14. THE MEANINGS OF KHAYR (GOOD) IN THE QUR’ĀN (1)

14.  THE MEANINGS OF KHAYR (GOOD) IN THE QUR’ĀN (1)

In order to understand the verses of the Qur’an extensively we have to learn the sciences of the Qur’an laid down by earlier scholars of the Qur’an. One of these sciences is Asbāb al-Nuzūl (“the causes of revelation”), means the occasions that led to the revelation of a particular verse. . Al-Zarkashī (d. 794/1392) who mentioned forty-seven sciences of the Qur’ān in his Burhān put  asbāb al-nuzūl  in the first place. Al-Suyūt.ī (d. 991/1505) who mentioned eighty sciences put it in the ninth place in his Itqān. Without knowing it the verse of the Qur’an might be misunderstood. One of the verses commonly misunderstood is the following verse:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَى وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ

 آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ

 وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (البقرة: 62(

Verily, those who believe and those who are

 Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes

 in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous

good deeds shall have their reward with their

Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor

 shall they grieve (Q. 2:62)

          This verse was revealed in answering the question of Salmān al-Fārisī about the monks with whom they had prayed in their churches, expecting the advent of Prophet Muhammad in Arabia, and advised Salmān to follow the new prophet whenever he met him. Then the above verse was revealed to explain that not only these monks, but the Jews before the advent of Prophet Isa (Jesus), and the Christians before the advent of Prophet Muhmmad s.a.w. would be safe. But those who do not want to follow the new prophet, namely, the Jews after the advent of Prophet Isa, and the Christians after the advent of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. would not be safe.

          If we read this verse to the Jews and the Christians without explaining its meaning they would think that they do not have to become Muslims to attain salvation, and the Muslims do not have to invite non-Muslims to Islam. To correct misunderstanding, Allah revealed the following verse:

وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ

فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ (آل عمران:85)

And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam,

 it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter

 he will be one of the losers (Q. 3:85)

          Another branch of Qur’anic science is called لْوُجُوْهُ وَالنَّظّائرفِي الْقُرْآن (al-wujūh wa ’l- naẓā’ir fī al-Qur’ān) translated as “homonyms and synonyms in the Qur’ān.” Al-Zarkashī put it in number four of the 47 branches of the Qur’ānic science in his work al-Burhān, whereas al-Suyūtī put it in number 39 of the 80 branches in his work al-Itqān.

          Homonym is one of the five classes of Typographic Paronomasia. Paronomasia is the use words having similar sounds but different meanings. It is divided into Typographic Paronomasia and Visual Paronomasia. Homonym is the combination both homographs (the use of words that sound the same and have different meanings such as sun and son; plain = easy to see, to hear or to understand, and plane= flat or level surface) and homophones (words that are spelt the same but have different meanings such as advert to = refer to, and advert = (GB col.) advertisement). So, homonyms is where the sounds and the spellings of two or more words are exactly the same, but have different meanings, such as 60 seconds = 1 minute, second hand = used, not new; second class = lower class. Here we have identical words but have different meanings.

          Al-naẓā’ir is close to synonyms, namely a word which has many meanings, such as the word عَيْن  in Arabic has many meanings: letter ع, eye, spring, source, prime (of something). Here we have one word which has many meanings. In the Qur’ān we may find words which has many meanings, such as fitnah, such as: temptation, trial, sedition, riot, discord, dissention, civil strife we are having now in the Middle East. In Indonesia we mistakenly translate fitnah as “slander” which is in Arabic iftirā’ (إفْتِرَاء) and “consider” it worse than killing.

        The term khayr ((خَيْر as an adjective literally means: good; excellent, outstanding, superior, admirable; better; best. As a noun it means: “good thing, blessing; benefit, interest, advantage; welfare; charity.” Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 425/1132) gives the definition of khayr (good thing) as follows: it is what everybody wants, such as: ‘aql (intelligence), ‘adl (justice), faḍl (superiority, favor, kindness), and useful thing. It is the opposite of sharr (evil, calamity, injustice, harm, wickedness, vice). He divides the good thing into two categories: (a) absolute good, namely, something which is always liked by anybody in any case, such as Paradise, and (b) relative good, such as wealth; it could be good for one person in one case, but bad for another in another case. Therefore, wealth is also called “good thing” relatively, as we shall see.

Al-Dāmaghānī (d. 478/1085) mentions eight meanings of the term khayr in the Qur’ān, whereas Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) mentions twenty-two meanings. Three out of the eight examples mentioned by both of them are as follows:

1.    الْمَال  (wealth), as in the following verses:

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ

لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ (البقرة:180)

   It is prescribed for you, when death approaches

 any of you, if he leaves wealth, that he makes

 a bequest to parents and next of kin, according

 to reasonable manners. (This is) a duty

upon the pious (Q. 2:180) 

          There are two views concerning this verse:

(a)   Those who say that the bequest for the parents is 2/3 of the wealth, for the relatives 2/3 of the remaining 1/3, namely, 2/9 of the wealth, and the bequest for non-relatives will be 1/9 of the wealth, which is also the view of al-Ḥasan.

(b)   The other view says that the verse is abrogated (specified) with the verse dealing with the law of inheritance, so that the parents and the relatives will have legal shares in the inheritance, and the bequest will be to the relatives who do not have share of it. This is also the view of Qatādah. Those who have share will not get a bequest. The verse in question runs as follows:

لِلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ

 نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالْأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ

 كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَفْرُوضًا (النساء:7)

 There is a share for men and a share for women

 from what is left by parents and those nearest

related, whether, the property be small or

large—a legal share.(Q. 4:7)

The explanation of the Qur’an dealing with the distribution of wealth in inheritance is given in more details in the Qur’an, more than that of praying and fasting, such as Q. 4:11.

يَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنْفِقُونَ قُلْ مَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ

وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ (البقرة:215)

 They ask you (O Muhammad) what they should

 spend. Say: Whatever you spend of good (i.e. wealth)

 must be for parents and kindred and orphans and

the needy and the wayfarer …  (Q. 2:215)

            A companion of the Prophet called ‘Amr ibn al-Jamūḥ (عَمْرِو بْنِ الْجَمُوحِ)   told the Prophet that he had much wealth and asked him where to spend it as charity, then the above verse was revealed.   

2.    الإيْمَان (faith), as in the following verses:

وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ

لَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ (الأنفال:23)

 Had Allah known of any good (i.e., faith) in them,

He would indeed have made them listen; and even if

He had made them listen, they would but have turned

 away with aversion (to the truth) (Q. 8:23)

Had they faith they would have listened to the arguments and evidence. They also asked the Prophet to revive Quṣayy ibn Kilāb and others to testify the messengership of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Had they faith they would have heard the answer of all what they had asked. However, had this happened they would still disbelieve, as Allah had sealed their hearts.

                   Before the battle of Badr the Prophet had come to know that some of the Banī Hāshim clan and others were forced to accompany the Quraysh pagans to fight the Muslims, such as al-‘Abbās, and not to harm them. Among the captive were al-‘Abbās, his two nephews and one ally.   As captives were to pay ransom for their release, he told the Prophet that he had been Muslim before, so that he should not pay ransom. The Prophet said, Allah only knew whether he was a Muslim, and if so, Allah would reward him for it. But being a captive he had to pay ransom. When he said that he had no money, the Prophet told him that he had promised his wife to give the money he had buried to the children of al-Faḍl, ‘Abdullah, and Quthan, if he died in the battlefield. This was a secret which was revealed to the Prophet. After paying the ransom, Allah revealed the following verse:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِمَنْ فِي أَيْدِيكُمْ مِنَ الْأَسْرَى إِنْ يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ

 فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِمَّا أُخِذَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ

 لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (الأنفال:70)

 O Prophet (Muhammad)! Say to the captives

 that are in your hands: “If Allah knows any good

 (i.e. faith) in your hearts, He will give you something

 better than what has been taken from you,

 and He will forgive you, and Allah is Oft

 Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Q. 8:70)

          3.  الإسْلام (Islam) as in the following verses:

مَنَّاعٍ لِلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ (القلم:12)

 Hindered of good (i.e., Islam), transgressor,

 sinful (Q. 68:12)

         Ibn ‘Abbās says that it is about the person who prevents his son and his relatives from converting to Islam. Al-Ḥasan says that it is about a person who said to his relatives that he would not get benefit at all from their becoming Muslims.

 مَنَّاعٍ لِلْخَيْرِ مُعْتَدٍ مُرِيبٍ (ق:25)

Hindered of good (i.e., Islam),

transgressor, (Q. 50:25)

        This verse was revealed concerning al-Mughīrah who prohibited his nephews from converting to Islam. Another interpretation is that of al-Ḥasan and Qatādah who say that it is about a person who prohibited people from paying the obligatory charity, the zakat.

(CIVIC, 16 October, 2015)

المصادر:

المكتبة الشاملة

الحسين الدَّامغَانِي (ت. 478\1085). قَامُوْسُ الْقُرْآن (الْوُجُوْهُ وَالنَّظَائِر(. بيروت, 1983.

ابن الجوزي (ت. 597\1201). نُزْهَة الأَعْيُنِ النَّوَاظِرِ فِيْ عِلْمِ الْوُجُوْهِ وَ النَّظَائِر. بيروت: مؤسسة الرسالة, 1405\1985.

الراغب الأصفهاني  (ت. 425\1132). مُفْرَدَات أَلْفَاظِ الْقُرْآن. دمشق: دَار الْقَلَم, 1412\1992.

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(

تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671 هـ(

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774 هـ(

Abu Khalil, Dr. Shauqi, Atlas of the Qur’ān. Riyadh, Darussalam, 2003

 http://literarydevices.net/paronomasia