. Hamza sits outside that division, because it is a sign rather than one of the twenty-eight. When a name opens with hamza on an alif seat, as أحمد does, it follows alif, which is a moon letter: the l stays audible.

Questions about Hamza
How is Hamza written in Arabic?
Hamza is written ء in Arabic. Bare, it joins to nothing on either side. Usually it rides a seat and takes that seat's shape: أ on alif, ؤ on waw, ئ on ya.
Is Hamza a sun letter or a moon letter?
Hamza sits outside the sun and moon division, which sorts the twenty-eight letters of the alphabet, because hamza is a sign rather than one of them. On an alif seat it follows alif, a moon letter, so the l of al- stays audible.
What is the abjad value of Hamza?
Hamza carries the abjad value 1. In Ilm ul Huroof that number is added to the values of the other letters in a name to give the name its total, which is where a lucky number comes from.

Does your name carry Hamza?

Enter your name and discover the complete reading. What each of your letters says, what they say together, and what your name has asked of you since the day you received it.

Read My Name Now →