Need Explanation help!!

[muslima]

Assalaamalaikum,

One of my nonmuslim friend has asked me a question when i was talking about one the surah from Quran ie.75th surah surah Qiyamah ..The Resurrection
1 I do call to witness the Resurrection Day;
2 And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit: (Eschew Evil).
3 Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones?
4 Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers.
5 But man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of him.
6 He questions: "When is the Day of Resurrection?"


i have been asked few Questions which i could not answer like...
1.Why 'man' mean both man and woman in the Quran?
2.some of the parts of the Quran do not seem to regard women very highly. It's a sticking point for me to understanding the religion of Islam. ???
Please help

[Amatullah]

Salam (Peace)

1.Why 'man' mean both man and woman in the Quran?

Well actually 'man' does not necessarily mean an adult male human. It could also mean human race or a human irrespective of sex and not just in the Qur'an but in the dictionary too.

some of the parts of the Quran do not seem to regard women very highly

If you could be more clear about what parts you are referring to, we could then discuss them.

Fi amanillah,
Amatullah

[farhan]

Wa alikum us salam


1 . The word for man (male) in arabic is "rajul" , & for female is "mr'a ( plural : nisaa ) .The word used in this Ayah is "Insaan" , that means "man kind" not man . So the word refers to "all humans" .

2 . Well as amatullah said , if U had refered the verse number , it would have been easy to answer . Most of the verses creating this problem R also badly translated . Like the famous verse from Sura al'nisaa

ar rijaalu qaw'wamoona alan nisaa

that means "men are protecters and maintainers of women" , but sometimes its wrongly translated as " men are superior than women " .


I have read different some translations of Quran & found this one to be the best . Not perfect , but better than others .
http://www.islamasoft.co.uk/downloads.html

For any questions on Islam visit here
http://www.bismikaallahuma.org/

Peace

[Friend]

Salaamu alyckum all

Assalaamalaikum,

One of my nonmuslim friend has asked me a question when i was talking about one the surah from Quran ie.75th surah surah Qiyamah ..The Resurrection
1 I do call to witness the Resurrection Day;
2 And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit: (Eschew Evil).
3 Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones?
4 Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers.
5 But man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of him.
6 He questions: "When is the Day of Resurrection?"

Many people from the past rejected the idea of resurrection of bodies , So this surah explain and give asserting and assurance from Our almighty Allah that he will resurrect our bodies even our small bones ...some scholars said: that this is one of the miracles of al Quraan that Allah refers to the creation of fingerprint of each human being different from others to refer to his ability in creation process...

This is the interpretation of Ibn Kathir for these verses:

The Oath about the Final Return on the Day of Resurrection and the Refutation against the Plots of the Thinkers

It has been mentioned previously on more than one occasion that if the thing that is being sworn about is something that is being negated, then it is permissible to use the word "La'' (Nay) before the oath to emphasize the negation. Here, what is being sworn about is the affirmation of the final abode and the refutation against the claim of the ignorant that the resurrection of bodies will not occur. This is why Allah says,

(Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah.) Qatadah said, "This means, I swear by both of these things.'' This has also been reported from Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr. Concerning the Day of Judgement, it is well known what it is. In reference to An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah, Qurrah bin Khalid reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basri that he said about this Ayah, "Verily, by Allah, we think that every believer blames himself. He says (questioning himself), `What did I intend by my statement What did I intend by my eating What did I intend in what I said to myself' However, the sinner proceeds ahead and he does not blame himself.'' Ibn Jarir recorded from Sa`id bin Jubayr that he said concerning Allah's statement,

(And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah) "He criticizes himself in good and bad.'' Similar has been reported from `Ikrimah. Ibn Abi Najih reported from Mujahid: "He is sorry for what he missed (of good deeds) and he blames himself for it.'' Allah said;
(Does man think that We shall not assemble his bones) meaning, `on the Day of Judgement does he think that We are not able to return his bones and gather them from their various places'

(Yes, We are able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers.) meaning, `does man think that We will not gather his bones Surely, We will gather them and We are quite able to put together his fingertips. This means Our power is suitable to gather (and recreate) them, and if We wished We could surely resurrect him with more than what he originally had. We could make his Banan, which are the tips of his fingers, all equal (in length).' Concerning Allah's statement,

(Nay! Man desires to break out ahead of himself.) Sa`id reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "This means to proceed forward.'' Mujahid said about,

(to break out ahead of himself.) "This means that he wants to proceed ahead following his own whims.'' `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "This refers to the disbeliever who denies the Day of Reckoning.'' Ibn Zayd said the same thing. Thus, Allah says after this,


(He asks: "When will be this Day of Resurrection'') meaning, he says when will the Day of Judgement be His question is only a question of denying its occurrence, and rejecting its existence. This is as Allah says,

(And they say: "When is this promise if you are truthful'' Say: "The appointment to you is for a Day, which you cannot put back for an hour nor put forward.'') (34:29-30) Here Allah says,

So, when Bariqa the sight.) Abu `Amr bin Al-`Ala' recited this Ayah as Bariqa with a Kasrah under the letter Ra, which means to be diminished.

__________________________

and God know better

1.Why 'man' mean both man and woman in the Quran?

Muslima, who told you that Women in the Quraan called man , remember my sister that the Surah (Chapter ) 4 name is Women , Which is one of the big Chapters of Al Quraan...also Allah said Mouslemon and Muslimat and Moamenin and Moamenat in Al Quraan in many verses ...maybe it is translation problem .

2.some of the parts of the Quran do not seem to regard women very highly. It's a sticking point for me to understanding the religion of Islam. ???

There are thread here about Women explain some of your questions in this subject , and as my brother Farhan and My sister AmatAllah said to you you can be more specified ...to guide us to help.

[muslima]

Thank you all for the replies it helped me to understand the interpretation of those verses thanks friend..i knew it was translation or gramatical problem thanks farhan for leting me know the difference.

2.some of the parts of the Quran do not seem to regard women very highly. It's a sticking point for me to understanding the religion of Islam. ???

Actually she did not mention any particular verse but she was not satisfied that men and women are equal in islam..she says men are more dominating n prior to women.

[thipps]

Originally Posted by muslima

Thank you all for the replies it helped me to understand the interpretation of those verses thanks friend..i knew it was translation or gramatical problem thanks farhan for leting me know the difference.

Actually she did not mention any particular verse but she was not satisfied that men and women are equal in islam..she says men are more dominating n prior to women.

Assalam-o-Alaikum,
Since the question is in general, thus the answer as well. I explained this once in another thread but i cant find it now. But i will shortly restate the main points.
1. men and women are overall equal.
2. men and women are different.
3. thus, equality does not necessarily mean identicality.

elaborating slightly on the first part, one can say that in some cases men have a degree of advantage over women and in some cases women have a degree of advantage over men. In the end, they are overall equal.
Hope this helps.
And Allah knows best.

[Vajradhara]

Salaam Muslima,

thank you for the post.

Originally Posted by muslima

Actually she did not mention any particular verse but she was not satisfied that men and women are equal in islam..she says men are more dominating n prior to women.

remember... Islam and Arab culture are two very different things... thus, whilst Islam is a champion of equal rights, Arab culture is not, with some noted exceptions. most of what you read regarding the mistreatment of females is culturally dictated moreso than religiously dictated.

though, even then, there are clear prohibitions regarding somethings which females are not permitted to do. i understand that a female cannot lead males in prayer, for instance. though i understand there is a bit of a debate about that.

in any case, my point being that you will need to seperate for your friend, Arab culture from Islam and it should become much easier to answer these types of questions.