Quote from: warner on October 19, 2014, 12:44:18 AM
Does the Qur?an tell us to clean ourselves for prayer, by rubbing dust or soil on our faces and hands, if water is not available?
Would this exercise really help in cleaning or will it make us dirtier? While rubbing dust or soil is certainly not the proper way to clean it can be unhygienic too. Does this act make sense ? And if one is sweating, usually the case in hot places with scarcity of water, will probably need more water to get rid of all that grime later. Even when it does not seem like a rational or meaningful way to clean, we still do this without questioning and without taking a better look at what the Qur?an really says.
If you look at any TRANSLATION of the Quran the verses 4:43 and 5: 6 mention the dust / soil/ earth based cleaning or what is commonly known as Thayammum and it is how people have come to understand this word and these verses for centuries.
In fact this cleaning ritual using soil is quite detailed among Sunnis and Shias and I am giving 4 clauses below, which are directly related to the discussion, out of a total 49 rules and regulations related to thayammum from a Fatwa website. (the following link is for anyone interested to take a look, and I must warn you, its got one very important fatwa at the end, not to jump off a moving train to get at water )
http://reliablefatwas.com/rules-concerning-tayammum/
17. The method of making tayammum is as follows: Both palms should be placed on pure ground and the entire face must be wiped with them. Place the palms on the ground for a second time and wipe each hand upto and including the elbows. The areas under the bangles, bracelets, etc. should be thoroughly rubbed. If, according to the person, even a place equal to a nail is left out, tayammum will not be complete.
18. After placing the palms on the ground, they should be dusted so that no dirt goes on the face and hands thereby making them unsightly.
19. Tayammum is also permissible with things other than soil if they also have the same qualities, eg. sand, lime-stone, lime, sulphurate of arsenic, antimony (surmah), brick dust, etc. Those things which do not have the qualities of soil cannot be used for tayammum, eg. gold, silver, tin, wheat, wood, clothing, corn, etc. However, if dust or sand has fallen on these things, tayammum on them will be permissible.
20. Matter which neither burns in fire nor melts, possesses the qualities of earth and tayammum with it will be permissible. Tayammum is not permissible on that which burns and turns into ash or melts. In the same way, tayammum with ash is not ?.
Lets take a look at the traditional translation of the verses
Al Quran 4: 43
..and find no water, then seek clean/good earth/ soil and wipe over your faces and your hands [with it]. Indeed, Allah is ever Pardoning and Forgiving
Al Quran 5:6
??..and do not find water, then seek clean/good earth/soil and wipe over your faces and hands with it. Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you, but He intends to purify you and complete His favor upon you that you may be grateful.
To determine what the Quran really says lets examine the main three words (from the above verses which has lend meaning to this concept) by using essentially the Quran as the guide to bring out the meaning. While I will use Lanes Lexicon for further understanding and clarification of these words, you are welcome to check against any other lexicon and dictionary also. But it is important to remember all these lexicons and dictionaries were written almost a 1000 years after the Quran was revealed and prone to corruption and infiltration and influenced by outside sources such as Hadith and will include variations of natural development of a language as a vocabulary of a people.
The three words in discussion and their common translations below
Thayamm?m the act of wiping faces and hands with dust/soil if water is not available
Saaeedan Dust / soil / earth
Thayyaban Clean/ whole some/ good
Interestingly when we look at the use of these words and the roots in the Quran and also in the Lexcion there certainly is a gap between the translation and understanding reached all these years and the actual meanings which comes out. Its important to remember the Quran will not contradict, and if a meaning does not fit in or illogical it is highly doubtful if the meaning is correct.
When we analyse a root of a word in its use in the Quran we can arrive at a common root meaning, And meanings of cognates and associated words of a certain root develop from this initial meaning and also importantly it will retain qualities associated with the root meaning majority of the time.
Lets examine these three words critically starting from Saa eedan
SaAAeedan صعيدا
The Quran uses words Thurab, Ard, Theen to describe Dust , Soil, Earth, Clay and these words occur in many verses. Use of Saaidan in these two verses is an anomaly since it is not used for dust or soil elsewhere with clarity. When we look at the repetition and the usage of the root Sad Ayn Dal in the Quran there is hardly a connection to the above meanings. Even in Lanes dust or soil is not among the meanings given, apart for the use in these 2 verses.
Lets check the what would be the most plausible and logical translation which retains uniformity in every use of the related root repetition in the Quran.
35:10 ...good words ascend to Him & He lifts up the righteous deed...
72:17 ...He will cause him to undergo a suffering of ascending / elevated severity
18:8 And, surely, we will reduce what is on it to vapour!
18:40 ...so it becomes but vaporized/ evaporated
74:17 On him I shall impose a torment of ascending severity .
3:153 When you vanished/disappeared not paying attention...
6:125 ...as one who is ascending/ climbing towards the sky...
As shown above - ascending, vapour/ vaporize, evaporate, vanish ? would be the more logical meanings with "vapour" being the exact translation for the word "Saaeedan". Also in Lanes this is established since Sublimate is one of the meanings given while related meaning ascending being there too. The usage in the Quran and also by the definitions below the meaning becomes obvious, and interestingly the inherent qualities of the root word ( vapour) is reflected in the related words, for instance ?ascend? and ?vaporize/ evaporate? in 18:8 , which is ?turning to gaseous state? possibly the typical doomsday scenario of whats on earth being vaporized/ turning it into a gaseous state and not about turning the earth to soil or dust.
When we look at all the verses with cognates from this root the best meaning seems to be ?vapour? in 4:43 and 5:6 and ?soil /dust? should can be clearly ruled out.
The following definitions of Vapour, Sublimate, Evaporate, Vaporize shows how clearly the Quran brings out the meaning of this word in its usage in the above verses.
Vapour is from Latin vapor for steam.
Vaporize or Vaporise
1. (General Physics) to change or cause to change into vapour or into the gaseous state
2. to evaporate or disappear or cause to evaporate or disappear, esp suddenly
3. (General Physics) to destroy or be destroyed by being turned into a gas as a result of extreme heat (for example, generated by a nuclear explosion)
Collins English Dictionary
________________________________________
Evaporate
1. (Chemistry) to change or cause to change from a liquid or solid state to a vapour. Compare boil
2. (Chemistry) to lose or cause to lose liquid by vaporization, leaving a more concentrated residue
3. to disappear or cause to disappear; fade away or cause to fade away: all her doubts evaporated.
4. (Chemistry) (tr) to deposit (a film, metal, etc) by vaporization of a liquid or solid and the subsequent condensation of its vapour
Collins English Dictionary
Sublime/Sublimate definition
From Latin: elevate , uplift
1. Chemistry To cause (a solid or gas) to change state without becoming a liquid.
The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language
Thayyaban
Thayeb is used in the Quran to describe good. No disputes here. But good is subjective. A good soil is a fertile soil, good for growing plants, for agriculture but definitely not good for consuming, it cannot be termed as ?wholesome soil? as some translators would like us to have. If they show wholesome soil, we can show them how to end world?s hunger. It maybe possible to find clean soil but its highly doubtful if this ?good soil? or ?good dust? is good enough to rub on your face to clean. There can be so many things in soil which can not be seen by the eye. Household dust is mostly produced by dust mites digesting human dead skin hair etc. and this dust can cause allergies, asthma and wheezing. Therefore the dust in the above Fatwa does not pass the ?Good? test. Soil in most situations can not be hygienic, with germs and other pollution that it can contain, unless you are going to rub Dead Sea Mud or similar. Simply soil can not be categorised as good for this purpose.
Its important to note here thyyaban is used to describe food many times in the Quran.
Unlike dust, ?vapor? can be termed as good especially if it is produced while cooking food.
Thayammumفتيمموا
For centuries we have come to understand this word to mean ? rubbing face and hand with soil/dust when water is not available for cleaning for Salat?. When we read this word in 4:43 and 5:6 this is what we have been taught as its meaning and how people have come to understand it and follow it. The word is not listed in Lanes under its seemingly mistaken root of Ya Miim Miim. Yamm is used for water bodies/ waves and has no connection to thayammum. Lanes does not expand on this root either. Since rubbing yourself with soil is a unique activity this could have been Al thayammum in that context if people understood in such a way when it was mentioned.
The same word thayamm?m is used in the Quran 2:267, being the only other place where this word is used in the Quran apart from 4:43 and 5;6 , but every translator translated it as ?aim, purpose, choice? . How is it possible ? There are many words used for aim/purpose/choice and Thayamm?m is not one of them. This clearly shows, there is definite confusion about the meaning of this word.
Al Quran 2: 267
( I have left the word thayamm?m untranslated since aim/ purpose is certainly not its meaning and to see if we can use this verse to bring out the meaning of the word)
O you who believe! Give of the good things which you have earned, and from that which We have produced for you from the earth, and do not THAYAMM?M something bad from it in order to give/ sell, when you yourselves would not take it except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise.
The verse is saying to give of the good things you have earned and to give from what God has produced from the earth, and it can be assumed something like?..?not to prepare/produce/cook food which is bad? to give. And if you were given such bad food you will not take it except with closed eyes??This is very important advice in the context that so much bad things which are not fit for human consumption are prepared and cooked and sold to people. The Minhu ( of it) in the verse 2:267 after Al Khabitha ( the bad) shows thayammamu refers to what is ?produced from the earth?.
Since 2:267 has the only repetition of this word apart from 4:43 and 5:6 , with the word or root offering no direct meaning, we have to arrive at the most seemingly logical meaning that will fit in the verse without contradiction. And surely this is more plausible than the traditional one.
With the above clarified meanings of these words thayamm?m shaaidan tayyiban we can presume this to mean to use vapour water from the preparation of food or something of that nature for rubbing face and hands when we run out of water to purify for salat.
Clearly as the verse says at the end ?God does not want to put us in to difficulty?. The difficulty of finding water when its not available and certainly not to make ourselves more dirty and unkempt by rubbing dust on us.
Salam ,
" THAYAMMUM. تيمم " In the verse 4:43 yes is about Rubing or touching , but not about touching clean soit or dust . It iis pointing to something else , That poeple should touch and rub Thier hands and faces when ever There is absence of water . So what is That thing:
It is simple pointing to any parfumed plants
" Ssa3id Tayeb " In verse 4:43 is about any any Nice parfumed odeur That grow and show up by assending , and That what litterally mean the verb " sa3ada " In 4:43, from where the name "Ssa3id" is derived from. , "Tayeb " mean clean and with parfumed good Smell .
So when ever There is no water people need to look for a Nice good naturel parfume , and "tayamam"
Does it Makenes sens ?
I CAN lingusticaly prouve That understanding , remembrer for comparaison the word "Ssa3idan juruza"صعيدا جرزا and "Sa3idan zala9a صعيدا زلقا" the two description was mentioned two In the Quraan , "Sa3idan zala9a " mean any plants or threes That have no fruits so no benifits taken from it .
Ssa3idan juruza"صعيدا جرزا mean dried thirsty plants , for comparison remember 27:30 how ALaah bring water the the Alard aljuruz الارض الجرز ( dried thirsty land)
So Sa3id Tayed صعيد طيب is any good parfumed growing or ascending plants.( from soil)
