Representing verses of the Noble Qur'an in matters of prosody
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Fatwa number ( 21652 )
Q: Your Eminence is aware that it is obligatory for every Muslim to stand against anyone who attempts to insult Islam to the best of his ability. A Muslim does not accept that the Book of Allah be defamed or dishonored in any form. We all know that the Noble Qur'an is the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, whom He revealed to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that the speech of Allah is not poetry. A Muslim absolutely does not accept that the Qur'an be measured by the standards of poetry.
I inform you that Dr. Bahaa al-Din Salim Ayyish , a Palestinian national and a faculty member in the Department of Arabic Language at the College of Teachers in Riyadh , has been assigned for two full years to teach the subject of prosody (al-'Arud) at the college. He has authored a book on prosody and has been selling it to students, despite the abundance of good books on prosody in the libraries. This book, Your Eminence, contains a grave religious error. It is that this author, after mentioning the meter of a poetic verse in his book, illustrates it with verses from the Noble Qur'an that match its prosodic meter. By doing so, he claims that the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is poetry, and he teaches our children and instills this in their hearts. This is comparable to the statement of the disbelievers of Quraysh, about whom Allah, Glorified and Exalted, related their saying:[At-Tur 52:30]. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted, has denied the claim of poetry regarding the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and His own speech, saying: [Ya-Sin 36:69].
The blame and sin do not lie with the author of the book, given his lack of religious culture, but rather with the head of the department who assigned this doctor to teach this subject, while there is a Saudi professor in this academic term who is excellent in teaching this subject. So, in the name of defending the Book of Allah, Your Eminence, and out of concern for our children, I submit this to you, hoping for appropriate action regarding the head of the department and the book.
A : The Muslims have agreed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most eloquent of the children of Adam, and that poetry is withheld from him (peace and blessings be upon him); due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Ya-Sin 36:69] And they agreed that the eloquence of the Noble Qur'an is a miracle for him (peace and blessings be upon him) indicating the truth of his prophethood, and they agreed that the Noble Qur'an is free from poetry in its surahs and verses; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Haqqah 69:41], so there is no complete verse in the Noble Qur'an on the meter of a complete poetic verse. Upon examining the aforementioned book (Al-Tatbiq al-'Arudi), it was found on pages (36, 40, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 68) that parts of verses are embedded in the half-verse of poetic meters
in poetry, not on the meter of a complete poetic verse. And on page (71), a verse is embedded on the half-verse of poetry, not on a complete verse. And on page (65), the embedding is with a verse on the Mutaqarib meter, and he added a letter to the verse that is not part of it. In these places, the author of this book says: "And it is interesting that we find this meter in some verses of the Qur'an, such as His saying..." etc. The reality is that what is mentioned is part of a verse on the meter of the half-verse of poetry, not on the meter of a complete poetic verse. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted, revealed His Book in its surahs and verses, and there is no surah or complete verse in it on the meter of a complete poetic verse, and this is one of the aspects of the great inimitability of the Qur'an. Based on the foregoing, what is mentioned in this book is a deception of the minds of readers in general and students in particular; therefore, the Committee sees that the aforementioned book should be prohibited from circulation, and that it is not permissible to teach it to students; to protect the Book of Allah the Exalted and the beliefs of Muslims from deviation and doubt. And its author should delete what he mentioned in the book regarding the aforementioned topic, and he should not be deceived by those who came before him who were lenient in this matter, and the scholars have abandoned their practice. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q: Your Eminence is aware that it is obligatory for every Muslim to stand against anyone who attempts to insult Islam to the best of his ability. A Muslim does not accept that the Book of Allah be defamed or dishonored in any form. We all know that the Noble Qur'an is the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, whom He revealed to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and that the speech of Allah is not poetry. A Muslim absolutely does not accept that the Qur'an be measured by the standards of poetry.
I inform you that Dr. Bahaa al-Din Salim Ayyish , a Palestinian national and a faculty member in the Department of Arabic Language at the College of Teachers in Riyadh , has been assigned for two full years to teach the subject of prosody (al-'Arud) at the college. He has authored a book on prosody and has been selling it to students, despite the abundance of good books on prosody in the libraries. This book, Your Eminence, contains a grave religious error. It is that this author, after mentioning the meter of a poetic verse in his book, illustrates it with verses from the Noble Qur'an that match its prosodic meter. By doing so, he claims that the speech of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is poetry, and he teaches our children and instills this in their hearts. This is comparable to the statement of the disbelievers of Quraysh, about whom Allah, Glorified and Exalted, related their saying:
Or do they say [of you], "A poet for whom we await a misfortune of time?"
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَتَرَبَّصُ بِهِ رَيْبَ الْمَنُونِAnd We did not give Prophet Muhammad, knowledge of poetry, nor is it befitting for him. It is not but a message and a clear Qur'an
وَمَا عَلَّمْنَاهُ الشِّعْرَ وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لَهُ إِنْ هُوَ إِلا ذِكْرٌ وَقُرْآنٌ مُبِينٌThe blame and sin do not lie with the author of the book, given his lack of religious culture, but rather with the head of the department who assigned this doctor to teach this subject, while there is a Saudi professor in this academic term who is excellent in teaching this subject. So, in the name of defending the Book of Allah, Your Eminence, and out of concern for our children, I submit this to you, hoping for appropriate action regarding the head of the department and the book.
A : The Muslims have agreed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most eloquent of the children of Adam, and that poetry is withheld from him (peace and blessings be upon him); due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And We did not give Prophet Muhammad, knowledge of poetry, nor is it befitting for him
وَمَا عَلَّمْنَاهُ الشِّعْرَ وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لَهُAnd it is not the word of a poet
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍin poetry, not on the meter of a complete poetic verse. And on page (71), a verse is embedded on the half-verse of poetry, not on a complete verse. And on page (65), the embedding is with a verse on the Mutaqarib meter, and he added a letter to the verse that is not part of it. In these places, the author of this book says: "And it is interesting that we find this meter in some verses of the Qur'an, such as His saying..." etc. The reality is that what is mentioned is part of a verse on the meter of the half-verse of poetry, not on the meter of a complete poetic verse. And Allah, Glorified and Exalted, revealed His Book in its surahs and verses, and there is no surah or complete verse in it on the meter of a complete poetic verse, and this is one of the aspects of the great inimitability of the Qur'an. Based on the foregoing, what is mentioned in this book is a deception of the minds of readers in general and students in particular; therefore, the Committee sees that the aforementioned book should be prohibited from circulation, and that it is not permissible to teach it to students; to protect the Book of Allah the Exalted and the beliefs of Muslims from deviation and doubt. And its author should delete what he mentioned in the book regarding the aforementioned topic, and he should not be deceived by those who came before him who were lenient in this matter, and the scholars have abandoned their practice. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.