Did you know? Only 569 words account for approximately 80% of the total
words in the Quran! By learning the meaning of these 569 words, you can
increase your understanding of the Quran, Salaat, and Taraweeh.
Perception is a neurological process of observation and interpretation.
It
is a neurological process of acquiring and mentally interpreting
information from the senses. Perception and word of a language are
compulsorily complementary to each other.
A word is needed to convey and transmit a specific perception. Words
serve as a medium to communicate perceptions. It is for this reason
that, a language will be considered rich, clear, perspicuous, eloquent,
distinct, free from admixture, void of indistinctness or without
concealment, apparent like the daybreak and divested of the froth, if
its words have the capability of transporting the perception from one
mind to a listener and reader, in a manner that it generates in the
recipient mind exactly the same neurological process of
observation and interpretation and creates a true copy of that
perception-image.
And
its the Arabic Mubeen of Quran Mubeen, the language {لسان}
of the Last Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم
which has the capacity of transmitting and making the perception
reach to the listener and reader, in the aforesaid manner.
Words of Arabic take birth from a Root. Each Root has specific, defined,
distinct, conspicuous, apparent perception folded in it. And whatever be
the shape of word and the context in which it is employed, the
perception and thought folded in the Root shall remain dominant and
conspicuous.
Arabic, as is well known,
is the language based on Roots, three or four consonants placed in a
peculiar sequence which signify a specific and exclusive perception and
signification. Words,
originating from these Roots on various well defined
patterns-moulds-structuring frames,
retain the original
perception infolded
in the Root with additional meanings and connotation, shades and colours
added by the peculiar pattern-placing of vowels-syllabification,
addition of consonants.
The beauty and sublimity of the choice of words in
the Grand Qur'aan is that it not only defines and describes the
perception and meanings of the Arabic Roots and words used therein,
but also relays the hidden realties of
physical realm
without compromising or undermining the original
purpose of communicating the Book, alerting the humanity to be cautious
of the ultimate truth and their answerability and accountability.
The Grand Qur'aan, for itself is the best Lexicon.
It exposes the perception and meanings of most of its words in a
picturesque manner.
The best criteria,
about any word occurring in Grand Qur'aan,
to adjudge its Origin is to see whether or not this has, apparent or
concealed, the basic characteristics, qualities, manifestation as
infolded in its parent Root.
Allah, the Exalted narrates the scenes in the
Grand Qur'aan with the choice of such words that the listener and reader
could visualize the actual scene in a manner as if he is observing the
actual happening. The words depict for us
that
However, at this stage we must keep in mind that
the basic meanings of a Root and word do not exhaust when they are used
in a different semantic field, relational area, while necessarily
retaining the base meanings. This phenomenon is particular to the words
which are other than those coined to denote and identify a specific
tangible object, or person, i.e. substantive nouns. Actions and
gestures, bodily actions or body language has various levels of
intensity, depth, magnitude proportionally reflecting the feel and state
of heart and mind.
[One of the most fascinating aspects of
Arabic in my eyes, is finding the relationship between words that come
from the same root but do not seem to have an obvious link in their
meaning. The study of etymology in any language is fascinating in
itself, but due to the root system in Arabic the findings are more
likely to be linked to Arabic itself rather than finding that they are
loan words from another language, as is often the case with English
etymology, for example.] Arabic Gems
The magnanimity of Arabic language is that
it presumes its listener and reader as intelligent, responsible,
attentive person, mindful of the importance of time requiring that
understood elements in a narration/speech must be avoided to convey
voluminous information in short volume and time.
We are persistently observing the fact that the words
made from a Root, notwithstanding their different moulds-frames-structures of
formation/construction, and the context and relational connotations, they do
contain and retain the basic perception and signification infolded in their
respective Root. The beauty and distinction and
sublimity of Arabic Roots is that they contain all physical/scientific realities
relating both to matter and life relating to their area of signification.
The beauty and superb style of verbal narration in the Qur'aan is
evident from the fact that the listener and reader of varying level of
information and knowledge, in the entire time-line, would perceive the
thought and perception conveyed therein, and find it as a proven and
established fact according to his own level of information and
knowledge, should he be an ordinary illiterate person or be a scientist,
philosopher, or highly qualified expert in the area of under discussion
subject of discourse.
**
While reading Grand Qur'aan it must be kept in
mind that it was gradually and intermittently revealed and communicated
to people who were the contemporary of the period of its revelation.
Therefore whatever is elided, while conveying a new Ayah-verbal
presentation of information, was already in their knowledge and
perception.
Arabs dislike using larger quantity of words
and convey voluminous information by employing minimum words which also
reflects that the Arabic language regards its listener and reader as a
responsible, attentive and intelligent person who focuses his
concentration of listening and perception faculties on that which is
being stated.
Allah the Exalted has
gathered and compiled the gradually revealed Unitary Verbal Passages of the
Grand Qur'aan in a manner that it has become easily understandable and
comprehendible by the posterity as it were conveniently perceived by the first
regular listeners. Its unique literary style of revolving the Unitary Verbal
Passages keeps making every point distinctly evident along with communicating
supplementary information updating the reader.
To bring together, compare, and
put in relation all the terms that resemble, oppose, and correspond with each
other.
It is excruciatingly difficult only when there is lack of interest in
grasping the original perception contained in second language since one
cannot know the message conveyed by a sentence merely by searching
meanings of individual words of a sentence of that language in
dictionaries, as many people do and compile "scholarly dissertations".
Grammar of any language is basically developed for non natives and for
putting serious matter in writing.
It can be seen and examined from another angle too. In appearance, i.e.
coming to human knowledge, is the Qur'aan first or the Arabic language?
If Arabic language is pre-dated then its grammar was also there though
it had not been scripted. Every language has built in rules, and their
organized description is what the grammar is all about.
Grammar-syntax and morphology is the translation of above statement.
Logic is broadly the relationship between specific events, situations,
or objects, and the inevitable consequences of their interaction. And
this can be achieved only by knowing the relationship of words
describing events, situations and objects in any book. Principles are
principles, if they do not permit wild wandering and to draw conclusions
of choice, it does not mean that they are rigi
We notice here two remarkable features of the Quran. The first feature is that it expresses scientific truths that will be verified centuries later. The second feature is that the Quran expresses those truths using terms and expressions that would avoid confusing its first readers in the 7th century. The 7th century reader easily relates it to the image of fire from a tree and the 21st century scientist can easily interpret the word ‘fire from green trees’ as Oxygen.
Thus Quran fulfills the curiosity and mental capabilities of both 7th and succeeding century readers.
[They saw desert when they woke up – nothing imaginative. So they were very imaginative (picturesque/visual) in their thoughts – the words they said had very deep and imaginative images, so that One word in Arabic can mean a whole Sentence in any other language, or one Sentence in Arabic can mean a whole Paragraph in any other language.]
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I have liberally adapted the bulk of what follows from Abdullah Saeed’s Interpreting the Qur’ān: Towards a Contemporary Approach (New York: Routledge, 2006), pp. 150-154. The additional material is largely by way of clarification or explanation and although some of it is wholly new, I believe it is in the spirit of, if not faithful to, Saeed’s proposed model.* * * A Model for Qur’ānic Interpretation * * *
Stage 1—Encounter with the world of the text
Stage 1—A broad and general familiarization with the text(s) and its (their) world(s).
Stage 2—Critical Analysis: (a) Linguistic considerations; (b) Literary context; (c) Literary form; (d) Parallel texts; (e) Precedents
Stage 2—Here we are interested in what the text says about itself (its ‘self-referential’ character). This involves various fundamental analyses:
- Linguistic considerations: this entails analysis of the language of the text (linguistic units), semantics (the meaning of words and phrases involving features of the context, conventions of language use, and goals of the speaker), syntax of verse(s), and in general all linguistic and grammatical issues intrinsic to the text. It also covers different ways in which particular words and phrases can be read (qirā’āt).
- Literary context: how the text in question functions within a particular sūra and/or the Qur’ān as a whole. For instance, examining what comes immediately before or after the verse(s); the composition and structure of the text as well as its rhetorical style and qualities.
- Literary form: identifying whether the text is (largely or principally historical), has liturgical function (e.g., a prayer), is a proverb, a parable or other kind of narrative, or has a legal function. Detailing the connection between literary form and meaning (including, possibly, pragmatics: extra-linguistic context of utterance, generally observed principles of communication, goals of the speaker, presuppositions vis-à-vis new information, speech acts, implicature, etc.).
- Parallel texts: exploring whether there are other texts that are similar to the text under consideration in the Qur’ān and, if so, the extent to which they are similar and different.
- Precedent(s): identification of texts that are similar in content or import and whether these were revealed or inspired before or after the text under consideration.
Stage 3—Meaning for the first recipients: (a) Socio-historical context; (b) Worldview; (c) Nature of the message: spiritual, theological, ethical, legal; (d) Message: contextual v. universal; (e) Relationship of message to overall revelatory message of the Qur’ān
Stage 3—Relating the text to the recipients of the Qur’ān:
Wider contextual analysis: historical and social information that would shed light on the text in question; analysis of the worldview, culture, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of the first recipients of the Qur’ān in Hijāz (region in the northwest of present-day Saudi Arabia and includes the cities of Mecca and Medina). This analysis includes close examination of the time and place in which, for example, specific cultural, legal, political and economic issues arose.
- Determination of the nature of the message the text conveys: spiritual, theological, ethical, legal, etc.
- Exploration of possible layers of meaning: ‘outer’ and ‘inner,’ overt and implied, or specific and underlying messages of the text; investigation of whether or not the text has universal or simply contextual import and application in the context of the first recipient community. Are there different ways or means other than those specified that can accomplish the specific and clear reason, purpose, or goal of the text in question (e.g., punishment, deterrence, and mercy but without this prescribed form of punishment (which ‘made sense’ at the time and place of the first recipients of this revelation).
- Determination of where message the message is located in a hierarchy of values (metaphysical, devotional and ritual, legal, ethical, etc.).
- Consideration of how the message relates to the broader objectives and concerns clearly evidenced in the Qur’ān.
- Evaluation of how the text was received by the first community of Muslims and how they interpreted, understood and applied it.
Stage 4—Contemporary meaning: (a) Analysis of present context; (b) Contemporary context vis-à-vis socio-historical context; (c) Meaning through time: earliest recipients to the present; (d) Message: contextual v. universal; (e) Applicability to contemporary circumstances and conditions
Stage 4—Relating the text to the contemporary context:
- Determining the current concerns, problems, and needs that appear to be relevant to the message of the under consideration.
- Exploring the present social, political, economic and cultural context relevant to the text.
- Exploring the specific values, norms, and institutions that have a bearing on the message of the text.
- Comparing the present context with the socio-historical context of the text under consideration, taking into account similarities and differences.
- Relating how the meaning of the text as understood, interpreted and applied by the first recipients of the Qur’ān and subsequent historical recipients to the present context, taking into account similarities and differences.
- Evaluating the universality or specificity of the message the text conveys and the extent to which it is related or unrelated to the well-known (i.e., uncontroversial within the tradition) broader objectives and concerns of the Qur’ān.
Most of the last two stages (3 & 4) are not covered by classical tafsīr.
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In the book under review, late Professor Toshihiko Izutsu, a renowned Japanese scholar and linguist, had attempted to explain some major ethical and religious concepts in the Qur’an with reference to classical Arabic, tafsir literature, linguistics and especially semantics. The author was born inTokyoin 1914 and studied philosophy, comparative religion, linguistics and Islamic studies at some of the leading institutions of higher education in the East and the West. He was competent in more than a dozen languages and authored around thirty books on a range of subjects in English and Japanese including ‘God and Man in the Qur’an: Semantics of the Qur’anic Weltanschauung’ (1964, reprinted 2002), ‘The Concept of Belief in Islamic Theology: A Semantic Analysis of Iman and Islam’ (1965) and ‘A Fountainhead of Islamic Philosophy’ (1980), in addition to his translation of the Qur’an into Japanese. After a life time devoted to research and writing, the author died in 1993.
As an eminent scholar and linguist, in Izutsu’s complex but innovative linguistic thought, “there is no direct relationship between words and reality. He regarded language as an artificial sign system invented to segment, categorize and articulate non-linguistic reality and thus make it meaningful and recognizable…Izutsu maintained that human recognition of reality naturally differs according to the language code. That is to say, there are no words of any language systems that coincide completely with any equivalents in other languages both in denotation and connotation, since each term has a unique semantic field and structure in its language system.” (p.viii) Later in his career, however, Izutsu shifted from semantic analysis of texts to focus more on reality itself prior to its linguistic articulation. That is to say, he argued that it was possible to know this unarticulated reality only through mystical experience, which he considered to be the essence of hikmat al-mashriqiyyah (or Oriental Philosophy).
Using his linguistic approach, the author hoped to “make the Qur’an interpret its own concepts and speak for itself. In other words, what is central to [his] inquiry is not so much the material as the method of linguistic analysis applied to that material, the specific point of view from which it attempts to analyze the semantic structure of the value words of the Qur’an in the field of conduct and character.” (p3) Divided into three parts, in part one, the author provided an analysis of the principles of semantics with reference to language and culture. In his own words, “We may approach the subject of ethico-religious concepts in the Qur’an in a number of ways. We may start from the elaborate systems of Islamic law, which, in later ages, came to regulate all phases of human conduct to the minutest details, and find that we are led back to the Qur’an as the original source of all these commands and prohibitions. Or we may start from the no less elaborate systems of theology, which we will discover to be nothing but a theoretic treatment of the basic problem of what a ‘true believer’ should believe in, what kind of attitude he should take towards God, and how he should act according to the dictates of his belief. Or again, we may set to work picking up more or less systematically various teachings and opinions on morals contained in the Qur’an, put them in order, and write a book called ‘The Ethics of the Qur’an’.” (p3) Instead, the author allowed the Qur’an to speak for itself and did so in the context of language and culture as they prevailed in pre-and-post Islamic Arabia.
DeGrasse mentions in the clip that almost 2/3 of all star names are in fact in Arabic! The numbers we use today (in English and most languages) are referred to as “Arabic numerals” and there is whole host of English words that originated from Arabicto not only English but many other world languages! How? and Why? That is the question. DeGrasse points out important reasons of why not only Arab scholars but more importantly why Arabic language was once a language of inquiry, reasoning, genius and innovation and also offers his explanation of why it no longer is.
At the beginning of the video he correctly reminds the audience that there are many cultures in the world that excelled and superseded other nations in one subject or another, but that there comes a time when they reach a peak and then sometimes it drops off and other times they manage to hang on. But what he is interested in is what allows for that to take place? Of course I will not transcribe the whole video but I think the reasons are important to dwell over. He points out that between 800AD and 1100 AD Baghdad was the centre of knowledge and learning because it opened its doors up to all people, Christians, Jews, doubters (atheists/agnostics) and everybody was allowed to excel regardless of their background and this according to him is what made that time so unique, fertile and we still feel the effects of that success today. For example the discovery of the zero, algebra, algorithm, establishment of advanced hospitals (where some were diseases specific something unprecedented at the time) and many other contributions (see http://www.1001inventions.com/ or videos on that here).
Why am I talking about this on Arabizi? Simple really because many Arab scholars of today are not sure how to get Arabic language to be one of advancement, education, knowledge or simply to be one of practical use by its speakers. Which is something I discuss a lot here on Arabizi, is it diglossia, it is the English language, is it the dialects, or is it poor education that has put the Arabic language in this situation? In that 300 year period in Baghdad they questioned everything with a curious mind and welcomed everyone –perhaps that is the solution? Use both English and Arabic in education (which some Gulf universities are implementing right now which is exciting) that way Arabic can be used academically and use English because it is undoubtedly the language of knowledge today, allow people regardless of their background to have access to all the appropriate facilities and maybe, just maybe we might see something changing in the current path that the Arabic language is taking. It will never be like Baghdad because we live in different times and different political and social environments but Arabic still has the ability to be a language of real inquiry and research in its own right. Naming rights are only for those languages whose speakers have excelled and benefitted humans in knowledge that’s it…you offer something your language is not only used but preserved…… what do you think? I will not spoil it by telling you what caused this so-called “golden-age” to end you’ll have to watch the video for that I’m afraid…but it was disastrous, completely uncalled for and detrimental to the Arabic and Islamic societies the world over and I dare say it has impeded and disabled these societies from looking at the pursuit of knowledge (for the benefit of human beings and even religious knowledge [which has its own crazy issues]) the way they once did in great Baghdad…….enjoy