The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour
Arab nation to make a fresh start. But it will end up fragmenting into different nations and communities. Bearing in mind what we have said about the great contribution the Qur’an has made to Arabic, and the privilege and honour it imparted to it, it appears that such calls aim to undermine the Qur’an itself, as well as Arab culture and Islamic thought in general. They imagine that they will succeed in achieving what many professional western researchers in Islamic studies and missionaries have failed to achieve. We need only remember the Qur’anic verse that says: ‘They plot and plan, but God also plans. God is above all schemers’ (8: 30).
2. The Linguistic Impact
The special or linguistic impact of the Qur’an on Arabic is too great to be discussed in these preliminary topics. It is perhaps enough to refer to what al-Suyūṭī mentioned whereby the Qur’an was the immediate cause of the rise and development of most of the disciplines dealing with Arabic as also with Islamic Studies. Scholars devoted themselves to the Qur’an, initiating and developing various branches of study which continued to flourish and develop until they matured in the fourth century, which may also be described as the golden age of the history of Arabic and Islamic culture.
Perhaps the question of the disciplines that came into being as part of the care taken over the Qur’an and to facilitate its understanding is more related to the historical impact of the Qur’an, or to the next chapter that discusses the Qur’an’s impact on culture. However, we may refer in brief here to some aspects of its direct linguistic impact:
2.1 Unifying Accents
Prior to the revelation of the Qur’an, the Arabs spoke in more than twenty different accents, some of which were considered strange and unconventional, while others were viewed as clear and acceptable. These were due to the fact that the Arabs lived in different areas and that some of them were Bedouins and others lived in urban areas. Nevertheless, these accents had the same rules of derivation and case markings. The differences between these accents did not affect the fact that they belonged to a single language with rules that apply in all these accents. We are not speaking here of differences like that of the Himyar dialect which differed markedly from the Mudar dialect. Indeed, the two have many different constructions.28 In addition to differences of pronunciation, there were also differences in the meanings of some words.
In any case, when the Qur’an was revealed in the Quraysh’s dialect, or language, it ended all these variations, and gave the Arabs this single dialect, or language. The dialect of the Quraysh was described as ‘the most eloquent and splendid language’, because it benefited from urbanisation and frequent contact with other tribes, due to the religious and commercial status of Quraysh in Arabia. Moreover, it was the most widely spoken dialect in Arabia; essentially, people preferred it to all others. Shaykh Muhammad al-Khidr Husayin sums up the reasons that distinguished the Quraysh dialect over all other Arab dialects as follows:
i.The Quraysh lived far away from non-Arab countries. Hence, linguists only accepted what was in their dialect or close to it. They did not accept the dialects of tribes that lived close to other nations, such as Lakham, Judhām, Quḍā‘ah and Ghassān. Only Ibn Mālik differed and accepted the dialects of tribes living in the outer parts of Hijaz, such as Lakham and Quḍā‘ah.
ii.Other Arabs came to Makkah, where the Quraysh lived, for the pilgrimage and stayed about fifty days. The Quraysh adopted the dialects of these pilgrims using words that were short and easy to pronounce and distinguish. They rejected all that was contrary to these.29
When we remember the unifying influence of the Qur’an so as to mould the Arabs into a single nation, we must also remember that it ended most of the differences in dialects. All Arabs read the Qur’an in the Quraysh tongue.
2.2 The Qur’an’s Influence on Arabic Vocabulary and their Meanings
In this area, the Qur’an has had a great and revolutionary influence, so much so that it is worth careful and thorough study. We may say in brief that a language reflects the life, environment and knowledge of the community, and expresses its culture and thought. The impact of the Qur’an on the Arabs in all these areas has been phenomenal. Arabic vocabulary was directly influenced and refined as the Qur’an transformed the Arabs from a nomadic to an urban community and nation, and took them out of the Peninsula to other countries. Its influence is also to be seen in a host of terms that were given new meanings as also a whole host of new Islamic terms.
The first type refers to Arabic words that shed their original meanings in order to refer to new concepts that were at the time unfamiliar to the Arabs. In addition to adopting a more serious lifestyle, demarcating a system of government and other related areas, the Qur’an provided the bases of religious, linguistic, philosophical and scientific disciplines. Each of these has its own terminology and definitions. Some authors produced dictionaries of such terms, such as Al-Ta ‘rīfāt by al-Jurjāni and Kashshāf iṣṭilāḥāt al-Funūn by al-Tahānwī.
In his book, Al-Ṣāḥibī, Ibn Fāris said:
In their pre-Islamic days, the Arabs followed their ancestors in their language, manners, worship and offerings. When God revealed Islam, things changed, religions were abrogated, practices stopped. Terms of language were transferred. All this was accomplished through new additions, legislations and conditions that were put in place. The new ones replaced those of old. Having been preoccupied with adventures, earning their livelihood and making profit through the two trade trips of summer and winter; and having been devoted to hunting, wine drinking and gambling, the Arabs were now concentrating on reading the Qur’an. This is the book that admits no error or falsehood, as it is revealed by the God, the Wise, the worthy of praise. They concentrated on studying the new faith and preserving the Prophet’s practices, while exerting great efforts in combating Islam’s opponents. Thus, what they and their ancestors were brought up to accept was thrown into oblivion, as if it were never in existence. The transformation was so remarkable that they became interested in the finer points of Islamic law, the complex questions of inheritance, and other areas of Islamic Sharī‘ah and the interpretation of God’s revelations. What they discussed has been documented and well preserved up till now.
Ibn Fāris mentions several types of Islamic discipline and their terms that were new to Arabic. He then adds: ‘All praise be to the One Who over a short period of time transformed those people from all that they were brought up with into people who are interested in what we have just mentioned.’
He cites some Islamic definitions and terms that retained their linguistic meanings and what has been added to them or restricted. He then says:
When a person is asked about this, he should say, for example, that ‘prayer’ has two concepts, one linguistic and the other Islamic. He should then explain, mentioning what the Arabs used to understand by it and what Islam has brought in. The same may be applied in all disciplines.
This is certainly valid, but the matter goes further than that of terms and definitions. Arabic has become the means to transmit Islamic culture and express Islamic civilisation. The Qur’an was the heart of all the new areas of knowledge the Arabs acquired after the advent of Islam. It is true to say that the Qur’an became the main source and the ultimate resort of Arabic Islamic culture. Needless to say, it was a rich culture that incorporated many disciplines such as Qur’anic and Hadith studies, literature, linguistics, the history of the Prophet (peace be upon him), philosophy, Islamic jurisprudence (i.e. fiqh), as well as the principles and methodology of various branches of study. Arabic was able to accommodate and cater for all these disciplines after the revelation of the Qur’an.
The vocabulary of any language is merely a carrier of meanings and concepts, and the Qur’an had a clear impact in this area as a result of its new laws. The second type of impact is that of the emergence of new meanings: ‘The Qur’an tackled the meanings that were circulated among them. It refined, added to, and omitted from them, placing them in new contexts so as to make them suited to all mentalities in all ages. Prior to the Qur’an, they included what was suited only to a pagan society with a special mentality.’
Moreover, the meanings of Arabic vocabulary were also influenced by the settlement of Arabs in urban societies. In this way, Arabic