You will agree with me that Irani literature certainly changed Arabic literature.
Obviously when the Arabic language was so affected by external influences (non-Arabic influences) and
there was a change in the real meaning of its words, then the words which were used in the Qur’an also
underwent a change. Since our
tafseers
were also compiled in that era, they too were affected by Ajami
concepts. Thus there came a change in the meaning of the Qur’anic ayaats as removed from the meanings
which were taken during the Qur’an’s revelation. There was another reason due to which differences in
meaning took place which the reader will come to know in the lines ahead.
When Tafaseer (plural of tafseer) began to be written, (i.e in the 3
rd
and 4
th
century A.D) they were written
so that almost after every important ayat, it’s shan-e-nazool, or the circumstances in which it was revealed
was given. Thus the meaning of the ayat, was determined not according to the actual words of the ayat but
according to the events which were thought to be the cause of their revelation. Thus the meaning of the
words of the ayaat were determined accordingly . The Tafasirs written later followed the predecessors and
in this way those ayaats took on a predetermined meaning. Accordingly,.
and also because the shan-e-
nazool of the ayats were linked to Huzoor Akram or the Sahaba, these meanings were thought to be the
interpretations of Huzoor Akram or the Sahaba themselves. Thus these meanings also became the
standard
certification. Wheras the factual situation that prevails is that most Tafseers are old and outdated..So much
so that some scholars have totally refused to accept them. For example, Imam Ahmed Hambal is on record
as saying: There are three books which have no reality. Mughazi, Mulahim and Tafaseer. But still most of
our Tafaseer are based on these traditions. And it is obvious that when Qur’anic
ayaats will be interpreted
on the basis of old traditions and when when Quranic words will be interpreted in the light of the Tafaseers
then their meaning is bound not to express the rightful meaning of the Qur’an. This can be better stood
through an example. Surah Nisaa’s 34
th
ayat
alrijaala qawwamoona alan nisaa ….ilma kabira 4:34 in this
the translation of the first four words that is standard is :men are Lords over women (translated by Shah
Rafiuddin)
Here qawwamoon has been deemed to mean Lords whereas according to the dictionary it means ‘those
who provide bread and butter’. This would mean that according to the task delegated, men are duty
bound
to provide bread and butter. Now it should be noted that this word ‘qawwamoon” has been translated as
‘lord’ or ‘haakim’. How?
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Hazrat Ibne Abbas says : This means that women must obey men. Hazrat Hasan Basri says that a woman
complained to the Prophet that her husband had slapped her. At this the Prophet had barely given her
permission to vindicate herself when this ayat was revealed and the woman was stopped from her revenge.
There is another saying that a sahabi, companion of the Prophet, came before the prophet with his wife.
The woman told the Prophet: O Prophet of Allah, my husband has slapped me and the mark is still on my
face. The Prophet said, he had no right to do so. At that time, this ayat was revealed that to teach discipline,
men are Lords over women. The Prophet said I had willed something else but Allah willed differently.
There is a hadith(saying or doing of the Prophet) which says : the Prophet said: Don’t beat Allah’s maids.
Thereafter Hazrat Umar came and said: Ya, Rasul Allah, women have become bold upon this revelation.
At this, the Prophet allowed beating the women. This led to many cases of woman beating and many
women complained of this to the Prophet. Then the Prophet said: Listen. Women have appealed to me.
Remember, those men who beat their women are not good men .
Hazrat Ashat says: Once I was a guest of Hazrat Farooq Azam. Coincidentally, that day husband wife had a
tiff and Hazrat Umar beat his wife, then said to me: Ashat, remember three things which I have heared from
the Prophet. One, that a man should not be asked why he has beaten his wife; secondly, don’t go to sleep
without saying Witr prayers; and the third thing has gone out of one’s memory.(Nisai). There is also a
saying that the Prophet said: If I could order sajdah(genuflection) except to Allah, I would order women to
sajdah before men.
These Tafseeri traditions make Man a lord or hakim over women or even more. As such, kashaf says
qawwamoona is taken to mean ‘nasitareen’or ‘guardians”. And in Tafseer Jalaleen it is taken to mean
“mussalateen’ i.e those who hold sway over women. This meaning also made its way to the dictionary and
this led to the translation as ‘hakim’ or ‘darogha’. These very same Tafaseer are taught in all religious
schools of Islamic countries. This is the reason why all Arabic knowing people, even the Arabs themselves,
are able rarely to reach the real meaning of the Quran. This leads us to another important question:
1)When during the Abbasid’s rule, the Arabic language was affected with ajami concepts, and
2)when all the Arabic literature that we have was born during that era – whether it is Tafaseer or
dictionaries, whether it is history books or books on literature and, when due to
old and outdated Tafseer
the real real meaning of the Quran is no more,
3)then how can one find out the meaning which prevailed at the time of revelation?
Undoubtedly, if this was the case in reference to some other language (or some other book) then it would
pose a difficulty which had no solution. But in the case of the Arabic language (and the Qur’an Kareem)
there are certain elements which render this problem quite soluble.
First of all (as has been said before) all Arabic literature was preserved in the verses of their poets. Poets
had a special place in Arab society. Besides their verses were full of the goodness of their tribes and the
execrable points of their opponents. As such they were memorized even by the kids. When prose is written,
it is difficult to pass it on exactly as it was written but it is not so with verses. When verse is memorized
and transferred onwards, the arrangement of the words will not change. I n other words, verse is transferred
exactly as it is written and not only its meaning. This is the reason why the verses of poets before Islam
were transferred as it was written without any change in the arrangement of words and therefore meaning.
And there is also no doubt that some of the verses of poets of the dark era were also attributed to these
poets and were included in their poetry but this did not much affect their meaning. The language of made-
up verses had to be kept the same as that for real verses, if this was not done then the discrimination
between real and artificial would be instant. However, this way, the verses of the poets of the dark era were
preserved in Arabic literature. Some of the words, which were common during the revelation of the Qur’an
are also preserved in the Arabic language. And since those verses which contained them are also present,
therefore the meaning which prevailed during the revelation can also be ascertained (with the help of those
verses).These words have mostly been used in the same meaning for which they were used in those verses
and with which the Arabs during the revelation were quite familiar. That is why they had no difficulty in
understanding the Qur’an. These verses (excepting books of literature) have also appeared in authentic
Arabic dictionaries and in them the meanings of these words have also been debated. The dictionaries
compiled later have also included them as they were used in the old dictionaries. With the help of these
words, one can understand their meaning which prevailed during the revelation.
4) This is the external factor with the help of which one can determine their meaning as at the time of
revelation. But the Arabic language has one inherent characteristic which cannot be affected by external
factors
and by deliberating on which one can gauge the real meaning.
Every word of the Arabic language has a ‘root’ , which has its own particular meaning. According to the
rules of grammar, no matter what form the root may take, its basic meaning will be reflected in every form.
Plus, the basic meaning of the root, is also determined that if so and so letter ( for instance , if the letter
Hay and Bay ) appear together in a word, then it will have such and such meaning, and so and so letters (for
instance the letters (Suad and Ray) appear together in a word, then the word will have such and such
meaning. If,with the passage of time , there is some change in the word, then too, its real meaning can be
gauged through its root which would remain unchanged. This way, one can comprehend what meaning
these words held during the revelation.
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