Session Seven, Verses 58 and 59, Individual Terms
Session Seven
Verses 58 and 59 – Individual Terms: 1. “Qaryah” – 2. “Hittah” – 3. “Baddala” – 4. “Rijz”
October 23, 2024
Individual Terms
We have noted that these two verses contain certain words and terms that require explanation.
1. “Qaryah” (Town)
First aspect: one aspect of the discussion concerning “town” (qaryah) is the question of which region it applies to and what location is intended. Whether what is meant is Jerusalem, or Jericho, or one of the cities of Egypt or Syria, or one of the encampments of the desert-dwellers among whom the Children of Israel were present before entering the city referred to in the following verses — there is disagreement on this point. This is one aspect: which region is intended, and to what land does the command of God Almighty to enter it apply. This is the aspect we shall take up in the exegetical discussion.
Second aspect: the other aspect, however, concerns the meaning of the term “qaryah” itself. For the meaning now commonly used for qaryah — and perhaps this same meaning has been in use for a long time, such that some exegetical works likewise refer to this meaning — is “village” or “hamlet”; but in the Qur’an, as well as in certain lexicographical works, another meaning is given for it.
In the lexicographical works, qaryah is predominantly given the meaning of a gathering, a place in which settlement and development exist. “Qarayt al-ma’” means “I gathered the water”; gathering, too, naturally entails settlement and development following from it. This term is used in the Qur’an in more than fifty instances.
The term opposite to it is “badw,” or one who lives outside of a qaryah, referred to as a desert-dweller or Bedouin (badawi). This refers to a place possessing lesser development. We thus have two terms here: one is qaryah, and the other is badw. Badw or badiyah does not refer merely to desert; if a desert too is called badiyah, this is on account of its lack of development. Hence, those who lived in a certain place and did not enjoy amenities, and who experienced various deprivations, were called Bedouin (badawi). Thus, the people of the qura (towns) or the people of the qaryah, in contrast to the Bedouin, refers to the people of a land and region in which there existed, on the whole, settlement and development. Of course, this is a relative matter.
The meaning stated above appears correct for three reasons:
- Its lexical root supports this; its root carries the meaning of gathering, and gathering is in some manner inseparable from settlement and development.
- The Qur’anic usage of this term supports this; for in most of the instances in which this term is used in the Qur’an, it relates to a place in which, on the whole, a gathering and a state of development existed. Hence, qaryah does not mean “village” as opposed to “city” (madinah); indeed, qaryah has even at times been applied to a madinah, that is, to what we would call a city in our own usage.
- The term opposite to qaryah is badw and badiyah, which relates to a region devoid of settlement and development.
A further corroboration for this meaning may be cited from the verses of the Qur’an. God says in verse 100 of Surat Yusuf: “And He brought you from the desert” («وَجَاءَ بِكُمْ مِنَ الْبَدْوِ»), which relates to the Prophet Joseph, peace be upon him, and in which badw has been applied to Canaan; “ja’a min al-badw” means that Joseph came from Canaan. Canaan, in comparison to Egypt of that day, which was a great city and the seat of government, possessed less settlement and development; yet this did not mean that it was a mere hamlet — rather, since it had less settlement and development relative to Egypt, the term badw was applied to it.
In any case, qaryah here means a place in which a group of people are gathered and in which there exists, on the whole, a measure of development. As for the statement “And [recall] when We said: Enter this town” («وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُوا هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ»), the meaning of “town” has now become clear: that is, enter this region in which there exists, on the whole, a measure of development and settlement.
2. “Hittah”
Another term requiring explanation is “hittah.” The verse reads: “And [recall] when We said: Enter this town, and eat freely therein wherever you wish; and enter through the gate prostrating, and say, ‘Hittah‘” («وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُوا هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًا وَادْخُلُوا الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا وَقُولُوا حِطَّةٌ»). After the command to enter this town and the command to eat and to enter in a state of humility and reverence, the verse says: “and say, ‘Hittah‘” («وقولوا حِطَّةً»). Hittah is a noun derived from the verbal root hatta–yahuttu–hattan, the verbal noun of which is hatt. There is a discussion as to whether they were obligated to utter this very Arabic word in particular, or whether what is intended is, in fact, a request for the remission and forgiveness of sin.
Some have said that what God here commanded them was that they should use this very expression and say “hittah.” It appears, however, that this particular word as such was not what was intended; rather, God commanded them to request the forgiveness of sin from God — that is, to ask for remission or removal. It is as though the meaning were: “mas’alatuna hittatun,” meaning, say: our request is remission. This then becomes the predicate (khabar) for an omitted subject (mubtada); just as we say, “O God, Your pardon” (ilahi ‘afwuka) — at one time we say “nas’aluka ‘afwaka,” which becomes the object of an omitted verb; or we say “atlubu ‘afwaka,” meaning “O God, I seek Your pardon” — this would be the case were it in the accusative case.
According to this possibility, “and say, ‘Hittah‘” («وقولوا حِطَّةً») would mean “say: natlubu hittatan,” meaning: we seek the remission and removal of sin. Here, however, the word is given in the nominative case; being in the nominative, this means that it is the predicate for an omitted subject. It is as though God is here instructing and teaching them that, when you wish to enter this town, say: “mas’alatuna hittatun” — our request is remission, the removal of sin. Of course, the request for forgiveness and the remission of sin may, in turn, be followed by God’s pardon. A person must first repent and request the cleansing of sin; if pardoned, the sin is thereby cleansed.
God is, as it were, saying: now, after all the wrongdoing, disobedience, and ingratitude that you have shown, enter this town and make use, as you wish, of its blessings; enter in a state of humility and reverence, and request the remission of sin. Hence, the possibility some have raised — that what is meant by hittah is the specific Arabic word, such that they were all to say “hittah” upon entry — appears unlikely, especially given that their language was Hebrew, and given that there would be little point or benefit in God obligating them to utter a word they would not understand. That they should utter a particular word without understanding its meaning and content seems highly improbable. Hence, God seeks to remind them: you committed sin and wrongdoing; now request pardon and the remission of sin. Hittah, then, is the predicate for an omitted subject, the subject being: su’aluna, mas’alatuna, talabuna hittah — with this slogan and with this request, enter into this town. That is, you must be inwardly humble and reverent, and you must also give voice to this request.
3. “Baddala” (To Substitute)
Another term is “baddala.” The verse states: “But those who did wrong substituted a saying other than that which had been said to them” («فَبَدَّلَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا قَوْلًا غَيْرَ الَّذِي قِيلَ لَهُمْ») — they substituted this statement and said something else, other than what had been said to them. They had been told that they should request this from God; they said something else instead. Tabdil (substitution), in its lexical sense, means change — that is, they changed it; they changed hittah into another statement. The verse does not specify here what exactly they said. They changed it and employed a different word and expression — it is not that they remained silent, nor that they said nothing at all; baddala means, rather, that they put forward a different statement and changed it into another expression.
4. “Rijz” (Punishment)
“So We sent down upon those who did wrong a punishment from the sky on account of the transgression they used to commit” («فَأَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا رِجْزًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ»). According to some lexicographers, rijz means agitation or turmoil. The author of Mu’jam Maqayis al-Lughah states that rijz originally means agitation. Others, including al-Raghib al-Isfahani, have likewise put forward this view. Agitation and dread constitute a particular kind of chastisement, not chastisement in an absolute sense. Some have also taken it to mean plague, stating that they were afflicted with the disease of plague, since plague gives rise to dread and agitation. That is, this disease itself is of such a nature that it produces a certain agitation in the patient — perhaps unlike other diseases in this respect. Just as one might ask how cancer produces agitation, plague too was a deadly and severe disease, and hence produced agitation.
In the Qur’an, however, the term is predominantly used in two senses: rijz is also used in the sense of chastisement, as in the verse “Indeed, We are about to send down upon the people of this town a punishment from the sky, on account of the transgression they have committed” («إِنَّا مُنْزِلُونَ عَلَى أَهْلِ هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ رِجْزًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ»). It has also been used in the sense of rijs, that is, filth and impurity: “And He sends down upon you water from the sky, that He may purify you thereby and remove from you the defilement of Satan” («وَيُنَزِّلُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ بِهِ وَيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمْ رِجْزَ الشَّيْطَانِ»).
Thus, rijz in the Qur’an is used in two senses: chastisement, and filth. The first meaning also corresponds with its lexical sense, although filth too may, in actual fact, be reckoned as a form of chastisement; yet the chastisement of which God speaks here, namely “We sent down from the sky,” cannot be applied to the second meaning. Given, however, the Qur’anic usages and the lexical root, we must say that rijz here means chastisement; we may, nonetheless, apply it specifically to a particular kind of chastisement, namely dread and agitation.