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Offline Reader Questions

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Alleged Grammar Mistakes in the Quran.
« on: April 29, 2012, 03:04:37 AM »
Dear brother,

One of the thing that aroused question is the who is the protagonist of the Quran. If we see the following verse God is mentioned in 3rd person then suddenly switches to 1st person

29:23 Those who rejected God's signs and in meeting Him, they have forsaken My mercy, and they will have a painful retribution.

Skeptics also mention this as grammatical mistakes. Do you have any explanation on this?

Peace

Offline Joseph Islam

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Re: Alleged Grammar Mistakes in the Quran.
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2012, 03:07:08 AM »
Salamun Alaikum,

Grammar 'rules' were formally formulated nearly a century after the death of the Prophet by institutions such as those in Basra and Kufa. One of the main sources used to fomulate 'Arabic grammar' was the Quran. So if the Quran was the main source on which these rules (as a literary academic genre) were founded in the first place, how can the Quran then have 'grammar mistakes' if the rules were not founded till much later?

If the rules of Arabic grammar as a literary genre were formulated first and the Quran was then revealed later and diverted from it, then there would have been some grounds to entertain such an assertion. As it stands, it is an illogical, unfounded assertion.

Sadly, this point is usually missed by most sceptics that argue this point unfortunately from ignorance.

I have a dedicated article on this which I hope helps, God willing.

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THE QURAN - A BASELESS ASSERTION
http://quransmessage.com/articles/grammatical%20errors%20in%20the%20quran%20FM3.htm

As far as 29:23, this kind of grammatical shift is not atypical to the Quran. For Arabic listeners and those familiar with this style of narrative of the Quran, this is not a cause for concern. It is usually those that have 'learnt' the language, or attempt to understand it through translations that find this shift somewhat disconcerting. For more intimacy with His creation (Worship Me, I am your Lord etc), warnings, wrath, worship, the singular is used in relation to God. Sometimes it appears it is the angel's speech that is captured (37:164-166). There is also much use of grammatical shifts and changes of speech from one form to another which is quite an important feature in ‘iltifat’ in ‘balagha’ (Rhetoric made in Arabic).

Please allow me to share a good article on this, much of the contents which I agree with.

http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Grammar/iltifaat.html

I hope this helps, God willing.

Joseph.
'During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act' 
George Orwell