Taraweeh Top 🔟 :

Juz 6 (Surah An-Nisa’ and Surah Al Ma'idah).

Here are 10 fruits 🍐 from the language of Quran:

1.) The word عَذَاب means “punishment.” The root is (ع - ذ - ب). According to classical sources, there is not one meaning to this root. The meanings are quite diverse, ranging from “to be pure/sweet” (from this root comes the Quranic word عَذْبٌ, meaning “palatable”) to “not being able to eat or drink” (from this root comes the word العَذُوب, referring to an animal that is prevented from eating and drinking) to “punishment”. This word is also seen frequently in the Quran, such as in this verse: يُرِيدُونَ أَن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَمَا هُم بِخَـٰرِجِينَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌۭ مُّقِيمٌۭ [“They will be desperate to get out of the Fire but they will never be able to. And they will suffer an everlasting punishment” (5:37)].

2.) The root (ب - ه - ت) gives the meaning of “confusion” and “surprise.” From this root, we obtain the word بُهْتَانٌ means “slander or lie” and refers to the slanderous allegation that was made against Mary عليها السلام in verse 4:156 (وَبِكُفْرِهِمْ وَقَوْلِهِمْ عَلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ بُهْتَـٰنًا عَظِيمًۭا) (and for their denial and outrageous accusation against Mary”). If one letter is changed (ـهـ to ـسـ), then it becomes بُسْتَان, which means “garden 🏡.” Another reason why knowing Quranic Arabic is so important, as one letter change (and sometimes one vowel change) can drastically change the meaning of a word.

3.) The word يَقِين means “certainty/conviction” (from the root (ي - ق - ن) with the same meaning of removing all doubt), and refers to the highest level of certainty in a belief, leaving no room for even a shadow of a doubt. Believers are encouraged to have this level of يَقِين in Islam. Even in books of grammar (النَّحْوُ) 📚, grammarians refer to the highest level of certainty as يَقِين. This word appears frequently in the Quran as well, such as in this verse: مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا [“They have no knowledge whatsoever—only making assumptions. They certainly did not kill him” (4:157)].

4.) The root (ق - و م) means “to stand 🧍” or “to establish oneself.” A common Quranic phrase is يَومُ القِيَامَةِ, which literally means “the Day of Establishment/Resurrection,” but which refers to the Day of Judgment, as is seen in this verse: وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِۦ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِۦ ۖ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًۭا [“Every one of the People of the Book will definitely believe in him before his death. And on the Day of Judgment, he will be a witness against them” (4:159)].

5.) The word أَلِيمًا means “painful.” It comes from the root (أ - ل - م), which revolves around the concept of pain. Even in medicine 🩺, the word أَلَم refers to bodily pain. In the Quran, this word often describes painful punishment 🔥 that will befall the disbelievers, criminals, and oppressors in the next life, such as in this verse: وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَـٰفِرِينَ مِنْهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا [“We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment” (4:161)].

6.) The word طَرِيق refers to a path or road 🛣 in the Arabic language, but its uses go far beyond this meaning. In the Quran, the word طَرِيق refers to the road to Hell Fire as a form of a warning ⚠, as the verse states, إِلَّا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًۭا ۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرًۭا [“except the path of Hell, to stay there forever. And that is easy for Allah” (4:169)].This word طَرِيق is also common in the world of Sufism (التَّصَوُّف), in which a طَرِيقَة refers to a Sufi order, each of which has a unique path to spiritual enlightenment.

7.) The word نَصِير is used to describe God, as He the Helper of the believers, as God states: وَلَا يَجِدُونَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيًّۭا وَلَا نَصِيرًۭا [“And besides Allah they will find no protector or helper” (4:173)]. Its root is (ن - ص - ر), which means “to help and give victory to 🏆.” A related word is the common male name of نَاصِرٌ, which means “helper,” and its plural is أَنْصَارٌ , which refers to the group of Companions 🫂 of the Prophet ﷺ in the Blessed City of Madinah, called as such because they helped the companions who migrated from Mecca 🕋 to Medina and gave them sanctuary 🏡 and solace in their city of Medinah.

8.) The word رِضْوَان means “pleasure, satisfaction,” as it appears in the verse: يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُحِلُّوا۟ شَعَـٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا ٱلشَّهْرَ ٱلْحَرَامَ وَلَا ٱلْهَدْىَ وَلَا ٱلْقَلَـٰٓئِدَ وَلَآ ءَآمِّينَ ٱلْبَيْتَ ٱلْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًۭا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَٰنًۭا ۚ وَإِذَا [“O believers! Do not violate Allah’s rituals of pilgrimage, the sacred months, the sacrificial animals, the garlands, nor those on their way to the Sacred House seeking their Lord’s bounty and pleasure” (5:2). It is the verbal noun (مَصْدَر) of the verb رَضِيَ (“to be pleased with”), which is in the commonly-known expression رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ/عَنْهَا (“May God be pleased with him/her”), which is used as an honorific when describing the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Another way to express this is by using the word رِضْوَان, such as in the following: رِضْوَانُ اللهِ عَلَيْهِ (“May the Pleasure of God be upon him”). This is also a common male name, so now you know what the name رِضْوَان (Ridwan or Rizwan) means!

9.) The word دَمٌ means “blood 🩸,” and is used in verse 5:3 to refer to the impermissibility of consuming blood. The plural of this word (دِمَاءٌ) is also used in the Quran in verse: وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌۭ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةًۭ ۖ قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ["And when your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am going to place a successive authority on earth.’ They asked, ‘Will You place in it someone who will spread corruption there and shed blood while we glorify Your praises and proclaim Your Holiness?’" (2:30)]. Here in this verse, the angels see humans as violent creatures who will spread violence on the Earth, but God assures them that He knows best, leading to His All-Encompassing Wisdom in all matters, even in situations where we may not easily see His Wisdom, though His Wisdom is Paramount in everything. Notice that the verb سَفَكَ - يَسْفِكُ is usually used in relation with “blood” in this way: يَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء = “he sheds blood.”

10.) The root (خ - س - ر) means “to lose, to be deficient." This word comes in various forms commonly in the Quran. For example, in this verse: أَخْدَانٍۢ ۗ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱلْإِيمَـٰنِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُۥ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ [“And whoever rejects the faith, all their good deeds will be void and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers” (5:5)]. Here, the word خَاسِرِين comes, meaning “the losers 😔,” and it refers to the utmost loss in the Hereafter. The Quran repeatedly encourages the believers to ensure that their scale of good deeds is plentiful, so that they do not becomes losers in the Hereafter.