| Bismihi Ta`ala *THE ARABIC CONTEXT TO REVELATIONS.*صحيح البخاري )فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كذلك أنزلت إن هذا القرآن أنزل على سبعة أحرف فاقرءوا ما تيسر منه *Reported in Bukhari and in other books that the Rasouloullah Swalallahou `Alaihi Wasallam said: ‘’The Qur-aan has been revealed with 7 different dialects.’’**That is there are 7 ways of reading the Qur-aan and all the 7 ways are mutawatir and reached us from very reliable undeniable sources*. *Those who master the 7 ways can read them in salaah also. That is why, sometimes, we hear a Qari sahab reading Wad douhey instead of Wad douhaa.**The commentators of hadith have highlighted that these were the 7 famous dialects of the Arabs in that era.*مرقاة المفاتيح شرح مشكاة المصابيح – القاري – ()وتليين لأن العرب كانت مختلفة اللغات في هذه الوجوه فيسر الله عليهم ليقرأ كل بما يوافق لغته ويسهل على لسانه*Hence the revelation of the Qur-aan was adapted to the Arabic context of that era. But since it was revealed such, it has now become an integral legislation of the Shariah.* وَظِلٍّ مَمْدُود [الواقعة : 30]*And lengthy shade(Waqi`ah;30).**Because, the Qur-aan was revealed in an arid desert land, then the Qur-aan many times mention shade, fruits, gardens and rivers as glad tidinds.* وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ [النور : 39]*The Qur-aan describe the deceptive efforts of non believers as the example of a deceptive mirage in a desert.*()اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ‘’*Even you ask forgiveness for them(the hypocrites) or you don`t ask forgiveness, or even if you ask 70 times forgiveness for them, still Allah will not forgive them.(9:80)*تفسير المنار – ()وَعَدَدُ السَّبْعِينَ يُسْتَعْمَلُ بِمَعْنَى الْكَثْرَةِ الْمُطْلَقَةِ فِي عُرْفِ الْعَرَبِ ، فَلَيْسَ الْمُرَادُ بِهِ هَذَا الْعَدَدَ بِعَيْنِهِ ، بَلِ الْمَعْنَى مَهْمَا تُكْثِرْ مِنَ الِاسْتِغْفَارِ فَلَنْ يُسْتَجَابَ لَكَ فِيهِمْ .*Over here, the number 70 is used not as a definite number, but instead to describe ‘’a lot’’ as known between the Arabs of that time.**There are many words used in the Qur-aan and Sunnah that one need to go to that era`s definition of the word. Hence we are all dependant upon those reliable ulamas of that era to define our Qur-aan and Sunnah.**That is why Rasouloullah Swalallahou `Alaihi Wasallam said:’’The best trusted people is found in my generation. The next best people are those of the next generation. And then the next best to them are those found after that generation.’’(Bukhari)* صحيح البخاري3عن عبيدة عن عبد الله رضي الله عنهعن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال خير الناس قرني ثم الذين يلونهم ثم الذين يلونهم ثم يجيء أقوام تسبق شهادة أحدهم يمينه ويمينه شهادته *The application of Qur-aan and Sunnah should all be applicable in our era. Nothing is depleted or outdated. But each connotation has its own specific application in its place. For us to understand fully the real order or legislation, then we need to go back 1400 years to understand fully the meaning, the environment and the circumstances that these texts were said.**I am saying all this because some people quote a verse or a hadith without mentioning the context that the verse was said or what was the objective of the prophet Swalallahou Alaihi Wasallam when saying it. Context is a very important factor to consider before understanding a phrase. Today, we discussed the issue of Arabic meanings in those contexts that it was said.* Mufti Mackoojee |