In Quest of what is the Quranic ضرب or Hitting/Beating really means!

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Aug 16, 2022 at 16:13

You wrote:

>Forensic Analysis Would Be Required to Determine 'Blunt Force,' 'Sharp Force,' Trauma; Depends Upon Which Weapon Deployed

Very good.

We are all aware that the author of the Qur'an assumes that the reader must be familiar with the OT and NT as well as their languages. This is why the Qur'an for example does not tell us "Who is really Israel" and al-Mufasereen had to consult a "corrupted" book that tells them who is Israel.

The same applies to the vocabulary/grammar/syntax of the Qur'an which was explained by the Persians 2-3 centuries after the death of Muhammad and the first extant Arabic dictionary (Lisan al-Arab) was written 600 years after the death of Muhammad in a very different milieu.

Now if you read Ibn Manzur definition of the root ضرب he starts by reminding the readers:

ضرب : الضرب معروف

Or: The Hitting: The beating is known.

What does this mean? He must be assuming that the reader must be familiar with the meaning of the word from the older civilizations that predate Islam and in this case: Aramaic

This is the word in Aramaic: ܕܲܪܒܘܼܢܹܐ or Dar bu ni (same root as in Arabic D-R-B)

However, we know the meaning of the Aramaic ܕܲܪܒܘܼܢܹܐ and it means:

"1) a wound , a cut , a stab , a blow (weapon, fist ...) ; 2) to wound , to cut , to stab , to give a blow"

http://www.assyrianlanguages.org/sureth/dosearch.php?searchkey=3172&language=id

And this is more likely than not how al-Tabari would have understood the meaning of the word Darb in Arabic

Notice that the uncorrected verse is: فاضربوا فوق الأعناق

Or: Then Beat/Hit ABOVE the necks.

al-Mufasereen could not understand "Above the necks" and is the author saying to hit/beat the head which is above the neck. However, there is a hadith where Muhammad advises his followers not to hit/beat face after all a man is created in the image of God (compare with the Bible)

And this is why al-Qurtubi corrects it as:

اضربوا الأعناق

Or Hit/Beat the necks

The Qur'an is "Text With No Context."

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