 Now, insha'Allah, we're going to go into the meaning of the Aharaf Al-Sabah. In my previous episode, I spoke about the reason why there is a khilaf, a difference of opinion, a dispute amongst the scholars regarding the Aharaf Al-Sabah. Why they differed? I gave one reason, and I said the reason is because there is no text to state and explain to us what the Aharaf Al-Sabah is, and we don't have no deal from the Quran or the Sunnah that explains to us what is meant by the Aharaf Al-Sabah. The second reason why there is a lot of difference of opinion regarding the Aharaf Al-Sabah is because the scholars are struggling to understand, or some scholars have struggled to understand what is meant by Al-Aharaf and what is meant by Al-Sabah. So let me, insha'Allah, unpackage this for you all. The Aharaf Al-Sabah, the scholars, they looked at it from two perspectives. The first perspective in which they looked at it was what is Al-Aharaf and what is Al-Sabah? They looked at it individually, and then what they did again is they looked at it together. What does it mean? So that's why the difference occurred, and I'm going to, insha'Allah, explain in this episode by Nila Al-Kareem. So for example, the word Al-Aharaf is a plural, it's called Jama'u Taksir, a broken plural. In the Arabic language, there are three types of plural. There is a masculine plural, there is a feminine plural, and there's a broken plural. If you want to know more about this, you have to go study Arabic grammar. So Al-Aharaf is Jama'u Taksir, it's a broken plural. And the singular for it is Al-Haraf. Now this word Al-Haraf, it's a term which the scholars in the Arabic language refer to as a word which is Mushtarak, a word which is Mushtarak. Mushtarak means it has many meanings. Now this word Al-Haraf has many meanings. The word Al-Haraf in the Arabic language is sometimes referred to as Al-Taraf, or Al-Had, or Al-Janib, or Al-Nahiyah, or Al-Naqat Al-Damira, or Al-Waj, or Al-Qira'ah. The word Al-Haraf has all of those meanings. Some of the scholars, they said it means edge, some said corner in the Arabic language. It's also used as corner. It's also used as the brink of something. It's also used as a lean camel. It's also used as an angle. It's also referred to as Al-Qira'ah, a recitation. So because this term is Mushtarak, it has many meanings. It brought about confusion. But the strongest opinion is that the word Al-Haraf, it means two of those meanings. It doesn't mean Al-Naqat Al-Damira. Of course, it doesn't mean a lean camel in the discussion of Al-Haraf as-Saba'ah. Nor does it mean Al-Taraf, or Al-Had, or Al-Janib, or Al-Nahiyah. It doesn't mean any of that. The strongest is that it means Al-Waj, or Al-Qira'ah. Those are the two. Al-Waj, or Al-Qira'ah. And I'll explain that more, insha'Allah, in the name of Allah, and in the name of Allah. The second is the word Al-Saba'ah. They differed amongst themselves. What is Al-Saba'ah? And there are two views regarding it. The first view is that the word Al-Saba'ah is not literal. I mean, it doesn't literally mean seven. It's a metaphor. The Arabs sometimes use the word Al-Saba'ah, and they refer to a lot. As long as it's in the tens, that's what they're referring to. So it can mean eight, nine, and etc. This means that a Saba'ah is not literal, according to those scholars. They believe it's not literal. It's metaphor. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam didn't mean it literally seven. This view is a tributary to Al-Qadir Iyad, who died in the year 544. And Jamaluddin Al-Qasimi mentioned this view and strengthened it in the introduction of his Tafseer, in Muqaddimat al-Tafseerihi. Al-Qadir Iyad, him holding this view, Suyote mentioned it in his Kitab al-Itqa'an, the Qur'an. So this view, they're saying that it's not literal. It's metaphor. It's metaphorically that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was referring to, and that's the part that they took. The second view is the view of the Jumhoor, the overwhelming majority of scholars, which is here al-Haqiqatihah, that the word seven is literal. It's not a metaphor. It's actual literal. It's seven. And their argument is stronger, and this is the strongest opinion. The reason why we strengthen this opinion is because all of the narrations that are authentic, all of the narrations which are authentically transmitted from the Messenger alayhi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam states clearly and also categorically the letter among the number seven, the number seven. And if you look at the narration I mentioned before, the Hadith of Ubayy, I mentioned in my previous, one of the previous episodes, Jibril came to the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam four times. When he first came, he told him that Allah is commanding you to read the Quran in one half. Then the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, my Ummah, they can't do that. And then the second time Jibril came, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, my Ummah, can't do that. They can't read in two half. And the third time Jibril came and he said that Allah is commanding you to command your people to read the Quran in three half. The Prophet responded and he said, my Ummah, cannot do that. On the fourth time that Jibril came, the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was informed that the Quran has been sent down in seven half. So you can see that what seven was mentioned after those numbers. So the number is literal. Not to mention this hadith, as we mentioned, is mutawatir, it's a multitude narration. All of the narrations have clearly categorically stated how much. It is stated seven. Okay, it's stated seven. And the other narration which mentions three is not authentic. So seven is authentic. So this is the strongest opinion that the word al-harf, or ma ahruf, which is the jabbat al-harf, it means one of two meanings. It means al-wajr al-milqira, or it can mean both, no problem. And the word seven, it's literal and it's not metaphorical. That's why they differed as well because of the meaning of these words. Now what they did is they tried to bring it together. They said, okay, let's bring the two words together, al-ahruf and as-taba, what does it mean? The scholars amongst themselves differed and the views of these scholars, I've categorized them into two for you, insha'Allah. A group or a category, la yurtaddu bihi wa la dalil a'rihi. Their opinion has no weight whatsoever and there's no evidence strengthening it. The second is a group, yurtaddu bihi, their view is given consideration, it's looked at. And the reason why it's looked at and it's given consideration is because la hu dalilu fil jumla, they have evidences in general or they have what resembles an evidence. What they're saying resembles, it looks like evidence. Because remember the reason why I say there's, it looks like an evidence or in general there is evidence to support it is because no one can claim in this issue they have any evidence whatsoever. All of these opinions are based upon each tihad, independent reasoning. Because if there was a text to prove that this view is stronger than it, there wouldn't be a khilaf. So let me start, insha'Allah, with the first group of people whose view doesn't really have any weight whatsoever. There is no evidence for it, but we're just mentioning it, so you all know of it. There are three categories. The group of people whose view has no weight whatsoever are three type. The first one is ahlul fiqh, some of the people of fiqh, some of the scholars of fiqh, a view that they put forward regarding the seven ahruf. They put a view forward. They said that the habeeth of the seven ahruf is al mutlaq wal muqayyad, al khasu wal la'ad, al nasu wal muawwal, al nasiq wal mansooh, al mudmul wal mufassar, and al istithnaa. They said it's al mutlaq wal muqayyad, restricted and unrestricted, khasun a'am, general and specific, al nasu wal muawwal, a decisive text and an interpretive text, al nasiq wal mansooh, the abrogator, the abrogator, al mudmul and an ambiguous and a clear verse, and a clear text, and al istithnaa, exception. And this is what some of the fiqh put forward, and they said, this is what is meant by it. The second is, some of the people of the language, ahlu luga, balaqa, they put a view forward, and they said it is al hadfu wal sila, al taqdeemo wal taqheer, al qalb wal isti'ara, al taqrar, al kinaya, al haqiqa, al majaz, al mudmul, al mufassar, al azair, al gharib, and this is the view that they put forward. Then came the people of tasawuf, people of tasawuf, ahlu soofiyya. They said, we have the understanding of the seven ahruf, and they mentioned some things related to their, their science or their actions. I mean, things connected to their tasawuf. They said, it means al zuhud to be aesthetic, al kana'a contentment with certainty. They said, al hazn to be decisive. They said, al rajaa, having hope, al kalam, generosity. They said, al istighfar, al ridha, al shukr, al sabr, al muhabba, al shukr, al shawq, ma al mushahada, al muhaasabah, they mentioned these, and they said it's referring to these. Al istighfar, asking Allah for forgiveness, hope, kindness, and generosity. Muraqabatu ma al khawf. Knowing that Allah is looking at you, having fear in your heart. Gratitude, patience, love. They said, these are the things that it's referring to. These three views, as I said to you, it's a view, la yur taddubi wa la dalila alihi. No consideration should be given whatsoever, and there is no evidence for it. The reason why these three views are not given a consideration whatsoever is for the following three reasons. The first one is, they don't have any evidence to support their view, la min qaribin wa la min bari. They have no hujjah, no proof, no evidence. It's just a mere claim. And so that's why the scholars, they said, that their suggestion of what the ahruf-i saba'a means is not given any weight whatsoever. The second reason is because it doesn't go in line with the meaning that can be taken from the ahruf-i saba'a. The ahruf-i saba'a, the way that the wording of the hadith is structured and the way that the hadith is presented, it's referring to recitation. That's clear. It's not referring to actions as such or information of where this text is general or specific. It's talking about al nutqu bil alfad, that my ummah cannot recite in one ahruf. So it's clear, it's talking about a recitation of something. And what they are suggesting here is not something that's recited. Saba'a is not recited and shukr is not recited. Okay? So that's what makes it very weak. It goes against the understanding that can be taken from the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in this situation. And last but not least, the third reason why this view is very weak is because it doesn't support the reason why the ahruf-i saba'a came down. The ahruf-i saba'a came down for what reason, brothers and sisters, it came down to make the recitation of the Quran easy for the people and to give the people a way to read the words of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in a way that's easy for them and they can recite. So it goes against the whole concept of al-yusr, wa al-tusya'a, wa al-takhfeef, wa raf'u al-mashak'a anil ummah that the hadith is trying to show because the Prophet kept saying to Jibreel, my ummah are not able to do this and what they're suggesting doesn't uplift any, sorry, mashak'a hardship from the ummah. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. How can you do a two second action right now that will give you a share of the reward of everything we're doing on this YouTube channel? Simple, like this video and click subscribe. 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