ٰ

ـٰ • (-ā)

1. superscript alif, dagger alif (أَلِف خَنْجَرِيَّة‎ (ʾalif ḵanjariyya)), indicates a long /aː/ where ا‎ (ʾalif) is normally not written.

• ʾalif ḵanjariyya is a rare diacritic, is missing on standard keyboards and is sometimes replaced with a fatḥa ـَ‎ (-a) in a vocalised Arabic text or omitted altogether, except the Qur'an.
• ʾalif ḵanjariyya can be written with or without a fatḥa, e.g. with a fatḥa رَحْمَٰن‎ (raḥmān) in the Middle East or without a fatḥa رَحْمٰن‎ (raḥmān) in South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh)
• The word اللّٰه‎ (allāh, “Allah”) is usually produced automatically by entering "alif + lām + lām + hāʾ" - ا ل ل ه‎ (read from right to left). The word consists of ا‎ (ʾalif) + ligature of doubled ل‎ (lām) with a shadda ـّ‎ and an ʾalif ḵanjariyya above ل‎ (lām).
• In Wiktionary we use ʾalif ḵanjariyya to generate a correct transliteration ("ā") and to indicate a long /aː/. A fatḥa alone, without ʾalif ḵanjariyya or a long alif ا‎ (ʾalif) would be transliterated as a short /a/.