Arabic Shadows

Importance of Arabic Language

To highlight the virtue of the Arabic language it is sufficient to note that it is the language of the Holy Qur’aan, the eternal miracle, which was revealed to be a way of life for mankind until the Hour begins. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, chose the Arabic language to be the vessel which would carry this light and guidance to mankind. This is mentioned in approximately ten places in the Qur’aan, such as the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation):

“And indeed We have put forth for men, in this Qur'ân every kind of similitude in order that they may remember. An Arabic Qur'ân, without any crookedness (therein) in order that they may avoid all evil which Allâh has ordered them to avoid, fear Him and keep their duty to Him” [al-Zumar 39:27-28]. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The Arabic language is the symbol of Islam and its people. End quote from Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, 1/519

What is the Arabic language?

a) The Arabic language is a Semitic language that is primarily based upon three letter root words. For example we say ‘madh’hab’, this word comes from the root- dhaal-haa’-baa’. This word is derived from the root verb dha’haba. It is expected that those reading this already know this.

b) The Arabic language is composed of different sciences. When someone learns Arabic he/she must understand that he is in fact learning three sciences. Realizing this separation between the various sciences assist the student of Arabic in grasping the language. With this he will know where the language begins and where it ends. It is indeed unfortunate that most modern books of Arabic language instruction fail to even mention this. See what I mean when I spoke about the lack of ‘tasawwur’?

The sciences of Arabic are in fact twelve in number. However the sciences that are the most important for the understanding of the qur’an and sunnah are three:

I. Nahw: It is most often translated as ‘grammar’. Nahw is a study of the language and the various rules governing the words as they appear in a sentence. For example I will now mention to you three sentences and discuss the difference between them please pay close attention.

1. ‘la tashrubil-laban wa ta’kulu as-samak’
2. ‘la tashrubil-laban wa ta’kulis-samak’
3. ‘la tashrubil-laban wa ta’kula as-samak’

What is the difference between these three in meaning? The difference between them is in the ending of the verb ‘ta’kul’ which means to eat. In the first sentence ‘ta’kul’ ends with a dummah. In the second sentence the verb ‘ta’kul ends with a sukuun. In the third sentence however, the last letter of ‘ta’kul’ ends with a fathah. The difference occurs because of the different usages for the ‘waw’. In the first sentence the ‘waw’ is the ‘waw’ signifying a separation. It means, “Do not drink the milk (but no problem) and your eating fish. In the second sentence the ‘waw’ is the ‘waw’ of joining. The sentence means, “do not drink the milk or eat the fish.” In the third sentence the ‘waw’ signifies a unity of action (ma’aiyah). This sentence means, “do not drink the milk and eat the fish at the same time.” All of these changes in meaning took place due to the type of ‘waw’ used. The changes were not only in the actual structure of the harakaat in the words, but also in the meaning of the sentences.

II. Sarf: It is often translated as ‘morphology’. The actual meaning of sarf is “the metamorphosing or changing of the ‘asl (base/root word) to many different examples so as to achieve meanings that could not otherwise be achieved” The science of sarf is mostly relegated to verbs and that which derives from them. This change is done to stretch the meaning and to also make pronunciation easy upon the toque. An example of changing the meaning through sarf is manipulating the verb ‘nasara’. From ‘nasara’ we may derive the following: Nasara Nas’sara Naasara tanaasara anassara istansara mansar naasir munasar mansoor . All of these words come from one root verb – nasara. As for making it easy upon the tonque I will provide one example.

Let us take the word ‘scale in Arabic. It is called ‘meezaan’. This word comes from the root verb ‘wazana’ which means to weigh. According to a principle of sarf the thing which is used to do this action will sound like ‘mif’aal’. If we were to apply this principle here the item used for the act of weighing would be ‘meewzaan’. Due to the difficulty found in pronouncing that upon the tonque we replace the ‘waw’ with a ‘yaa’ to make it easier. This simplification is broken down into set principles known in sarf. Properly applying principles of sarf can sometimes spell the difference between imaan and kufr. For example Allah said about himself in the Qur’an that he is ‘al-musaawir’-the fashioner. If someone was to pronounce the ‘waw’ with a fathah instead of a kasrah the word would mean ‘al-musaawar’-the fashioned one (the one fashioned by another). Of course the ignorant one making this mistake would be excused but this simply shows you the importance of sarf in the Arabic language.

III. Balaghah: It is a science dealing with the eloquence of the Arabic language and how to convey proper meanings according to the situation. Balaghah also deals with the meanings of words and they take shape in their different usage. Balaghah is essential in fully understanding the I’jaaz (miraculous) nature of the quran. An example of balaghah may be taken from the Qur’an. Allah the most high said in surah al ankabut, “alif laam meem. Do people think that they will be left alone saying,” we believe” and will not be tested with fitnah? Certainly those before them were tested with fitnah-so that Allah may make it known those were truthful and make it known who are the liars.” In this noble ayah allah said “so that allah may make it known those who were truthful” in this part of the ayah allah used the past tense verb ‘sadaquu’ which indicates that they were truthful in the past so the test and trial only made apparent that which was already there In the past-truthfulness.

Allah then said, “and to make it known those who are liars” in this part of the ayah Allah speaks about those who didn’t pass the test as being liars. Here he used the word’ kaadhibeen’. In the science of balaghah we learn that this descriptive word-or sifah implies an established state of the person who is described with this quality. Allah spoke about the Jews and how they disbelieved in some of the prophets and some they even killed. This was mentioned in the past tense in surah al baqarah. However when we look at the ayah we see a special rule of balaghah that gives us more meaning that what is found in the English translation. Allah said about them, “fa fareeqan kadh’dhabtum wa fareeqan taq’tuluun.” “So a group of them you denied and a group of them you killed.” Allah spoke about them saying that they denied a group of the prophets. He used the past tense verb kadh’dhabtum. However we find in the end of the ayah he said that some of them they killed by using the PRESENT TENSE verb ‘taq’tuluun’. In the science of balaghah we learn that if a present tense verb is used in a past tense context it then signifies what is called ‘istimraar’ or continuance. Therefore the meaning of this ayah in the context of balaghah is that the jews used to deny and kill the prophets and that they will continue to kill-in this case killing the followers of the prophets way and true path. This is mentioned in tafseer of al-aluusee and in tafseer ibn sa’uud.