The Number and Order of Arabic Letters: A Scholarly Investigation of the Opinions of Experts in Tajwīd and Linguistics

In learning any language, the most fundamental issue is to become familiar with its alphabet. The Arabic language — being the language of the Qur’an and Islam — holds a special significance among all languages. The exact number of Arabic letters has long been a subject of scholarly debate, and similarly, the order of the letters remains an important topic in Arabic linguistics. This paper, based on library research and an analytical methodology, examines the number and order of Arabic letters from the perspectives of scholars in tajwīd (Qur’anic phonetics) and linguistics. The findings of the study indicate that the Arabic alphabet consists of 29 letters. Those who consider the number to be 28 do not regard alif and hamzah as two distinct letters — a view that is critically analyzed in this research. The paper also discusses secondary letters, which are classified into faṣīḥ (eloquent) and ghayr faṣīḥ (non-eloquent) types. Regarding the order of the letters, it was originally arranged according to their points of articulation (makhārij), later reorganized into the Abjad order, and in the modern period, it is commonly presented in the alphabetical (ibtithāʾī) sequence.Regarding the order of the letters, it was originally arranged according to their points of articulation (makhārij), later reorganized into the Abjad order, and in the modern period, it is commonly presented in the alphabetical (ibtithāʾī) Regarding the order of the letters, it was originally arranged according to their points of articulation (makhārij), later reorganized into the Abjad order, and in the modern