Inquiry in Paradise…
— A Response to a Criticism on the
Qur’an —
Mr. Katz, in one of his writings, has
pointed out a contradiction in the Qur’an, on the basis of three separate verses of its
Qur’an. These verses of the Qur’an are as follows:
- Al-Mu’minoon 23: 101
- Al-Saaffaat 37: 27
- Al-Toor 52: 25
The verses with their simple English translation are
as follows:
Al-Mu’minoon 23: 101 reads as:
“For when
the trumpet is blown, that day there shall be no kinship any more between them, neither
will they question one another.“
Al-Saaffaat 37:
27 and Al-Toor 52: 25 read as:
“And they will
turn to each other, questioning.”
For a person who does
not know the Arabic language, the two kinds of verses are so obviously contradictory that
Mr. Katz has, rightly, just stated the translation of these verses and has allowed the
reader to make his own deductions from these verses. But for a person who has some
knowledge of the Arabic language, the two kinds of verses imply two different kinds of
meanings.
The Arabic verb
(yatasaa’aloon) means “they [shall] mutually question each other”,
“they [shall] mutually inquire each other” or “they [shall] mutually ask
each other” etc. But the noun 
implying “question”, “inquiry” etc. is used in a number of
connotations. For instance, it is used to connote “demand” or “beg” or
“ask for help” etc. Now, The Arabic verb 
may be used in all these connotations. Thus, it may mean: “Mutually demand from each
other”, or “Mutually beg each other” or “Mutually ask each other”
etc. In this sense, the word is quite close to the English word “ask”. We know
that the English word “ask” is not used only to imply “asking a
question”. It is used to request
information about something or somebody
(as in: “Ask him about your dog”), it is used to request that somebody gives or does something (as in: “Ask him to solve your problem”),
it is used to request permission to do something (as in: “He asked me for my
car”), it is used to invite somebody (as in: “He asked me out”), it is
used to request something as a price (as in: “They are asking too much for this
piece of cloth”).1
Now suppose if someone
says: “Don’t ask him for anything” and then immediately following this sentence
he says: “Ask him: Why did he not return our calls”. The two statements may seem
contradictory to a person who is not well versed in the English language due to the
obvious reason that one says “Don’t ask him” and the other says: “Ask
him”. But anyone who is familiar with the different connotations of the word
“Ask” will easily understand that the two statements imply two different
meanings and are, therefore, not contradictory. The first statement actually means:
“Don’t request him to give you anything” while the second statement means:
“Inquire from him: Why did he not return our calls”.
In more or less the same
way, the Arabic word
in the Qur’an in more than one connotation. For instance, in Surah Al-Nisaa 4: 1,
it is used to imply “pleading with one another” or “mutually asking one
another for help”. The verse reads as:
O mankind, reverence
your Lord, Who created you all from a single being, and created from like nature his mate
and from these two, He scattered innumerable men and women. Fear God, in whose name you
plead with one another and [respect] the wombs [that bore you].”
With this explanation in
mind, let us now once again consider the two kinds of verses that Mr. Katz has referred
to. The first among these verses Al-Mu’minoon
23: 101 is once again reproduced below:
“For when
the trumpet is blown, that day there shall be no kinship any more between them, neither
will they ask of each other’s help.“
The verse simply states
that when the Day of Reckoning comes, and the trumpet is blown, the rejectors — who
considered themselves to be very strong — shall find themselves all alone. The
relationship that exists between them, which makes them strong and the mutual help that
they extend to each other in fighting against the Prophet of God shall all cease to exist.
All relations between them shall be severed and they shall not even be able to ask each
other’s help.
The word
(yatasaa’aloon) in this context is clearly used to negate the possibility of
asking or getting each other’s help on the Day of Judgment. This connotation is so obvious
that even N. J. Dawood has also translated this verse as:
“And when the
trumpet is sounded, on that day, their ties of kindred shall be broken nor shall they ask
help of one another.”
In contrast to this
verse, Al-Saaffaat 37: 27 clearly uses the word The word
(yatasaa’aloon) to imply “mutual conversation”. The verse with its
following verses reads as:
“And they shall
turn toward each other mutually conversing. They shall say: [So] you were the ones who who
would come to us from the right… They shall reply: No! it was you yourselves who would
not believe. We had no power over you, you yourselves were a transgressing people.”
Obviously, the word
(yatasaa’aloon) in this verse refers to the dialogue that follows it. Thus, in
this verse it implies “mutual conversation” or “mutual inquiry”. It is
exactly the same case in Al-Toor 52: 25. The verse, with three of its following
verses reads as:
“And they shall
turn toward each other, mutually coversing. They will say: We used to be fearful, when
among our family. But God has bestowed upon us [His mercy] and has saved us from the fiery
scourge. Indeed, we used to call Him [asking for His mercy]. He is indeed faithful to His
promises, Ever merciful.”
In the light of the explanation given above, we can
say that the contradiction pointed out by Mr. Katz is actually based on an incorrect
understanding of the Arabic word in question. Because the connotation of the word is
different in the two kinds of verses, therefore there does not arise the question of any
contradiction(s).
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1- Based on Oxford
Advanced Learner’s Encyclopedic Dictionary