[2:124-158] - A rhetorical analysis (with qiblah, masjid)

Iyyaka

Salam aleykoum,

Let us start with a complete and general view of the themes in Surah 2, following the principles of rhetorical analysis.

AN OVERVIEW OF SURA 2

Sura "Al-Baqara" consists of 286 verses which are divided into 11 main passages based on central themes (verse numbers in parentheses)

True faith & not faith (1 - 19).
The blessings of God towards men (20 - 29).
Story of Adam (30-39).
Alliance of God with the sons of Israel (40 - 103).
Religious controversies (104 - 123).
Abraham as a reference (124 - 15.
Religious controversies (159 - 177).
Qur’an Messenger Alliance (178 - 242).
History of the messengers (243 - 260).
The blessings of men towards men (261 - 283).
True faith (284 - 286).

Its structure is a concentric specular construction ABCDE / X / E’D’C’B’A’
Let's rearrange this list to highlight its structure
A True Faith & Non-Faith (1 - 19).

- - B The blessings of God towards men (20 - 29).
- - - - C Story of Adam (30 - 39).
- - - - D Alliance of God with the sons of Israel (40 - 103).
- - - - E Religious controversies (104 - 123).
- - - - X Abraham as a reference (124 - 15.
- - - - E’ Religious controversies (159 - 177).
- - - - D’ Alliance of the Qur'an Messenger (178 - 242).
- - - - C’ History of previous messengers (243 - 260).
- - B’ The blessings of Men for Men (261 - 283).
    A’ True Faith (284 - 286).

Now let's focus on the central part that interests us in this post...

WHOLE CENTRAL PART OF SURA 2 ABRAHAM as a REFERENCE for the new balanced/fair community

This central part is composed of four passages that are grouped into two sub-passages (124-141; 142-15 arranged in a "mirror" pattern
A - B - B' - A'

https//reveniraucoran.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Sura-2-central-sequence-verses-124-158.jpg

INTERPRETATION

The first part (A) and the fourth part (A') are connected by the following themes
• The first part ends with Abraham's wish to have an Arab heir who recites God's revelations . And the fourth part begins with Abraham's wish being granted!
• The first part informs us that Abraham is the founder of the house/temple in Mecca with his son Ishmael for worship and pilgrimage, and the fourth part adds that As-Safa and Al-Marwah (two rocks near the Temple) are part of "God's symbols/rites" during the pilgrimage.
• Abraham was tested in the first part, as was his heir Muhammad and his followers in the fourth part, by using the word resilience in .
• The sacred place of worship is made for prayer in the first part. The fourth part emphasises the importance of prayer.

The second part (B) and the third part (B') complement each other
• The second part deals with spiritual orientation, directly related to Abraham's creed
• The third part deals with physical orientation, directly related to the temple erected by Abraham with Ishmael's help

VOCABULARY

-Qiblah

The triliteral root qāf bā lām (ق ب ل) occurs 294 times in the Quran, in 13 derived forms - seven times as the noun qib'lat (قِبْلَة)
This form qib'lat can mean 1. Side facing us, point towards which our gaze is directed. Hence, 2. Point in the sky where one imagines an object towards which one must turn one's gaze to pray; specifically. Direction of Mecca (for Muslims) or Jerusalem (for Jews). 3. The South, southern side of the sky. 4. Facing each other - Set up your tents or build your houses facing each other. 5. The front, the narrowest side of a certain musical instrument

So, verse , often misunderstantood, must be translated like this (by respecting the form qib'lat)
"And We inspired to Moses and his brother "Set aside for your people some houses in Egypt and make your homes facing one another, and hold the contact prayer. And give good news to the believers."

Masjid

The triliteral root sīn jīm dāl (س ج د) occurs 92 times in the Quran, in four derived forms - 28 times as the noun masjid (مَسْجِد)
Etymologically, the term masjid is the noun of place derived from the root sajada, meaning to bow towards the ground, as in a branch laden with fruit, and for a human, to bow humbly to the point of touching the ground, hence to prostrate oneself and by extension to worship, to pray, initially in a secular sense and later in a religious sense.
By definition, a masjid is therefore a place of worship, any place where people gather to celebrate the worship of a deity, i.e. a temple/masjid, more specifically any place where God is worshipped. The term masjid in the singular, determined by the article al-masjid, and followed by the qualifier harâm/sacred, stands for the Sacred Temple/ al-masjid al-harâm, i.e. precisely the Kaaba and its enclosure.

NB

More details on my website (https//reveniraucoran.fr/ -> pdf in english available on the main page) or here directly
https//reveniraucoran.fr/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Literary_Composition_of_the_Quran-2025-02-07-1.pdf

Wakas

peace,

The first part informs us that Abraham is the founder of the house/temple in Mecca with his son Ishmael for worship and pilgrimage, and the fourth part adds that As-Safa and Al-Marwah (two rocks near the Temple) are part of "God's symbols/rites" during the pilgrimage.

Mecca? two rocks?

So, verse , often misunderstantood, must be translated like this (by respecting the form qib'lat)
"And We inspired to Moses and his brother "Set aside for your people some houses in Egypt and make your homes facing one another, and hold the contact prayer. And give good news to the believers."

What would be the purpose/benefit of that instruction? And I assume the only formation where that is possible is in a circle with all houses facing one another - is this what you mean?

Etymologically, the term masjid is the noun of place

No. See the end note here
https//mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-masjid-al-haram-Quran.html

It goes into detail about the form of noun of time/place and gives examples.

Iyyaka

Peace,

Mecca? two rocks?

Yes
Aş-Şafā and Al-Marwah = two proper noun which designate two rocky hillocks located in Mecca near the Kaaba/Temple.

(215816) yaṭṭawwafa = he walks. - form V.
Meaning to go/walk, to go/walk around, to circle around...To go around, to tour, to make a circuit of
(215817) bihimā = between them. 3rd person dual personal pronoun = refer to the two rocks mentionned at the beginning of the verse.

The question was Should they continue to go between these two rocks during the pilgrimage or visit to the Temple?
The Quran respond yes, they "are among the symbols set up by God"

As-Safa and Al-Marwah had come to be regarded, even in pre-Islamic times, as symbols of faith and patience in adversity and this explains their mention the context of the passages which deal with the virtues of patience and trust in God. I refer you above to my rhetoric analysis of this passage
Sub-Part A Spiritual life – Static with Prayer // Sub-Part A’ Spiritual life – Movement with Pilgrimage

What would be the purpose/benefit of that instruction? And I assume the only formation where that is possible is in a circle with all houses facing one another - is this what you mean?

I am merely translating the text of the Quran literally. It's up to each individual to draw benefit or a lesson from it. At least it allows for a better understanding of the word qiblah !
My analysis Tabwiya (from whence the verb tabawwa'â is derived) means to take up somewhere as a residence or dwelling. Misr here refers to the land of Pharaoh. Qibla denotes the construction or arrangement of things so that they are facing one another. The meaning here is to make their houses face one another and be in the same direction. The purpose was for them to make it easy for them to convey the message to each other, consult with one another, and to be able to establish the congregationnal prayer together, as indicated by the phrase, and maintain the Prayer, that comes immediately after this instruction.
The idea, therefore, is to cluster together in neighbourhoods, and not to be dispersed, in order to avoid the erosion of religion and practices, particularly collective prayer.

No. See the end note here
https//mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-masjid-al-haram-Quran.html
It goes into detail about the form of noun of time/place and gives examples.

Thank you firstly for this study. Whether it is accurate or not, it is always pleasant to debate with formal evidence (grammatical, textual or otherwise...)
You are right to point out the grammatical "anomaly" of the form of the word masjid, which indicates a place name and not a time name as you say. To understand the origin of this form masjid, we need to go back to the etymology, and I should have been more precise.
The root "Sīn-Jīm-Dāl" is a well-known Semitic root that has been used for a long time. In fact, the word masjid existed before the birth of Islam, and it essentially referred to a place of prayer, which is therefore not specifically Muslim at its core. It is borrowed from the Aramaic form masgədā, meaning "place of prayer, altar". Hence its form Masjid in Arabic. It derives from a proto-Semitic root meaning "to place the forehead on the ground" and thus indicates that it is a place of prostration. The word msgdʾ appears in Aramaic as early as the 5th century BC, and the same word is found later among the Nabataeans, meaning "place of worship". Apparently, this Aramaic word originally meant "stele" or "sacred pillar" => "from Aramaic masgədā, definite form (with -ā, suffixed definite article) of *masgid, place of worship, altar" (Source https//ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=mosque) or https//www.ahdictionary.com/word/semitic.html#sdr

Wakas

Thanks for elaborating. It seems you base much of your understanding from non-Quran sources.

Should they continue to go between these two rocks during the pilgrimage or visit to the Temple?
The Quran respond yes, they "are among the symbols set up by God"

I disagree. Discussed with evidence here
https//mypercept.co.uk/articles/meaning-hajj-Quran.html

I am merely translating the text of the Quran literally. ) It's up to each individual to draw benefit or a lesson from it.

You never answered my question. Please draw a diagram of houses facing one another so we can see what you mean.

You are right to point out the grammatical "anomaly" of the form of the word masjid, which indicates a place name and not a time name as you say.

You provide no Quranic evidence whatsoever and simply repeat your baseless claim that is a "place name".

Can we assume therefore in your methodology observations from Aramaic trumps intra-Quran analysis?
I'm not familiar with Hebrew or Aramaic but might be interesting to look at their word forms for this word also. From what you provided it's not clear e.g. it would be interesting to see if they have a form akin to masjid not masjad.

Iyyaka

On the contrary, I have provided robust arguments based on the Arabic language and the text itself. In fact, the Quran is speaking to us also by his own structure and organisation. I prove it clearly by posting many rhetoric analysis. Your reasoning is weak and non-Quranic. There's nothing I can do with that. Ultimately, only God guides.

Example -> al-Masjid is a location noun, not a time noun, a form inherited from Aramaic with a common root. This is Arabic. The Arabic language is not a pristine language that emerged out of nowhere; like any language, it has evolved and been influenced by sister languages, especially given that Arabic appeared later among the Semitic languages. This is a scientific fact. If you don't want to accept this simple fact, that's fine for me.

fawalli/So turn wajhaka/ your face shaṭra/ in the direction l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi/ the sacred place of worship
=> The Arabic language is clear here. Nothing to add or over-interpret further.

Wakas

So Arabic grammarians explain what a noun of time/place is and give examples. They discuss exceptions (e.g. masjid). I provided Quran examples of each in my article.

You do not comment on any Quranic examples or what any Arabic grammarian said and make the baseless claim a 3rd time "masjid is a location noun / masjid is a noun of place".

Let me help you out before you repeat your baseless claim a 4th time...

A more accurate reply from you would have been to say it can theoretically be a noun of time or place but in my understanding it is a noun of place.

You did not answer my question on the houses formation again. I wonder why.

What is Aramaic or Hebrew for time of prayer? Do they have similar to Arabic word forms, e.g. maf3il, maf3al ?

Since you claim your view is Quran based please give your clearest examples from Quran where the form maf3il (i.e. same form as masjid) means place.

The beauty of my article is I provide a checklist anyone can run their understanding through to see what issues come up, e.g. I point out what verses may cause issues for each understanding. Of course you did not address any of the issues and then claim with confidence you are right.

God knows best.