Taraweeh Top 🔟

Juz 10 (Surah Al-Anfal and Surah At-Tawbah).

Here are 10 fruits 🍐 from the language of Quran:

1.) The word يَتِيمٌ refers to “orphan,” and its plural is يَتَامَى (“orphans”), such as what occurs in verse 8:41. The Quran frequently encourages taking care of orphans, as this is a well-known Quranic injunction upon the believers. In English, an orphan is someone who has lost both parents, but in Arabic, an orphan is one who has lost only their father 👨‍🍼 before they reach puberty. There is a different word for one who lost their mother 👩‍🍼, which is العَجِيُّ, and the word for one who lost both parents is الَّلطِيمُ

2.) The word قَدِيرٌ means “Extremely Capable, All-Capable,” as describes God’s Attribute, as appears in verse 8:41. This word comes from the root (ق - د - ر), which means “to be capable of.” From this root, we also obtain the derived word القَدَرُ, which refers to the Divine Decree of God. Another related word is قُدْرَةٌ, which means “capability or ability.” And in Modern Standard Arabic, they use the term قُدْرَةٌ عَسْكَرِيَّةٌ to refer to "military power/capability."

3.) The word المِيعَادُ means “appointed time 🕣,” as appears in verse 8:42, and its root is (و - ع - د), which “to promise.” Perhaps this word is related to its root in that المِيعَادُ is a promised appointed time. A related word is وَعْدٌ, which means “promise.” Another related word is وَعِيدٌ, which means “threat, warning.” ⚠

4.) The root (ه - ل - ك) means “to break and fall.” A related word is هَلَاكٌ, which means “destruction.” The verb يَهْلِكُ means “to be perished, destroyed,” as appears in verse 8:42. The Form IV version of this verb (أَهْلَكَ) means “to cause to perish.” This verb is used in the Quran often to describe the destruction of past nations who defiantly rebelled against their prophets.

5.) The word مَنَامٌ means “dream 💭.” Its root (ن - و - م) means stillness and lack of movement. The word مَنَامٌ fits with this root meaning in that humans are generally still in their sleep. The word نَومٌ also means “sleep 💤,” and both words are verbal nouns.

6.) The word أَمْرٌ means “matter, affair,” and its plural is أُمُورٌ, as appears in verse 8:44. The root is (أ - م - ر), which has several meanings: “matter/affair,” “command,” “barakah,” and “wonder/amazement.” The first meaning is apparent in verse 8:44 in the word الأُمُورُ. The second meaning of “command” is also commonly used, as the Quran enjoins الأَمْرُ بالمَعْرُوفِ والنَّهْيُ عَنِ المُنْكَرِ (“commanding good and forbidding evil”).

7.) The word كَثِيرًا means “many, plentiful,” as appears in verse 8:45, and it comes from the root (ك - ث - ر), which refers to a state of plentitude. From this root, we get the verb كَثُر, which means “to be plentiful.” A related Quranic word is الكَوثَر (as appears in verse 108:1), which has two general meanings: 1.) A river in Jannah (Paradise) which God gave to the Prophet ﷺ, and 2.) A basin of water that the Prophet ﷺ will give water to drink to his believers. This word الكَوثَر relates to its root meaning of plentitude in that there is plentiful barakah (blessings) in this river/basin.

8.) The root (ص - ب - ر) has three unique meanings: 1.) confinement/restriction, 2.) The highest level of something, and 3.) a type of stone 🪨. As for the first root meaning, this is related to the derived word صَبْرٌ, which linguistically means confinement. In Arabic, if one says, صَبَرْتُ نَفْسِي, this means “I have restricted myself.” This relates to the word صَبْرٌ meaning “patience” 🤌 in that patience requires restricting oneself from complaining freely, as patience is a difficult skill to acquire and maintain. As for the second root meaning, the word صُبْرٌ (note the damma on the ص) refers to the highest element of something. As for the third root meaning, the word الصُّبْرَةُ refers to a type of stone. 🪨

9.) The word بَطَر means is often translated as “arrogance,” but it is actually more than that. It is described in classical Arabic dictionaries as تَجَاوُزُ الحَدِّ فِي المَرَحِ (“exceeding the bounds in joyful happiness”). The Quran in verse 8:47 warns the believers not to be of those who have بَطَر, but this does not mean that one cannot be happy in life. بَطَر describes the action of being excessive, wasteful, and unnecessarily lavish in the blessings of God, and it also often means arrogance itself, especially arrogance in regards to Islam. For example, بَطَرُ الحَقِّ means to not see Truth for what it is and to instead arrogantly deny it.

10.) The verb خَاف means “to be afraid.” Its present-tense first-person usage (أَخَاف) is seen in verse 8:48, in which is stated أَخَافُ اللهَ (“I fear God”). The verbal noun is خَوفٌ (“fear”). This word can be used in a variety of contexts, either “fear of God” or fear of people or really any type of fear. In contrast, another word used in the Quran (خَشِيَ) refers to a specific type of fear, that of reverential awe and respect mixed with fear, such as what appears in verse 2:150.