Re: Question for Yusuf B Gursi


Dr. Jamshid Ibrahim wrote:
there is potential blasphemy if read with the usual word order of
colloquial arabic and without case endings, resulting in "God will
obesrve your actions and His Messenger", and the blasphemous
intepretation that the Prophet is under suspicion. since the Qur'an
cannot imply that, one may conclude that the case endings were in use
and functional in early 7th cent. Hijaz. this part is relevant to
sci.lang or at least add it to the body of evidence that it was so.
this part is relevant to sci.lang.

This word order putting "rasu:luhu" at the end is used in Quran (often
repeated in Tauba)but not consistently. In the same aya (9.2) the two

in the same sura

types of word order occur:

wa adha:n-nun mina allahi wa rasu:lihi 3ila: an-na:s..
3anna al-allaha bari3un minal-mushriki:na wa rusu:luhu

usually (as arabs do on the internet) 3 symbolizes `ayn.

'anna~lla:ha bari:'un mina~l-mu$riki:na wa-rasu:luhu

(verily) that God remains aloof from polytheists and (so does) His
Messenger

this is the classic instance of use of case endings in the Qur'an.
without case endings in colloquial arabic ("Neo-Arabic") it would be
the clearly blasphemous "God remains aloof from polytheists and His
Prophet" (!). alledged misreadings of this verse (with rasu:l in the
genitive instead of the nominative that it is, i.e. governed by min
"from") was used (so say surviving texts) as an argument to require the
vowel signs in the codices.


This change of word order could be for reasons of emphasis. On the

I agree.

other hand separating 3allh from Rasu:l could also show subordination.
I believe it needs more discusssion since as Yusuf pointed out it could
lead (if not not to blasphemy because the Prophet is not the same as
God) but at least to putting the prophet and Mushriku:n on the same

that would be very blasphemous.

level when the case ending is left out. The word Rasu:l completes or
seals the statement.

.

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