The Sin Tax of Ignoring SyntaxHamza Yusuf Posted from Medina Munawara, the City of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. March 26/2011 “If a profligate comes to you with news, make sure you understand it (tabayyanu) and make sure you know it indeed happened (tathabbatu), or else you will attack people out of ignorance and end up in great remorse” (Qur’an 49:6).1 How many fault-finders of statements Yet the fault is faulty understanding – al-Mutanabbi Upon seeing one of his students reading a difficult book, a teacher said, “Don’t read that book yet.” The student replied, “I promise only to take from it what I understand from it.” “It is not what you understand that concerns me,” responded the teacher, “but what you think you understand.” – Shaykhna b. Mahfudh “How quick people are to condemn things they don’t understand.” – Lady Aishah, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Sahih Muslim, Chapter on Funerals I want to write about the importance of proper reading and writing, as well as the importance of proper adab (manners) when one criticizes or debates another. This topic was partly inspired by the general debasement of our public discourse taking place these days and partly by some comments from readers of my recent blog posts. These comments, some published and some not, concerned statements I wrote regarding Islam and politics, so I shall also take this opportunity to elaborate on those statements. First, we have to understand that one aspect of language, even in its most simple usage, is ambiguity. Anyone who has ever used a dictionary knows that words often have multiple meanings. (For that reason, Wikipedia has a “disambiguation” option.) In rhetoric, amphibolyrefers to the phenomenon of ambiguous syntax. In the Islamic tradition, the prerequisites of debate include a mastery of grammar, rhetoric, logic, and a branch of logic that involves the comportment of research and dialectic (adab al-bahth wa al-munadharah). Those ill prepared in these areas fall prey to common misunderstandings. In the past, such people did not debate with or challenge statements made by an erudite person because they knew well the verse in the Qur’an, “Are those who know and those who don’t equal?” (39:09) – a rhetorical question, needing no response, as the answer is obvious. Furthermore, in the Islamic tradition, a long-standing convention of glosses exists whereby scholars would shed light on the abstruse language used by their predecessors. The Maliki scholars, in particular, preferred to write in such abstruse language in order to prevent ill-equipped readers from venturing into their books. (In the West, legal books often use a similar tactic so that only jurists can comprehend the text with ease.) Sometimes, glosses were written on previous glosses, and 1 A serious student of knowledge must work to grasp the ambiguities of the text she is reading. Imam al-Ghazali is noted for saying. is the most difficult level of reading. Reading is an activity largely of the mind. if one says. I also frequently look up a word in my readings. and supporting them with counter arguments. “I began my journey from Mecca. demanding I resort to another larger dictionary. and finally. coming to terms with the author’s terms (meaning that one understands terms as the author intended).) Ibn Hisham lists fifteen possible meanings of the preposition “min” when used in a sentence. whole books were penned in an attempt to pin down Imam al-Ghazali’s precise meaning. which may be translated from the Arabic as. explore the possibilities of meaning in their attempt to exhaust meaning. “Whoever follows up Ramadan with six days from Shawwal. but this last and problematic phase of reading is entirely predicated upon the mastery of the first three. (For example.” which means. or conclusions based upon an accurate and contextual reading of his work.” and multiple meanings can be inferred from this statement. Some go even further by responding with vituperative diatribes. Imam Shafi’ understood the preposition “min” to be partitive. provided the appropriate meaning. so he interpreted the hadith to mean Shawwal as the time when the fasting may begin and then continue on into the following months. For instance. Imam Malik believed the “min” in the context of this hadith is initiative. To use a classical example of an ambiguous statement in usul. Ibn Hisham’s famous Mughni al-labib is an exhaustive compendium of Arabic prepositions and particles. indeed. All of the above were ways in which highly capable scholars removed ambiguity from previous texts in order to enable educated but less capable scholars to understand the texts. reading an Arabic poem. (Despite his exhaustive study. giving your reasons for dissent. Both interpretations of this hadith are valid. which is what Muslim scholars and exegetes tended to do. I spend a good deal of time reading such texts as a result of my own dependence on far more knowledgeable scholars. it is as if he has fasted constantly.) Hence. which. The fact that language allows so many meanings and multiple possibilities reveals its richness. and evidence supporting them. along with a few verbs and adverbs that he felt needed to be included. Recently.” which does not include eating from other foods. I came across an unusual word and looked it up only to find that the meanings provided in one Arabic dictionary did not make sense within the context of the poem. responding with the appropriate etiquette. Imam Shafi’ believed the hadith to mean that the days of fasting must be only within the month of Shawwal and not extend to the later months. It is the ability to criticize with understanding. At this level. peace be upon him. scholars mention the hadith of the Prophet.” The original Arabic contains the phrase. “Laysa fi al-imkaan abda’ mimma kana. Readers can marvel at the sundry possibilities of words on their own or in order. criticism means disagreeing with all or part of an author’s assumptions. even using foul language. sometimes for the sheer pleasure of exploring nuances and other times to make sure I understand the word correctly. or they can misread and subsequently fall victim to anger and confusion. “from [the month of] Shawwal. the disambiguation is simply choosing one interpretation over the other. but reading well is an exhausting effort of one’s mental faculties. This last phase. which Mortimer Adler describes as “talking back” to the author. “min Shawwal.some works contain marginalia that involve three or four books in one. understanding the propositions. (as in “I ate from the bread. their arguments. logic. commentaries on this book further explain what he meant. One of my own teachers said that reading has four levels: understanding the outline of the piece. In this case.” “Min” is a preposition in Arabic. such people are known affectionately as 2 . Indeed.” it means one initiated travel from Mecca but continued beyond Mecca.) However. ” While it has a neutral meaning. To negate politics as a subject matter that is part of Islam is to deny a rich tradition of scholarship known as siyasah shari’iyyah. Their self-conceit leads them to believe that they simply know. For most adherents of the faith. but do not understand it as being like “donkeys carrying books. However. also informed a Bedouin that if he only practiced the five pillars. there are several Islamophobic websites now which claim that Islam is not a 3 .“trolls” in internet jargon. In my previous blog on Egypt’s “revolution. the politics of sacred law. and asks himself. or tradition. if not. not an ideology. The Qur’an describes those who know the literal Torah. when a humble person finds words that ring false or challenge his own assumptions. he pauses. thinks. Islam is wahy. as in “world-view. seeking shades of meaning they may have missed. An Arab poet once wrote.” The Prophet. So. he would have salvation. Islam shares nothing with what can be called an ideology if we understand the term both etymologically and in modern usage. or just too lazy to probe further in order to grasp the subtleties or nuances of the language. “Am I understanding this correctly? Did the author mean what I think he means?” If they can ask the author. The Internet provides another albeit dangerous option. religion. “I understood it. “disambiguation” for others was clearly necessary. and Iam right. But to say that politics is essential to the practice of an individual’s Islam is to deny the hadith in al-Bukhari’s collection in which the Prophet.” This is the path Iblis chose: “I am better than Adam. It comes from a French term that was used in the revolutionary period to articulate a new way of thinking not encumbered by metaphysics. and only an author knows what’s the meaning of his book. So in the interest of disambiguation.” I wrote. My knowledge surpasses his.” On the other hand. told Hudhayfah that if there was no clear leader of the Muslims to “disengage from all the sects and cling to a private Islam. rules that relate to power that they are obliged to follow. as it has several possible usages. Indeed. I want to delve further into the issue of Islam and politics. they may seek a second opinion from an intelligent friend or resort to a good reference book or dictionary.” Misunderstanding with the assumption of understanding is common to people who are arrogant. Hence he is wrong. they simply reveal their own ignorance. as reading and understanding are two distinctly different phenomena. Napoleon derogatively referred to the proponents of ideology as “ideologues. a revelation from God. let me explain my usage of the ambiguous term “ideology” and why I think it has nothing to do with Islam. peace and blessings be upon him. and several uncouth remarks were made in response to that statement. But for those involved in politics and especially those who have political power. “Only the wearer knows what’s under his cloak. there is a component in the Islamic sciences known as ‘ahkam al-sultaniyyah. Islam is apolitical in that politics or political systems they may happen to live under do not affect their personal faith in God or their personal practice of Islam. peace and blessings be upon him. I am superior to him.” This caused great consternation in some people. due to their failure to understand as opposed to their ability to read. ignorant. In actuality. “Islam is not a political ideology and hence does not offer a political solution per se. It appears from the comments I received that the reason so many people had trouble with that sentence I wrote is because they did not understand the term “ideology” in my usage.” most educated Westerners would view it pejoratively.” Some people responded defending my statement and clearly showed me that many people did understand what I meant by that term. all the better. “idiolojiyyiah. Neither the Salaf nor any of the scholars for that past 1300 years of Islam used that term. Failure to realize this produced ideology. 4 .” which carries a positive meaning in the Qur’an. he later quotes Reagan saying. extreme leftists notwithstanding. Islam. as most educated Americans consider “ideology” a pejorative term. in order to convey their intended meaning. but it’s not a religion. If you have ever had a political discussion with a Marxist. fa qutila kayfa qaddara” (74:18-19). Lenin departed from Marx’s use of the word.e. as writers use words.” Islam is not an idea. an ideology. and it is certainly nowhere to be found in the Qur’an or hadith.” A reader must try to understand the terms of any article. it only becomes widespread after ideologues in the Islamic world. and unlike “tafakkur. To use ideology to describe our religion is worse still. When I used the word “ideology. or argument based on what the author or speaker meant by it. an interlocutor may request a definition if it is ambiguous. Raymond Williams mentions that Marx used the term in a pejorative sense saying that ideas were “nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships…. a mental straightjacket or rigid rules for the philosophically narrow-minded. a book on Islamic manners related to research and discussion.” Thus. began to re-form Islam as a colonial and post-colonial resistance movement Since the Arabs don’t even have a word for this phenomenon in their classical language. a master of Arabic and Islam. once said to me. and it later became a common word in Leftist vocabulary to mean a political worldview.” In the same entry. In his Political Dictionary. such as found in Marxist ideology. which invariably have ambiguity. “Originally. According to Adab al-bahth wa al-munadharah. an upside down version of reality … ideology is then abstract and false thought. “Fikr” is not an attribute of God. he said. Lisan al-Arab. “Mufakkir” is not one of God’s 99 Names. as in “Innahu fakkara wa qaddara. “That is very different from how the Salaf would have understood Islam. he has plenty of uneducated Muslims that will provide him with quotes to support that thesis.” I was referring to something that comes from thought that entails an all-encompassing absolutist view. infected with Marxist thought.” In Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. when we look up “ideology” in any modern English-Arabic dictionary. in a sense directly related to the original conservative use…. “I think ‘ideology’ is a scare word to most Americans. on the other hand. under “ideology. and “ideology” is the word he uses when referring to Islam. And we will continue to hear the detractors of Islam refer to Islam as an ideology rather than a religion. hence. “For he thought and calculated. And how he calculated. a system of ideas for political or social action. you can’t even find a word in classical Arabic that expresses the meaning of “ideology”. no equivalent word can be found in Ibn Manzur’s authoritative dictionary of classical Arabic. is far more nuanced than any ideology. In fact. both conservatives and Marxists originally used it pejoratively. It is a political system. in current political attacks. One of my teachers in Mauritania.” When I explained its meaning. you will understand exactly what “ideology” means. in a recent book. even though some modern writers have used the term fikr Islami (Islamic thought).” However. “This Islamic – I want to say religion. they had to make one up to express the idea. argues that Islam is not a religion but rather an ideology. to his doom.” i. Pat Robertson said.true religion but only an ideology. “mandhur fikri” is a closer rendering. it is a requisite of discussion that when terms are introduced. book. “fikr” has a negative connotation. Gert Wilders. we find.” William Safire says. our tradition has glosses and super-glosses. which is translated. if we use classical Arabic to attempt to translate this word. Furthermore. “What does fikr Islami mean? I have never seen that in an old book on Islam. Unfortunately. it is for generality. that is a reasonable political solution. semantics is precisely what is needed to discern the meaning of this sentence. I once said on a radio program. the jihad is in one’s intention and not in the action itself. and the grammarians agree that any noun in that form relates to the action of the heart and not the limbs. inherently or in isolation. in the Egyptian constitution. The Lamp of Rulers (Siraj al-muluk). the focus of Islam has never been on rectifying the state. why you are doing something. I also want to expound on one of the most important aspects of the Islamic polity known as ahkam al-siyar.e. a political solution to the problem of presidential corruption is that a president may not earn money or take any monetary remuneration outside of the state salary. in response. i. using the superior proofs of the Qur’an. which obviously includes going out to defend themselves but is not limited to that type of struggle only.e. “Jihad is never used in the Qur’an to mean war. as Imam al-Nasafi and others said. “Surely.) “Per se. God does not change the state of a people until they change the state of their own souls” (Qur’an 13:11). Hence. but rather on rectifying the state of the souls that make up the state. “The qualities necessary from our religion that are necessary for an Islamic polity are three: gentleness and not roughness with the populace. will not work. according to some of the great usuli scholars.” In the Qur’an. Islamic or not. For example. mutual consultation [parliament or congress. however. although in the genitive construct. In Sura al-Furqan. as the jihad is attributed to God. I said that hence it “does not offer a political solution per se. In Sura Hajj. which is also part of Islam.After stating that Islam was not an ideology. is an accusative of purpose. A person with a corrupt heart will not abide by the rulings of any constitution. the solution fails. The construct is unusual. it is used in the indefinite form. what it means is that without the foundational morality of Islam. i. the rulers have made the people their servants. which are discussed in the section on jihad. Imam al-Tartushi says. In Sura Taubah.” Hence. In one of my favorite books. it says to not obey the disbelievers and to struggle with the Qur’an against them. however. which can be understood to exalt it. we wouldn’t need so called revolutions to change the status quo. As such. We need an Islamic state of mind more than an Islamic state. various forms of the word occur four times. and so it refers to the general struggle of Muslims. 5 . which is in the accusative of purpose and therefore refers to the action of the heart and not the limb. quoted several Qur’anic verses that used various derivations of the verb “jahada. the relations of one polity with another.” Many people misunderstood my statement and. to argue with the disbelievers in a big jihad. Therefore. (One commentator wished to set “semantics aside”. it is mentioned in the context to struggle for the sake of God. which means. as not all of the usuli scholars stipulate a negative before an indefinite to mean a generality (people who know usul will know what that means). and not to give positions of power to those who seek them or desire them. any political system. especially rules of engagement. but actually means for God’s sake. in the context of the sentence I wrote.” means “by or of itself.” The operative idiom here is “per se. but without the moral basis within the heart of the president. This form. Instead of serving the people.” If those three were implemented. in today’s language].” Anyone who missed the meaning of “per se” missed the meaning of the whole sentence. This is also the form of the word jihad in Sura Mumtahanah. and some of them said. which is part of Islam.” The first group said. and to deny that is to deny something known by all in our faith.” The other group took his statement literally and did not pray until they reached Bani Quraydha. peace and blessings be upon him. in honoring language that he loved so much and used so well.Hence. my statement about jihad. unlike today when peace is the norm and war is the anomaly. though misunderstood. We are a literate people whose miracle is a Book from an unlettered man. and according to the rules of engagement. We also honor him in honoring. the ambiguities of language so beautifully expressed in the hadith in al-Bukhari. “We need to pray. “He meant for us to hasten so we would be there by ‘Asr. That was relevant in the pre-modern world. and he accepted both understandings as ways to interpret his words. The opinion that all jihad is defensive is not a dominant opinion but is a valid one that does not deny pre-emptive offensive defense. who was the most articulate and eloquent human being who ever lived. was accurate without denying martial jihad. 1 Tabayyanu and tathabbatu are two different recensions of the same word and thus carry both meanings in this verse. But martial jihad is conditional – it must be in the right time. We honor our Prophet. peace and blessings be upon him. where war was the normal state and peace was the anomaly. When they arrived at their destination. of what happened.” As the Companions were on their way to Bani Quraydha. under the right conditions. they informed the Prophet. “No. as he did. Disambiguation is sometimes in accepting ambiguities.” Others said. and that is something Muslims have always known and revered. peace and blessings be upon him. told us to only pray it at Bani Quraydha. Language is the crowning achievement of human beings. 6 . the Prophet. peace and blessings be upon him. “Let none of you pray ‘Asr except in Bani Quraydha’s dwellings. the time of ‘Asr came in.
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