Islaamic Quiz

format_quote Originally Posted by Umm Abed

The answer is Hebrew, right?

Okay, but Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام had also traveled to Madyan, correct? There, he met Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, who was an Arab and spoke Arabic, and he not only spoke with Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, but he also married one of his daughters and worked for him for ten years. The people of Madyan spoke Arabic. So if Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام spoke Hebrew, how did this happen?

Baarakallaahu feek.

(Your answer is technically correct, sister. But, we're going to make people think a bit further.)

Semitic language? Similarities?

format_quote Originally Posted by Huzaifah ibn Adam

That is correct....

...The word Sahaabi itself comes from the verb صَحِبَ يَصْحَبُ Sahiba - Yas'habu, which means "to accompany". To spend time in the company of someone. That is termed "Suhbah". That is the requirement for being a Sahaabi, or a Taabi`i, or a Tab`-ut-Taabi`i.

Like the blessed tree?



Does this fit the context?

Scimi

format_quote Originally Posted by Huzaifah ibn Adam

Okay, but Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام had also traveled to Madyan, correct? There, he met Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, who was an Arab and spoke Arabic, and he not only spoke with Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, but he also married one of his daughters and worked for him for ten years. The people of Madyan spoke Arabic. So if Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام spoke Hebrew, how did this happen?

Baarakallaahu feek.

(Your answer is technically correct, sister. But, we're going to make people think a bit further.)

Semitic languages share common roots,

Also, thats where Sinai is, in Madyan, and not in the Sinai Peninsula's location known as St Catherines (which was named on a whim by the mother of Constantine, Helen lol)

Scimi

format_quote Originally Posted by Huzaifah ibn Adam

Okay, but Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام had also traveled to Madyan, correct? There, he met Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, who was an Arab and spoke Arabic, and he not only spoke with Nabi Shu`ayb عليه السلام, but he also married one of his daughters and worked for him for ten years. The people of Madyan spoke Arabic. So if Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام spoke Hebrew, how did this happen?

Baarakallaahu feek.

(Your answer is technically correct, sister. But, we're going to make people think a bit further.)

I'm not sure if I'm wrong, but if I base this on the assumption that his first language was Hebrew, when the Prophet Musa travelled to Madyan, he would have had to learn Arabic from someone who knew both languages. (Easy answer, lol)

Unless then Classical Arabic and Classical Hebrew were very similar, like mutually intelligible?

Or maybe they all spoke something like Aramaic - but then that's not Arabic, is it?

Dr. Ahmad Shahlaan writes in his book titled, "Lughaat ar-Rusul wa Usool ar-Risaalaat" (The Languages of the Messengers and the Origins of the Messages):

لقد عاش موسى في مصر أربعين سنة تربى خلالها في بلاط فرعون فتكون لغته الأم هي المصرية، ويمكن أن يكون ملماً بلغة أخرى إلى جانب المصرية كعادة الملوك في تعليم ذويهم عدة لغات، فربما كان ملماً بلغة خاصة بالعبرانيين أو الإسرائيلين، إذن فهناك احتمال غالب أن تكون لغة البلاغ الأصلي للتوراة هي المصرية دون غيرها، باعتبارها اللغة المشتركة بين جميع سكان مصر، أو يحتمل أن تكون لغة التوراة الأصلية هي لغة هؤلاء الذين هاجروا من فلسطين إلى مصر وهم أخلاط، فتأثروا بعادات مصر واكتسبوا لغتها، ثم رجعوا إلى فلسطين يحملون معهم موروثهم الثقافي والفكر الجديد، فكانت لغتهم على أقل تقدير خليطاً من المصرية والكنعانية الحيثية، فتكون هي اللغة التي دونوا بها التوراة نقلاً عن موسى، وإذا كان موسى قد عاش أربعين سنة في مصر ثم رحل إلى مدين وهي قبيلة عربية -أو على الأقل ليست إسرائيلية - ليعيش فيها أربعين سنة أخرى، فإنه بالتأكيد كان قد ألم بلغة هذه القبيلة قبل عودته إلى مصر رسولاً. انتهى

Obviously, not all of the members can understand Arabic, so I will just translate that quickly:

"(Nabi) Moosaa (عليه السلام) lived in Egypt for 40 years, and he was brought up - during this period of time - in the royal palace of Fir`own, so his mother tongue was Misriyyah (Egyptian), and it is also possible that he was acquainted with the languages (of the countries) adjacent to Egypt, as it is the habit of kings to teach their family a number of different languages, so perhaps he was acquainted with the languages with are exclusive to the Israelities and Hebrew speakers. Then, we have here a big possibility that the original language in which the Tawraah was delivered (to Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام) was Misriyyah (Egyptian), and none other than it, on account of the fact that it is the language which is shared among all of the citizens of Egypt. It is also possible that the original language in which the Tawraah was revealed could have been the language of these people who had migrated from Palestine to Egypt, and they are mixed, so they became affected by the customs of Egypt and they acquired its language, and thereafter they returned to Palestine, carrying with them this new ideology and heritage of theirs. Their language, at the very least, had become mixed with Misriyyah (Egyptian) and Kan`aaniyyah, and so this would be the language in which they recorded the Tawraah which they received from (Nabi) Moosaa (عليه السلام). And, when (Nabi) Moosaa (عليه السلام) himself had lived for 40 years in Egypt, and thereafter traveled to Madyan - which is an Arab tribe, or, at the very least, a non-Israeli tribe - to live there for a further 40 years, then most certainly he was fluent in the language of this tribe before returning to Egypt as a messenger." [End quote.]

Shaykh Musaa`id ibn Sulaymaan at-Tayyaar writes - and this article can be found on Multaqaa Ahl at-Tafseer:

مدين قرية عربية، وهي في شمال الجزيرة على الجانب المقابل لمصر، وهذا يعني أن سكانها عرب يتكلمون العربية وقت موسى عليه السلام، والملاحظ أن موسى عليه السلام لم يحتج إلى ترجمان للحديث مع المرأتين، ولا يقال: إن وجود الترجمان محتمل، إذ إن ذلك يلزم منه أن موسى عليه السلام صار يتكلم لغته ويبحث عمن يعرفها ثم ذهب إلى المرأتين ووقع الخطاب، ثم جاءت البنت وكلمت الترجمان، ثم كلم الترجمان موسى عليه السلام إلخ، لا شك أن تصور ذلك وافتراضه غير مرضي، كما أن افتراض أنهم تكلموا بلغة الإشارة والرموز غير وجيه كذلك.

فإذا كان موسى عليه السلام قد كلمهما مباشرة دون ترجمان، فما اللغة المشتركة التي كانوا يتحدثونها، الذي يبدو -ظناً- أنها عربية تلك الزمان، كانت مثل ما هي عليه اليوم لهجات العرب في مصر والجزيرة والشام والعراق، حيث يمكن أن يتخاطب أولئك بلهجاتهم ويفهم بعضهم من بعض، الذي يبدو أن الحال كان كما هو عليه اليوم، وإنما الأمر لا يعدو لهجات يتكلم بها كل أهل منطقة، لا تستغرب ذلك، فهل هناك ما يدل على غيره؟. انتهى

"Madyan is an Arab village, and it lies north of the (Arabian) Peninsula, on the side which is in line with Egypt, and this means that its inhabitants were Arabs who spoke Arabic during the time of (Nabi) Moosaa عليه السلام. Something to be noted is that (Nabi) Moosaa عليه السلام did not require an interpreter when speaking to the two women (from that village), and it cannot be said: "There is a possibility of an interpreter having been present," because that would necessitate that (Nabi) Moosaa عليه السلام went around speaking his language and first of all went looking around for someone who knew it (and could speak and understand it), and thereafter he went to the two women and the conversation took place, and thereafter the daughter came and spoke to the interpreter, and thereafter the interpreter spoke to (Nabi) Moosaa عليه السلام, etc. There is no doubting that imagining something like that and necessitating it is unacceptable, just as the idea of them having spoken through sign language is unacceptable.

Then, seeing as how (Nabi) Moosaa عليه السلام had spoken to them directly, without the need for an interpreter, then what was the shared language in which both parties had been speaking? What is apparent is that it was Arabic during that time; it was as it is today, with the various dialects of the Arabs such as that spoken in Egypt, and the dialect spoken in the (Arabian) Peninsula, and the dialect spoken in Shaam, and the dialect spoken in Iraq, and thus they were able to speak in their dialects and each understood the other. What is apparent is that the situation then was the same as it is today, and that the matter did not exceed that of (a variation) of dialects, with each party speaking the dialect of the locality it came from. That is not something strange, and is there anyone who can prove other than this?" [End quote.]

So the answer is, there is a lot of Ikhtilaaf (differences of opinion), but the summary is that Nabi Moosaa عليه السلام was able to speak both Hebrew and Arabic, and perhaps other languages as well.

والله تعالى أعلم

آمين يا رب العالمين

And now, seeing as the quiz has been answered and a little bit of information on it has been posted, we can now move on to the next:

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Quiz #007:

"Name the only two Ambiyaa (from the Ambiyaa we know of from Qur'aan and Sunnah) who never got married."