Last Week’s Question
Throughout the Qur’aan, whenever Allaah mentions parents, he uses the Arabic word ‘waalidayn’ (which means parents) but in two verses only, found in Soorah Yoosuf, He uses the word ‘abaway’. Why the distinction in these two verses?
The answer is:
The reason why Allaah mentions ‘waalidayn’ (with emphasis on the mother) throughout the Qur’aan, is to emphasise the numerous rights the mother deserves over the father. And this in agreement with the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he was asked, ‘Who is the most deserving of my respect and companionship?’ He replied saying, ‘Your mother, then your mother, then your mother and then your father.’
However, in Soorah Yoosuf, ‘abaway’ is used (with emphasis on the father) and as with every letter in the Qur’aan, there is a reason for it. It is known amongst the Arabs that a woman is always preserved, protected and concealed. So she is not revealed or mentioned in public places so that people know of her and her shyness is taken away. In the aayaat where the word ‘abaway’ is used, Yoosuf (‘alayhis-salaam) is raising his mother and father in a public setting with multitudes of people from Egypt witnessing the occasion. So as a result, the word abaway is used to indicate the fact that the father (Ya’qoob, ‘alayhis-salaam) is the one who is at the forefront in full view of the spectators, whereas the mother is concealed to protect and hide her away from the eyes of the men in the crowds.
This Week’s Question
How many times have we heard that we shouldn’t rely on the translation of the meaning of the Qur’aan as it doesn’t do the Arabic language any justice at all? And subhanaAllaah some of us use some of these translations and pass on to others without fully understanding the meaning and tafseer behind it. Well this week’s question will touch upon this inshaaAllaah. When it comes to translating a word from Arabic into English, sometimes it can be quite difficult and not as easy as simply using a dictionary, so understanding the meaning through knowing the tafseer and Arabic language will help you understand it better, and thus aid in memorisation. There are many examples of this in the Qur’aan. One such example of this is in Soorah al-Kahf. If we look at the following aayah, it has been translated as follows:
فَمَا اسْطَاعُوا أَن يَظْهَرُوهُ وَمَا اسْتَطَاعُوا لَهُ نَقْبًا
So they [Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj (Gog and Magog)] were made powerless to scale it or dig through it. (Al-Kahf 18:97)
However, when we look at the above highlighted words, there seems to be a clear visual difference between the two words as one of them contains an additional letter (i.e. ‘taa’) but yet the translation seems to be the same. So what difference does this additional letter (i.e. ‘taa’) make to the above word that it doesn’t do to the other and why was it used?