" Ahl al-kitab "

Someone

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.

drfazl

May Allah Bless
All

Kitab 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.

unknownuser

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?

drfazl

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 plain

Those 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.

Idris

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 plain

Those 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

drfazl

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 plain

Those 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 us

Quran 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.

unknownuser

Peace be upon you Brother Fazl,

002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book

I 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).

drfazl

Peace be upon you Brother Fazl,

002 . 105
Those who disbelieve from among the followers of the Book

I 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 Bless

I 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!

Idris

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

truth

Peace,

I agree that ahl-al-kitab are those people who are well read; the intellectuals, the scholars, the learned people.

Regards.

unknownuser

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.

Idris

peace be upon you,

my thoughts are that ummi=those who cannot read and cannot read the signs of the universe

and that people of the writing=scholars and scientists

what are your thoughts?