9:7

Salaam all,

9:7
كَيْفَ يَكُونُ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ عَهْدٌ عِندَ اللّهِ وَعِندَ رَسُولِهِ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ عَاهَدتُّمْ عِندَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ فَمَا اسْتَقَامُواْ لَكُمْ فَاسْتَقِيمُواْ لَهُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَّقِينَ

Kayfa yakoonu lilmushrikeena AAahdun AAinda Allahi waAAinda rasoolihi illa allatheena AAahadtum AAinda almasjidi alharami fama istaqamoo lakum faistaqeemoo lahum inna Allaha yuhibbu almuttaqeena

The Aya says:
How can there be an oath for those polytheists at Allah’s and at His messenger’s?! except for those that you (plural) have made an oath with at the mosque that is forbidden to violate. So as long as they aim to keep upright for you (plural) then you aim to keep upright for them. Indeed, Allah loves the mindful.

My personal note:
I translated ALMUSHRIKEEN to (those polytheists) instead of the usual translations of “the polytheists”. The reason is to avoid confusion or misunderstanding of the aim of the AL that comes before many words and that is often translated automatically as “the”.

That letter can be subject of misunderstanding. The reason is that the AL signifies that the speaker and the listener know who that particular group is. So it is not equal to “the” in a sense although it fits often. In this sentence for example, the context of the sentence talks about a particular group of polytheists that have proven to be not trustworthy and not about every single polytheist at every time and place on earth. Because of this I used “those” to point to them rather than “the”.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Kayfa: how?!
yakoonu: be/ becomes
Note: YAKOONU is derived from the root K-W-N and it means being. YAKOONU is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means: it will be or it becomes. KAYFA yakoonu means: how can there be?!
Lilmushrikeena: to the polytheists/ for the polytheists/ those polytheists
Note: li means to or for. ALMUSHRIKEENA is derived from the root SH-R-K and it means partner or partnership and with this partnership is a measure of equality or being on par. ALMUSHRIKEENA are the ones who make partners to God in worship or in action and that includes the polytheists.

AAahdun: oath/ treaty
Note: the root is Ain-H-D and it means a promise or a demand to promise or both. It also includes the fulfillment and meeting the promise. AAaHDUN means deal or promise or treaty.
AAinda: At
Allahi: Allah’s
waAAinda: and al
rasoolihi: his messenger/ His envoy
Note: RASOOLIHI is derived from the root R-S-L and it means to envoy someone or a group of people or animals. The concrete word is RASL and it means a group of people or animals that were sent by their owners or senders. RUSULUN means messengers of and is the plural of RASOOL who is the one that is sent and is used to mean the messenger because he was sent by the sender to the receiver. RASOOLI means messenger of or the envoy of. HI means him and it points to Allah.

Illa: except/ unless
Allatheena: those who
AAahadtum: you (plural) made oath with/ you (plural) exchanged promises/ had a treaty with
Note: the root is Ain-H-D and it means a promise or a demand to promise or both. It also includes the fulfillment and meeting the promise. AAaHADTUM is an action that is completed. It means: the action of making an oath in an interactive manner happened by the subject (second person plural)
AAinda: at
Almasjidi: the place of worship/ place of sujood/ mosque
Note: the root is S-J-D and in concrete it means in one concrete form: a tree that is tilting downward due to a heavy load of fruits. It therefore is used conceptually to mean tilting downward of the face or the body including prostration as well as showing any sign of submission to a higher power. The range of meaning all those meanings together and one needs to understand it as both unless there is a strong reason in the sentence or elsewhere in the Qur’an to make one meaning inappropriate or impossible. MASJID is the place and can also apply in addition to time of Sujood and that is prostration. The term is used for any place of worship and more particularly a mosque.

Alharami: the forbidden to violate
Note: the root is Ha-R-M and it means “forbidding and forbidden to violate”. ALHARAM means the forbidden to violate.
Fama: so as long as / so what
Istaqamoo: they kept upright./ sought to keep upright.
Note: the root is Qaf-W-M and it means standing upright or standing. The upright can be in all planes of position and for a horizontal dimension it means straight. ISTAQAMOO is an action that is completed. It means: the action of keeping upright and seeking to keep upright happened by the subject (third person plural)
Lakum: to you (plural)
Faistaqeemoo: then you (plural) keep upright/ you aim to keep upright
Note: FA means then or therefore or so. ISTAQEEMOO is derived from the root Qaf-W-M and it means standing upright or standing. The upright can be in all planes of position and for a horizontal dimension it means straight. ISTAQEEMOO is an order addressed to a group. It means: you keep or aim to keep upright
Lahum: to them/ for them
Inna: indeed
Allaha: Allah
yuhibbu: loves
Note: the root is Ha-B-B and it means in concrete seed. This word also means love. As if the seed is the product of love or the love will end up in a seed. YUHIBBU is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of loving is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to God). This, in effect means, HE loves
almuttaqeena: the ones who make themselves conscious/ guard/ the mindful.
Note: the root W-Qaf-Y and it means guard and protect. Since the best way to guard is through consciousness, then I am using consciousness as a meaning here. ALMUTTAQEENA are the ones who make themselves conscious or the ones who make themselves guard.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein