https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_phonology/a, aː/
retracted to [ɑ] in the environment of a neighboring /r/, /q/ or an emphatic consonant (one that is uvularized, though customarily transcribed as if pharyngealized): /sˤ/, /dˤ/, /tˤ/, /ðˤ/, /ɫ/ and in a few regional standard pronunciations also /x/ and /ɣ/;[4]
only in Iraq and the Persian Gulf: [ɐ] before a word boundary;[4]
advanced to [æ] in the environment of most consonants:
labial consonants (/m/, /b/ and /f/),
plain (non-emphatic) coronal consonants with the exception of /r/ (/θ/, /ð/, /n/, /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /l/, /ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ~ɡ~ʒ/)
pharyngeal consonants (/ħ/ and /ʕ/)
glottal consonants (/h/ and /ʔ/)
/j/, /k/ and /w/;[5]
Across North Africa and West Asia, the allophones [æ] and [ɑ] may be realized differently, either as [a ~ ɑ ~ ɛ], or both as [a ~ ä]
In northwestern Africa, the open front vowel /æ/ is raised to [ɛ] or [e].