reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

132 Hani Hayajnehis the administration of the sanctuary. In another ASA Minaic legal inscription ... ,from al-Sawda' (al-Sawda' 35/2) deposited in the. British Museum (BM 125123)the expression 'hi 'mnhtn is encountered in a similar context and understo1od : 2~as "servants of the temple." 63 Mahmud Ghul 64 came across this passage whiletreating the ASA word 'mn, and referred to the fact that holding the keyone of five or six public dignities associated with the leadership of the cmmrtunitvand the cult.Sidney Smith dedicated to this root and its derivatives in Hadramitic a detailed:study and connected it to Babylonian ummiinu and concluded that it denotes an·"administrative official in the great temples, who was a subordinate of shatammu .who dealt with all the temple's business." 65 The word 'mn is also attested in a··Hadramitic inscription as a function related to the market s 2 'rm bn n 'my 'mn 'yhwt;l' "PN + PN the (market?) inspector ... " 66 In a Qatabanic constructioninscription (MQ-HK 7) from Tirnna' the word 'mnt was preceded by the particledhw as an equivalent application of the word 'hl and has been translated as "thosein charge of-": I)' 'ls 2 rb bn t;lb 'm w-zyd'l bn hwkn bnw h:?br 2) dhw 'mnt mb '[ 'm·.dh-rymtm w- 'aslmn bnyw w-gn(') 3) hgm dh-s 1 lmm 1) 'ls 2 rb son of t;lb 'm andzyd'l son of hwkn both of the family h:?br 2) those in charge of the property of·'m dh-rymtm and those of s 1 lmm built and walled 3) the town dh-s 1 lmm. 67 ·In Arabic amana mean·s "trust, deposit," but amana in the Qur'an shouldinstead be interpreted as referring to the "administrative dignity or right given by .·(or sanctioned by) God" as noted by Ghul. 68 Ghul suggests that 'mn in the Minaic ..inscriptions and ASA in general means "administrator," and 'hll'mnhtn should be .understood as "the class (or group) of (public) administrators." According toGhul, this post in South Arabia was usually inherited by the Minaeans and ·included religious and civil responsibilities related to the public life of the peopleat that time. From the Minaic expression we know that 'hll'mnhtn had "twoleaders or heads"(= Arabic bijiiba) who had the right of keeping the keys ofKa 'ba. W.W. Mtiller 69 translates this passage as "(Tempel)wiichter," by relatingto Hebrew 'omen "Wiirter." The Qur'anic ahl al-amanat (4:58) should be understoodin this direction as well, I.e. "God does command you to render back posts(i.e., (lijaba posts) to those to whom they are due, ... " In the other Siiras amana(eg. in Qur'an 23:8) could be understood also as "post, office, etc." At any rate,.63 "Sevitori del tempio." .64 M. Ghul, "Makiinatnuqzlsh ai-Yaman," 38ff. and Ghul, Early Sozithem Arabian Languages,65 Quoted in H. Hayajn~h, "Ein Prozess ilber Zuteilung von Datteln in einer l)ai;lramitischen Inschrift,"in B. Burtea, J. Tropper, and H. Younansardaroud (eds}, Studio Semitica et Sen1ito!'winitict1,.MUnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2005, (109-24) 113.66 Ibid. .67 68 M. Ghul, "Makiinat nuqiish ai-Yaman," 38ff., and idem, Early Southern Arabian Languages,169ff.69 W.W. Milller, "Altsildarabische Rituale und. Beschwiirungen," in 0. Kaiser (ed.}, Texte ausUmwelt des A/ten Testaments, ReligiOse Texte, 2:3, Giltersloh: Molm, 1988, (438-52}, 445.Arabian languages as a source for Qur 'anic vocabulary 133word is a designation for an office and the question of understanding its naturedefined by the work or position assigned. The occasion of revelation mentionedcould enhance the interpretation of the expression ahl + al-amanat in theiin as "those who own the right of holding an office."·.l~'""'"'u derivatives of the root b-b~l in the Qur'an are known in six passages inform babl. Two of them are attested in Qur' an 3: 103 and 112, passages thatJ;;ll\;uuu·~~" the followers of the Islamic belief to be united: wa- 'tasimii bi-hablijamr'an wa-la tafarraqii (Q 3:103a). Abdullah Yusuf Ali tr~slates "Andfast, all together, by the rope which God (stretches out for you), and be notamong yourselves," while Rudi Paret gives the translation "und haltet:,'"''"""'w' fest an der Verb in dung (?) mit Gott und teilt euch nicht (in verschiedenen..." Paret questions the meaning of the word bah! in the context ofSiira ... In Qur'an 3:112: t;luribat 'alayhim al-dhillatu ayna mii thuqifo illii bi-habliAllahi wa-hablin min at-nasi wa-ba 'zi bi-ghat;labin min Allahi. This is transbyAbdullah Yusuf Ali as "Shame is pitched over them (lilce a tent) whereverare found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from God and fromthey draw on themselves wrath from God." Most translators translate bablcontext as "covenant;" other translate the term as "rope, cable, bond." Inverses (Q 20:66; 26:44; 50: 16; 111 :5), all of the translators understand bablcable," and not as "covenant."in al-Jiimi' li-abkam al-Qur 'an/ 0 arrives at the meaning "covpact."He concludes that babl refers to "the Qur'an," by citing the badlth ofinna hadha al-Qu 'rana huwa bablu Allah "This very Qur'an is theof Allah." Other commentators define the word as 'ahd, which is known in::classical Arabic under the meaning of"covenant." A survey of the Arabic lexicalshows that the m~t conventional meaning of the word babl is "rope." The. that babl could mean ribiit, "bond;" 'ahd, "pact, covenant, promise;" dhimma,seems to be based on the context ofthe Qur' iinic verse. In fact etymasupportfor this latter definition is found in the root bbl in ASA, whichverbal and nominal derivatives: bbl, "conclude a pact," bbl "alliance,The word babl in 3: 103 and 112 underlies the concept of the covenantis concluded between God and the Muslims. It could be understood as aalliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or within general.al-Jiimi' li-abkiim al-Qur 'iin, ed. Hisham Samir al-Bukhari, Riyad: Diir 'Alam2003, 1:5 and 4:156, 174.Man?fir, Lisiin a/- 'Arab, Cairo: Dar al-Ma'iirif, n.d., 140ff.11. .Jtjee:sion et at., Sabaic Dictionary, 65.