Arabic Small High Jeem

Neither choice is preferred. Waqf ja’iz is the term for this equal-choice rule. In a mushaf (a written Qur’an), ۚ adds no word or sound.

Waqf marks were added gradually to Qur’anic manuscripts as reading aids, then organized into scholarly systems. A 2026 study identifies a circular pause mark in a manuscript probably copied in the late first Islamic century as the earliest known witness of its kind; it does not establish when ۚ itself first appeared. A 2026 comparison found Karachi and Bombay Qur’ans differ in pause-sign selection, placement, and notation.