Viewing things in the right way

[amin]

I think, understanding some of basic words that defines the religion itself looks basically wrong, and we need to see and view words like Allah, Islam, Quran, Kitab, Aayat, Muslim, Mumin, Salat, Kafir etc.. in the right way to get the clear message.

The message behind the book  and the current mainstream Islam we practice doesnt fit well, thats why so many people for so many years are discussing here with their own arguments, yet we struggle to get a clear common understanding.
I think most are trying to retrieve whats not there. for example the ritual Salat we are practicing was not there detailed, it means the way is not that important.

The traditional narratives and explanations doesn't fit in well. It looks those were being forcefully created to explain  certain things that are not clear or to change the real meaning as per later day understandings. we  could clearly see that in the common translations, many of the words in verses being misrepresented added in brackets to create a narrative that Quran to be a book with defined aayats/verses.


But I see some these words in a little different way, which when applied gives the right meanings.

1. Allah, the common goodness provider of all mankind. so main part of belief in Allah, is to believe in common goodness which is opposite to that of acting in self desire, in every opportunity.

2. The total book itself is not equal to Quran, But Quran the term refers just the teachings of the messenger,may be we can say the book contains the Quran/teachings. This many would not agree.May be we get the clear understanding as we see individual verses.

3.The Quran includes aayats which are signs or examples to follow as given or recited by him, so i think only the examples to follow are aayats

4. The word kitab, these are the written down moral stories of different other prophets and their life events. People of the Kitabs refers to the Christians, as they have multiple kitabs of different prophetic figures, that they read and preach.




5.Mumin is one who accepts the moral aayats the examples/signs and follow/act on those,
and kafir is one who rejects the signs/examples and disbelieve in God
Muslim is one who submits to the God.

6.Salat is to adore or praise god expressed in a certain way, we naturally adore something if really when we feel a deep, intense love and admiration for them in high regard.


I will start with this verse,


4/84
So fight, [O Muḥammad], in the cause of Allāh; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you]
that perhaps Allāh will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allāh is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.



Here Muhammed is inserted,  it could refer to any other individual.?

it says in the cause of Allah(what exactly is allahs cause? so if Allah is common Goodness provider, then here fighting is for some common good,

the word military is inserted in brackets but it could be anything family welfare, working for social benefits or of some other common goodness cause?
Who is a Kafir? is it just one who doesnt believe in Allah? no  (one who is against the common goodness and act in self desire).

so the verse be translated,

So fight/put effort in the cause of Allah (for common goodness) Not others are responsible except yourselves,and encourage the other believers in this,
Allah will restrain the strength of those who deny and works against the common good.
And Allah is greater in strength and stronger in punishment.



will continue with other verses with these understandings...any questions or issues in my understanding lets discuss.

[Mazhar]

3.15. Anaphora resolution is a must.

Arabic is an agglutinative language, the pronouns can occur as suffixes of nouns, verbs or prepositions. Therefore, Anaphora Resolution is vital to understanding the meaning of Grand Qur'ān. It means the problem of resolving what a pronoun refers to. In written or oral text anaphora can be thought of as "pointing back or referring to something or someone mentioned earlier". The entity to which it refers is called its antecedent. The process of determining the antecedent of an anaphor—lexical entity is called anaphora resolution. It is contrasted with cataphora that refers forwards, not backwards.

Pleonastic pronouns are considered non-anaphoric since they are not interpreted as linked to any expression (antecedent). For example, in English the pronoun "it" could be pleonastic, e.g., "It is important".

Pronouns form a special class of anaphors because of their empty semantic structure; they do not have an independent meaning from their antecedent. Thus they will refer a singular entity. Grand Qur'ān is characterized by very frequent use of anaphors. The majority of anaphoric devices in it appear around pronominal anaphors. Hence, the ability to resolve pronoun antecedent is vital to understanding the Qur'ān. Grand Qur'ān relies on the reader's world knowledge and intuition when using pronouns without explicitly including any antecedent information. For example a good number of second person pronouns in the Qur'ān refer to exalted Messenger Muhammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam with no prior mention of his name as we firstly notice in 2:4.

Similarly, the second person pronoun "you" is understood in command verbs in English. The pronoun "you" can refer a single person, either male or female, two persons or a group of persons. But in Arabic the second person pronouns make distinction between singular male and female, dual, and plural masculine and feminine. Therefore, this peculiar aspect must be reflected in translation.

Third person pronouns can refer both to persons, inanimate objects and fact. The inanimate/non-living objects have also gender distinction. Therefore, we will refer the feminine inanimate object by "she" and masculine by "he, that" and "it" can be used to refer some specific situation and point of view. The referent of other pronouns will be mentioned in parenthesis for the convenience of the reader.

https://haqeeqat.pk/TranslationMethadology1.htm#13.Literary

[amin]

Mazhar,

If you can get the exact problem with the grammar in the above verse I translated it should be better, instead of this long para.

4/84 Saheeh International..
So fight, [O Muḥammad], in the cause of Allāh; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you]
that perhaps Allāh will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allāh is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.

into
So fight/put effort in the cause of Allah (for common goodness) Not others are responsible except yourselves,and encourage the other believers in this,
Allah will restrain the strength of those who deny and works against the common good.
And Allah is greater in strength and stronger in punishment.


 I just look more into the  semantics or logics here, and that this verse not directly referring  to a military fight or war, as we infer from the common translation. We can see from the previous verse and other verses, it could be some security or fear giving issue.

[Mazhar]

Mazhar,

If you can get the exact problem with the grammar in the above verse I translated it should be better, instead of this long para.

4/84 Saheeh International..
So fight, [O Muḥammad], in the cause of Allāh; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you]
that perhaps Allāh will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allāh is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.

into
So fight/put effort in the cause of Allah (for common goodness) Not others are responsible except yourselves,and encourage the other believers in this,
Allah will restrain the strength of those who deny and works against the common good.
And Allah is greater in strength and stronger in punishment.


 I just look more into the  semantics or logics here, and that this verse not directly referring  to a military fight or war, as we infer from the common translation. We can see from the previous verse and other verses, it could be some security or fear giving issue.

Vagueness percentage test.
The statement contains some degree of vagueness, particularly in the following areas:

"Fight/put effort" – The phrase gives two different interpretations, one suggesting armed struggle and the other a general struggle. The lack of specificity creates ambiguity.
"(for common goodness)" – This parenthetical phrase is vague as it attempts to generalize the purpose of fighting/effort, which might not be explicitly clear in the original context.
"Not others are responsible except yourselves" – The structure is unclear, making it difficult to determine the exact meaning.
"Encourage the other believers in this" – The phrase "in this" lacks specificity. It is unclear whether it refers to fighting, striving, or something else.
"Allah will restrain the strength of those who deny and work against the common good" – The phrase "work against the common good" is subjective and open to interpretation.
"Allah is greater in strength and stronger in punishment" – The word "greater" is relative but lacks a clear point of comparison in the sentence.
Vagueness Percentage Estimate:
Considering the above points, I would estimate the vagueness level at around 30-40%, as key terms and phrases are left open to broad interpretation. Refining these elements with more precise language would improve clarity.

[amin]

Thanks for your comments, I understand.
My question is, does this verse about going to war, and asking the leader not to hesitate doing it?
The word 'fight' is the one we see in the common translations.
 But how we fight in the name of Allah, is it fighting just by saying the word Allah or fighting for spreading the Religion?

my main point in taking this verse, for getting the deeper meaning of the name Allah, fighting in the name of Allah should be a fight thats done for an issue hurting the community or an injustice, that is the common goodness.

[Mazhar]

Thanks for your comments, I understand.
My question is, does this verse about going to war, and asking the leader not to hesitate doing it?
The word 'fight' is the one we see in the common translations.
 But how we fight in the name of Allah, is it fighting just by saying the word Allah or fighting for spreading the Religion?

my main point in taking this verse, for getting the deeper meaning of the name Allah, fighting in the name of Allah should be a fight thats done for an issue hurting the community or an injustice, that is the common goodness.

This Ayah is the last sentence of Paragraph comprising of Ayahs 71-84. Every segment is to be read coherently.

Verb is Form-III.
My translation.
فَقَٟتِلْ فِـى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُكَلَّفُ إِلَّا نَفْسَكَۚ وَحَرِّضِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِيـنَۖ عَسَى ٱللَّهُ أَن يَكُفَّ بَأْسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَـرُوا۟ۚ وَٱللَّهُ أَشَدُّ بَأْسٙا وَأَشَدُّ تَنكِيلٙا ٨٤
[reverting to matter in 4:77]Thereby, you the Messenger [Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam] confront the war for the cause of Allah the Exalted whenever imposed. You are not burdened and made responsible for anyone except your self —However, urge upon the believers to participate in the imposed war. There is hope for you that Allah the Exalted will restrain the combat power of those who have refused to accept. People should know it; Allah the Exalted is the Mightiest with regard to causing calamitous events; and super powerful in restraining people. [4:84]

[amin]

Mazhar,

Thats good,

So this is in the context of war, and asks the messenger  possibly the king or leader to go for war, and saying no one can ask questions except yourselves, urge the believers in participating etc...


So the cause of Allah, can be any common cause.

[amin]

About the word Quran.

4/82 Shaheeh International
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'ān?1 If it had been from [any] other than Allāh, they would have found within it much contradiction.

5/101
O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur'ān is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allāh has pardoned it [i.e., that which is past]; and Allāh is Forgiving and Forbearing.
— Saheeh International



so what is the Quran here, how its referenced within here, is it the book we have now as commonly understood? we know from common narrative the book we have was collected by so and so after the death of prophet, compiled etc..
so it can not be referenced here, right? or is it referring to the previous revealed written down list of verses?


I am thinking of the word Quran refers to "the teachings or collection of laws made by the prophet as revealed".

[Mazhar]

About the word Quran.

4/82 Shaheeh International
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'ān?1 If it had been from [any] other than Allāh, they would have found within it much contradiction.

5/101
O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur'ān is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allāh has pardoned it [i.e., that which is past]; and Allāh is Forgiving and Forbearing.
— Saheeh International



so what is the Quran here, how its referenced within here, is it the book we have now as commonly understood? we know from common narrative the book we have was collected by so and so after the death of prophet, compiled etc..
so it can not be referenced here, right? or is it referring to the previous revealed written down list of verses?


I am thinking of the word Quran refers to "the teachings or collection of laws made by the prophet as revealed".

7. Unique choice of Title of Divine Book: ٱلْقُرْءَانُ Qur'ān: Discourse that warps Space-time.

7.1 Translator must know "reading" begins before opening the Book in hand, like digestion starts before tasting food. Good Title is like the aroma of delicious food served that is appetizing. A truth seeking critical reader is always thirsty and feeling appetite for the only uncountable ingestible which is nothing but knowledge. A similarity between the exciting-to-read title of the book and digestive system is that it begins on mere sight before tasting. Saliva begins to form and secrete. If the title is meaningful, descriptive, amazing and attractive, the heart is attracted to taste (skim) the book. It was first seen when it was presented by the Archangel to the chosen and exalted allegiant on his appointment as the Universal Messenger that he started hurriedly reading it when he was interrupted:

https://haqeeqat.pk/TranslationMethadology1.htm#5.Title

[amin]

Literally Quran=Recitation or Reading,

But why the name Recitation/reading, those earlier days, people used poem or phrases that were often repeated to spread some moral laws, truths,hymns etc it was there in all ancient communities and even now, this helps people remember.

Quran should be collection of Aayas

Aayaas=Signs that proves Allah(common goodness provider).

Signs or Aayas, needs to have a purpose, my point is, there are Ayahs/Signs mentioned within the book, that was often read or recited to remind people about God and thats only the Quran.


The prophet read certain Aayats signs/examples/laws for people to follow, revealed  by God, to announce to people at specific instances and its called as Quran in the reading itself.


Some of verses that has referenced Quran.
Saheeh Internation...

2/185
Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion.
7/204
So when the Qur'ān is recited, then listen to it and pay attention that you may receive mercy.
10/15
And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, "Bring us a Qur'an other than this or change it." Say,
 "It is not for me to change it on my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. Indeed I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous Day."



12/2

Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might understand.


13/31
And if there was any qur'an by which the mountains would be removed or the earth would be broken apart or the dead would be made to speak, [it would be this Qur'an], but to Allah belongs the affair entirely. Then have those who believed not accepted that had Allah willed, He would have guided the people, all of them? And those who disbelieve do not cease to be struck, for what they have done, by calamity - or it will descend near their home - until there comes the promise of Allah. Indeed, Allah does not fail in [His] promise.

some were expecting The reading after read will cause the mountains to  be moved, dead to speak, etc..

So here Verses are not just the verses, but signs, signs that proves there is God, reminds of his punishment, his rewards, his control etc.

So Quran is about God alone, his promises etc... that will be reminded to people repeatedly.


20/114

So high [above all] is Allah , the Sovereign, the Truth. And,

• , do not hasten with [recitation of] the Qur'an before its revelation is completed to you, and say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge."
[/b]

Why not hasten?
I think it asks the messenger to wait for him to gain the knowledge well, before announcing it to public.

25/32
And those who disbelieve say, "Why was the Qur'ān not revealed to him all at once?" Thus [it is] that We may strengthen thereby your heart. And We have spaced it distinctly.