Assalam Alikum brother,
Hope you are in good health. inshallah. I am learning Quranic Arabic and have some genuine clarifications. if you can answer or get an answer for me I will very much appreciate it.
1. Difference between sibgha and deen?
2. Difference between a moumeen and muslims ,mohsin and muttahqhin and of them who is better?are believers are of these characteristics?
3. Difference between islam and iman?
4. Who are the people of iman?
5. Is fasikh a mushrikh or a kafir or a munafikh?
jazakallak
A Sister
Montreal, Canada
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
It is a pleasure to know that you’ve started learning the Quranic Arabic. Also see the “Quranic Arabic Program” developed by me. I hope it will be helpful.
English & Urdu Version: https://mubashirnazir.org/quranic-arabic-learning/
Feel free to share your further questions and comments. The answers to your questions are appended below.
wassalaam
Muhammad Mubashir Nazir
1. Diference between sibgha and deen?
MN: There is no relation between them. Sibgha means “color” and deen is “religion”.
2. Difference between a moumeen and muslim ,mohsin and muttahqhin and of them who is better? Are believers are of these characteristics?
MN: These words are used interchangeably in the Quran. However, each has specific variation in meaning:
Mumin: The one who really believes by heart. Its antonym in Munafiq i.e. hypocrite or an “unbeliever”.
Muslim: The one who claims to believe in Islam and surrenders to Allah and the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم. It’s antonym is “Kafir” the one who denies.
A Muslim may be a Mumin or a Munafiq but it is known by Allah only. We will call him a Muslim unless he clearly denies some basic tenet of Islam. This difference between Mumin and Munafiq is clarified in Surat ul Hujurat.
Muttaqi: A person who is careful about Allah and His commandments. You can call him/her “righteous”. It’s antonym is Fasiq i.e. the one who violates Allah’s commandments.
Mohsin: A virtuous person. It’s antonym could also be a Fasiq. It can be used interchangeable with Muttaqi but in Mohsin, aspect of virtue is emphasized while in Muttaqi, emphasis is on care and God-fearing.
3. Diference between islam and iman?
MN: See Mumin and Muslim above. Also read the last verses of Surat ul Hujurat.
4. Who are the people of iman?
MN: Answers above also clarify it.
5. Is fasikh a mushrikh or a kafir or a munafikh?
MN: These terms are also used interchangeably for the same people but there is difference in meaning.
Mushrik: It means the person who is involved in polytheism. Its antonym is “Muwahhid”. The Quran uses this term “Al-Mushrikin” for those who adhered to the concepts of polytheism. It is not used for those who were engaged in some polytheistic tenets or practices (like some sects of Christians) but they do not claim polytheism as their religion. The Quran uses term “Ahl-ul-Kitaab” to differentiate among Mushrikin and the People of Book.
Kafir: As a term, it means the person to whom call of the Prophet reached but he/she denied. It’s antonym is Muslim. Any Mushrik or Ahl ul Kitaab may be Kafir, if he rejects the call of any prophet. In literal sense, this word is also used to describe “thanklessness” i.e. denial of Allah’s blessings.
Fasiq: The person who violates Allah’s law. Some attributes of a Fasiq are described in Al-Baqarah 2:27.
Munafiq: A hypocrite who is apparently a Muslim but actually does not believe in Islam. This word is also used to describe people having a dual character – nice at face but malicious in their mind.
Assalam Alikum wa rehmathullahi wa barkathuhu,
Jazakallah for your prompt reply brother Nazir.
Recently, I heard a lecture on peace tv were a scholar said muslim takes precedence over momin in piety where, where as Allah swt mentions al muminoona wal muminathi .al muslimuna wal muslimathi. whats your understanding?
secondly, I have the noble quran translated by dr. muhammed mohsin khan says sibghah as religion in ayath no 2:138.
thirdly, if islam comes from root word salam which means peace then why some say word muslim comes from islam?
fourthly, I feel it is the right of quran that it should be understood as it should be! but are the translations as equivalent to arabic quran or is there literary paradox!
fifthly, can being a moderate muslim can be a fasiq or munkar because he takes riba, co-education, student loans, dowry, divorce, insurance etc because these are all in present day ummah? like interpretation of word jihad etc; what are you thoughts on this.
sixthly can ummah being called muslim justified as per its definition?
hope for you understanding on the above questions.
jazakhallah fiki
Mrs Mohsin
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
The answers are as follows:
Recently, I heard a lecture on peace tv were a scholar said muslim takes precedence over momin in piety where, where as Allah swt mentions al muminoona wal muminathi .al muslimuna wal muslimathi. whats your understanding?
MN: I do not understand the statement of such scholar. He might have said something else. Without hearing him, I’m unable to comment. In one case, Muslim takes precedence that first a person enters in Islam due to some external reason and then real faith enters into his heart as it happened to the villagers mentioned in Surat ul Hujurat.
secondly, I have the noble quran translated by dr. muhammed mohsin khan says sibghah as religion in ayath no 2:138.
MN: In the Verse 2:138, baptism of Christians is under discussion. They used to dip a child in colored water for his inclusion in their religion. Allah has mentioned that instead of such rituals, real color of Allah is the best which should encompass the entire personality of a person. So Dr. Mohsin has correctly translated the word in this context, but Sibgha does not mean religion as general. In this particular context, his translation is right.
thirdly, if islam comes from root word salam which means peace then why some say word muslim comes from islam?
MN: In Arabic Grammar, there are different groups (called abwab) for the same set of characters (root). In each group, it has different meaning. I’ll suggest you to study Arabic Grammar in detail to understand this concept. Simple س ل م means safety, peace etc. but when it comes to باب إفعال, it becomes إسلام which means submission. Muslim is اسم فاعل (Subjective Noun) of this chapter which means the person who submits.
fourthly, I feel its the haqq of quran that it should be understood as it should be!but are the translations as equivalent to arabic quran or is there literary paradox!
MN: Translations of the Quran are not equivalent to the Arabic Quran because the original Arabic Quran is words of Allah without any human intervention while translations are according to understanding or each scholar. A translator only attempts to understand and describe the meaning of Quran. Since it is human work, so chances of error are possible in all translations.
fifthly, can being a moderate muslim can be a fasiq or munkar because he takes riba, co-education, student loans, dowry, divorce, insurance, etc because these are all in present day ummah? like interpretation of word jihad etc; what are you thoughts on this.
sixthly can ummah being called muslim justified as per its definition?
MN: We should not assess others for being Fasiq or Munkir. This analysis should be limited to ourselves to ensure that we do not fall under these categories. For others, we should keep a positive mindset. If a person claims that he/she is a Muslim, we should not doubt that. We should assess only ourselves and not others. We should leave their assessment to Allah and convey His message in a decent and humble way to others. We should encourage them to assess themselves so that they can understand their position regarding Islam and Eman. A friend has developed a questionnaire for such assessment. You can advise that to your students and fellows for self-assessment.
wassalaam
Muhammad Mubashir Nazir
Don’t hesitate to share your questions and comments. They will be highly appreciated. I’ll reply as soon as possible if I know the answer. Send at mubashirnazir100@gmail.com.