" Ahl al-kitab "
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Peace,
A possible translation
"Ahl" = one who is qualified for a task.
"al-kitab" = writing
It makes then
"ahl al-kitab" = those qualified for writing.
All the responsability of transmiting human knowledge accross history has been carried by those qualified for writing.
This is a great responsability for such a people, thus the verses talking about "ahl al-kitab" specifically. Surely they have an advantage of "knowledge" over the illiterates, but they carry a heavier responsability, and they can cause most of the harm when they forget the god and follow their ego that increases propotionally with the amount of knowledge.
Please read some chapthers dealing with "ahl al-kitab", and see if it fits in the context.
May the god guide us and forgive us for our mistakes and missuses of such favors.
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Peace,
A possible translation
...
"al-kitab" = writingIt makes then
"ahl al-kitab" = those qualified for writing.
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Hello Someone and anyone that reads this post! )
Me too I've wondered about which ones are the "ahl al-kit?b".
But how do you translate "kit?b" by "writing"? Kit?b is "something that's written", a product of writing (which is ka-ta-ba, right?) so to speak. Is this what you mean by "writing"?
Since you raised the question, I must say that I rather would translate it by "the ones written ". Does that make any sense to you?
humbly,
St?phane -
Peace be upon you,
I have it as "people of the writing" We cannot discard the "Al".
The "people of the writing" are those who are CONSCIOUS of Life(al kitaab). It does not necessarily mean they are righteous, but they are God conscious. Some of them need further instruction.
I would certainly like to hear more opinions
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Peace,
"al-kitab" can mean "the book" or "the act of writing". There are other meanings that I think are not relevant to this situation.
Thus, "ahl al-kitab" are "those qualified for the (act of) writing" or "those able to write".
Please consider that before the existance of schools and universities, such a people were not in great numbers, and all the knowledge was in the hand of "religious" authorities. Even nowadays, the illeterates still constitute the majority of the population, and are under the authority of those "scholars".
"kitab" or "al-kitab" refers to any logical and comprehensive succesion of "words" or "elements" dealing with a given "subject".
Since every creature is a "word" of the god, the creation can be referred to as "al-kitab" too.
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May Allah Bless
AllKitab means the "Peaceful Heart". Ahl-al-kitab are the "People With Peaceful Heart"
Peace at heart is possible if only we have no confusion regarding any subject matter we aught to live through in this life. Clearing of confusion from mind results due to the absolute wisdom which Allah sends down upon our hearts as "inspiration" to conduct ourselves in the unwavering path of Siratun Mustaqeem. Those who walk straight in the path of Allah without even a trace of confusion and people with such clarity of mind as they traverse through the wisdom are the people having the "Kitab" in their hearts. The subject of the Kitab is very lucid in their minds as they read the absolute truth - the verses of Al Quran - that descends down upon their hearts.
regards, all.
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Peace be upon you Someone,
"al-kitab" can mean "the book" or "the act of writing". There are other meanings that I think are not relevant to this situation.
Thus, "ahl al-kitab" are "those qualified for the (act of) writing" or "those able to write".
That sounds logical. Our next step is to collect the verses where "kitaab"is used to see if it fits.
On the flip side, Brother Fazl states that "kitaab" means peaceful heart.
(2105) It is never the wish of those without Faith among the "peaceful hearts", nor of the Pagans, that anything good should come down to you from your Lord...
Does that make sense?
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002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book do not like, nor do the polytheists, that the good should be sent down to you from your Lord, and Allah chooses especially whom He pleases for His mercy, and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.Brother idolfree,
To deliver the sense, and to make the meaning plainThose who disbelieve from among the "followers of the peaceful heart"
Now complete the rest of the sentence and see if you could understand what the Book is meant for. From among the people who were given the "peace at heart", there are three sections of people as follows
035.032
Then We have given the Book(Peaceful heart) for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen but- There are among them some who wrong their own souls;
- Some who follow a middle course; and
- Some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace.
Brother idolfree, the part in 2105 that you are unable to understand sensibly belongs to the first category.
May Allah Bless The Readers.
regards. -
peace be upon you dr.,
002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book do not like, nor do the polytheists, that the good should be sent down to you from your Lord, and Allah chooses especially whom He pleases for His mercy, and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.Brother idolfree,
To deliver the sense, and to make the meaning plainThose who disbelieve from among the "followers of the peaceful heart"
Now complete the rest of the sentence and see if you could understand what the Book is meant for. From among the people who were given the "peace at heart", there are three sections of people as follows
035.032
Then We have given the Book(Peaceful heart) for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen but- There are among them some who wrong their own souls;
- Some who follow a middle course; and
- Some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace.
Brother idolfree, the part in 2105 that you are unable to understand sensibly belongs to the first category.
May Allah Bless The Readers.
regards.may i ask where is your lingual proof for kitab meaning "peaceful heart"? "quloo" is heart in arabic, and it appears "muslim" might be "peaceful", so "ahl al-quloo al-muslim" are the people you are looking for D
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peace be upon you dr.,
002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book do not like, nor do the polytheists, that the good should be sent down to you from your Lord, and Allah chooses especially whom He pleases for His mercy, and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.Brother idolfree,
To deliver the sense, and to make the meaning plainThose who disbelieve from among the "followers of the peaceful heart"
Now complete the rest of the sentence and see if you could understand what the Book is meant for. From among the people who were given the "peace at heart", there are three sections of people as follows
035.032
Then We have given the Book(Peaceful heart) for inheritance to such of Our Servants as We have chosen but- There are among them some who wrong their own souls;
- Some who follow a middle course; and
- Some who are, by Allah's leave, foremost in good deeds; that is the highest Grace.
Brother idolfree, the part in 2105 that you are unable to understand sensibly belongs to the first category.
May Allah Bless The Readers.
regards.may i ask where is your lingual proof for kitab meaning "peaceful heart"? "quloo" is heart in arabic, and it appears "muslim" might be "peaceful", so "ahl al-quloo al-muslim" are the people you are looking for D
brother idris,
May Allah bless usQuran is for those who ponder the verses of Kitab to recite in their hearts and rehearse in their actions. Pondering or reflection has no linguistic application, except that the truth, when it dawns upon the heart, it is set at peace. Truth can never be written down in human expression or language.
013 .028
Those who believe and whose hearts are set at rest by the remembrance of Allah; now surely by Allah's remembrance are the hearts set at rest. -
Peace be upon you Brother Fazl,
002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the BookI humbly accept that correction.
But I do not accept translating "kitaab" as peaceful heart. I do agree that a peaceful heart is what we seek, but I see no connection for you to translate it as peaceful heart. I translate it as Writing/book with the implication that it refers to life itself, because we are all WORDS/SOUNDS, which is why our lowest vessel is called in english the "person" which comes from "per"(through) "sona"(sound), and we live in the UNI(one) VERSE(Word).
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Peace be upon you Brother Fazl,
002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the BookI humbly accept that correction.
But I do not accept translating "kitaab" as peaceful heart. I do agree that a peaceful heart is what we seek, but I see no connection for you to translate it as peaceful heart. I translate it as Writing/book with the implication that it refers to life itself, because we are all WORDS/SOUNDS, which is why our lowest vessel is called in english the "person" which comes from "per"(through) "sona"(sound), and we live in the UNI(one) VERSE(Word).
brother idolfree
May Allah BlessI am only writing what I see fit in the light of quran whereas you write what you see proper in the line of the reading,- thus we are worlds apart. We just exchange our views; posting our views here is not to force each other into acceptance of one view or the other.
welcome, more!
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peace be upon you,
i'd like to bring this thread back up because I believe Someone has brought the most correct concept of "ahl al-kitab" that i have seen yet, the religious scholars throughout history and now="ahl al-kitab" seems so obvious when you read all the related signs (ayat), also check the related signs (ayat) with "al kitab" it speaks a lot about them
peace
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Peace be upon you Idris,
Thank yo ufor bringing this back up, Fazl had me distracted and I would have missed the importance of the statement by Someone.
This makes very good sense, but I still think there are more levels to it. Just as there are MANY people who cannot write/read, there are MANY who cannot "read the writing" of the signs of the universe. This has opened up some good thought for me. I will reflect and respond more.