Question:
We stated in the Introduction to the Constitution, Article 21: "And Jama’ah (group) here is a generic noun (Ism Jins), meaning any group, so it is used to refer to the genus..." I have two questions:
- Would it not be better to say: "And Ummah here is a generic noun" instead of "Jama’ah...", because the matter relates to the indication of a word in a Verse, so it is necessary to present it as it is?
- It is mentioned in many linguistic sources that the word Ummah (like the words Jama’ah, Qawm, Raht, and Ta'ifah...) is a collective noun (Ism Jam') and not a generic noun (Ism Jins). Why did we consider the word Ummah (and Jama’ah) as a generic noun and not a collective noun?
Answer:
• Regarding the first question, the answer is as follows:
1- The word (Ummah) is a homonym (Mushtarak), having several meanings, including:
a- Meaning a group (Jama’ah): تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ "That was a nation that has passed away." [Al-Baqarah: 134]. وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ "And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good." [Aal-Imran: 104].
b- Meaning a single class in faith or in misguidance: كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً "Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviance]." [Al-Baqarah: 213] - meaning one class following one way in misguidance. وَمَا كَانَ النَّاسُ إِلَّا أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً "And mankind was not but one community [united in religion]." [Yunus: 19] - meaning one class that unified Allah.
c- Meaning a religion (Millah) or a Law (Shari'ah): وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً "And indeed this, your religion, is one religion." [Al-Mu’minun: 52] - meaning your religion and Law.
d- Meaning time or duration: وَادَّكَرَ بَعْدَ أُمَّةٍ "And remembered after a time." [Yusuf: 45].
e- Meaning an individual who stands in the place of a group in goodness: إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةً "Indeed, Abraham was a nation [leader]." [An-Nahl: 120] - meaning a role-model leader or standing in place of a group in the worship of Allah.
2- Thus, Ummah is a homonym. When explaining the Verse, its specific meaning within the Verse is used, which is (Jama’ah). Therefore, we used the meaning in the explanation, as it is clearer than using the word Ummah, because this word has several meanings. As long as we are explaining the Verse, it is clearer to use the meaning. Thus, we said: (Jama’ah here is a generic noun). If we had said (Ummah here is a generic noun), the meanings would have been confused: does it mean the individual leader, or the group, or the time, or the Islamic Ummah? Therefore, expressing it with the word Jama’ah is clearer because it is the intended meaning in the Verse: وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ "And let there be [arising] from you a nation."
• As for the second question, the answer is as follows:
It seems you have read in some books of linguistics the division of nouns into Ism Jins (generic noun) and Ism Jam' (collective noun)... and that a word which indicates a plural but has no singular form from its own root is called a collective noun, like Qawm and Raht... It seems you understood from this that this division is the only division of nouns, and that the definition of a collective noun is undisputed. Therefore, you wondered why we said that Ummah and Jama’ah are generic nouns even though they indicate a plural that has no singular from its own root?
My brother, the issue of Ism Jins and Ism Jam' involves extensive research and differences regarding classifications... even differences when applying the rules for defining Ism Jins and Ism Jam' according to the methodology of linguists in dividing the noun, including:
First: There are those who divide the noun into Ism Jam' and Ism Jins...
*1- They divide the collective noun (Ism Jam') into:*
a- That which includes the meaning of plural but has no singular from its own root, but rather its singular is from its meaning, such as: Qawm (people), Raht (group), Jaysh (army)...
b- That which differs from the weights of plurals, meaning it has a singular from its own root but differs from the known broken plural weights, such as: Rakb (caravan), the plural of Rakib (rider).
c- That which is permissible to attribute (Nasab) to, meaning it has a singular from its own root and matches the forms of the broken plural but is equal to the singular in attribution, such as: Rikab on the weight of (Fi’al), which is a form of broken plural, and it has a singular from its root Rakubah, but it is attributed to like a singular Rikabi, so it is a collective noun.
2- They divide the generic noun (Ism Jins) into:
a- Collective Generic Noun (Ism Jins Jam’i): That which includes the meaning of plural indicating the genus and has a singular distinguished from it by one of two signs:
- The Ta Marbuta, such as: Nahl (bees): Nahlah (a bee), Kalim (words): Kalimah (a word), Tuffah (apples): Tuffahah (an apple), Shajar (trees): Shajarah (a tree), Tamr (dates): Tamrah (a date).
- The Ya of Attribution (Nasab), such as: ‘Arab (Arabs): ‘Arabi (an Arab), Turk (Turks): Turki (a Turk), Zinj (Zanj): Zinji.
b- Individual Generic Noun (Ism Jins Ifradi): That which indicates the genus and is valid for both small and large quantities, such as: Ma’ (water), and Laban (milk).
c- Unitary Generic Noun (Ism Jins Ahadi), such as Asad (lion), Dhi’b (wolf), Rajul (man).
3- As I mentioned at the beginning, there is some disagreement in applying the rules mentioned above to determine collective nouns and generic nouns. For example:
a- It was mentioned in Al-Bahr al-Muhit fi Usul al-Fiqh (4/115): (Thirdly: The generic noun that is distinguished from its singular by the Ta, and it is not a gerund (Masdar) or derived from it, like Tamr and Shajarah. This is what is famous, meaning its being a generic noun, while Al-Ghazali calls it a plural, and Ibn Malik calls it a collective noun, for he counted it among the names of collections but called it in the explanation of Al-Kafiyah a generic noun...) As you see in the division above, Tamr and Shajar have singulars Tamrah and Shajarah, which means they are collective generic nouns, but there is a disagreement: the famous view is (generic noun), Al-Ghazali says (plural), and Ibn Malik says (collective noun)...
b- It was mentioned in Ash-Sharh al-Kabir li Mukhtasar al-Usul (p. 155): [(The Sheikh mentioned here that Kalimah is the singular of Kalam. The famous view among most grammarians is that Kalim is the plural of Kalimah, not Kalam... Scholars have differed regarding Kalim: is it a (collective generic noun) or a (generic noun): Al-Suyuti said in Ham’ al-Hawami’ (1/55): (In the explanation of Al-Tashil by Nazir al-Jaysh, grammarians differed over Kalim; a group of them including Al-Jurjani went to the view that it is a (plural) of Kalimah, while Al-Farisi and other researchers went to the view that it is a (generic noun) for it.)] And as we said in (a), we say here as well; the matter relates to the plural of Kalim whose singular is distinguished from it by the Ta (Kalimah), and yet there is disagreement. According to the division above, it would be a (collective generic noun), but according to Al-Jurjani, it is a (plural) of Kalimah, and according to Al-Farisi, it is a (generic noun).
As you can see, there is disagreement among linguists according to their methodology regarding the first division of the noun.
Second: There are those who divide the noun into Ism Jins (generic noun) and Mushtaq (derivative):
1- It was mentioned in the book Al-Mahsul by Abu Abdullah al-Taymi al-Razi, known as Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 AH): (...As for the noun, it is either a proper noun ('Alam), a derivative (Mushtaq), or a generic noun (Ism Jins). As for the proper noun, it cannot be metaphorical because the condition for metaphor is that the transfer be due to a relationship between the root and the branch, which does not exist in proper nouns. As for the derivative, as long as metaphor does not apply to the root from which it is derived, it does not apply to the derivative... Thus, metaphor in reality only applies to generic nouns, and Allah knows best.)
2- In Al-Bahr al-Muhit fi Usul al-Fiqh by Abu Abdullah Badr al-Din Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Bahadur al-Zarkashi (d. 794 AH): [The Second Notice] [The universal (Kulli) is divided by consideration of its word into derivative and others] By consideration of its word into derivative and others, because it either indicates the essence (Mahiyyah) through an attribute, and that is the derivative, like 'the black one', and is called an attribute in grammatical terminology; or it does not indicate it. In that case, if it indicates the essence itself only, it is the generic noun... Al-Asfahani said: That which indicates the genus is divided into a generic noun like Asad (lion), and a generic proper noun ('Alam Jins) like Usamah, and they are not synonymous, because the generic noun is placed for the universal essence, while the generic proper noun is placed for that essence with the condition of its individualization in the mind...
3- It was mentioned in Al-Muhadhdhab fi 'Ilm Usul al-Fiqh al-Muqaran by Abdul Karim bin Ali bin Muhammad al-Namlah (contemporary): The universal is also divided into: "generic noun" and "derivative":
- The generic noun is: That the noun indicates a specific essence such as: "the horse" and "the human."
- The derivative is: The indication of the noun for something possessing a specific attribute, without the specificity of the essence, such as: "the rider (Al-Faris)" and "the scholar (Al-'Alim)", for this indicates an essence described by horsemanship or knowledge.
The particular (Juz'i) is divided into "independent" and "non-independent". The independent particular noun is: the proper noun ('Alam) like "Zaid", which does not need a pronoun... and the non-independent particular noun is: the pronoun (Mudmar) like "I", "you", and "he".
Third: We, in the book The Islamic Personality, Vol. 3, in the chapter "Linguistic Words and Their Categories - The Noun," divided the noun in this manner, where we said:
(...The noun is either universal or particular; because if it is such that many can share in its concept, or they cannot; if it is the first, it is universal, and if it is the second, it is particular...
The universal is also of two types: genus (Jins) and derivative (Mushtaq); that is because:
- If it indicates a non-specific essence, like the horse, the human, blackness, and other things that indicate the essence itself, it is the genus, i.e., the generic noun...
- If the universal indicates something possessing a specific attribute, it is the derivative, like the black one, the rider, and the like...
As for the particular, it is of two types: proper noun and pronoun; that is because:
- If the word is independent in indication, i.e., it does not require anything to explain it, it is the proper noun like Zaid and Ali...
- If it is not independent, in that it requires something to explain it, it is the pronoun, such as he and she...) End.
Based on this, the word that carries the meaning of a plural, i.e., the universal, is of two types:
If it indicates a non-specific essence, but rather indicates the essence itself like the horse, the human, and blackness, then it is the generic noun... And if the universal indicates something possessing a specific attribute, it is the derivative, like the black one, the rider, and the scholar, for the black one is described by blackness, the rider by horsemanship, and the scholar by knowledge...
Accordingly, the two words (Ummah and Jama’ah in this sense) indicate a non-specific essence: any Ummah, and any Jama’ah... for neither of them has a specific attribute... they are therefore generic nouns and not derivative nouns according to the mentioned definition. This is what we adopted regarding the division of the noun, and hence we said that Jama’ah and Ummah are generic nouns as stated in the explanation of Article 21 of the Introduction:
[And its evidence is the saying of the Almighty: وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ "And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful." [Aal-Imran: 104]
The aspect of deduction from this Verse for the establishment of political parties is that Allah (swt) has commanded the Muslims that there be from them a group (Jama’ah) that carries out the call to goodness, i.e., the call to Islam, and also carries out enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong... So His saying: وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ "And let there be [arising] from you a nation" is a command to bring into existence a group organized in a structure that gives it the description of a group from among the group of Muslims. Since He said: مِّنكُمْ "From among you." So the meaning of His saying: "And let there be from you" is to let there be a group from among the Muslims, not that the Muslims should be a group; meaning, let there be from the Muslims an Ummah, and its meaning is not for the Muslims to be an Ummah. This is because «من» in the Verse is for partitioning (Tab'id) and not for clarifying the genus (Bayan al-Jins), and its standard is that the word "some" can replace it. So we say: (And let some of you be an Ummah), whereas the word "some" cannot be placed in the Verse: وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ "Allah has promised those who have believed among you" [An-Nur: 55] – for we do not say (Allah promised those who believed some of you). Therefore, it is here to clarify the genus, meaning the promise is not restricted to the generation of the Sahabah (ra), but rather the promise is for all those who believe and do righteous deeds...
It cannot be said that the Verse says "Ummah", i.e., one party, and this means the non-multiplicity of parties. This cannot be said because the Verse did not say "one Ummah"; it did not say one group, but rather it said Ummah in an indefinite form without any description. So it means that establishing a group is an obligation; if one group is established, the obligation is fulfilled, but it does not prevent the establishment of multiple groups, i.e., multiple blocs. For the performance by one of a collective obligation (Fard al-Kifayah) that is sufficient for one to perform does not prevent others from performing this obligation. And Jama’ah here is a generic noun meaning any group, so it is used to refer to the genus and not one individual. The Almighty said: كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ "You are the best nation" [Aal-Imran: 110] and the meaning is the genus. Comparable to this is the saying of the Messenger (saw): "Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it," narrated by Muslim via Abu Sa’id al-Khudri. The meaning is not one single evil, but the genus of evil, and such examples are many. Thus, the action of the genus is requested and the action of the genus is forbidden, and it is not intended for a single individual, but rather for the genus. So it applies to a single individual of the genus, and it applies to several individuals of that genus... Therefore, it is not permissible to prevent the establishment of several political parties. However, that is within the Islamic parties that are established upon what the Verse stipulated, which is the call to goodness and enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong, including enjoining the right upon the rulers, forbidding them from wrong, and accounting them.] End.
For your information, there are linguists who stated that the word (Ummah) is a generic noun and thus (Jama’ah) is a generic noun:
It was mentioned in Al-Muharrar al-Wajiz fi Tafsir al-Kitab al-'Aziz (1/488) by Ibn Atiyyah al-Andalusi al-Maharibi (d. 542 AH): (The interpreters differed regarding the meaning of His saying: "You were the best nation brought forth for mankind"... Al-Hasan bin Abi al-Hasan and a group of people of knowledge said: The meaning of the Verse is an address to the Ummah that they are the best nation brought forth for mankind. The word Ummah, according to this interpretation, is a generic noun, as if it were said to them: you were the best of nations, and this interpretation is supported by their being witnesses over mankind... The Judge Abu Muhammad said: So Ummah, according to this interpretation, is a generic noun...] End.
I hope the matter has become clear, and Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise.
2 Muharram 1441 AH 01/09/2019 CE