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What is meant by وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا in Surah 25, Verse 61?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Askimam.org

Hello I’ve a question about verse 25.61 : تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَٰجًا وَقَمَرًا مُّنِيرًا Blessed is He Who made constellations in the skies, and placed therein a Lamp and a Moon giving light; How can it be that the moon gives light when everyone knows it merely reflects sunlight?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

At the outset, it should be understood that the Holy Quran is not a book of philosophy and astronomy. It neither deals with the subject of realities of the universe nor the form, positioning and movements of its components e.g. stars, planets etc. At the same time, the Holy Quran repeatedly makes mention of things on the earth, in the sky and between them and invites one to ponder over them to understand the might and power of Almighty Allah. This spectacular phenomenon has not come into being of its own accord, rather there is a creator behind them. For the ordinary man, it is not necessary to acquire knowledge of astronomy and related sciences. Instead his observation of the perfect precision with which this system functions should enable him to conclude that there definitely is a greater power at work i.e. Almighty Allah.

It is noteworthy to mention that neither the Sahabah nor Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) himself made any arrangements to study astronomical or cosmic theories with regards to the shape and form of celestial bodies etc. This strengthens the notion that such theories are not the intended purpose of the Holy Quran.

The fact of the matter is that the Holy Quran neither invites people towards an old theory or scientific approach nor does it deal with them nor does it reject them. The Holy Quran simply confines their mention to the extent to which they are related to man’s religious needs. The Holy Quran effectively guides humanity towards its ultimate goal i.e. to follow the path of righteousness and comply and submit to the Will of Almighty Allah.

You refer to Verse 61 of Surah Furqaan,

تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ فِي السَّمَاءِ بُرُوجًا وَجَعَلَ فِيهَا سِرَاجًا وَقَمَرًا مُنِيرًا

Translation: “Glorious is the one who made stellar formations in the sky and placed therein a lamp (sun) and a bright moon.”

  • Where does it state that the Arabic word قَمَرًا مُنِيرًا means a moon that gives light on its own i.e. a luminous body?
  • The translation you have quoted in your query seems to be from the translation by Yusuf Ali. The words ‘giving light’ do not necessarily mean that the moon is a luminous body. Rather it is used in the meaning of ‘illuminate’. This is further understood by the authors (Yusuf Ali) own footnotes wherein he states, (Page 941, Footnote 3121) “the glorious lamp in the sky is the sun and next to it is the moon, which gives borrowed light.
  • Other translations of the very same verse are:

1.     “bright moon” in Ma’ariful Quran and the English Quran translation by Mufti Taqi Usmani Saheb.

2.     “Shining moon” in Tafseer Jalaalayn.

  • Your query is based on the premise or assumption that the word مُنِيرًا implies that the moon itself is a source of light i.e. a luminous body/object. The word مُنِيرًا is an active participle (Ismul Faa’il in Arabic grammar) in the sentence. If one were to open Lisaan-ul-Arab, a famous reliable classical Arabic dictionary, the author clearly states that the word أنار in Arabic means أضاء i.e. to illuminate.[1] He also explains multiple other meanings of the word such as to explain, elaborate, clarify etc. The meaning in the verse will therefore be that the moon illuminates, whether it in itself is the source of light or not. One more explanation the author provides is:

وأَنار المكانَ: وَضَعَ فِيهِ النُّورَ

Translation: “He/It illuminated the place i.e. Put noor (light) in it.”

This is the intended use in this verse. The moon simply illuminates the earth at night. This would be a factual statement as the moon does illuminate albeit by reflecting light from the sun. Therefore, the Holy Quran has not made any statement with regards to the moon being a luminous object or not. It merely states that the moon illuminates. If this is understood in the context of Almighty Allah showing His favours upon His creation, these questions do not arise. Is it not a blessing from Almighty Allah (especially before electricity) that the light and illumination provided by the moon enables man to travel during a dark night? As stated earlier, the purpose of the Holy Quran is to make man comprehend the favours of his Lord, making him turn to his Lord.  

If one ponders over the verse, one will realise that Almighty Allah has used the word ‘Lamp’ to describe the sun but did not use the same word for the moon. At the very least, this shows a difference between the two. A lamp can be understood to be a source of light i.e. a luminous body whereas the word ‘illuminating’ does not mean this. Despite this, we will still maintain that the purpose of the Holy Quran was not to tell us that one is a luminous body and the other is not as this information is not relevant to mans religious needs.   

One must understand that language, especially the Arabic language, is extremely fluid in terms of its usage and intended meanings. None but a master in the language is able to adequately grasp the nuances, intricacies and intended meanings of each phrase. It is not appropriate for one who has not studied the language in depth to criticise its usage and intended meanings based on his deficient understanding. According to your understanding, since the moon merely reflects light, it would therefore be incorrect to use the word ‘Moonlight’, as the moon does not have any light of its own. Such an understanding of language is not acceptable by anyone. Similarly, according to your understanding, it would be incorrect to say that the oceanwater is blue. Rather one must say that when sunlight strikes the water, the water filters the light so that red is absorbed, and some blue is reflected. Hence, the ocean is not blue, the water merely reflects blue light and absorbs red light! Once more, despite explaining the science behind this, language will still accommodate usage of the statement ‘the ocean water is blue’.

It is imperative to accept and understand that the Holy Quran was not sent down to explain the science of the world. It is the guide towards attaining salvation in the hereafter. That is its purpose.[2]

 

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Bilal Yusuf Pandor

Student Darul Iftaa

Lusaka, Zambia

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

 


لسان العرب (5/ 240) [1]

وَقَدْ نارَ نَوْراً وأَنارَ واسْتَنارَ ونَوَّرَ؛ الأَخيرة عَنِ اللِّحْيَانِيِّ، بِمَعْنًى وَاحِدٍ، أَي أَضاء، كَمَا يُقَالُ: بانَ الشيءُ وأَبانَ وبَيَّنَ وتَبَيَّنَ واسْتَبانَ بِمَعْنًى وَاحِدٍ. واسْتَنار بِهِ: اسْتَمَدَّ شُعاعَه. ونَوَّرَ الصبحُ: ظَهَرَ نُورُه؛ قَالَ:

وحَتَّى يَبِيتَ القومُ فِي الصَّيفِ ليلَةً … يَقُولُونَ: نَوِّرْ صُبْحُ، والليلُ عاتِمُ

وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ:

فَرَض عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، لِلْجَدِّ ثُمَّ أَنارَها زيدُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ

أَي نَوَّرَها وأَوضحها وبَيَّنَها. والتَّنْوِير: وَقْتُ إِسفار الصُّبْحِ؛ يُقَالُ: قَدْ نَوَّر الصبحُ تَنْوِيراً. وَالتَّنْوِيرُ: الإِنارة. وَالتَّنْوِيرُ: الإِسفار. وَفِي حَدِيثِ مَوَاقِيتِ الصَّلَاةِ:

أَنه نَوَّرَ بالفَجْرِ

أَي صلَّاها، وَقَدِ اسْتنار الأُفق كَثِيرًا. وَفِي حَدِيثِ

عَلِيٍّ، كَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَجْهَهُ: نَائِرَاتُ الأَحكام ومُنِيرات الإِسلام

؛ النَّائِرَاتُ الْوَاضِحَاتُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ، وَالْمُنِيرَاتُ كَذَلِكَ، فالأُولى مِنْ نارَ، وَالثَّانِيَةُ مِنْ أَنار، وأَنار لازمٌ ومُتَعَدٍّ؛ وَمِنْهُ: ثُمَّ أَنارها زيدُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ. وأَنار المكانَ: وَضَعَ فِيهِ النُّورَ. وَقَوْلُهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: وَمَنْ لَمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُوراً فَما لَهُ مِنْ نُورٍ

 

 

[2] Ma’ariful Qu’an Volume 6 Pg 498-507

 

 

This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

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