5:63

Salaam all,



Lawla yanhahumu alrrabbaniyyoona waalahbaru AAan qawlihimu alithma waaklihimu alssuhta labisa ma kanoo yasnaAAoona

The Aya says:
Why do not the teachers/religious leaders and the scholars ask them to cease from communicating the sin and eating the ugly earnings?! How bad is what they happened to be producing.

My personal note:
I addressed the term Rabbaniyyoona before and that is a term that covers lordship and nurturing at the same time. The distinction between it and AHBAR could be that Ahbar are scholarly but without leadership positions whereas the Rabbaniyyoona can carry some form of leadership as religious and community leaders.

The aya points out the tremendous responsibility of the scholars whether there is leadership or not. It is their responsibility to push their respective communities towards righteousness and to pointing sinful actions and sayings and so on. If they fail then the whole community fails.

The author Noah Feldman touched on the role of the Muslim scholars as a counterweight to the potential excesses of the Muslim rulers. They did it in part, in response to this kind of Aya and others like it. Feldman suggested that this is a powerful tool whose importance is not grasped either by the west of today or by the Muslims of today. His book is entitled “The fall and rise of the Islamic State”.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Lawla: if not/ why not/ why don’t
Note: the literal term here is if not with some skepticism that they are not doing what is coming next.
Yanhahumu: forbid them/ ask them to desist/ cease action
Note: the root is N-H-Y and it means stopping or ending or desisting. This then takes different form according to the plane of thought of the sentence. YANHAHUM is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of asking the object (third person plural) desist or cease what they are doing is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).

Alrrabbaniyyoona: the people of the nurturing lord/ and the nurturing people/teachers
Note: ALRRABBANIYYOONA is derived from the root R-B-B and it means lordship and nurturing at the same time. It gives authority and nurture at the same time. ALRRABBANIYYOONA are people of the nurturing Lord or it can mean the nurturing people or teachers or all the above.. This means that they would be the ones that follow him and will be accepted by him at the same time.

Waalahbaru: and the scholars
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. ALAHBARU is derived from the root HA-B-R and it means in concrete: ink in which one writes. This is then conceptually used for knowledge as well as for beautifying things because of the beauty of writing and calligraphy. ALAHBARU are the scholars and it seems to be used more for Israelite scholars.
AAan: from/ away from

Qawlihimu: their saying/ communicating/ stating
Note: QAWLI is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying or communicating. QAWLI means: saying or communicating of. HIM means them.
alithma: the sin/ the injustice
Note: the root is Hamza-TH-M and it means breaking of rule or rules of justice, morality and ethics. This means error or fault with a tinge of knowing it. ALITHM is the breaking of the rule of justice and morality while aware of it. It fits closely with sin when knowing that it is sin. It is also injustice.

Waaklihimu: and their eating of/ including their eating of
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA is often translated as an addition (and), but inclusion probably covers the meaning a little better. AKLIHIMU is derived from the root Hamza-K-L and it means eating. This will then take different meanings depending on the different planes of thought that a person has. AKLIHIMU means: their eating of.

Alssuhta: the forbidden earnings/ ugly earnings.
Note: ALSSUHTA is derived from the root S-HA-T and it means in concrete shaving the fat off the meat or shaving off layer from another layer of entities. Conceptually it can be used for any shaving or scraping including shaving off the money of others which would be a forbidden form of earning or an ugly way to earn money.
Labisa: how harshness/ badness/ how bad
Note: LA is used to emphasize what comes after. BISA is derived from the root B-Hamza-S and it means lion for concrete. The word is used to mean hardship or hard depending on the situation. BISA is a term that is used to point the badness of the situation or decision and so on.

Ma: what
Kanoo: happened to be
Note: the root is K-W-N and it means being. KANOO is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being happened by the subject (third personal plural). This in turn means: they were or they happened to be
yasnaAAoona: They work/ produce/ producing
Note: the root is Sad-N-ain and it means work/ workmanship and production. YASNaAAooNA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of working/producing the object (MA=what) is happening by the subject (third person plural). Because it came after KANOO it takes the form of producing.

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein