apparently that was the explanation which saeed asad sb couldn't digest. and unfortunately, said things he should not. anyway, watch this space as i write about this presently.
Shaykh Abu Hasan, could it not just mean "I will not read"? Like when Habil said, "I will not extend my hand to attack you", it didn't mean "I cannot extent my hand" (similar structure in Arabic - ma ana bi-basit).
Salam Apologies. But I dont really understand fully what saeed asad sahab is saying. What is he saying?
there are a few preliminaries we need to know - thereafter, we will present commentaries and also point out why i have taken umbrage to saeed asad's talk. in sha'Allah. --- firstly, this is a sahih hadith and present in bukhari #3 and muslim #73, also in musnad imam ahmad, mustakhraj abu nuaym, mustadrak hakim, dalayil and sunan of bayhaqi, musnad is'haq ibn rahuwayh, musannaf abd al-razzaq, sahih ibn hibban, and thiqat of ibn hibban. other than these hadith compendiums, this is mentioned in sirah works such as ibn is'haq and ibn hisham with additional material by suhayli. --- second: the summary of this specific portion of the hadith. the angel jibril alayhis salam appeared in front of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam in the cave of hira and said 'read'. now, read has two meanings: - iqra'a, or read: as in read from a book - iqra'a or read: as in recite RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam negated that he had learned to read - that is i do not read, as i am ummi, meaning i have not learned how to read. it does not mean: 'i cannot repeat after you' or 'i cannot read even if you tell me how to read'. it is common sense that a child of 7 or 8 who has started to go to madrasah can imitate the teacher and repeat after the teacher. what would be so daunting for mustafa alayhis salatu wa's salam, in his 40th year, and he was among the most fluent of speakers of the arabic language - that he would say: 'i will not be able to repeat following your recitation' - al iyadhu billah. this is where devbandis stumbled and couldn't fathom this simple concept and saeed asad jumped blindly following them. we will visit this later. --- third. the word ummi. fools, ignoramuses and people without intellect, iman or adab translate ummi as: illiterate. while some argue that it is the literal meaning of one who cannot read or write, this also has negative connotations and hence totally avoided. especially for ajamis, and in other languages, care should be taken to ensure that the translation does not entail the meaning of 'ignorant' or 'uncultured' or 'uncivilised'. the word illiterate, or in urdu: 'anpadh' carry this baggage. hence we avoid these words in translation. an 'illiterate' person would struggle with eloquent speech, would have no sophistication and would be rude, boorish or lack manners. hence it is forbidden to use the word 'illiterate' with our master sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. a pox on the houses of low lives - even if they style themselves as shaykhs - who do so. --- fourth. reading. the generally accepted (jumhur) meaning of ma ana bi-qariy is "i am unable to read [the written word]" [la uHsinu'l qira'ah] and the basis for this is the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam was ummi, meaning he did not learn to read. not that this indicates lack of knowledge, or eloquence or culture or finesse (al iyadhu billah). RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam was, before the waHy as well, the most refined in manners, and the most exquisite in speech. commentators say that the reason the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam negated was because he took jibril's alayhi's salam instruction to read - as 'to read something written' which he had not learned from anyone. --- fifth. the difference of opinion whether maa is a negator (nafiyah) or interrogative (istifhamiyyah). in the first case, the phrase: maa ana bi-qariy would mean (as commonly accepted): "i cannot read [the written word]" and in the second case it means: "what shall i read?" or "how shall i read?" it is important to note that the second position is not outlandish or far-fetched. there are other reports that validate it such as the wording in another report is: "kayfa aqra" / how shall i read? and in another "maa aqra'a?" / what shall i read? commentators generally agree that the maa ما is negator due to the inclusion of baa in bi-qariy and used for emphasis (ta'kid). however, there is also another opinion baa can appear even for istifhaam. so both positions are well within standard readings of the hadith and accepted by ulama. --- sixth. the wisdom in being asked to read and the refusal or query three times. there are various explanations - and one of them is by abu shamah, imam nawawi's shaykh who has said that the first time: was refusal (imtinaa) the second time: was informing the angel that he couldn't read (nafy) and the third time: asking him what to read (istifham). ---- seventh the phrase: balagha minni al-jahda/juhdu the word can be either jahd or juhd jahd means difficulty (mashaqqah) juhd means strength, effort (Taaqah) secondly, the word can be read as: jahda OR jahdu OR juhda OR juhdu / with naSb or rafa' and will have any of the meanings and all are accepted: - jibril alayhis salam pressed him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam to the most of his strength; i.e. the angel pressed him to the furthest extent of his (the angel's) strength. - jibril alayhis salam pressed him sallALlahu alayhi wa sallam to the furthest extent of his (i.e. the Prophet's sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) strength (to tolerate) - jibril alayhis salam pressed him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam so hard that he (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) felt strained. - jibril alayhis salam pressed me (i.e. the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) so hard that he (i.e. jibril) felt strained scholars then differed on how can a human tolerate the extreme force of an angel, and some replied that because sayyiduna jibril was in human form and thus had limitations of that form - so it was one human (outwardly) embracing another human. --- in other reports, jibril alayhis salam presented RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam with a brocaded cloth on which it was written - and it is as reply to this RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said: 'ma ana bi qariy'.
in another thread, this question was raised: in this clip, the late saeed asad who does somersaults and ties himself in knots for no reason. whether he wanted to appear woke or whether he couldn't fathom such a simple concept, i do not know. but he makes a few blunders and it is necessary to correct this. TRANSCRIPT. 0.19: main iska tarjama kuch aur karta raha hoon0.32: woh joh karta tha na pahlay, woh koyi tarjama sharjama nahin hai. 0.37 tarjama sahih kya hai iqra'a padhiye farmaya: ma ana bi-qari'yin: main nahin padh sakta koshish karta hoon padhnay ki par padha nahin jaa raha ab jibril alayhis salatu was salam nay nabiy karim alayhis salam ko apnay bahon mein liya, seenay say lagay - oye jhappi payee phir zor say, itna zor lagaya, itna zor lagaya sarkar farmatay hain main apni taqat kay intihaa tak pahunch gaya itna zor lagaya main thak gaya ek aur ma'ana bhi kiya jaata hai jibril nay itna zor lagaya kay jibril thak gaya phir jibril alayhis' salam nay chor diya. @1.44 phir kaha: iqra'a, padhiye. kaha: ma ana bi-qariyin, nahin padha jaa rahaa, nahin padha jaa rahaa jibril nay phir pakad liya, dabocha zor lagaya is tarah jibril alayhis salatu was salam nay teen (3) baar daboch kay zor lagaya. ab kaha iqra' bismi rabbikalla'dhi khalaq. us rabb kay naam say padhiye jis nay payda farmaya hai ab sarkaar nay far-far padhna shuru kardiya. mujhay ek bahut baday shaykhul hadith hain woh joh pahlay hum taqrir kartay tha woh sunni taqrir thi pahlay saaray aysi kartay tha. ek hamaray buzurg hain: maa ana bi-qari'yin, nahin padhtaa main. [sotto voice] phir jibril dabiya, dabochiya maa ana bi-qari'yin, nain padhdaa main phir dabocha - iqra bismi rabbika.. apnay rabb day wasta na padh [he gestures by folded hands] yeh hum taqreer kartay thay ek bahut baday shaykhu'l hadith mujhay kahnay lagay, kay jab yeh hadith padhatay hain na toh paseena aajata hai. yeh fit nahin bayth'ti jo taqreer hum kartay hain toh main nay badha socha hai Allah ko jaan daeni hai joh haqq hai woh hi bayan karna chahiye agar sarkar farmatay "nahin padhta main" jibril nay dabaya kyun thaa? dabaa kar woh current jo hai na...jo oopar wala fayz woh sarkaar kay jism mein muntaqil kar rahay thay.. Allah via jibril sarkar ko fayz day raha thaa...tawajjuh kar raha thaa, tawajjuh. --- he then lapses into some tasawwuf concepts of tawajjuh in'yikasi [reflected attention], tawajjuh ilqaa'yi [attention directed towards someone], and tawajjuh ittihadi [complete attention] and in his reference he cites some devbandi maulvi from his "kashfu'l bari," who also does not understand what he quotes! however, to his credit, he has tried to be respectful yet falls short. no wonder, saeed asad couldn't understand this simple hadith and remained bereft of understanding. afsos dar afsos. main na kahta thaa kay suhbat dev ki acchi nahin?
