This week’s question

This week’s question is from the easier examples we have given so far. In soorat adh-Dhuhaa, Allaah says:

فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ

Therefore, treat not the orphan with oppression, (Ad-Dhuhaa 93:9)

And repulse not the beggar; (Ad-Dhuhaa 93:10)

What is the wisdom between pairing the word taqhar with the orphan and the word tanhar with the beggar?

وَلاَ تَقْتُلُواْ أَوْلاَدَكُم مِّنْ إمْلاَقٍ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُمْ وَإِيَّاهُمْ

“….kill not your children because of poverty – We provide sustenance for you and for them….”(al-An’aam, 6:151)

وَلاَ تَقْتُلُواْ أَوْلادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلاقٍ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُم

And kill not your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you… (Al-Israa 17:31)

The answer to the question is: In the second aayah, Allaah says not to kill the offspring out of fear of poverty, thus letting us know that poverty is feared but they are not yet in that situation and nor are the children present. Therefore, because it is the unborn offspring that is bringing about the fear of poverty, it is befitting that they are mentioned first. So Allaah says not to fear being in poverty because of them as He is the one who will provide for them and also you.

In the second verse, the word fear is not mentioned. So this indicates that this is a situation where the children are present and poverty is a reality for the family. So the parents fear for their own lives and their inability to provide for themselves and the offspring that rely on them, so here Allaah reassures them that He will provide for them and their offspring and so the pronoun ‘you’ is mentioned first.

This week’s question

In soorat an-Nisaa, Allaah discusses in several aayaat, the laws of inheritance in Islaam. We’re going to look at two verses from this soorah:

يُوصِيكُمُ اللّهُ فِي أَوْلاَدِكُمْ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الأُنثَيَيْنِ فَإِن كُنَّ نِسَاء فَوْقَ اثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ وَإِن كَانَتْ وَاحِدَةً فَلَهَا النِّصْفُ وَلأَبَوَيْهِ لِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا السُّدُسُ مِمَّا تَرَكَ إِن كَانَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُ وَلَدٌ وَوَرِثَهُ أَبَوَاهُ فَلأُمِّهِ الثُّلُثُ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُ إِخْوَةٌ فَلأُمِّهِ السُّدُسُ مِن بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ يُوصِي بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ آبَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبناؤُكُمْ لاَ تَدْرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ لَكُمْ نَفْعاً فَرِيضَةً مِّنَ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَلِيما حَكِيمًا

NAHW: focuses on words and the harakah on the last letter of each word in a sentence

SARF: focuses on how different words are conjugated from one source and defines the harakah of every letter in a word except the last letter

How did the science of nahw come about? During the caliphate of ‘Ali ibn Abee Taalib, radhiyallaahu ‘anhu, a Bedouin man came from the desert to the town and was praying behind one of the Imaams and the Imaam was reciting soorah at-Tawbah and when he recited the following aayah:

أَنَّ اللَّهَ بَرِىءٌ مِّنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ وَرَسُولُهُ

And a declaration from Allah and His Messenger to mankind on the greatest day of Hajj that Allah is free from obligations to the Mushrikin and so is His Messenger. (at-Tawbah aayah 3)

Instead of reading the last word as rasoolUhu, he recited it as rasoolIhi with a kasrah on the laam changing the meaning of the aayah to mean that Allaah, subhaanahu wa ta’aala, is free from the mushrikeen AND free from the Messenger of Allaah, ‘alayhis-salaatu was-salaam. This was a grave mistake and the Bedouin man because of the fact that the lughah amongst the Bedouins was preserved and not perverted like the people of the town who mixed with people from all regions, the Bedouin man understood straight away this grave mistake and he broke his salaah and made a commotion. Some of the Muslims narrated this incident to the Ameer, ‘Ali, radhiyallaahu ‘anhu and due to his foresight, he wanted to prevent such an incident happening again. So he ordered for a man who was known to be highly learned in the lughah. His name was Abul-Asad ad-Duwalee and asked him to write down the foundations of the lughah and its sciences. And when ‘Ali requested this from him, he said to Abul-Asad:

انحو هذا النحو

Unhoo haadha-nahw

Meaning ‘Go forth in this direction’ and this is where the name NAHW came from.

And its clear from that incident just how important knowing nahw is because there are many other examples of the Qur’aan where simple changing the last harakah of one letter can have a grave implication on the meaning. Of these examples are:

وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَـتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ

(And (remember) when the Lord of Ibrahim tried him with (certain) Words (commands), which he fulfilled) (al-Baqarah aayah 258)

If the harakaat on the two highlighted letters are interchanged it would change the meaning to being that Ibraaheem, ‘alayhis-salaam, is the one who tried Allaah, subhaanahu wa ta’aala.

Another example, in soorah faatir, aayah number 28:

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ

(It is only those who have knowledge among His servants that fear Allah.)

Again in this aayah interchanging the highlighted harakaat will render the meaning of this aayah to be that Allaah, subhaanahu wa ta’aala, fears the people of knowledge!

So i think these example suffice and it also suffices that no one who has treaded the path of ‘ilm has ever done so by learning the lughah without nahw so how can we all of a sudden think we can do that?

As for the knowledge of sarf, it also came about due to an incident involving a Bedouin passing through town. I cant remember fully but I believe it also took place during the caliphate of ‘Ali, radhiyallahu ‘anhu. Anyway this time in the salaah, the Imaam was reading soorah al-Baqarah, the following aayah, verse number 221:

…وَلاَ تَنْكِحُواْ الْمُشْرِكَـتِ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنَّ

وَلاَ تُنكِحُواْ الْمُشِرِكِينَ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنُواْ

(221. And do not marry Al-Mushrikat (idolatresses) till they believe … And give not (your daughters) in marriage to Al-Mushrikin till they believe ….

The two highlighted words were mixed up by the Imaam so he read the aayah as such:

…وَلاَ تُنكِحُواْ الْمُشْرِكَـتِ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنَّ

وَلاَ تَنْكِحُواْ الْمُشِرِكِينَ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنُواْ

What did this do to the meaning? Well, the aayah now said, ‘And do not give (ie your daughters) in marriage to the Mushrikaat (idolatresses) till they believe….and do not marry the mushrikeen till they believe’

So if we go with the new meaning it would mean Allaah is permitting marriage of men to men and women to women, wal-‘iyaadhu billaah! So the Bedouin who was praying behine the imaam exited the salaah and shouted in the masjid saying ‘Wallaahi I will never marry them even if they believe!’

The Imaam did not have knowledge of sarf so he didn’t realise the difference between the two verbs. The first one TANKIHOO is from the verb NAKAHA and it is thulaathi and means to marry (ie a man on his own witout being given away) whereas the verb TUNKIHOO is a derivative from NAKAHA and it is rubaa’ee upon the wazn AF’ALA and the past tense of the verb is ANKAHA which means to give away  in marriage.

So this time the Ameer of the Muslims when he heard of this set about preventing it by outlining the principles of conjugating words and verbs from three (or in few cases four) lettered roots. So for example the verb DARASA, it is through sarf that we learn and know the difference between all the following words that are derived from it:

درس, يدرس, ادرس, دراسة, مدرس, مدرسة, تدريس

Darasa, tadrusu, udrus, diraasah, mudarris, madrasa, tadrees

At the end of the dars our teacher explained to us what I’raab meant. When someone asks you to give the I’raab of an aayah or sentence what do they mean and what do they want from you. So this is what he told us:

I’raab is to state the type of the word (naw’ul kalimah), its hukm (ruling) and its ‘alaamah (its sign).

So these are three things that are requested and as a rough guide this is what each of the three things mean:

1.       Type of Word    – Is it faa’il, maf’ool bihi, mudhaaf ilayhi etc

2.       Hukm of the word  – there are only four (marfoo’, mansoob, majzoom or majroor)

3.       The ‘alaamah – dhammah, fathah, kasra, sukoon, alif, waaw etc…
Then he gave us a brief mention about those words that do not have I’raab and how we do not say they have no I’raab, instead we say they are mabniyyun and have an alaamah but no hukm etc.

This article translated from the works of shaykh ‘uthaymeen, rahimahullaah, may also help the brother out:

http://quranicarabic.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/studying-nahw-by-shaykh-ibn-uthaymeen/

And this is the three principles we have always used when doing i’raab of any sentence. It may appear hard at times but all you need to get over that is revise, practice applying it in your speech and one thing that helped us a great deal is that after starting the second book of bayna yadayk, our teacher started to get us to make i’raab of aayaat from the Qur’aan. So for about two weeks or more, we started every lesson with 30 mins or so of him giving us random aayat from the qur’aan and we would have to do i’raab on the spot. Obviously there are things we haven’t learnt yet so he would only focus on those things that we do know and at times mention things we haven’t studied yet to introduce the concept. If the brother can do this with his teacher or someone else who is more advanced than him, it will help him a great deal in getting to grips with nahw inshaaAllaah.

شَرَعَ لَكُم مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ كَبُرَ عَلَى الْمُشْرِكِينَ مَا تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَيْهِ اللَّهُ يَجْتَبِي إِلَيْهِ مَن يَشَاء وَيَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَن يُنِيبُ

He (Allâh) has ordained for you the same religion (Islâm) which He ordained for Nûh (Noah), and that which We have inspired in you (O Muhammad SAW), and that which We ordained for Ibrahîm (Abraham), Mûsa (Moses‎) and ‘Iesa (Jesus) saying you should establish religion (i.e. to do what it orders you to do practically), and make no divisions in it (religion) (i.e. various sects in religion). Intolerable for the Mushrikûn , is that to which you (O Muhammad SAW) call them. Allâh chooses for Himself whom He wills, and guides unto Himself who turns to Him in repentance and in obedience. (Ash-Shooraa 42:13)

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ النَّبِيِّينَ مِيثَاقَهُمْ وَمِنكَ وَمِن نُّوحٍ وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُم مِّيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا

And (remember) when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from you (O Muhammad SAW), and from Nûh (Noah), Ibrâhim (Abraham), Mûsa (Moses), and ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary). We took from them a strong covenant. (Al-Ahzaab 33:7)

The reason why the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is mentioned first in soorat al-Ahzaab is because Allaah is addressing him directly as is shown in the beginning of the Soorat where Allaah starts with:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ اتَّقِ اللَّهَ وَلَا تُطِعِ الْكَافِرِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا

Abu ‘Abdur-Rahman Ibraahim Muhammad (1) said, “Taking a few months, a year or even two years to perfect the knowledge of tajweed (the rules of reciting the Qurýan) should not be considered a waste of time. If you were to listen to the recitation of many students of knowledge and inviters to Islam, you would not notice any difference between their recitations  and the recitation of the normal, everyday person who does not recite the Qur’an properly!? This is a problem and shortcoming that the student of knowledge and the inviter to Islam should try to correct in the beginning of their quests for knowledge.”

(1) – See page 5 of The Explanation of Tufatul-Atfaal fee at-Tajweed by AbuAbdur-Rahman  Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad, Instructor of at-Tajweed and Various Recitations of the Qur’an at Darul-Hadith in Dammaj, Yemen

Source://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=11&Topic=6740

“We were the beginning [the heads] of this Ummah, and perhaps a man from the best of the companions of Allâh’s Messenger – Allâh’s peace and blessings be upon him – and the most righteous amongst them could maintain only one chapter of the Qur`ân or thereabouts. For the Qur`ân was weighty upon them, and they were given knowledge of it or action based on it. But the last of this Ummah will find the Qur`ân light [and easy] – the child and the non-Arab will recite it, without possessing any knowledge about it.”

Al-Harawî, Dhamm Al-Kalâm wa Ahlihî Vol. 5 p144.

رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَاتَّخِذْهُ وَكِيلًا

(He Alone is) the Lord of the east and the west, Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). So take Him Alone as Wakîl (Disposer of your affairs). (Al-Muzzammil 73:9)

رَبُّ الْمَشْرِقَيْنِ وَرَبُّ الْمَغْرِبَيْنِ

(He is) the Lord of the two easts (places of sunrise during early summer and early winter) and the Lord of the two wests (places of sunset during early summer and early winter). (Ar-Rahmaan 55:17)

فَلَاأُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَالْمَغَارِبِ إِنَّا لَقَادِرُونَ

So I swear by the Lord of all [the three hundred and sixty (360)] points of sunrise and sunset in the east and the west that surely We are Able (Al-Ma’arij 70:40)

To answer this question, each aayah must be considered on its own. The first aayah from Soorat al-Muzzammil, the singular form is used because the topic of discussion is Tawheed ( The Oneness of Allaah and Monotheism). Therefore using the singular form coincides with and affirms the topic. The second aayah is from Soorat ar-Rahmaan throughout which Allaah repeats the following verse:

فَبِأَيِّ آلَاء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinns and men) deny?

Allaah is speaking directly to two of His creation; the Jinn and Mankind. So He uses in this soorat, the dual form to coincide with the duality of those being addressed.

In the final aayah, from soorat Ma’aarij, the plural form is used. Again, this is in agreement with the topic being discussed. If we read a few verses back, Allaah speaks about the straying of the disbelieving groups, and as we know there are many misguided groups amongst them, so He chose the plural form in this context.

This week’s question

Today. We’ve chosen an easier question for you to think about. Many of you may have heard of the term ulul-‘azmi minar-rusul (The Messengers of Strong Will). This refers to the Messengers; Nooh, Ibraaheem, Moosaa, ‘Eesaa and Muhammad, may Allaah’s peace and blessings be on them all. There are two places in the Qur’aan where these five Messengers have been mentioned together by name:

شَرَعَ لَكُم مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ كَبُرَ عَلَى الْمُشْرِكِينَ مَا تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَيْهِ اللَّهُ يَجْتَبِي إِلَيْهِ مَن يَشَاء وَيَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَن يُنِيبُ

He (Allâh) has ordained for you the same religion (Islâm) which He ordained for Nûh (Noah), and that which We have inspired in you (O Muhammad SAW), and that which We ordained for Ibrahîm (Abraham), Mûsa (Moses‎) and ‘Iesa (Jesus) saying you should establish religion (i.e. to do what it orders you to do practically), and make no divisions in it (religion) (i.e. various sects in religion). Intolerable for the Mushrikûn , is that to which you (O Muhammad SAW) call them. Allâh chooses for Himself whom He wills, and guides unto Himself who turns to Him in repentance and in obedience. (Ash-Shooraa 42:13)

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِنَ النَّبِيِّينَ مِيثَاقَهُمْ وَمِنكَ وَمِن نُّوحٍ وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُم مِّيثَاقًا غَلِيظًا

And (remember) when We took from the Prophets their covenant, and from you (O Muhammad SAW), and from Nûh (Noah), Ibrâhim (Abraham), Mûsa (Moses), and ‘Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary). We took from them a strong covenant. (Al-Ahzaab 33:7)

The question is; Why is Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) mentioned first in the latter aayah and not in the former?