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Abstract

One of the most complicated problems, which has been debated between whoes who recite and copy the Holy Quran up to the present times concerns the way of writing and reciting the word holdinga hamza. In fact, the roots of this debate goes back to the Time of Ignorance (Jahiliyya), before the Revelation itself. According to historical accounts, two great tribes (the Quraysh and the Tamim) predominated at that time. Although their dialect and their pronunciation differed, both of them were affected by the eloquence of the Holy Qur’?n. Researches dealing with the hamza in contemporary linguistic and phonetic lead to new interpretations, which challenge the theories of early Muslim scholars like Sibawayh and kalil. This article displays the theories of Muslim and non Muslim phoneticians, and discusses in detail main differences.