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Fiqh Variants
Surah: An-Nisa (1)
"Wal-arham" in An-Nisa 1 — The Genitive Reading and Its Grammatical Issue
وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِي تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلۡأَرۡحَامَ
— النساء الآية 1
The verse:
"And fear Allah through Whom you ask one another, and [by/and] the wombs." (An-Nisa: 1)
The two readings:
Some grammarians like Al-Zajjaj rejected the genitive reading as grammatically weak (conjoining to an implied genitive pronoun without repeating the preposition). Defenders: Sibawayh permitted it with poetic evidence.
Scholars of readings:
A mutawatir reading cannot be rejected on grammatical grounds — Makki ibn Abi Talib: "Whoever rejects an established reading on grammatical grounds has erred — grammar is derived from Arabic, not its judge."
"And fear Allah through Whom you ask one another, and [by/and] the wombs." (An-Nisa: 1)
The two readings:
- "Wal-arhama" (accusative/nasb): majority reading — conjoined to "Allah" or object of a suppressed verb. Meaning: fear Allah and honour the ties of kinship.
- "Wal-arhami" (genitive/jarr): read by Hamza alone among the Ten. Meaning: conjoined to the pronoun in "bihi" — asking by Allah and by the wombs.
Some grammarians like Al-Zajjaj rejected the genitive reading as grammatically weak (conjoining to an implied genitive pronoun without repeating the preposition). Defenders: Sibawayh permitted it with poetic evidence.
Scholars of readings:
A mutawatir reading cannot be rejected on grammatical grounds — Makki ibn Abi Talib: "Whoever rejects an established reading on grammatical grounds has erred — grammar is derived from Arabic, not its judge."
Source: Al-Nashr (2/247); Al-Itihaf (p.185); Makki ibn Abi Talib, Al-Kashf (1/379); Ibn Khalawayh, Al-Hujjah
Test Yourself
Why did some grammarians reject Hamza's reading "wal-arhami" with genitive? What was the response of reading scholars?
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