3:66

Salaam all,

This is 3:66
هَاأَنتُمْ هَؤُلاء حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُم بِهِ عِلمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَآجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُم بِهِ عِلْمٌ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ (
Haantum haolai hajajtum feema lakum bihi AAilmun falima tuhajjoona feema laysa lakum bihi AAilmun waAllahu yaAAlamu waantum la taAAlamoona

The Aya says:
Here, you have debated in what you have knowledge of, then why do you debate in what you have no knowledge of?! And Allah knows and you do not know.

My personal note:
Here, the Aya is addressing the people of the book who are debating on the religion of Abraham. It reminds them that they may had some right debating Jesus, since they have some knowledge from him. The Aya then reminds them not to debate in what they have no knowledge of as in the case of the nature of the religion of Abraham.

The big point that comes here is that a person should not debate or enter a discussion when they have no knowledge of what is being debated. This message comes again and again in the Qur’an.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Haantum haolai: Here you are
Note: this is an expression that is used to bring the attention of the ones who are being addressed.
Hajajtum: You (plural) debated
Note: the root is Ha-J-J and it means pursuit. This word then has many derivations including pursuit of a proof, vs pursuit of a person or place and it also means a pursuit that happens at regular intervals as in a meeting or celebration or harvest or whatever. HAJAJTUM is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of pursuit (of proof here) happened in an interactive fashion by the subject (second person plural). It ends up meaning: you (plural) debated.

Feema: in what
Lakum: belongs to you/ you have
Bihi: in him
Note: Bi denotes that what comes after is a tool and/or an object or an association with an action or an entity that was mentioned. It can be any combination of the three. The action in this is the debating. HI means him and it points to what they debate about.
AAilmun: knowledge
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowing or knowledge. AAILMUN means knowledge. FEEMA LAKUM BIHI AAiLMUN, the term together ends up meaning: in what you have knowledge about/of.
Falima: So why?
Tuhajjoona: You (plural) debate
Note: the root is Ha-J-J and it means pursuit. This word then has many derivations including pursuit of a proof, vs pursuit of a person or place and it also means a pursuit that happens at regular intervals as in a meeting or celebration or harvest or whatever. TUHAJJOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of pursuit (of proof here) is happening or will be happening in an interactive fashion by the subject (second person plural). It ends up meaning: you (plural) debate.

Feema: in what
Laysa: not
Lakum: you have
Bihi: in him
Note: Bi denotes that what comes after is a tool and/or an object or an association with an action or an entity that was mentioned. It can be any combination of the three. The action in this is the debating. HI means him and it points to what they debate about.
AAilmun: knowledge
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowing or knowledge. AAILMUN means knowledge. FEEMA LAYSA LAKUM BIHI AAiLMUN, the term together ends up meaning: in what you have no knowledge of/about.
waAllahu: and Allah
yaAAlamu: knows
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowledge. Yaaalamu is an action that is being completed or is ongoing that is derived from the root. It means the action of knowing is happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah)
Waantum: and you (plural)/ while you (plural)
La: not
taAAlamoona: you (plural) know
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowledge or knowing. TaAALAMOONA is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. This means the action of knowing is happening of will be happening. This, in turn means you know. LA TaAALAMOONA means: you (plural) do not know.

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein