Generous Tolerance in Islam Hamza Yusuf

7/30/2019 Generous Tolerance in Islam Hamza Yusuf

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Generous Tolerance in Islamand its Effects on the Life of a Muslim

Hamza Yusuf

people in the East and increasingly in the West. It would seem that the concept of sam^a (tolerance) has never been moreimportant than now in our long history as areligious nation .

What is ?

Arabic is a profound and complicated lan-guage. In fact, the inner workings of thislanguage led one Orientalist to claim, Arabicpreserves a higher degree of likeness [thanHebrew] to the original Semitic language. 1

Arabic has retained a remarkable ancientnessto it, revealing in its Quranic period an

extraordinary array of possibility in the seman-tic universe, created by its highly structuredsystem of derivation (ishtiqq ). Most linguistsassert that languages actually lose complexity and vastness (saa ) as they evolve. Due to thepreservation of Arabic, in which the language was in essence frozen in time as a language of revelation, it has retained, in its Quranicform, through the laborious efforts of gram-marians, philologists, and etymologists, apermanence not even granted Koine Greek orBiblical Hebrew. The preservation of its vocab-ulary and the exactness of its meanings, as they have come down through the understandingof pre-Islamic poetry and prose, have enabledus to produce precise glosses of the Islamicterms used by the Quran and the Prophet (Gods peace and blessings upon him). Thismiracle is cogently expressed in the Quransdeclaration: We have indeed revealed the Reminder, and We have promised to preserve and

protect it .2 No other language has this protec-

W e f i n d o u r s e l v e s in a timeof immense conflict and confu-sion, which has led to widespreadunrest and agitationwhat the Arabs term

fitna and ^araj . According to several sound

prophetic traditions, both these qualitiesreflect the state of communities and people inthe latter days. We should not, however, treat them lightly or justify them in some Islamicframework. In the light of recent events, thegreatest tragedy I see is the horrible picture of Islam being presented not simply to Western-ers but peoples all over the world.

Take, for instance, the tragic killing of the

Nepalese Buddhist cooks in Baghdad that ledto the destruction of a four-hundred-year-oldmosque in Nepal, a country wherein Muslimsand Buddhists have coexisted peacefully forcenturies. Both the Maliki and Hanafi schoolshave traditionally accepted jizya and dhimm status from Hindus and Buddhists, as bothreligions possess Books as the foundation of their religions and retain cosmologies sosophisticated as to instill respect and study inthe West with university departments estab-lished solely for the study of these religions.The great scholar al-Birni studied and wroteextensively on both subjects and recognizedthe level of sophistication in the religious tra-ditions of natives of the Indian subcontinent.It is therefore particularly lamentable to seesuch callous and criminal behavior fromdemented individuals, claiming to be adher-ents of Islam, toward guests in their country simply for their adherence to a faith that hascaptured the hearts and minds of millions of


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means to be elevated (al ), smq, in regard totrees and foliage, means to be elevated (irti-

faa wa al wa tla ), and finally, smk means toelevate something (samakahu ay rafaahu

fartafaa ).5

I believe there is a relationship between theroot sm^ , which is primarily glossed by IbnManr and others as generosity ( jd ), andthe other sn and mm root based words,glossed as loftiness: the concept of toleranceis one of the most exalted of human qualitiesand shares a relationship with the heavens. When asked, Which religion is the most beloved to Allah? our Prophet replied,The gentle Abrahamic one ( al-ânafiyya as- samâ ).

Samaâ or asmaâ is to display generosity and nobility (a~ an karamin wa sakh ). Theidea of tolerance comes from samaâ s fourthbase form, smaâ , which is glossed as, to beagreeable with others wishes (wfaqa al al- ma~lb ).6 In his Mujam maqys al-lugha , thephilologist Ibn Fris says, The root sm^ denotes agreeability and easiness (tadullu mdda sm^ al man as-salsa was-suhla ).Salsa in Arabic denotes affability, ease, and

tion, and its greatest testimony is in the preservation of the poetry of the pre-Islamic Arabsand the earliest dictionaries of the Arabs, which are unparalleled in other languages of

equal antiquity. Lexicologists debate themeanings of many words that exist in bothNew and Old Testament texts, and they simply do not know what some of those words mean. While difference of opinion exists overQuranic meanings, those differences exist only to provide more than one possible inter-pretation.

Words in Arabic are based upon trilateralroots and, in many cases, bilateral roots that are then nuanced in meaning with the addi-tion of the third letter. 3 In the case of samâ ,the trilateral root base is sm^ .4 Its root dyad iscomprised of the letters sn and mm . Thereare many trilateral root words comprised of this dyad base, but four that stand out in rela-tionship are sm , smd , smk , and smq . All of thesebase roots relate to elevation and loftiness(al-ulwwu wa as-sumuwwu ). The word for

heaven, sam is taken from the base root sm . In his book, Lisn al-arab , Ibn Manrsays that sm is to be elevated (al ), smd

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malleability (inqiyd ). The Prophet said,The believer is of easygoing and gentle dispo-sition; if he is led, he follows (Al-mumin hayyin layyin idh qda inqada ). The Arabs say, Theanimal was tamed after intractability (Asmaâ an-dbba bada isti|b ay lna wa anqada ). At-

tasm^ is easy travel (as-sayru as-sahl ). Themeaning of al-ânafiyya as-samâ is the reli-gion without any constriction ( \ayq ) in it. Theessence of samâ is an easygoing attitudetoward life and others that does not allow forharshness, intolerance, or fanaticism.

Although the concept of tolerance intodays world is uniquely a European ideafor example, we are taught to tolerate people

who are different from usit is easy to seehow the Arabs, searching for an equivalent word in Arabic, fell upon tasmu^ to expressthe European term tolerance. It is important to recognize that modern Arabic has been pro-foundly affected by English and French due toso many ideas impinging on the mental bor-ders of modern Muslims, especially Arabs. Thisis particularly recognizable among the desert scholars of Mauritania, who, despite theirsuperb mastery of classical Arabic, are almost entirely at a loss in understanding much of what is written today in Arabic newspapers. I was particularly struck when my own teacher,Murbi~ al-ajj, who has written a commentary on the Alfiyya of Ibn Mlik, a sophisticated text on Arabic grammar recognized in Mauritaniafor its excellence, responded to a newspaperarticle I showed him from the Sharq al-awsa~ by asking me, What language is this? WhenI said it was Arabic, he replied, Not any Iam familiar with.

I believe that the concept that is current inmodern Arabic for samâ is more related tothe European concept than many may realize. What is truly ironic is that the very concept of religious tolerance in Europe is a direct result of Ottoman policies in Eastern Europe toward

the Christian sects of Protestantism andUnitarianism. It was a Unitarian prince fromTransylvania who, under the suzerainty of theOttomans Sublime Porte, paved the way forthe end of religious wars in Europe. It causesdisconsolation to realize that the gift Islamgave to the West is now struggling forsurvival in the very lands it originated from when Islam was flour ishing far and wide.

In the Muslim world, the idea of tolerance, asin current usage, was not common. Tolerancetoday is synonymous with acceptance. In the West, a tolerant person is one who acceptsalmost everything unless it is absolutely beyondthe pale, such as murder, theft, or other seriouscrimes. One is expected, in the West, to tolerateeven those things one finds deeply distasteful,such as consumerism, pornography in all its

forms, popular culture, etc. One is expected tobe liberal and display largesse toward suchthings. While this sense of tolerance has not yet spread throughout the Muslim world,there are ongoing efforts to impose such a view upon people.

In order, however, to truly understandtolerance in an Islamic sense, we must first fully grasp the semantic field this word reveals.There are several terms that revolve aroundsamâ , each revealing an aspect of the con-cept itself.

The Semantic FieldIn the Islamic universe of discourse, samâ

is related to the following terms: tashl, taysr, jd, sakh, karam, ln, shahma, |afa^, afw,and îlm.

The first two terms are closely related: tashl (to smoothen) and taysr (facilitation). Tashl comes from a root word sahl , which is a type of terrain that Arabs preferred over all others. It

IT WAS A UNITARIAN PRINCE FROM

TRANSYLVANIA WHO,UNDER THE

SUZERAINTY OF THE OTTOMANS

SUBLIME PORTE, PAVED THE WAY

FOR THE END OF RELIGIOUS WARS IN

EUROPE.


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was smooth, easy riding terrain as opposed todifficult, hard terrain. The Arabs expresstheir love for this type of terrain in their warmest greeting to the guest: Ahlan wa sahlan , which, in other words, is to say, Youhave found family and smooth traveling from

here on out. Taysr is one of the most impor-tant words related to samâ . Yusr is ease andfacilitation. It is what God wants for humani-ty from the religion itself: Yurdu bikum al-yusr, wa l yurdu bikum al-usr (He wishes ease for you, and He does not wish difficulty for

you ).7 It stands in juxtaposition to usr or dif-ficulty, which is another type of derivativerelationship. (Both words share the letters sn

and r but differ in the fa letter: ain and y). A hadith states, Yassir wa l tuassir (Facilitate and do not complicate). All five of the golden principles of Islamic jurispru-dence relate ultimately to the concept of samâ , further illustrating the idea that Islam is truly the gentle religion (al- ânafiyya as-samâ ).

The first principle is Affairs are deter-

mined by their ends and aims( Al-umr bi-maq|idih ). The ultimate aim of the entiresacred law, according to our u|l scholars, isAccruement of benefit and avoidance of harm ( Jalb al-ma|li^ wa dari al-mafsid ).Because the primary concern is human bene-fit, matters that concern individuals andsocieties will always be viewed with the idea of facilitating human affairs to achieve their

worldly and otherworldly benefits.The second principle is Harm must be

removed (A\-\arar yuzl ). This principle alsoindicates the need to facilitate human matters,both individual and societal.

The third principle is Customs are afford-

ed legal status (Al-da muâkkama ), inrecognition of different peoples practices andcultures. While this principle works both waysin practice, it nonetheless recognizes humandifferences and thus is related to samâ .

The fourth principle, Certainty is not removed by doubt (Al-yaqn l yuzlu bi sh- shakk ), facilitates many human transactionsthat might otherwise be hindered by human

frailty.Finally, the fifth principle is Difficulties

demand facilitation ( Al-mashaqqatu tajlb at- taysr ). This principle sums up much of what samâ is about. All the aforementioned prin-ciples and many of the others that follow fromthem are arrived at based upon the idea of facilitation and a preservation of human rela-tionships, which the sacred law clearly strives

to maintain.Generosity is another aspect of samâ , which, in essence, is a means by which oneperson facilitates something for another or which strengthens the bonds between them.Generosity is ease with ones being and proper-ty. The Arabs say, Generosity is with what isavailable (Al-jd bil-mawjd ). This contains aprofound aspect of samâ . Even a smile is an

Hamza Yusuf was born in Washington State and raised in Northern Cali-

fornia. After becoming Muslim in 1977 , he pur- sued a rigorous course of studies abroad in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, as

well as North and West Africa, acquiring teaching licenses in various Islamic subjects from several well-

known scholars in those regions. After ten years of studies overseas, he returned to the United States and obtained degrees in religious studies and health care. He soon

became an international speaker on various topics related to Islam and Muslims and is the first American lecturer to teach in Moroccos prestigious and oldest university, the Karaouine in Fes. In 1996 , he co-founded Zaytuna Institute, which has established an international reputation for presenting classical Islam in the West. In addition, he has translated into modern

English several Arabic traditional texts and poems. His published works include The Content of Character:Ethical Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad and

Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Curesfor the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart. He resides in Northern California with his wife and five children.


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act of generosity: A smile in the face of yourbrother is charity, said the Prophet . A kind word is also an act of generosity. Islam encour-ages this type of samâ , which is in anyonespower, rich or poor, weak or strong, humble or

high. Both the injunction as well as acting uponthe injunction display the essence of samâ .

Two words are used in dictionaries to convey the aspect of generosity insamâ : jd andsakh . According to Ab Hill al-Askar inal-

Furq al-lughawiyya , the difference betweenthe two is that sakh is a type of generosity in which a man is easygoing with people who askhim for help ( yalnu al-insn indas-sul ), and

he facilitates the needs of those seeking help.The Arabs say, soft earth (al-ar\ sakhwiyya ay layyina ). Jd , on the other hand, is generosity that flows without the recipient of the generos-ity needing to ask for it. For that reason, God isconsidered Jawd but not Sakh , for His gen-erosity flows without our asking. Thus, one who is characterized withsamâ is both gen-erous without having to be asked and soft-hearted and compassionate when sought afterfor help. 8

Another related term is luyna , whichimplies easiness, softness, and gentility indisposition. The Prophet reportedly said,The believer is gentle and soft (Al-muminu hayyinun layyinun ). This quality is an aspect of samâ . The Quran says, It was a mercy

from your Lord that you were made gentle for them,and had you been harsh and hard-hearted, they

would have dispersed from around you. So, pardon them, seek forgiveness for them [from your Lord] ,and consult them in important matters. 9

Commenting on this verse, Imam al-Bur|aw,says,

The use of the particle m before the wordmercy (ra^ma ) is to add further emphasison the mercy; in other words, due toimmense mercy ( ra^ma ama ) from God.This mercy is in the fact that the Prophet was specifically given a gentle disposition( layyin al-jnib ) toward humanity. [He]treated them with compassion and careeven though they often treated him withcruelty, harshness, and disobedience andoften turned him over to his enemies. 10

Furthermore, the meaning of harsh and hard-

hearted ( faan ghal al-qalb ) indicates twoqualities absent in the Prophets character:bad manners and harshness. One can be well-mannered with a cruel heart, and one can beill-mannered with a compassionate heart, but the Prophet had both impeccable characterin his outward behavior and true compassionin his inward disposition, as his heart was filled with mercy.

Imam al-Bur|aw goes on to say about theProphet ,

Had he been harsh and hard-hearted,knowing that adherence to his practice isan obligation and that abandoning him isdisbelief, how would people have beenexpected to have followed him had he spo-ken harsh words and had a hard heart? Why should they have obeyed him or followed

him? Gentleness in speech always has amore penetrating effect on the heart (anfad- hu fil-qulb ) and is quicker to achieve aresponse ( asrau il ijba ) and more con-ducive to obedience ( ada il a~-~a ). Forthat reason, God commanded Moses and Aaron to Go to Pharaoh and speak gently tohim (Idhhab il Firaun innahu tagha fa qul lahu qawlan layyin ) ( 20:34 ). However,one should remember that gentleness andcompassion are to be used if doing so doesnot lead to the neglect of divine rights upon

IF THE MESSENGER s WAS

HARD-HEARTED, PEOPLE WOULD

HAVE FLED FROM HIS PRESENCE,

AND THAT IS WHY SCHOLARS

AND IMAMS SHOULD FOLLOW

THE PROPHET s IN

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men. If, however, it does not lead to honor-ing divine rights, then it is not permissible.

For instance, God says, O Prophet, strive against the kuffr and the hypocrites, and be

hard on them. Their abode is hell; and what a

miserable destination (9:73 ). In regards tothe punishment of adultery, God says, The adulteress and the adulterer are each to be

whipped a hundred strokes; and dont let com-

passion for them overcome you, where it concerns

obedience to God, if you believe in God and the

last day (24:2 ). In the final analysis, theQuran is calling to a middle positionbetween neglect and excess ( ifr~ andtafr~ ), which are both blameworthy (madhmm ). Virtue is a mean between twoextremes, so there are times when gentle-ness is enjoined, and others when severity is enjoined, in order to achieve a properbalance between the two, which is thestraight path ( |ir~ al-mustaqm ). For that reason, God has praised moderation in the verse, We have made you a moderatenation (W kadhlika jaalnkum ummatan

wasa~an ). One should know that the entirepurpose of the Revelation and the role of the Messenger is to convey the responsibil-ities that God has placed upon humanity.This purpose would never be achieved if hearts were not inclined toward theMessenger and minds quieted by his pres-ence; and this would never be achievedunless the Messenger was noble and merci-

ful (karm wa ra^m ). He had to have beensomeone who overlooked their shortcom-ings and forgave their breeches of comportment and their transgressions. 11

Finally, Imam al-Bur|aw points out a tragicfact regarding the Islamic scholars of the laterperiod:

If the Messenger was hard-hearted,people would have fled from his presence,and that is why scholars and imams shouldfollow the Prophet in that aspect.

Peoples religious commitment is only asgood as those they follow, both inwardly

and outwardly. Unfortunately, of late, it isquite rare to find scholars and shaykhs whoare characterized by high ethical behaviorand beautiful comportment, unless they are among those whom God hasprotected! 12

Karam is a profound word that means bothgenerosity and nobility. The pre-Islamic Arabs conflated the two concepts. A nobleman was generous, and a generous man wasnoble. They were interchangeable in that sense. But karam also indicates dignity. For

instance, We have ennobled or dignified the Children of Adam.13 This is an important quali-ty of samâ , the idea of nobility in thegenerous act.

Qadi Iy\ says in theShif ,

As for jd , karam , sakh , and samâ , allshare similar meanings. Samâ is theforegoing of ones rights out of concern forothers with a good disposition (at-tajfi

amma yastaîqqu al-maru inda ghairihi bi~bi nafsihi ). It is the opposite of shaksa .Shaksa is a malicious disposition, quite theopposite of karam or samâ . Someone whois argumentative is called shkis in Arabic.The Quran says, God strikes the parable of a man over whom a plurality of partners are wran-

gling and a man secure in service to one man: are

the two equal in comparison? Praise be to God!

But most of them do not know . (39:29 )14

The characteristic of easygoingness isfurther emphasized in the tractability of a per-son who embodies samâ , as opposed todisputation and surliness ( shaksa ). TheQuran reminds us, after declaring that hu-man beings are one family, The noblest in Gods sight are the most conscientious .15 This could alsobe understood as, The most tolerant of you

are the most God-conscious (Inna asmaâkum indaLlhi atqkum ). The foundation of Islam istaqw , which is an awareness of God that leads


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to karam and samâ . The Quran says, God will grant whoever has taqw a criterion ( furqn ).16 It

is this furqn that enables a person to know when to be soft and when to be hard.

and Vastness Another extremely important aspect of

samâ is the concept of vastness (saa ). Oneof the many meanings of samâ is to per-mit, and the concept of vastness isembedded in that. Imam al-Fayruzabd says

in the Mu^t , Surely in it is copious room(Inna fhi lamasmaân, ay muttasaan ).17 IbnManr says among the meanings used is aflexible bow (qaws samâ ), which is theopposite of kazza . According to Ibn Manr,kazaz is glossed, that which does not relax( l yanbasi~ ), as in a contorted face ( wajhun kazz ), an intractable camel ( jamalun kazz ), ora rigid man ( rajulun kazz ). Interestingly, healso glosseskazz as miserliness. Sokazza (atype of inflexibility, constriction, and rigidity)is related to the inability to spend ones wealth generously. As was mentioned, amongthe meanings of al-ânafiyya as-samâ is thereligion without constraint or rigidity (ad-dn alladhi laysa fhi \ayqun ). The concept of con-striction and its removal is also at the root of the sacred law of Islam. The Prophet cameto remove constriction, and, in many verses,

he is told not to become constricted. Forinstance, the Quran says, Calmly endure what they say, and remember Our servant David, the

strong; he was always turning to God .18 TheQuran also says,

And if you inflict punishment, then inflict punishment equivalent to the vengeance wrought on

you: but if you are patient, that is certainly best

for those who are patient. So be patient; though

your patience is only through God. And do not

grieve over them, and do not be depressed by what-

ever they connive; for God is with those who

are conscientious and those who do good .19

The description that God ascribes to a believeris one whose breast has been expanded by God;contrariwise, the one who rejects truth is constricted in his breast as if moving into higher altitudes .20

In their greetings of welcome, the Arabs say,Marâban , which means, You have plenty of room. The idea of making room for others isdeeply rooted in the idea of samâ . TheQuran says, Believers, when you are told to make room in assemblies, then make room; God will make room for you. And when you are told to rise, then rise; God will raise in ranks the believers among you and those to whom knowledge is given. And God is aware of what you do .21 This is a profound example of the hadith, The believer is gentle and pliant(hayyinun layyinun )in other words samûn if he is prevailed upon, he obliges (idh qda anqad ). The import of If he is prevailed upon,

he obliges in no way refers to a sheepishnessor lack of discrimination but rather to the very meaning revealed in the above verse. If he is

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asked to do something to benefit others, suchas make room in a gathering, he complies with good cheer.

Once, in Medina, along with the eruditescholar, Shaykh Muâmmad al-Mukhtr ash-Shinq~, I entered the mosque of the Prophet

; we approached the prayer line and foundsome space that needed to be expanded by the people sitting to the two sides of it. Whenthe Shaykh attempted to sit down, one mangrowled, The place is constricted (al-makn \ayyiq ). To this, the Shaykh replied, The con-striction is not in the place but in the heart.This is wonderfully illustrated in the follow-ing famous Arabic verses:

Raâb ul-falti maa al-adi \ayyiqatun

|ammu ul-khiy~i maa al-a^bbi maydnu.

With enemies a vast field is constrained,but among lovers the eye of a needle is a vast field.

And

Li amruka m \qat ar\un bi ahlih

wa lkin akhlq ar-rijli ta\qu.

Lands are not cramped by their people,but the character of their people cancramp.

Muslims traditionally were a welcomingpeople, filled with hospitality. Even thepre-Islamic Arabs disdained those who dis-honored their guests; the Arabs would makeroom for their guests, opening not simply their homes but their hearts. The believersheart, a vast space that encompasses knowl-edge of the One whose Throne encompassesthe heavens and the earth, is big enough forall when filled with faith. The idea of allowingroom for others is not simply of providingthem with physical space, as is indicated by the verse, Believers, when you are told to make room in your assemblies, make room ,22 but it includes a psychological space in the assem-

blies of ones mind. To make room for others,even those who do not look or think likeus, is to be generoussmi^ liberal, vast.

Immediately after the Verse of the Throne 23 inthe Quranwhich better than any other verse describes the vastness of Gods Throne,encompassing the heavens and the earth, indi-cating that the vastness of God is simply not humanly possible to either grasp or contem-

platewe are told, There is no compulsion in the religion .24 This great gift from Godfaithitself and an adherence to what faith entailsis given without coercion for those who seek it.For those who do not seek it, like GodsThrone, God is vast; He allows them room tomove physically, intellectually, and spiritually.This is the idea of samaâ , which is to permit,the opposite of which is to refuse or to with-

hold (manaa ). The Arabs say, Isma^ l (Permit me). This religion is indeed al- ânafiyya as-samâ , the permitting religion,the generous religion, the soft religion,the easy religion.

The Prophet was asked, What is faith?and he replied, Patience and generosity ( a|- |abru was- samâ ). The Prophets patienceand generosity is attested to again and again by

his response to cruelty, hardship, and persecu-tion. Never did he allow a desire for revenge toinfluence his decision. When his humanity revealed itself momentarily, as in the case whenthe idolaters at Uhud had split his head, caus-ing blood to flow, and had broken his tooth(rabiyatahu ), he justifiably cried, How can apeople flourish who split their Prophets headand break his tooth, while he is calling them toGod, the Sublime? (Kayfa yufliû qawmun shajj rasa nabiyyihim wa kasar rabiyatahu wa huwa yadhum ilaLlhi tal? ) To this, Godresponded, You have nothing to do with the decision of whether God relents toward them or punishes themfor they are wrongdoers. To God belongs everything that is in the heavens and the earth: God

forgives whom God wills and God punishes whom God wills; and God is most forgiving and most merci-

ful .25 This verse clearly indicated to the

Prophet that these people would be forgivenfor even such a heinous act as persecuting aprophet, and, at this point, he prayed, O God,


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forgive my people, for they know not what they do. All of this indicates the Prophets immensegenerosityhis samâ . He embraced his world in spite of some peoples initial revulsionat his call, but, eventually, due to his persever-ance and forbearance, they too embraced him.

The essence of samâ is good character.The Prophet said, I was sent only to per-fect noble character. He embodied what isnoble in man and what makes him worthy of being a vicegerent of God on earth. TheProphet taught this character not throughpreaching but through his behavior. Hisfriends and enemies alike saw in him theembodiment of all that he brought. He was

the Quran walking.

and its Relationship to Forbearance( )Of all the concepts related to samâ , none

is more profound in its impact and lasting in itseffects than forbearance ( îlm ). It is theânafiyya samâ that came to replace the jhili milieu of pre-Islamic Arabia. The Prophet

was described as the most forbearing of men(a^lama an-ns ). The word for tolerance in Arabic is usually translated astasmu^ , which isfrom the root sm^ . One of the meanings inEnglish for tolerance is medical: the ability to withstand the effects of a drug. In Arabic, the word used is i^timl from the root ^ml . The wordsâmala and âlama are related in Arabicthrough the greater derivation. amala means to bear something or to carry some-thing. Something physical may be carried, asin the carrier of firewood (âmmlat al-â~ab ),or the object can be metaphorical, as in thebearer of the Quran ( ^mil al-Qurn ), whichis based upon the Quranic verse, We will thrust upon you a weighty word.26 I^tamala is to bearanother persons behavior. What is unusualabout the word âlama , however, is its founda-tional meanings, which are to come of age

and to dream. aluma is glossed as reachingpuberty. ulm is a dream. Mu^talim issomeone who has reached puberty and is now

responsible. ilm is intellect as well as for-bearance. The idea of tolerance and intellect are inextricably bound in the language, indicat-ing that the one who is not tolerant is not intelligent.

There are some other interesting words

derived from ^lm , such asâlama , which meansfoliage that grows in soft and flat areas(nabtun yanbutu fis-sahl ). Another intriguingdefinition of the word âlama is nipple (rasu ath-thadyi ). According to Ab Hill, it is so-called because a mother uses it to subdue herinfant ( yuâllimu a~-~ifl ). Furthermore, Ibelieve, it indicates the profound relationshipamong wet-nursing, the development of a

healthy intellect ( îlm ), and the vital impor-tance of the first stage of development that Erikson referred to as the phase of Trust ver-sus Mistrust. An infant in a disquieted statefinds immediate calm in simply latching on tothe mothers breast and sucking ( iltiqtahu ath- thadya wa imtissahu iyyh ). If a mother or a wet-nurse is always available for the child dur-ing the formative two years that the Quran

recommends an infant be nursed, then a child will move into the next phase without anxiety and distrust about caregivers.

In the West, there is a reference to the milkof human kindness, which most likely refersto the transmission of îlm through theâlama . The Prophets wet-nurse is known asalma as-Sadiyya, and scholars have oftenremarked that the names of those associated with the Prophets early years are not fortu-itous.

Another word derived from ^lm is ^lim , which means a dreamer, indicating that adream can only take place in undisturbedsleep. Also,alm is a name of God, glossed asPatient with the transgressions of His servants(a|-abr ). Imam al-Ghazl says about thisdivine attribute, Al-alm is the One who seesthe transgressions of wrongdoers and His own

commands flagrantly disregarded but is not unseated by anger ( l yastafizzuhu gha\ab ), noris He overcome with rage (l yatrihi ghay). 27


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Imam ab Hill al-Askar says,

The one who ignores oppression is not con-sidered âlm , but rather the Arabs say, aluma anhu, if one delays taking anoth-er to account, or if one pardons another forsome wrong (akhkhara iqbahu aw af anhu ). If, however, a man chooses punish-ment for the one who wronged him, he isconsidered just in doing so. Some say theopposite of îlm (forbearance) is safa (impudence and insolence).The word saf is used in the Quran to refer to fools as wellas children, again enforcing the idea that forbearance ( îlm ) is a sign of maturity andintellect. The verse states, If the one who has the right due to him is a child (Inkna allad- h alayhi al-âqqu safhan ). ( 2:282 )28

When some among the Children of Israelasked Mosese to see God, the earth shook.Moses e exclaimed, Had You [God] willed,You could have destroyed us before. Will You destroy us for what our fools have done? It is only a tribulation from You that You cause through it some to stray and others to be guided .29 Mosese requestedGod to forego any collective punishment dueto the sins of a few. The rhetoricians call thetype of question Moses e asked istifhm isti~f ; in other words, he was saying, Do not punish us for others sins. God punishes apeople when the community does not con-demn injustices outwardly. The Quran states, Fear calamities that dont simply afflict the wrongdoers among you.30 It is due to Godsforbearance ( îlm ) that we walk the earth. TheQuran also states, Had God taken humanity to account for its wrongs, no creature would be walking the earth. 31 Since God treats people basedupon how they treat others, the most impor-

tant qualities to inculcate in our attitude andtreatment of others are îlm and samâ .

Imam Mlik relates in the Muwa~~a that Jesus, the Son of Mary d , said,

Do not speak much without rememberingGod, for in not doing so, your hearts will

harden. Surely, a hard heart is far fromGod, and you are not even aware.Moreover, do not look at the sins of othersas if you are masters, but rather look to your own sins as if you are servants. For,surely, humanity is of two types: thoseafflicted with sins and those who are not.So have mercy on those afflicted with sins,and praise God if you are free of them. 32

Imam Zarqn comments on this:

Looking at our own sins as if we were servants means to fear that our masters willcome to know of the sins. Humanity iseither sinful, and thus in tribulation, or sin-less, and thus in an innocent state. Havingmercy on those tribulated with sin meansto pray for them (that their sins areremoved), to not examine their sins orexpose them, and to counsel them withgentleness and kindness. 33

This is one aspect of samâ and îlm : agenerosity of spirit and an ability to bearothers shortcomings out of compassion. Noone was greater in this capacity than theMessenger of God .

and the Removal of its EffectsPrior to Islam, Arabian society is referred

to in the Quran as jhiliyya . Quranic exegetesput forward two views as to why this is so: one view states that it was an age of ignorance, andthus the word jhiliyya is derived from its pri-mary root word, jahl , which is glossed,ignorance. The second view has it that the word is derived from jahla , which is inappro-priate reactions to excitement in any given

situation (an yufal m l aqq an yuf al ), andinstead of being the opposite of knowledge(ilm ), as in the case of ignorance ( jahl ), it is

HAVING MERCY ON THOSE TRIBULATED

WITH SIN MEANS TO PRAY FOR THEM

(THAT THEIR SINS ARE REMOVED),

TO NOT EXAMINE THEIR SINS OR

EXPOSE THEM .


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the opposite of forbearance ( ^ilm ). A line of poetry by Amr b. al-Bhil illustrates thisaspect of the word in a poem about the gen-erosity of his people:

Wa duhmin tu|dih al-walidu jillatin

idh jahilat ajwfuh lam ta^lami.

Large black pots our girls cajoled,then they boiled ( jahilat ) and neverquieted down.

Here, the poet used jahl as a metaphor forpots boiling over and never quieting down dueto the constant hospitality of the hosts. Jahl wasa type of response expected of a pre-Islamic Arab when slighted. He had to display rage and

vehemence in the face of the slight and useexcessive force against his perceived object of animosity. If he did not, he was not honorable.To show weakness was to display inferiority.

One very striking aspect of the word jhiliyya in the Quran is that it is mentioned only fourtimes, and each time, it nuances the full mean-ing of a jhili culture giving a comprehensiveunderstanding that encompasses all of the ele-

ments of a jhili people and their culture.

Four Types of The first type of jhiliyya is that of under-

standing. The Quran states,

Then calm descended upon you after your afflic-

tion, as slumber enveloped a party of you, while

another party was anxiously preoccupied with

themselves, supposing about God unjustified

suppositions of jhiliyya.They said, Have we anything to do with this

matter?

Say: The matter is entirely Gods alone.

They conceal in their hearts what they will never

reveal to you.

They say, Had we anything to do with the mat-

ter, we would not have lost lives here. 34

What is understood here about jhiliyya is a

state of mind cogently revealed in these verses.The jhili mind is preoccupied with itself tothe exclusion of others and at the cost of trust

in God. The jhili mind is ignorant of God andthinks ill of God. According to a hadith, Godstates, I am in the opinion of My servant, so let him think of Me as he will. Should he thinkgood, he will find good, and should he thinkill, he will find ill. The jhili mind is desirous of

control and dislikes others deciding matters,even if the one deciding is more qualified. Theremark of the jhils in the verse above, Have we anything to do with this matter? is in responseto the fact that the Prophet decided to takeother peoples counsel concerning whetherthe fighters should defend Medina from insidethe city or move out to meet the aggressors.The jhili mind is dissembling and double-

hearted. In addition, as seen in their finalstatement in the above verse, the jhili mind isfoolish and obsessed with how things shouldhave been as opposed to how they are and what we can therefore do about them practical-ly. Their obsession about how things shouldhave gone leads to personal consternation anddisquietude. Engaging in Had we only donethis or that, they refuse to simply deal with the

circumstances and recognize that the past isirreparable. The Prophet said, Do not say,if only, for if only opens the door for Satanto enter.

The second type of jhiliyya is that of socialorganization or community. Because the jhili mind is disquieted and in a state of disequilibri-um, the social structures and institutions that it chooses will reflect that state. The Quran says,

[God] commands you to judge between them with what God has revealed, and do not follow

their vain desires. And beware of them lest they

seduce you away from some of what God has

revealed to you. So if they turn away, know that

God intends to punish them for some of their sins.

And most people are rebellious. It is the judgment

of the time of jhiliyya that they are seeking. But

for a people whose faith is assured, who can give

better judgment than God? 35

The pre-Islamic period was one of revenge,tribalism, bloodshed, racism, usury, oppres-


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sion, subjugation of women and poor people,and arrogance. Such preconceived views of the world determined how these people would judge. Because they were so divorcedfrom their nature, even the considerations of natural law were not informing their judg-

ments. Neither sam^a nor ^ilm had any bearing upon their judgments.

The third type of jhiliyya is that whichrelates more specifically to women, thoughnot exclusively. Speaking to the wives of theProphet , the Quran says,

Dont be so submissive in your speech that those

whose hearts are afflicted will feel lust. Rather,

speak with civility and comportment. And settle

down in your homes, and dont show off in pub-

lic as was done in the displays of jhiliyya .36

These verses delineate the jhili woman. Sheacquiesces to men without thought, leadingto misunderstandings. She wishes to revealherself and display her ornaments in public,desiring to be attractive to everyone. Thisbehavior is the result of being raised in a jhili

culture, where her true nature is neitherrespected nor nurtured. This is pronounced-ly clear in the following verses:

Does God take daughters from what God creates

and favor you with sons? When one of you is

told the good news of the birth of a daughter that

you liken to the Merciful, his face darkens, and

he is filled with repressed disappointment. Is it

that one who is brought up in ornaments and

jewelry and who can scarcely speak [be attrib-uted to God]? 37

These profound verses reveal the heart of the jhili male-female crisis. Simply stated, jhili men prefer boys to girls, although they attrib-ute girls to God! They are disappointed with adaughter, even if they conceal their dismay.This hidden attitude is revealed in the jhili mans attitude toward his daughters and

women in general: a girl is raised in orna-ments and jewelry, treated as an appendage tomen. Because the culture views her as inferior

to men, she must be enhanced and augmentedby trinkets and makeup, or, in modern society,breast implants. Interestingly, Islamic law, while permitting makeup for womens person-al use in the house and among relatives andspouses, prohibits its use outside of the house

in the larger society.This outward obsession with how a girl looks

and the pressure to be appealing physically forthe mens sake results in an underdevelopedsense of self and assurance, which, in turn,often leads to an inability to formulate andarticulate individual assessments of situationsand personal views about them. The Quranindicates, as certain segments of modern socie-

ty do, that this is entirely a social construct andnot a true reflection of reality. When treated asindividuals with complete natures and hon-ored, women grow to be fully formedintellectual and spiritual beings, who have spir-itual advantages over men in certain ways.

Finally, the fourth type of jhiliyya refers tothe jhili man. The Quran says,

Those who rejected the truth put fanaticism in

their hearts, the fanaticism of the jhiliyya, but God bestowed upon the Messenger and the believ-

ers His Shechinah (Sakna), and imposed upon

them the sentence of conscience, of which they

were most worthy and deserving. And God knows

all things. 38

Two qualities emerge in the jhili man: arefusal to accept the truth when presented tohim and a response that reveals the extent of his spiritual blindness. His response is one of zeal, obstinacy, and fanaticism. He is intoler-ant and condemnatory toward those whooppose him. He is a man driven by passion. Heis impetuous, without self-constraint. If slight-ed, his response is entirely out of proportion tothe slight. He has no sense of forbearance orlargesse. He views such noble sentiments as weakness. He surrenders to the whims of his

violent nature and repays a wrong with agreater wrong. The jhili poet Amru binKulthm wonderfully describes the jhili man


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in his famous ode:

Al l yalamul-aqwmu ann

ta\a\an wa ann qad wann.

Al l yajhalan aâdun alayn

fanajhala fawqa jahlil-jhilna.

Let not a soul reckon that weredefeated or war drive us to the stake.Should anyone make fools of us,much greater fools of them we make. 39

All of these four elements make up a jhili culture and society. The absence of generosity of spirit (samâ ), patience, and forbearance(îlm ) leads to disequilibrium and a loss of pur-

pose. The aims and ends of human society arelost, and the lowest qualities of man prevail.

The Quranic chapter al-Qa|a| contains a wonderful description of those who desire tohave none of the jhili qualities. God says,

Yet We have caused the Word to reach them, that

they may be reminded. Those to whom We sent the

Book before this, they believe in it. And when it is

recited to them, they say, We believe in it, for it is

the truth from our Lord; indeed, we were Muslims before this came. They will be given

their reward twice, for being patient, and for

averting evil by good, and for giving from what

We have provided them. And when they hear

vain talk, they turn away from it and say, Our

deeds to us, your deeds to you. Peace upon you! W e do not seek after ignorant ones ( jhiln ).40

These verses delineate the qualities of those

who are seeking to distance themselves from what makes one a jhili person. By looking at the opposite of these noble qualities, we candiscern a summation of the jhili person:

1. He rejects the truth when he hears it.2. He was not a good person before the

truth came and thus does not recognizeit as an affirmation and clarification of what he already understood to be true.

3. He is impatient and rash.4. He returns a wrong with a wrong like it.5. He is niggardly with the bounties his

Lord has bestowed upon him.6. He engages in empty, vain talk.7. He concerns himself in the matters of

others.8. He is proud to be associated with other

jhili people like himself.

This is the jhili man that a jhili culture pro-duces.

In the midst of such a culture came Islam.The Prophet Muâmmad refused to sanc-tion such attitudes and behaviors. He alteredthe peoples concept of self and self-interest by first changing the way they thought about the world, thus treating the first type of jhiliyya ,

that of worldview. He began to introduce new criteria for judging peoples and conditionsand introduced the novel idea that people werecreated equal.

Prior to the modern era, there is no knownhistorical documentation wherein any worldleader or figure denounced racism as theProphet did when he said, Humanity isequal like the teeth of a comb, and, All of you

are from the same parents. There is no prefer-ence of a black man over a white man or a whiteman over a black man except in conscientious-ness. The Prophet also introduced fairtrade, prohibited usury and unfair lendingpractices, prohibited abuse of servants, andgave rights to women and children.

The Prophet Muâmmad was also thefirst human being to introduce humane rulesof engagement in war, including the prohibi-tion of attacks on non-combatants. Even theChristian medieval period maintained rules of engagement only for wars among Christians, which they termed bellum hostile . For warsagainst Muslims, infidels, and barbarians,known as bellum romanum , the rule was bellum licit : All is lawful in war. Sven Lindqvist, in hisbook A History of Bombing , writes,

It was Abu Hanifa, a leading legal expert of Persian origin, the founder of a school of law in Baghdad, who first forbade the


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killing of women, children, the elderly,the sick, monks and other non-combat-ants. He also condemned rape and thekilling of captives. A legal expert inBaghdad, [he] attempted to make warmore humane by setting forth rules that

were not accepted in Europe until severalcenturies laterrules that were still not accepted, in any case not practiced, whencolored people were involved.41

In fact, it was Ab anfa who first codifiedthese rules in a legal system, but all of the rules were taken from injunctions given by theProphet Mu^ammad himself .

The Prophet forbade revenge killing, which was common among Arabs, by intro-ducing to the Arabs the Judaic concept of lex talionis , or law of retaliation, which is a law of equal and direct retribution to be adminis-tered only by legitimate government authorities. This was a radical departure fromthe jhili practice of blood vengeance( thaar ), which permitted an Arab tribesmanto kill any member of another tribe for taking

the life of his own kinsman. If a tribe consid-ered itself superior to the offendingtribewhich tribes often dida tribesman would take more than one life to exact what he perceived to be just retribution. This, inturn, led to a hostile response from the vic-tims tribesmen, and thus the cycles of violence kept revolving. The Quran states,And if anyone is killed unjustly, We have given his

next of kin a certain authority [to demand resti-tution of the wrong from the government];but he should not be excessive in the retribution, for the victim is aided also .42

More importantly, however, the Quranintroduced to the Arabs a higher law, that of Jesus the Son of Mary d , which encouragedthe victims family to pardon the wrong:

And We prescribed in the Torah for the Children

of Israel: a life for a life, and an eye for an eye,and a nose for a nose, and an ear for an ear, and

a tooth for a tooth, and injuries in retaliation;

but if anyone forgoes retribution for charity, that

is an expiation for his own wrongs. And those

who do not judge by what God has revealed, they

are the ones being unjust. And We caused Jesus

the Son of Mary to follow [this law] verifying what was in the Torah, but we amended it with

the Gospel with guidance and light .43

This profound new discourse shook the jhili culture of seventh-century Arabia to its core.The ones who most benefited from jhiliyya ,the cultural and financial elites, were theProphets greatest enemies, and his support came largely from the greatest victims of thesystem. According to the Quran, this is thenature of the world, and far from being a

departure from previous prophetic experi-ences, the response of the Prophets people was no different from earlier peoples to theirprophets.

An interesting response in the Quran tothe divine forbearance toward the polytheistsand their exploitative attitudes and repressiveresponses to the Prophets mission and hispeople is to remind them that they should not hasten the retribution of God, for if they want it, it will surely come. The arrogance of theMeccans was such that they viewed their ability to persecute the Prophet as a proof that God was not on the side of the Prophet , for if He

was, they thought, then surely He would cometo the Prophets aid by destroying them. They could not see the divine forbearance of al-

THE PROPHET s FORBADE

REVENGE KILLING,WHICH WAS

COMMON AMONG ARABS, BY

INTRODUCING TO THE ARABS

THE JUDAIC CONCEPT OF LEXTALIONIS ,

OR LAW OF RETALIATION,WHICH IS

A LAW OF EQUAL AND DIRECT

RETRIBUTION TO BE ADMINISTERED

ONLY BY LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT

AUTHORITIES.


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alm granting them respite that perhaps they might repent . They viewed the Prophets ownforbearance in the face of their increasingly menacing and hostile attacks as weakness. Hisnon-violence and patience was, in their eyes, asign of his inferior position, for in their world,

might made right, and the weak were sobecause of their own inherent inferiority.

The jhili man is blinded. His self-assuredconfidence in his way of life and in his opinionsand desires beguiles him into thinking that what applies to others does not apply to him.He fails to see the lessons of the past. TheQuran says,

And how many communities have We ruined as

they were being unjust, so they tumbled down to

their foundations; and how many wells lie aban-

doned where castles still stand! Havent they

traveled in the earth, that they may have hearts to

understand, or ears to hear? Surely it is not their

eyes that are blind; what are blind are the hearts

that are in their breasts .44

Due to their arrogance and zealous pride, the

jhili people fail to see the lessons of injusticefrom history. They are spiritually illiterate andcannot read the writing on the wall. They mock and scoff derisively, asking the Prophet to call on his Lord to hasten their punish-ment:

Though they urge you to hasten the penalty, God

never breaks a commitment. And one day to your

Lord is like a thousand years by your estimation.

And how many communities have We let be even as they were doing wrong, and then We pun-

ished them! And the journey is to Us .45

Islam, the religion of submission, the reli-gion of generosity and forbearance came toreplace jhiliyya . However, according to somecommentaries of the Quran, the Quranspeaks of a second jhiliyya that would replacethe qualities of Islam that the Prophet

brought. The Quran uses the term former jhiliyya (jhiliyyat al-la)in the verse, Dont show off in public as was done in the former

jhiliyya.Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Kha~~b asked Ibn

Abbs, Have you thought about the verse, Dont show off in public as was done in the former [first] jhiliyya , that was directed at the wivesof the Prophet ? Do you think that jhiliyya

here refers to more than one?Ibn Abbs answered, Have you ever heard

of a first without a last?Qadi ab Bakr ibn al-Arabi relates that, Ibn

Abbs said, There will be another jhiliyya .It has also been related that the first jhiliyya period was the time between Jesus andMu^ammad d .46 Imam an-Nasaf says, in hiscommentary of the Quran, A possible mean-

ing of the first jhiliyya is the state of disbelief before Islam, and the latter jhiliyya is that of disobedience and corruption in Islam. 47 ImamZamakhshar says, It is feasible that the former

jhiliyya is disbelief before Islam, and the latteris the disregard of Islams injunctions in Islam,as if the meaning is, Do not introduce a jhiliyya in Islam that resembles the jhi liyya of dis-belief [prior to Islam]. 48

The Muslim world has entered into a sec-ond jhiliyya period. The same assumptions of the past; the institutions of the past; the behav-ior of the women and their empty pursuits of spangles in place of spirit, and display andornament in place of modesty and depth; thezeal of nationalism, tribalism, vengeance, andlack of introspection that were the hallmarksof the jhili man now prevail throughout theMuslim world.

Jhiliyya cannot be combated with violenceand hatred but must be dealt with by largess andconcern for those afflicted by it. For too long,Muslim scholars, leaders, and intellectuals havefixed the blame on forces outside the Muslim world. The blame game is that of the devil whoblamed God for leading him astray. Ultimately,in blaming others for our conditions, we areblaming God, for it is God who said, We have made some of you a tribulation for others; will

you show patience? 49

The current attacks in the West on Muslim


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behavior are unjustifiable only in that they equate the behavior with Islam, while, in reali-ty, those behaviors do not reflect the teachingsof the Arabian Prophet ; on the contrary,those behaviors reflect the ascendancy of the very qualities that Islam came to purify society

of in order to restore celestial equilibrium tomans short sojourn on earth. The behaviorsare condemnable in and of themselves. Mus-lims fail to see just how poorly our responses inthe modern world reflect the light of Islam;instead of recognizing our own failings, wefocus on how poorly other nations fail toreflect that same light. Indeed, other peoples,especially Jews and Christians, have fallen

short of their own teachings. All of Abrahamsreligions teach justice tempered by mercy. But neither do we see justice prevailing today northe temperance of mercy. What we have is a world increasingly filled with resentment, which in turn eats away at the soul until man isconsumed by it and reduced to the lowest of the low .50 But it is not for Muslims to concernthemselves with others unless they are an

upright community. When the Quran says,O people of the Book, do not go to extremes in your religion ,51 the implicit meaning is that we our-selves are a balanced community who canremind others. When the Quran says, O peo-

ple of the Book, you have nothing until you implement the Torah and the Gospel ,52 the a pri-ori implication is, O Muslims, you havenothing until you implement the Quran. Wehave chosen instead to direct our anger about our own shortcomings at others.

The Prophet Muâmmad advised hisnation not to allow anger to overcome them.Sun Tzu, in The Art of War , said almost threethousand years ago, Anger your enemy andthrow them into disarray.53 Anger is a foolsresponse to his condition. It is a jhili response. A believer knows too well that everything isfrom God: according to a hadith, God said, O

My servants, it is only your deeds that I reckonfor you and then recompense you for them. So whoever finds good, let him thank God, and

whoever finds other than that, let him censureonly himself.54

Some accuse religion of being a means todefer resentment in order for civil society toflourish and inequality to be maintained.This is a materialist view of the world.

Religion is indeed the opiate of the believers.Faith is the pain-numbing narcotic of the soulfrom the divine Healer that enables a fallenhumanity to endure the trials and tribula-tions of life on earth. Life is a divine surgery on the soul that removes the cancer of desirefrom our hearts, and faith enables us to sufferthe procedure peacefully. Faith, trust, andcharity are the greatest gifts of a merciful

Lord to His creation. It is Promethean hopethat enables us to persevere, for nothing ismore daring than to hope when all appearshopeless. Only in seeing God in the world inevery decree, both bitter and sweet, can wesurvive with our humanity. To lose sight of God is to lose sight of the highest qualities of man, those of forbearance, meekness, andlove, and to fall victim to resentment, false

pride, and hatred. Only the devil is pleased with that prospect.Islam is much maligned these days, and it is

incumbent upon those who have even a senseof its sublime nature and heavenly character todefend it by living it, to spread it by embodyingit, and to pass it on by preserving it. OurProphet said, I have come only to completenoble character. It is only through a return tothose characteristics that ennobled the first Muslimsthose of generosity and forbear-ance ( samâ and îlm )that our community can hope to restore the prophetic path onceagain. It is a task worthy of prophets.

no tes1 William Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic

Language (Beirut: Librairie Du Liban, 1974 ), x.2 Quran 15:9 .3 The early philologists give many examples

of this in their books, and while there is debate onthis matter, the evidence appears overwhelming-


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ly in favor of this position. An example given isthe root stem ^ and mm to which we then add various letters on the ends. For instance, the word^my means to protect. The word ^ms is to bezealous, which is needed for indignation that leads to action, but if the boundaries are over-

stepped, we fall into ^mq, which is to display stupidity. Nn and fa are another pair of lettersthat provide a good example. Nfs is to breathe;nfth is to blow lightly;nf^ is a breeze; andnfkh is a profound blast. The base in both cases is adyadic root, and the third ( lm ) letter (of the fa ayn lm paradigm) is used to alter the meaning while retaining some basic relationship.

4 Although the Kufans and Ba|rans disagree

as to which came first, the verb or the noun, we will use the verbal base for our examples.

5 Ibn Manr,Lisn al-arab, tahdhb lisn al- arab (Beirut: Dr al-kutub al-ilmiyya),1:621 -28 .

6 Ibid., 621 .7 Quran 2:185 .8 Ab Hill al-Askar,Al-Furq al-lughawiyya

(Beirut: Dr al-kutub al-ilmiyya, n.d.),196 .9 Quran 3:159 .10

Imam Ismal aqqi al-Bur|aw,Tanwr al- adhhn (Damascus: Dr al-qalam,1988 ), 1:288 .11 Ibid., 288 -9 .12 Ibid., 289 .13 Quran 17 :70 .14 Qadi Ab Fa\l Iyd,Ash-Shif bi tarf uqq

al-Mu|~af (Beirut: Dr al-arqm, n.d.), 1:99 .15 Quran 49 :13 .16 Quran 8:29 .17 Imam Muâmmad al-Fayruzabd, Al-

Qmus al-mu^t (Beirut: Muassasa ar-risla,1987 ), 287 .

18 Quran 38 :17 .19 Quran 16 :126 -28 .20 Quran 6:125 .21 Quran 58 :11 .22 Quran 58 :11 .23 Quran 2:255 .24 Quran 2:256 .25 Quran 3:128 -129 .26 Quran 73 :5 .27 Imam al-Ghazl, Asm Allh al-ûsna

(London: Muassasat taf|l al-kitb,1998 ), 64 .28 Al-Askar,Al-Furq , 226 .29 Quran 7:155 .30 Quran 8:25 .31 Quran 35 :45 .32 Sd Muâmmad az-Zarqn,Shar^ az-

zarqn ala al-muwa~~a (Beirut: Dr al-marifa,1989 ), 4:404 .

33 Ibid.34 Quran 3:154 .35 Quran 5:49 .36 Quran 33 :32 -33 .37 Quran 43 :16 -18 .38 Quran 48 :26 .39 Shaykh A^mad al-Amn ash-Shinqitt,Sar^ al-

mualaqt (Beirut: Maktabat al-asriyya,2001 ), 131 .40 Quran 28 :51 -55 .41 Sven Lindqvist,A History of Bombing (New

York: The New Press,2000 ), 9 .42 Quran 17 :33 .43 Quran 5:45 -46 .44 Quran 22 :45 -46 .45 Quran 22 :47 -48 .46 Qadi ab Bakr b. al-Arab,A^km al-Qurn

(Beirut: Dr al-kutub al-ilmiyya),3

:570

. The Qadihimself was of the opinion that the jhiliyya men-tioned in the Quran referred to only one timeperiod, that which preceded Islam, and that thefirst in the verse was a type of adjective used by the Arabs that specified and strengthened themeaning but did not imply there was another type.

47 Imam Abdallh bin A^mad an-Nasaf,Madarak at-tanzl wa âqiiq at-tawl (Beirut: Dribn Kathr, 1999 ), 3:30 .

48 Shihbuddn Sayyid Ma^md al-Als,Ru^ al-mn (Beirut: Dr i^y turth al-Arab,1999 ),21:257.

49 Quran 25:20 .50 Quran 95:5 .51 Quran 4:171 .52 Quran 5:86 .53 Sun Tzu, The Art of War , trans. Thomas

Cleary (Boston: Shambhala,2000 ), 52 .54 Imam Mu^yiddn an-Nawaw, Forty Hadith ,

trans. Ezzedin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davis(Damascus: Dr al-Quran al-Karm,1976 ), 82 .

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