Bismika Alllahuma

Einleitung

Es ist zu unserer Aufmerksamkeit gekommen, die Avijit Roy, webmaster von Mukto Mona Web site, schrieb einen betitelten Artikel Hat das Qur' irgendwelche wissenschaftlichen Wunder? Ein Teil des Artikels bezüglich Sura' az-Zaariyaat ist wert, an zu kommentieren, da es eine Ausstellung von einigen der allgemeinen Probleme mit NichtMoslems Kritiken der moslemischen Argumente über dem Internet ist. Diese würden ein nicht gerechtfertigtes Vertrauen mit dem relevanten Thema, ein schlechtes Verständnis der betroffenen Argumente und eine mögliche Tendenz einschließen, mit den Hoffnungen zu täuschen, die niemand beachtet.

Was an der Ausgabe hier ist, ist die Tatsache, die das Wort

m? Silikon `un

in Sura' kann az-Zaariyaat 51:47 übersetzt werden, wie „erweiternd“, so haben einige Moslems argumentiert, daß dieses ein Quranic Hinweis auf der Erweiterung des Universums ist. Was auch immer die Stichhaltigkeit dieser Position, Herr. Versuch Roys, es zu widerlegen schloß einige Aussagen ein, die so lächerlich waren, daß eine nicht ließ sie einfach überschreiten könnte.

Betrug oder aufrichtige Unwissenheit?

Eine der ersten Aussagen, die eine rote Markierungsfahne anhoben, war eine, die versuchte, sich auf den Argumenten von Denis Giron zu lehnen. Herr. Roy schreibt:

Denish [sic] Giron auch erklärt in einem seiner wundervoll schriftlichen dieser Stücke von dem das Verb das arabische Wort (m? Silikon' un) wird kann nicht bedeuten abgeleitet? erweitern Sie?

Dann Herr. Roy zitiert den erlaubten Artikel Girons Expansion des Universums in der Bibel und im Qur', die sind: Vergleichen von Jesaja mit Soorat az-Zaariyaat.

Das erste Problem ist, daß Artikel Girons kraß Herrn widerspricht. Anspruch Roys. Tatsächlich gibt Artikel Girons ausdrücklich an, daß das, „, welches das Verb, von dem dieses Wort abgeleitet wird, bedeuten kann erweitern.“

Man muß sich wundern: tat Herrn. Roy sogar Störung, zum von Artikel Girons zu lesen? Die einfache Tatsache ist dieser Herr. Argument Roys sagt, daß das Wort nicht übersetzt werden kann, wie „erweiternd“, dennoch benennt er, um einen Artikel zu zeugen, der ein ziemlich freies Argument für warum es gibt Dose seien übersetzt Sie, wie „erweiternd“!

Nach diesem Herr. Roy Anrufe zum Zeuge ein Artikel durch Ali Sina. In diesem Fall Herr. Roy handhabt wirklich, eine Person zu zitieren, die mit ihm ist, aber Argument Sinas ist einfach lächerlich, es milde zu setzen. Roy’s mentioning of this article is appreciated, however, as it can serve as a prime example of Sina’s total ignorance regarding the Arabic language. Mr. Sina argues as follows:

The word used here is moosiAAoona which drives from word vaseun. It means vast. It has nothing to do with expanding. When you say al rezwano vaseun (the garden is vast). It does not mean that the garden is expanding.

While this may seem like a case of belaboring a minor point, it might be worth noting that most people who employ a double-A (”AA”) in their transliterations of Qur’anic words or phrases over the net are probably novices who merely lifted the relevant transliteration off one of the websites which provide this odd symbol as designation of the presence of the Arabic letter ayn. Regardless, Sina’s attempt to prove that m?si’un cannot be translated as “expanding” betrays a rather pathetic ignorance on his part regarding the Arabic language, and thus Mr. Roy’s decision to call him to witness is a true example of “the blind leading the blind”. Most ironic of all, the article by Denis Giron itself refutes Ali Sina’s ridiculous claim.

The Islamophobes’ “Expanding” Stupidity

As it was noted in Giron’s article, and would be known by just about anyone familiar with Arabic grammar, a verbal root in Arabic can take different verbal forms (or known as wazan). The following chart will serve to illustrate the various forms of wazan in the Arabic language and this chart will form the basis of what follows.

When the verbal root is in the

af`ala

form (or, as Giron puts it, “the FORM IV verb stem”), it can take on a causative function. E.H. Palmer states that:

¹

This is also expressed by Socin as follows:

²

The word m?si’un is the plural of a participle from the verb root in this verbal form, which is

awsa`a

Thus the related verb can mean something along the lines of causing something else to be wide or vast (i.e. expanding that thing). This is supported by various modern Arabic-English dictionaries and concordances.³ Hans Wehr⁴ gives the meaning “expand” under the form II stem for the root, and notes that the form IV stem can have all the same meanings as the form II.⁵ For form II as given by Wehr, Lane⁶ gives “made wide, broad, spacious [...] amplified, enlarged, made ample”.

As also has been noted in Giron’s article, participles can be translated as the verbal form in the present tense. This is explained by Thackston, who says that

⁷

Regarding the example provided by Thackston (saajid), it appears in the plural (saajideen) in Sura’ ash-Shu’ara, 26:46. The reader might be interested in comparing all translations of this verse. Critics of the claim that m?si’un can be translated “expanding” (present tense) try and lean on the fact that “certain” translations don’t render it that way. Looking at the translations with a non-controversial example such as Sura’ ash-Shu’ara, 26:46 might be worthwhile because we see that while “certain” translations do not render the active participle as a present tense verb, others do (e.g. “prostrating” or “bowing”), and this is a very possible translation.

We are also told in another reference that

⁸

One may ask, what does the derived participles from the verb signify? Kasis explains:

The participles are derived from the verb to signify the doer (active participle) or recipient (passive participle) of the action. In addition, they signify an action which may be temporary, continuous or in a habitual state of being [...] The active participle is very frequently translated as an adjective or as a substantive noun. Thus katib may be translated, depending on the context, as either “writing” (adj) or “scribe” (n).⁹

Thus “expanding” is a very real meaning for the word m?si’un. Our points above are hence summarised as follows:

(1) That the (Form IV) af`ala stem is causative.
(2) That awsa`a (or m?si`) can have the meaning “expand”.
(3) That active participles can be translated as present tense verbs.

But here is a food-for-thought for even those unfamiliar with Arabic to ponder. The word under discussion was

m?si’un

Yet Dr. Sina went on to expound on the word “vaseun” without making any recourse to the word originally under discussion. It should be noted that there is no consonant “v” in Arabic. Perhaps he meant wasee` or

waasi`

This is not a very subtle attempt of bait and switch, which makes one wonder how had this argument managed to fool Avijit Roy. Do these two men honestly believe that every word from the same root in Arabic have the same meaning? When trying to discuss the meaning of a word, why hinge your entire argument on the meaning of a completely different word? The question even those who do not know Arabic can ask Sina and Mr. Roy is: are we discussing thw word “vaseun” or are we discussing musi`un?

Conclusions

How seriously can Muslims take Ali Sina or his cohort Aijit Roy when they put forth such poor arguments which is reflective of their command in Arabic? Certainly when it comes to issues of Arabic grammar, even their supporters should not hold to closely to their arguments. Did either of these men honestly believe they could just bluff their way through these arguments? Or did they actually convince themselves that these were good arguments? What kind of (a lack of) attention is required for one to not realize that they are calling to witness an article which disagrees with the very core of their claim? How did Mr. Roy managed to attribute a claim to an article which states the exact opposite?

Now non-Muslim readers (particularly the supporters of Ali Sina or Mr. Roy) may object that we have not mentioned the fact that Denis Giron’s article was attempting to disprove the claim that Sura’ az-Zaariyaat is a scientific miracle. This was not the issue under discussion here. Note that we did not make any positive claim about this verse necessarily being an obvious scientific miracle, hence we are not under any requirement to defend such a position or refute every attempt to critique it. However, it should be stated that Denis Giron’s actual argument should not be considered terribly controversial by any Muslim who understands it. What was at issue here was the absurd level reached in these articles by Ali Sina and Mr. Roy in their attempt to tackle this issue. Can their supporters at least agree with us that in these instances, these two men committed some rather laughable errors and put on an exhibition of just how little they know about Arabic grammar?

And only God knows best.

1. E.H. Palmer, Simplified Grammar of Hindustani Persian and Arabic, 3rd ed., (Kegan Paul Trench Trubner & Co., 1890), p. 65 [back]
2. A. Socin, Arabic Grammar, (GE Stechert & Co., 1922), p. 26 [back]
3. See, for example Rohi Baalbaki, al-Mawrid: Modern-Arabic English Dictionary, (Dar el-Ilm Lilmalayin, 1988), p. 1233 and Hanna E. Kassis, A Concordance of the Qur’an, (University of California Press, 1983), p. 1294. The latter gives the meaning “extend”. [back]
4. J. Milton Cowan, Hans Wehr: A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th ed. (Otto Harrassowitz, 1979), p. 1251 [back]
5. It should be noted that ibid., 2nd ed. (Cornell University Press, 1966), p. 1067, is exactly the same as the previous edition. [back]
6. Edward William Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon (Islamic Book Center, 1978), p. 3053 [back]
7. Wheeler M. Thackston, An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic, (Iranbooks, 1994), p. 58 [back]
8. Eckehard Schulz, Gunther Krahl & Wolfgang Reuschel, Standard Arabic (Cambridge, 2000), p. 280 [back]
9. Hanna E. Kassis, A Concordance of the Qur’an (University of California Press, 1983), p. xxxiv [back]