[In
the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful...]
The
word ikhtilaaf comes from the 'Arabic root ( khaa'
- laam - faa' ), which carries three basic linguistic
meanings, as Ibn Faaris mentioned (may Allaah have Mercy on
him):
1
- succession, that something comes and takes the place of
that which came before it
2
- behind, after
3
- change, variation
[
Let us look to a more detailed discussion of these three meanings:
]
"Succession"
As
for the first meaning, succession, it can be found in the
Statement of Allaah, the Blessed and Exalted [1]:
(
And He is the One who made the night and day khilfah
(succeed each other) )
Night
comes after day and takes its place, just as day comes later
and takes the place of night. This meaning can also be found
in Allaah's Statement, Most Blessed and Exalted [2]:
(
And He is the One who made you the khalaa'if (successors
of each other) of the earth )
This
means that new nations of people come and take the place of
the old ones. This meaning is also found in the Statement
of Allaah the Most High [3]:
(
And Moosaa said to his brother, Haaroon, Ukh-luf-nee fee
qawmee (Take the leadership of my people after
me)" )
"Behind"
or "After"
As for the second meaning, this is found in the Statement
of Allaah, the Blessed and Exalted [4]:
(
He knows what is in front of them and what is khalfahum
(behind them) )
It
may also refer to something that is made to come after others
due to its lesser virtues. This can be found in the Statement
of Allaah, the Most High [5]:
(
And there came after them a khalf (later
group)
that delayed their prayers and followed their desires )
"Change"
or "Variation"
As
for the third meaning, it can be found in the statement of
the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam):
"Verily
the khuloof of the fasting person's mouth
is better to Allaah than the smell of musk." [6]
The
khuloof here means the change in the smell of a fasting
person's breath due to his hunger and thirst, and this is
what is better to Allaah than the smell of musk.
In
Conclusion
Ibn
Faaris (may Allaah have Mercy on him) said: "The first
meaning mentioned (succession) is what is meant when people
say, 'The people are in ikhtilaaf over such-and-such an issue.'
It means that the people are differing, and the source of
this differing is that each person has refuted or discarded
the other one's argument and stood in the place where the
other attempted to stand." [7]
What
is apparent to me, and Allaah knows best, is that these three
basic meanings mentioned by Ibn Faaris all stem from one main
theme - that something comes and takes the place of that which
came before it, or "succession."
It
was as if Ibn Faaris chose to explain the word using these
three basic meanings in an effort to make the meaning of the
word abundantly clear.
[
And Allaah knows best. ]
This
article was taken from BAKKAHnet (www.bakkah.net)
