AYAAT KAWNIYYAH Another meaning that Ayaat comes to mean, the second meaning that it could mean is Ayaat (which is signs), not in revelation but in creation. It is called Ayaat Kawniyyah (آية كونية), as opposed to Ayaat Shar’iyyah. Like the creation of the human beings, the creation of the sky, the earth, the moon, that is Ayaat Kawniyyah. Animals, plants, that is Ayaat Kawniyyah versus the one I mentioned earlier which is Ayaat Shar’iyyah. So when you hear Ayah, it could mean both Shar’iyyah or Kawniyyah, it depends on the context it is in or the intention of the one who says it. It could mean one of them. Ayaat Shar’iyyah is the revelation and Ayaat Kawniyyah is the signs of creation (like the earth, the night, the day, the animals, the plants). WHICH DEFINITION OF AYAAT DID THE AUTHOR INTEND? The author says: بِآيَاتِهِ وَمَخْلُوْقَاتِه Why did he mention Ayaat and then Makhlooqaat? He said signs and then he mentioned creation. Had he said Ayaat, it would include creation by both definitions we just mentioned. Why did he mention Ayaat and then add the word creation? What I am saying is and I want you to get this, had he said Ayaat alone as we defined it, it would have possibly meant Shar’iyyah and Kawniyyah (which is revelation and other signs of the creations of Allah). Why did he say Ayaat then follow it by creation? He could have said signs (Ayaat) and that is it, period there, but he said Makhlooqaat. The answer to that, it depends on the definition of Ayaat that he intended. We do not know what he intended when he said Ayaat, so let us take the scenarios one by one. THE FIRST SCENARIO He could have intended the Kawniyyah and Shar’iyyah (both of them together). Now if that is his intention, why did he add Makhlooqaat (creation) then? That in Arabic is like mentioning something particular after something general, to give importance to that specific or particular. That in ‘Arabi is called ‘Atf al-Khaas ‘Ala al-‘Aam ‘Ala SabeelilIkhtimaam bil-Khaas (عطف الخاص على العلم على سبيل الإ هتمام بالخاص) For those of you who memorise the Ajroomiyyah: وذكر خاص بعد ذي عموم منبهًا بفضله المحتوم Mentioning something particular after that which is general, to give importance to the specific or particular. That is number one. That would be the answer to why he mentioned creation, if he meant Kawniyyah and Shar’iyyah by Ayaat. THE SECOND SCENARIO He may have intended to mean the Shar’ee definition of Ayaat alone, meaning the revelation. If he meant only the revelation, then he said creation because he needed to add that. So he followed it by creation, to encompass and include bother than revelation. That is if he meant the Shar’ee meaning of Ayaat, meaning we are assuming in the second scenario that he is referring to the signs (Ayaat) of revelation in particular. So then he said creation as an addition, which is totally different from the first one. Right now he meant Ayaat which is revelation, so he added on creation to add all the other creation. Ayaat would mean revelation only in this scenario, so Makhlooqaat would mean everything outside of the revelation (which is the heaven, the earth, the night, the day, me and you, the moon and everything else). THE THIRD SCENARIO The third scenario is that he may have meant and intended by Ayaat, the Kawnee definition alone (the signs in the creation). It is what is called in Arabic ‘Atf Tafseer (عطف تفسير), if he meant that, combining between two things of the same. Meaning with Ayaat he meant in this scenario, the creation (the Kawniyyah). So then why did he say Makhlooqaat, which means the same thing? They are both the same. Why did he say two words to mean the same thing? In Arabic that is proper and there is example of it in the Qur’an: ... مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا... al-Baqarah:135 Millat Ibraheem is Haneefa and Haneefa is Millat Ibraheem. It is combining between two things that are the same, to stress a point. What you need to need to understand is that Ayah is defined as Shar’ee and Kawnee, it has two meanings. Then what did the author mean when he said Ayaat? Did he mean both Kawnee and Shar’ee (which was the first scenario I mentioned), Shar’ee alone, or Kawnee alone? And we gave the breakdown for every one of those three scenarios. The author is not here for us to ask. And even if he was and we knew precisely what he meant, knowing all three scenarios, the two definitions of Ayaat, and why he would add Makhlooqaat to Ayaat would give us a broader understanding. And in the future, it will make reading the books of the ‘Ulamaa easier. It is matters like these that distinguish between one who has superficial knowledge and one who is a Taalib ‘Ilm and a strong Taalib ‘Ilm, and that is what we Inshaa Allah plan to raise. In shaa Allah out next stop will be AMONG THE SIGNS AND CREATIONS OF ALLAH
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 04:15:13 +0000
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