THAT BOOK = THIS QUR’AAN

A short treatise in refuting a few misunderstandings and misinterpretations about the Qur’aan:

1. Personal interpretation VS. The statements of the Salaf and Mufassireen

2. The Linguistic meaning VS. The Shar`ee meaning

3. Qur’aan is the Speech of Allaah – the decisive evidence

بـسـم الله والحـمـد لله والـصلاة والـسـلام عــلى رسـول الله، وبـعـد

***THAT BOOK = THIS QUR’AAN***

* For those who play with the words that ❝THIS QUR’AAN❝ is not ❝THAT BOOK❞.

* For those who rely on their own deficient understanding of the language instead of relying on the statements of the SALAF.

* For those Arabic teachers in the west who put forth themselves as the Mufassir of the Qur’aan.

*And for those who actually did not read the Tafseer of the very second verse of Surah al-Baqarah from the Imaams of Tafseer.

Allaah تعالى said:

﴿ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ﴾

{This is the Book, whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqeen} [Surah al-Baqarah (2):2]

IMAAM AL-BUKHAAREE رحمه الله reported:

Ma`mar* said: (The Statement of Allaah): ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ {That Book} means ❝This Qur’aan❞, {which is a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqeen}. [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (9/154)]

*He is Abu `Ubaidah, Ma`mar bin al-Muthnaa, the Grammarian.

Imaam al-Dhahabee said about him: He is the Imaam, the Scholar, the Ocean (of knowledge). [Siyar A`laam al-Nubalaa’ (8/152)]

IMAAM IBN JAREER AL-TABAREE رحمه الله said:

Most of the Mufassireen have interpreted the saying of Allaah: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ {That Book} as: ❝This Book❞.

Those who said this are:

* Mujaahid, regarding the statement of Allaah: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ, said: ❝It is this Book❞.

* `Ikrimah said: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ means: ❝This is the Book❞.

* Ibn Juraij said: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ means: ❝This Book❞. Then he said that Ibn `Abbaas رضي الله عنهما said: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ means: ❝This Book❞.

IBN KATHEER رحمه الله said:

Ibn Juraij said: Ibn `Abbaas رضي الله عنهما said: ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ means: ❝This Book❞.

This was also said by Mujaahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`eed bin Jubair, al-Suddee, Muqaatil bin Hayyaan, Zaid bin Aslam and Ibn Juraij that ذَٰلِكَ {That} is with the meaning هذا ❝This❞.

OTHER MUFASSIREEN WHO HELD THIS VIEW ARE:

* Ibn Abi Haatim in his Tafseer.

* al-Farraaa’ in his Tafseer. [al-Farraa’ is another Grammarian of his time and al-Dhahabee reported about him: Ameer al-Mu’mineen fi al-Nahu]

* Ma`mar bin al-Muthnaa in his Tafseer [already quoted earlier].

* Al-Baghawee in his Tafseer.

* Al-Qurtobee in his Tafseer.

* Shaikh al-Sa`dee in his Tafseer.

This sums up some of the Major Mufassireen from the Salaf who were unanimous on this.

[In Shaa Allaah, more will be translated on the actual grammar rule and their evidences which these Mufassireen put forth]

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*** Linguistic meaning or Shar`ee meaning??! ***

• Those who ignore the statements of the Salaf and say that the Qur’aan which we have is not the same as mentioned in Allaah’s statement: ذلك الكتاب

• For those who limit the meaning of the Qur’aan to: ❝that which is recited❞…

In case of the word al-Qur’aan, either one calls it ❝al-Qur'aan❞ or ❝al-Kitaab❞,or ❝al-Mus-haf❞, it is a reference to one and the same:

It has been narrated on the authority of `Abdullaah bin `Umar رضي الله عنهما that: “The Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم used to forbid that one should travel to the land of the enemy taking the QUR’AAN (with him) LEST IT SHOULD FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY.” [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (2990) and Saheeh Muslim (4608) and the wordings are his.]

In this Hadeeth, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم referred to the Qur’aan which is in the Book form, otherwise we know from the Books of Seerah that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had send many of his companions – who had memorized the Qur’aan – as delegations to the lands of the enemies to call them towards Islaam.

Also note that we believe that al-Qur’aan is the speech of Allaah, uncreated.

So stop playing with words! Avoid those who only speak about the linguistic meaning of the word: al-Qur'aan, while ignoring the textual evidences regarding it. Some of the English speakers will only mention the linguistic meaning of the word, while completely ignoring or paying no importance to the Shar`ee meaning. This way they are deceiving the masses.

If we stick to the literal meaning of the word al-Qur’aan to mean something which is recited, then it would also mean that the moment we stop reciting it, it ceases to be al-Qur’aan. Glorified be Allaah! He is free from what they attribute to Him!

In the Deen, one should always analyze the linguistic meaning of the word as well as its Shar`ee (legislative) meaning.

Many words like al-Salaah, al-Zakaah, al-Saum and others have linguistic meaning as well as Shar`ee meaning. For example:

Al-Salaah: Linguistic meaning: The word Salaah has many meaning, but the original meaning of it is al-Du`aa (supplication). As Allaah تعالى says:

﴿ وَصَلِّ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ إِنَّ صَلَاتَكَ سَكَنٌ لَّهُمْ﴾

{and invoke Allaah for them. Verily! Your invocations are a source of security for them} [Surah al-Tawbah (9):103]

Shar`ee meaning: It is the worship of Allaah with specific wordings and actions, which begins with Takbeer and ends with Tasleem.

We ask Allaah تعالى to guide us to the correct understanding of the Deen and to save us from falling into misguidance.

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***QUR’AAN IS THE SPEECH OF ALLAAH – THE DECISIVE EVIDENCE***

For the one who believes that the Qur'aan is created or that it is not the speech of Allaah, then receive the glad tiding of being thrown into the Hell-Fire.

After mentioning about the one who thought that:

﴿إِنْ هَـٰذَا إِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ﴾

{This (Qur'aan) is nothing but the word of a human being!}

Allaah تعالى said:

﴿سَأُصْلِيهِ سَقَرَ﴾

{I will cast him into Hell-fire} [Surah al-Muddaththir (74): 25-26]

It is out of the scope of teaching this subject on social media. Everyone has to take care of their `Aqeedah, when in this time every other English speaker is coming with a dubious way of playing with words, trying to confuse the masses by saying: This Qur'aan is not the Qur'aan etc. etc.

Stick to the scholars and read the books of `Aqeedah - like al-Tahawiyyah and al-Waasitiyyah to name a few.

And Allaah is the One Who grants success.