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User:CPO675/Sandbox 1: Difference between revisions
→THe term Khalaq
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The noun sakīnah occurs in six Medinan verses (Q 2:248, 9:26.40, 48:4.18.26), in four of which it stands in a possessive relationship with God (Q 2:248, 9:26.40, 48:26). Given that the root s-k-n is generally associated with the notions of rest, repose, and motionlessness (CDKA 136), the word sakīnah may be conjectured to refer to a divinely granted state of composure and tranquillity, sometimes in the face of an external threat (Durie 2018, 179). This understanding works well for at least five of the term’s occurrences (Q 9:26.40, 48:4.18.26), in all of which “the sakīnah” or God’s sakīnah form accusative objects of the verb → anzala, “to send down,” with God as the grammatical subject. That God’s sakīnah is an inward state of divinely bestowed fortification is clearest in Q 48:4, according to which God “sent down the sakīnah into the believers’ hearts (singular: → qalb) so that they might increase in belief in addition to their [existing] belief.”34 Interestingly, Q 3:154 speaks of God’s sending down (anzala) not of the sakīnah but of “security” or “a sense of security” (amanah; cf. also Q 8:11). This too supports the understanding that “the sakīnah” or God’s sakīnah in Q 48:4 and its parallels refers to a divinely wrought allaying of fear pertaining to some external threat. The sixth occurrence of the word sakīnah comes at Q 2:248, according to which the Israelite “ark” (al-tābūt; see FVQ 88–89) contained “a sakīnah from yourp Lord.” Here, too, it is at least feasible to read the word in the sense of an inward state of fortification, in so far as the ark, which is expressly called a divine “sign” of Saul’s royal authority, assuages the Israelites’ doubts about God’s appointment of a king who is devoid of wealth (Q 2:247). Origin of the word. Etymologically, the word is descended from rabbinic Hebrew shәkinah or its Aramaic equivalent (WMJA 53–55; NB 24–25; JPND 208–209; CQ 21; FVQ 174; Stewart 2021, 42–54), <b>which in targumic and rabbinic texts designate God’s “dwelling” or “presence” in the world and can on occasion appear as a downright hypostasis of the deity </b>(see DTTM 1573 and DJBA 1145 as well as the overview in Unterman et al. 2007). The Qur’anic use of sakīnah, a word that was presumably adopted from the language of the Medinan Jews, is an evident case in which the semantics of a loanword underwent far-reaching adjustment in accordance with the meaning of its Arabic root s-k-n, conveying rest and calmness. As a result, the Qur’anic sakīnah, though explicitly identified as being God’s, has a distinctly psychological slant and does not convey the presence of God at a particular place, as does the rabbinic concept (Durie 2018, 178–179). One may surmise that the Jews of Medina employed the word sakīnah to describe God’s presence in the ark of the covenant (Q 2:248). This would be in line with God’s statement in Exod 25:8 that he will “dwell” in the Israelites’ sanctuary, which the Targum Onqelos renders, “And I shall cause my presence (shkinti) to dwell among them.” The Qur’an, by contrast, integrates the term into the theme of God’s reassuring impact on the believers’ hearts, into which the sakīnah is sent down according to Q 48:4 (see AHW 67 and under → qalb). Thus, while the concept’s original doctrinal context was a theology of God’s presence at particular places and times (see Durie 2018, 179), in its Qur’anic reception it is absorbed into what one might call the Islamic scripture’s theology of divine fortification: the prime arena in which God can be experienced as present, above and beyond his universal role as the world’s creator and sustainer (→ khalaqa), is the human heart.}} | The noun sakīnah occurs in six Medinan verses (Q 2:248, 9:26.40, 48:4.18.26), in four of which it stands in a possessive relationship with God (Q 2:248, 9:26.40, 48:26). Given that the root s-k-n is generally associated with the notions of rest, repose, and motionlessness (CDKA 136), the word sakīnah may be conjectured to refer to a divinely granted state of composure and tranquillity, sometimes in the face of an external threat (Durie 2018, 179). This understanding works well for at least five of the term’s occurrences (Q 9:26.40, 48:4.18.26), in all of which “the sakīnah” or God’s sakīnah form accusative objects of the verb → anzala, “to send down,” with God as the grammatical subject. That God’s sakīnah is an inward state of divinely bestowed fortification is clearest in Q 48:4, according to which God “sent down the sakīnah into the believers’ hearts (singular: → qalb) so that they might increase in belief in addition to their [existing] belief.”34 Interestingly, Q 3:154 speaks of God’s sending down (anzala) not of the sakīnah but of “security” or “a sense of security” (amanah; cf. also Q 8:11). This too supports the understanding that “the sakīnah” or God’s sakīnah in Q 48:4 and its parallels refers to a divinely wrought allaying of fear pertaining to some external threat. The sixth occurrence of the word sakīnah comes at Q 2:248, according to which the Israelite “ark” (al-tābūt; see FVQ 88–89) contained “a sakīnah from yourp Lord.” Here, too, it is at least feasible to read the word in the sense of an inward state of fortification, in so far as the ark, which is expressly called a divine “sign” of Saul’s royal authority, assuages the Israelites’ doubts about God’s appointment of a king who is devoid of wealth (Q 2:247). Origin of the word. Etymologically, the word is descended from rabbinic Hebrew shәkinah or its Aramaic equivalent (WMJA 53–55; NB 24–25; JPND 208–209; CQ 21; FVQ 174; Stewart 2021, 42–54), <b>which in targumic and rabbinic texts designate God’s “dwelling” or “presence” in the world and can on occasion appear as a downright hypostasis of the deity </b>(see DTTM 1573 and DJBA 1145 as well as the overview in Unterman et al. 2007). The Qur’anic use of sakīnah, a word that was presumably adopted from the language of the Medinan Jews, is an evident case in which the semantics of a loanword underwent far-reaching adjustment in accordance with the meaning of its Arabic root s-k-n, conveying rest and calmness. As a result, the Qur’anic sakīnah, though explicitly identified as being God’s, has a distinctly psychological slant and does not convey the presence of God at a particular place, as does the rabbinic concept (Durie 2018, 178–179). One may surmise that the Jews of Medina employed the word sakīnah to describe God’s presence in the ark of the covenant (Q 2:248). This would be in line with God’s statement in Exod 25:8 that he will “dwell” in the Israelites’ sanctuary, which the Targum Onqelos renders, “And I shall cause my presence (shkinti) to dwell among them.” The Qur’an, by contrast, integrates the term into the theme of God’s reassuring impact on the believers’ hearts, into which the sakīnah is sent down according to Q 48:4 (see AHW 67 and under → qalb). Thus, while the concept’s original doctrinal context was a theology of God’s presence at particular places and times (see Durie 2018, 179), in its Qur’anic reception it is absorbed into what one might call the Islamic scripture’s theology of divine fortification: the prime arena in which God can be experienced as present, above and beyond his universal role as the world’s creator and sustainer (→ khalaqa), is the human heart.}} | ||
== THe term | == THe term khalāq == | ||
{{Quote|1=Further vocabulary discussed: ummī {{!}} scriptureless, not hitherto endowed with a scriptural revelation baraʾa tr. {{!}} to create (s.th.) al-ākhirah {{!}} what is final or last, the final state of things, the hereafter Q 2:102.200 and 3:77 threaten various kinds of people with having “no share in the hereafter” (mā lahu fī l-ākhirati min khalāqin or lā khalāqa lahum fī l-ākhirati). The noun khalāq also occurs, in the general sense of “portion, share,” in Q 9:69, where it refers to people’s “share” of goods in the present life. Khalāq may reasonably be suspected of being a loanword, given that it stands apart from the otherwise prevalent semantics of the Arabic root kh-l-q to do with creation (thus in the Qur’an; see under → khalaqa) or, outside the Qur’an, with smoothness or with being old and worn out (AEL 800). Moreover, the word’s morphological pattern faʿāl is usually associated with verbal nouns (e.g., fasād, dhahāb) and adjectives (e.g., jawād, jabān). What might be the word’s ancestor, then? Syriac ḥelqā means one’s allotted fate (FVQ 124–125; SD 460) and does not appear to be used in an eschatological context. Instead, at least at Q 2:102.200 and 3:77 the Qur’an’s diction is convincingly linked with a rabbinic turn of phrase (BEḲ 87; Hirschfeld 1902, 114; JPND 198–199; FVQ 124–125; BEQ 459). The latter is exemplified, for instance, by a Mishnaic declaration that all of Israel have “a share (ḥēleq) in the world to come (la-ʿolam ha-ba),” followed by a catalogue of various groups of sinners said to have “no share in the world to come” (m. Sanh. 10). The expression “a share in the world to come” (ḥēleq la-ʿolam ha-ba) has two more occurrences in the Mishnah (m. Abot 3:11 and m. Sanh. 6:2) as well as a great number of further attestations in the Tosefta (e.g., t. Sanh. 9:5), the two Talmuds (e.g., b. B. Mәṣ. 59a), and Genesis Rabbah (e.g., Gen. Rab. 1:5). Hence, Q 2:102.200 and 3:77, while certainly reflecting rabbinic rabbinic diction, are unlikely to be a targeted allusion specifically to m. Sanh. 10. The claim that the three verses at hand echo a rabbinic turn of phrase is strengthened by the Medinan provenance of all Qur’anic occurrences of khalāq. To be sure, one may query why Hebrew ḥēleq should become Arabic khalāq. As regards the long ā vowel, Horovitz notes that the Hebrew word corresponds to Jewish Aramaic ḥulaqa (DJPA 191; DJBA 439), which is morphologically closer to the Arabic form (JPND 198–199). Like Hebrew ḥēleq, Aramaic ḥulaqa is employed to refer to an individual’s share in this world and in the next in the so-called Second Targum on the book of Esther (ḥulaqa b-ʿalma haden wa-b-ʿalma d-ate; Grossfeld 1994, 42 = Esther 2:7; Ego 1996, 88; the passage is pointed out in JPND 198–199). As regards the transition from word-initial ḥ to kh, there is at least some evidence that such a shift was not impossible: Arabic khardal, “mustard” (Q 21:47, 31:16), is descended from Aramaic or Syriac ḥardlā (Fraenkel 1886, 141; Pennachio 2013, 94), and Arabic khamr, “wine” (e.g., Q 2:219, 5:90–91), is generally derived from ḥamrā (Fraenkel 1886, 160–161; FVQ 125–126; Pennachio 2013, 91–92). In sum, it seems safe to posit that the word khalāq was employed, and very likely coined, by Arabophone Jews in order to render a common rabbinic idiom about the prospect of salvation in the world to come.73 Like → ummī, “scriptureless,” or baraʾa, “to create” (→ khalaqa), khalāq would seem to be a case of the Qur’an employing terminology current among the Medinan Jews | {{Quote|1=<i>khalāq {{!}} share</i> Sinai, Nicolai. Key Terms of the Qur'an: A Critical Dictionary (p. 281-282). Princeton University Press. Kindle Edition.|2=Further vocabulary discussed: ummī {{!}} scriptureless, not hitherto endowed with a scriptural revelation baraʾa tr. {{!}} to create (s.th.) al-ākhirah {{!}} what is final or last, the final state of things, the hereafter Q 2:102.200 and 3:77 threaten various kinds of people with having “no share in the hereafter” (mā lahu fī l-ākhirati min khalāqin or lā khalāqa lahum fī l-ākhirati). The noun khalāq also occurs, in the general sense of “portion, share,” in Q 9:69, where it refers to people’s “share” of goods in the present life. Khalāq may reasonably be suspected of being a loanword, given that it stands apart from the otherwise prevalent semantics of the Arabic root kh-l-q to do with creation (thus in the Qur’an; see under → khalaqa) or, outside the Qur’an, with smoothness or with being old and worn out (AEL 800). Moreover, the word’s morphological pattern faʿāl is usually associated with verbal nouns (e.g., fasād, dhahāb) and adjectives (e.g., jawād, jabān). What might be the word’s ancestor, then? Syriac ḥelqā means one’s allotted fate (FVQ 124–125; SD 460) and does not appear to be used in an eschatological context. Instead, at least at Q 2:102.200 and 3:77 the Qur’an’s diction is convincingly linked with a rabbinic turn of phrase (BEḲ 87; Hirschfeld 1902, 114; JPND 198–199; FVQ 124–125; BEQ 459). The latter is exemplified, for instance, by a Mishnaic declaration that all of Israel have “a share (ḥēleq) in the world to come (la-ʿolam ha-ba),” followed by a catalogue of various groups of sinners said to have “no share in the world to come” (m. Sanh. 10). The expression “a share in the world to come” (ḥēleq la-ʿolam ha-ba) has two more occurrences in the Mishnah (m. Abot 3:11 and m. Sanh. 6:2) as well as a great number of further attestations in the Tosefta (e.g., t. Sanh. 9:5), the two Talmuds (e.g., b. B. Mәṣ. 59a), and Genesis Rabbah (e.g., Gen. Rab. 1:5). Hence, Q 2:102.200 and 3:77, while certainly reflecting rabbinic rabbinic diction, are unlikely to be a targeted allusion specifically to m. Sanh. 10. The claim that the three verses at hand echo a rabbinic turn of phrase is strengthened by the Medinan provenance of all Qur’anic occurrences of khalāq. To be sure, one may query why Hebrew ḥēleq should become Arabic khalāq. As regards the long ā vowel, Horovitz notes that the Hebrew word corresponds to Jewish Aramaic ḥulaqa (DJPA 191; DJBA 439), which is morphologically closer to the Arabic form (JPND 198–199). Like Hebrew ḥēleq, Aramaic ḥulaqa is employed to refer to an individual’s share in this world and in the next in the so-called Second Targum on the book of Esther (ḥulaqa b-ʿalma haden wa-b-ʿalma d-ate; Grossfeld 1994, 42 = Esther 2:7; Ego 1996, 88; the passage is pointed out in JPND 198–199). As regards the transition from word-initial ḥ to kh, there is at least some evidence that such a shift was not impossible: Arabic khardal, “mustard” (Q 21:47, 31:16), is descended from Aramaic or Syriac ḥardlā (Fraenkel 1886, 141; Pennachio 2013, 94), and Arabic khamr, “wine” (e.g., Q 2:219, 5:90–91), is generally derived from ḥamrā (Fraenkel 1886, 160–161; FVQ 125–126; Pennachio 2013, 91–92). In sum, it seems safe to posit that the word khalāq was employed, and very likely coined, by Arabophone Jews in order to render a common rabbinic idiom about the prospect of salvation in the world to come.73 Like → ummī, “scriptureless,” or baraʾa, “to create” (→ khalaqa), khalāq would seem to be a case of the Qur’an employing terminology current among the Medinan Jews.}} | ||
==Parallels in the hadith== | ==Parallels in the hadith== | ||