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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "The taa with a plural other than the sound masculine is *** like the taa with one of the milk."

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The Shaykh : We begin the new lesson now. He said:
"And the taa with a plural other than the sound masculine *** is like the taa with one of the milk"
Yes, he said: "The taa" is the subject, "with a plural" is a descriptive state from it, "other than the sound" is a description of the plural, and "like the taa" is the predicate of the subject. "With one of the milk" means: with a single item of milk, which is a "labunah" (a piece of milk). He (may Allah have mercy on him) says: The taa with plurals, other than the sound masculine, is like the taa with the grammatically feminine (majaziyy al-ta'niyth). The taa with the grammatically feminine is permissible but not obligatory. You say: "The sun rose" (tala'at al-shams), and you say: "The sun rose" (tala'a al-shams). You say: "I carried the labunah" (hamaltu al-labunah), "The labunah was carried" (humilat al-labunah), and "The labunah was carried" (humila al-labunah), because the femininity is grammatical (majazi), and both masculine and feminine agreement are permissible in it. Good, the sentence was written (kutibat al-jumla), and it is permissible to say "the sentence was written" (kutiba al-jumla). Plurals: a broken plural of a masculine, a broken plural of a feminine, a sound plural of a feminine, a sound plural of a masculine, and a collective noun. So these are five categories. In one of them, masculine agreement is obligatory, and in the rest, both masculine and feminine agreement are permissible. All plurals: the one in which masculine agreement is obligatory is the sound masculine plural. Pay attention! The sound masculine plural, meaning: the one in which the construction of the singular remains intact with its plural, meaning: you pluralize it and the singular does not change. But "al-Muslimun" (the Muslims) is a sound masculine plural. You say: "The Muslims came" (ja'a al-Muslimun) and do not say: "The Muslims came" (ja'at al-Muslimun). Yes? Why? Because it is a sound masculine plural. And you say: "The sons of So-and-so arrived" (qadima banu filan), and "The sons of So-and-so arrived" (qadimat banu filan).
The student: No, no.

The Shaykh : No, O Shaykh.
The student: Because it is annexed.

The Shaykh : O our brothers, Ibn Malik says: "other than the sound *** masculine". So is "banun" (sons) a sound plural of "ibn" (son) or a broken plural?
The student: Broken.

The Shaykh : Broken. So it does not fall under the words of Ibn Malik. Also, in the Noble Qur'an:
I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe آمنت أن الذي لا إله إلاّ الذي آمنت به بنو إسرئيل
[Yunus 10:90]
is feminine, and feminine with separation as well
in whom آمنت به
. Good, so with "banun" it is permissible to use masculine agreement and permissible to use feminine agreement, because Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) did not exclude except the sound masculine plural, in which the taa is prohibited, and in the rest, both options are permissible. Good, he said "al-rijal" (the men), did "al-rijal" say?
The student: It is permissible.

The Shaykh : Is it permissible?
The student: It is permissible.

The Shaykh : Why?
The student: Broken plural.

The Shaykh : Broken. Allah the Exalted said:
The Bedouins said قالت الأعراب
. Good, did "al-Hind" (the Indians) say? "Al-Hind" is the plural of "Hind". And did "al-Hind" say, is it permissible or not permissible?
The student: It is permissible.

The Shaykh : Permissible, because it is a broken plural of a feminine. "The Muslim women stood up" (qamat al-Muslimat), and "The Muslim women stood up" (qama al-Muslimat)?
The student: It is permissible.

The Shaykh : According to the opinion of Ibn Malik, it is permissible, because this is a sound feminine plural, and both masculine and feminine agreement are permissible in it. And the correct view is that the ruling of the sound plural is the ruling of its singular. This is the correct view. If masculine and feminine agreement are permissible in its singular, they are permissible in its plural. If it is not permissible and feminine agreement is obligatory, then feminine agreement is obligatory in the plural. And if masculine agreement is obligatory, then masculine agreement is obligatory in the plural. And on this basis, the sound feminine plural requires what? Feminine agreement. So you say: "The Muslim women stood up" (qamat al-Muslimat), and it is not permissible to say: "The Muslim women stood up" (qama al-Muslimat). And this stronger opinion is the one chosen by Ibn Hisham (may Allah have mercy on him). That the femininity of the plural is based on the femininity of?
The student: The singular.

The Shaykh : The singular. Just as its femininity was obligatory as a singular, its femininity is obligatory as a plural. And what was obligatory to be masculine as a singular is obligatory to be masculine as a plural. And this is the requirement of analogy (qiyas). Even Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), when he mentioned that the sound masculine plural requires masculine agreement, we say to him: So the sound feminine plural requires feminine agreement if its feminine is real (haqiqi). And some scholars held that every plural permits both masculine and feminine agreement, even the sound ones of both types. From this is the saying of al-Zamakhshari, he says: "If my people gathered". He mentioned the second half and then said:
"I do not care about their plural *** every plural is feminine"
"I do not care about their plural *** every plural is feminine"
And if the plural is feminine, nothing adorns it. The woman is not fit for fighting. The evidence is his saying: "every plural is feminine". It is said: What is the basis of this opinion if I say, for example: "The Muslims said" (qalat al-Muslimun)? We say: The basis of this opinion is that you interpret "al-Muslimun," which is a plural, by interpreting it as "jama'ah" (group). You interpret it as "jama'ah," so "The Muslims said" means: "The group of Muslims said." Did you understand? And from this is what came in some copies of *Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah*, he said: "So there is no deviation for the people of the Sunnah and the community from what the messengers brought". So "al-mursalun" (the messengers) is a sound masculine plural, and yet it occurred with feminine agreement. But it is known that the words of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) are not cited as evidence in the Arabic language. Why?
The student: Because he is later.

The Shaykh : Later, after the language had changed over long periods. But we mention it only for reference, not as evidence. In any case, we must know now that all plurals permit masculine and feminine agreement in their verb. It is permissible in their verb to use masculine and feminine agreement, except for one—according to the opinion of Ibn Malik—which is the sound masculine plural, in which what is required?
The student: Masculine agreement.

The Shaykh : Masculine agreement. Correct?
The student: Correct.

The Shaykh : Good, and the correct view is that something else is excluded, which is the sound feminine plural, in which feminine agreement is obligatory. This is the stronger opinion in this issue, because we must, if we use masculine agreement in the masculine, use feminine agreement in the feminine.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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