Secretarial Dog
Member
Yes that is true. But in order to understand this fully, you need to learn the arabic language and therefore pronounce the letters.
Sometimes ا alif is not pronounced and is used to distinguish words with otherwise the same spellings.
Example: أنا ana "I."
If the word is pronounced the way it is written, it should be pronounced anaa.
Sometimes ا alif is not written, but a word is pronounced as if ا alif is there.
Example: هذا haadha "this."
This is an interesting example showing that the invisible alif is pronounced but the visible alif is not pronounced.
If the word is pronounced the way it is written, it should be pronounced hadhaa.
http://www.islam.org.hk/arabiclessons/lesson01.utf8.asp