Rules for writing alif

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله,

One of the biggest points of confusion is when to write the letter alif in the form of ا and when to write it as ى. From Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen’s قواعد في الإملاء (Rules for Writing), we will learn when it’s ا and when it’s ى.

The alif can fall:

1. In the middle of the word (in this case it’s always written as ا)
2. At the end of the word (here it can be written as ا or ى)

When alif is written as ا

There are five situations when it is written as ا at the end:

1. The word is a harf, such as كَلّا and لَوْلا. Exceptions to this are بَلى – إلى – عَلى – حَتّى, as long as they don’t have the م used for questioning attached to them. Then you would write them as إلامَ – عَلامَ – حَتّامَ
2. The word is mabni, such as the pronoun نا in قُمْنا (“we stood”) and the pointing pronoun ذا (“this”). Excluded from this are:
   • أنَّى
   • مَتَى
   • the pointing pronoun أولى (which also comes as أولاء)
   • the relative pronoun الأُلى (like الَّذِيْنَ, a plural form of الَّذِي)
   • لَدَى
3. The word is a non-Arab word (e.g. أمْرِيْكا), with exceptions ending with ى:
   • مُوْسى
   • عِيْسى
   • كِسْرى
   • بُخارَى
   • مَتَّى
4. The word is ثُلاثِيّ (has a tri-literal root) and the alif was originally a و, as in دَعا (“he called”) and العَصا (“the stick”). Both of these have و as their third root letter
5. The alif has a ي before it, as in دُنْيا and سَجايا. Excluded from this are proper names, so يَحْيَى is written with the ى

When alif is written as ى

There are three situations when it is written as ى at the end:

1. The exceptions to when alif will be written as ا, as mentioned above
2. It is the fourth letter or later in a fi’l or ism that is mu’rab (i.e. takes status), as in أَعْطَى – اصْطَفَى – المُعْطَى – المُصْطَفَى
3. It is the third letter in a fi’l or ism that is mu’rab and has been converted from a ي, as in الفَتَى and سَعَى

So, now you know when to write alif as ا and when to write it as ى.

Until next time, السلام عليكم

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