6:108 Do not insult the idols or the idolators?
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Peace
What should be the correct translation of 6108
The Monotheist Group
6108 And do not insult those who call on other than God, lest they insult God out of ignorance. And We have similarly adorned for every nation their works; then to their Lord is their return and He will inform them of what they had done.
Mohammad Asad
6108 But do not revile those whom they invoke instead of God, lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance for, goodly indeed have We made their own doings appear unto every community In time, unto their Sustainer they must return and then He will make them understand all that they were doing.
Peace
Abdullah
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And do not insult
those who invoke
other than Allah
lest they insult Allah
in enmity without knowledge
thus have We made fair seeming to every community their doings
thereafter unto their Lord is their return
then He shall inform them about what they used to do.
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And do not insult
those who invoke
other than Allah
lest they insult Allah
in enmity without knowledge
thus have We made fair seeming to every community their doings
thereafter unto their Lord is their return
then He shall inform them about what they used to do.
Incorrect.
Verb imperfect; mood Jussive by prohibitive particle; transitive; Subject second person; masculine; plural.
Verb needs a direct object it is those relative pronoun, plural. It being an object, cannot have another role of a subject.Its Linkage clause is Verb third person; imperfect; Mood Indicative; they people call-keep calling; its object is elided being obvious them-those whom they call.
This prepositional phrase is the key that visibly shows the elided object of verb and its adjectival characteristic-- Those whom they call as gods apart from Allah the Exalted.
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Salam brother Mazhar,
I believe your argument is invalid ^_^
Incorrect.
You seem to like paying attention to the pixel details, so let's examine the verse in question from a linguistic, rational, and Qur'anic perspective, just so we can see the bigger picture. PS I'll assume both of us accept the current Tashkil of the Qur'an, as it pronunces the verse as
" "
Transliteration Wa Laa Tassubbuu allaTheena Yad3uuna min duuni alLahi faYassubbu alLaha 3adwan biGhayri 3ilmin.
The first three letters (ا are a resumption particle and prohibition particle. The connective particle "wa" (َ is simply translated as "and" (sometimes it can mean "then" or "so" and is used to indicate a sequence of events. The prohibition particle ( ي "Laa" (ا is used to form a negative imperative, thus placing the following verb into the jussive mood (م.
Verb imperfect; mood Jussive by prohibitive particle; transitive; Subject second person; masculine; plural.
Yes. "Tassubbuu" (insult) is an imperfect verb ( second person, masculine plural; and is in the jussive mood (م. And, the suffix (و is an attached subject pronoun.
Verb needs a direct object it is those relative pronoun, plural.
Yes, "Allatheena" (Those who) is a relative pronoun ( ل, Masculine Sound Plural ( ل.
It being an object, cannot have another role of a subject.
From a rational point of view, "THOSE who invoke other than God" ( ِ and "lest THEY insult " (ا both refer to the "Idolators/Polytheists" as pointed out in the two previous verses (106 and 107) not too far away
6106 -
6107 -
6108 -Note that ALLAH (SWT) changed the direction of His speech from addressing the Final Prophet in Masculine Singular form ( - - - َ to addressing us all in Masculine Plural form ( ا. The instructions that God Almighty directed to the Final Prophet (pbuh) in 106 and 107 will apply to us as well, since he's an example for us all to follow. For instance, in verse 108, ALLAH (SWT) instruct us ALL (the Believers/Monotheists) not to blatently insult those who commit the sin of (‎ hirk (idolatry or polytheism).
In general, we are instructed to refrain from insulting those who invoke idols instead of God Almighty, because provoking them by insults is not only an irrational and immature move, but is simply a non-muslim act of intolerance that will definitely create hatred and disrespect, primarily against ALLAH (Exalted is the Almighty LORD above what they say out of ignorance and hatred), which can be viewed as a "justified" act , since the ones who insult are from among us, and the idolators will be simply responding with the rudest and most effective come-back they can possible come up with, thus provoking the believer to become more hostile. Which will incite enmity between the two parties (Monotheists vs Polytheists) and among the various communities that support both sides which can result in criminal acts, or even civil wars.
From a Qur'anic perspective, the interpretation "Do not insult the idolators" is supported and goes in-line with many verses such as 16125
"Call thou to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and good admonition, and argue with them in the best manner.
Surely thy Lord knoweth best who have gone astray from His way, and He knoweth best who are the guided."And 671
"Say 'Shall we invoke, apart from ALLAH, that which neither profits nor harms us, and be turned back on our heels after that ALLAH has guided us?'"
And the 56th verse of the same Surah 6 in question
"Say, 'Surely I am forbidden to worship the ones you invoke apart from ALLAH.'
Say, 'I do not ever follow your prejudices, (then) lo, I have already erred, and in no way would I be of the rightly- guided'."And 576
"Say 'Will ye worship, apart from ALLAH, that which hath no power either to harm or benefit you, while it is ALLAH that heareth and knoweth all things?'"
Another clear verse that supports the interpretation in question would be 7194
Those whom ye call upon instead of ALLAH are servants like you.
Call upon them, then let them respond to you, if ye are (indeed) sincere.Then last, but not least 4213
Dreadful for the idolaters is that unto which thou callest them.
ALLAH chooseth for Himself whom He will, and guideth unto Himself him who turneth (toward Him).
- And the list goes on and on
http//corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=dwn
....
Its Linkage clause is Verb third person; imperfect; Mood Indicative; they people call-keep calling; ...
"Yad3uuna" (they invoke, they call upon, or they invite) is a verb and subject pronoun. The imperfect verb ( ع is third person masculine plural and is in the indicative mood (ع. The suffix (و is an attached subject pronoun ( ل. The verb's triliteral root is dl 3ayn ww ( و.
... its object is elided being obvious them-those whom they call.
The 3rd person here, as far as the question (the Idols or the Idolators?) is concerned, is clearly the idolators, since they are the ones who dare to insult ALLAH out of enmity and ignorance. This is supported by the two previous verses, and is clearly pointed out in the verse in question itself.
From a linguistic point of view, in order for the meaning to become "those whom they invoke instead of God" one needs to change the pronunciation of the verb (ا from "Yad3uuna" (those who invoke other than God) to "Yud3awna" (those whom they invoke other than God) " ". This I, personally, consider to be an irrational approach, which is unsupported by neither the Qur'an nor language. It's "those who invoke" ( َ not "those whom they invoke ( َ.
This prepositional phrase is the key that visibly shows the elided object of verb and its adjectival characteristic-- Those whom they call as gods apart from Allah the Exalted.
(from) is a preposition ( ر.
(other than/aside) is a noun in the genitive case ( ر. Its triliteral root is dl ww nn ( ن
(ALLAH) is a proper noun in the genitive case ( ر. Its triliteral root is hamza lm h ( ه." " means "those who invoke other idols instead of God".
For the key term simply means other than, apart from, instead of, aside, or besides."Fayassubbu" (lest they insult) is a particle of cause, verb and subject pronoun, abviously refering to the "idolators". The prefixed particle "fa" ( ة is usually translated as "then" or "so". The particle is used to indicate cause and makes the following verb subjunctive. The imperfect verb ( ع is third person masculine plural and is in the subjunctive mood (ب. And the suffix (و is an attached subject pronoun ( ل.
"Allaha" (The God) is a proper noun in the accusative case ( ب.
"3adwan" (in enmity) is an indefinite masculine noun and is in the accusative case ( ب.
"Bighayri" (without) is a preposition and noun. The prefixed preposition "bi" is usually translated as "with" or "by". The noun is masculine and is in the genitive case (ر. Together the two segments (bi and ghayri) form the preposition phrase known as jr wa majrr ( ر.
And "3ilmin" (a knowledge) from 3ayn lm mm ( م, is an indefinite masculine noun and is in the genitive case (ر.
To keep things short and sweet
"lest THEY insult God."
Q WHO will dare to insult God?
A The idolators .
Then to THEIR Lord is THEIR return.
Q WHO will return to the Lord?
A The idolators who invoke others instead of ALLAH (Sub7anahu Wa Ta3aalaa 3amma Yushrikuun).
Hope this clarifies things out.
Peace be unto you. - And the list goes on and on
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Salamun alaika,
I am pleased to see the approach. This is the approrpiate method of reading any text. First parse and then move to gain semantic information.
( َ
The verb has a built in pronoun for the doers--referring Mushrikeen-idol worshippers. Whom they call is the object of Verb which is elided. is the direct object of Verb . But it is a Relative pronoun and thus needs a linkage clause. is the linkage clause. It is a transitive verb needing direct object denoting those entities they call upon.
If you recall that the linkage clause needs a pronoun which refers back to the Relative pronoun called you might appreciate that the point is doubly made evident not to take it as referring to people-idol worshippers but those idols they worship and call upon them. is elided only when the relative pronouns serves and acts as object. It is not elided when it is the subject.I hope it might clarify.
Please give a second thought to it where you confirmed the above understanding
And the 56th verse of the same Surah 6 in question
"Say, 'Surely I am forbidden to worship the ones you invoke apart from ALLAH.'
Say, 'I do not ever follow your prejudices, (then) lo, I have already erred, and in no way would I be of the rightly- guided'." -
thus have We made fair seeming to every community their doings