The Qur’an is a rich source of guidance and wisdom, and one way to uncover its deeper meanings is by examining the linguistic roots of the words it contains. Allah says in Surah Tawbah verse 103, خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ صَدَقَةًۭ تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ Take, [O Muḥammad], from their wealth a charity …
Linguistic Gems from the Qur’an, Day Twenty-Three: Charity Read More »
This post is dedicated to my baby Rahma, the joy of my heart, light of my life, and queen of my kingdom, owing to whom this site has not been updated for a while. al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, Undoubtedly the most oft-repeated names of Allāh are al-Rahmān الرحمن and al-Rahīm الرحيم, due to them …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, So important is the concept of ‘happiness’ in our lives that many people – even dating back to the days of the Greek philosophers – considered its pursuit to be the very purpose of existence. Indeed, the Qur’an itself speaks of happiness as being one of the rewards of those whom …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, The verb خالَ khaala has two different forms that also differ in pattern and meaning. The first is the verb خال khaala (perfect tense) يَخُولُ yakhoolu (imperfect tense), خَولا khawlan (verbal noun), and it means ‘to do proficiently’ or ‘to perfect’. One may use it in the phrase خَوَّلَهُ اللهُ نِعمةً …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, Sometimes there appear mushtarak lafdhee words in the Qur’an, that sound and are written the same as one another, but appear to be somewhat different in meaning, and it is sometimes difficult to make a link between the various meanings or draw them back to an original meaning. An example of …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, When Ibn ‘Aashoor (d. 1973/1393) wrote his tafseer on the Qur’an, which he called Tafsir al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir, he followed a number of basic principles in his methodology, particularly when it came to the linguistic exegesis, with which his tafseer is replete. These principles are generally based on the semantic connotations …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, To look back to the original meaning of a word is to embark on more than just a linguistic voyage; in some cases, tracing a word back to its original meaning is actually the key to unlocking one of the treasures of the guidance of the Qur’an. For example, Allaah said …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, There are some commentaries on the Qur’an (tafseers) which have a strong linguistic element, and within such commentaries one may sometimes find that the different types of ishtiqaaq have been used to offer a depth of meaning and insight that would not ordinarily be understood had reference to the ishtiqaaq not …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, I came across an amusing anecdote in Lisan al-‘Arab recently illustrating the dangers of engaging in naht haphazardly. It is related from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that his wife one day asked him to provide a jilbab (protective outer garment worn outside the house) for her. He …
al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh, There is a long standing disagreement between supporters of classical Arabic الفصحى vs. supporters of colloquial Arabic العامية with regards which should prosper. The former group sought to avoid colloquial words at all cost, regardless of how correct they were or how well they expressed the intended meaning, while the latter …
