Why is there a dagger alif in some words, differing from the full alif, and how can they be distinguished? And why is there an alif maqsurah in some words instead of the regular alif? And how can memorizers of the Qur’an distinguish between them in the event of losing written copies?

Summary of question no. (252852): The orthography of words was a matter of ijtihad (independent reasoning) by the Companions, and the Ummah adhered to it. The maqṣūr (shortened) noun is an Arabicized noun ending in a necessary alif, and it is recognized through audition (samāʿ) and analogy (qiyās).

The alif maqṣūrah (shortened alif) is written as a yāʾ at the end of a word in several instances, including: - A three-letter word whose alif originated from a yāʾ, whether it is a noun or a verb. - A word whose alif is the fourth letter or more. Scholars differed on the reason for writing the alif as a yāʾ. Some preferred the explanation of origin, as some alifs originated from a yāʾ, while others preferred the explanation of imālah (vowel inclination).

The dagger alif is a small alif placed in positions where the alif is omitted. In the initial writing of the Muṣḥafs, it was sometimes drawn as a long alif and sometimes as an implied alif, to prevent the reader from falling into confusion. It was then omitted for simplification thereafter.