?he should fast it? vs ?he should fast in it?

jkhan

I just read this conversation.. It's really interesting too.. But no constructive conclusions... To add regarding 1226.. I think the eye witness to be correct for shahad coz that word itself meaning witness.. But the key is this particular person would have seen the incident but gave as just as evidence of torn shirt.... Had he said yes I saw thatwomen seduced Yousuf.. He would have been I trouble.. Reason.. She was affluent women, and critical point is he has to support his eye witness probably with other eye witnesses that he won't find.. Coz he may be the only person who saw it.. So he craftily worked out with physical evidence since he Knew the culprit.. But Allah used the word shahad since thats the actual seen. Otherwise God would not use shahad, had this person guessed the culprit

jkhan

To give all bit of thought I remind these two verses
2852-53 those to whome we gave the scripture believes in Quran, and when Quran is recited to them, they say we believe in it, verily it is the truth from our Lord. Indeed EVEN BEFORE IT(QURAN) WE HAVE BEE FROM THOSE WHO SURRENDER (MUSLIM) ..
Such a proving verse, so we can guess while and before QURAN was revealed there were Muslims around that area of the people of the book.. So they were rightly guided even before Quran..
So THEY MUST HAVE BEEN FASTING TOO even before Quran since they were muslims..
2183 O you believe, prescribed for you fasting as it was prescribed for those BEFORE YOU that you may become pious...
So now if Ramadhan is a month of Arabs, these earlier Muslims were not Arabs but people of the book.. N there language probably not Arabic.. So they would have been fasting few days or month (whatever) they practiced before Quran and suddenly they need to shift to fasting in ramadhan (if it is a month).. So what what was the fault in which they were used to fast and why they need to shift to Arabic calender.. But if this shahr is full Moon and ramadhan is scorching heat, they (so called previous true Muslims) no need to change their practice.. Coz they were already doing it in every full moon.. This verse 2183-187 just for those who are not practicing among Arabs who are new to Muslims and for future..
Is there any sense in my point?.. Pls

Mazhar

Hi all,

I am currently pondering over an issue regarding fasting that, I think, has not been discussed here yet

I am trying to understand the nature of the -hu suffix in falyasumhu in verse 2185

So whoever witnesses among you the moon/month he should fast (in) it.

I hope to get some input from someone who understands the Arabic language better than I do.

My understanding is the following -hu is a (attached pronoun). As such it can either be in the (accusative) or (genitive) case. I can think of two different kinds of accusative words that would make sense in this situation

(direct object) of yasum. Falyasumhu would then mean ?he should fast it?, i.e. he should fast the . Normally, -hu is interpreted in this way (see e.g. http//corpus.quran.com/treebank.jsp?chapter=2&verse=185&token=13).
But I think -hu could also be a (adverb of time). Falyasumhu would then mean ?he should fast IN it?. I could find support for this only in Sam Gerrans? translation of the Qur?an.

So why is the distinction important? If -hu was a direct object, it would probably mean that we are supposed to fast over the course of the whole (whether that means the duration of the full moon or the whole month). If -hu was an adverb of time, however, it would mean that we are supposed to fast in for some unspecified amount of time.

In my opinion the second option makes more sense from a language point of view. ?Fasting the month? sounds wrong to me, I do not think that ?to fast? can take a period of time as a direct object. But I?m not an expert on these issues, maybe I?m wrong.

So my main questions to you are Do you see any problems with option 2 from a grammar or textual point of view? And do you know any verse in the Qur?an where an attached pronoun undoubtedly is an adverb of time?

Peace,
Mike

You are right that it is in accusative state as direct object of the verb and is referent for . And the verbal sentence is the apodosis clause of the condition. itself signifies time duration. Fasting itself is for a duration of the day which is a unit of month. So meanings are explicit. "He should fast during the month". Next clause also makes clear.