Language Barrier - (Part - 3)
Pondering Mind
I am herein reproducing the article of Brother Ayman in parts which one could access in full at the following link: http://www.free-minds.org/articles/science/language.htm
Language Barrier - (Part - 3)
43:31. And they said: "if only this reading had been descended on a great man from the two towns."
Verse 43:31 is inconsistent with the sectarian stories about the prophet prior to receiving the message where he is portrayed as someone who is held in high regards and judges between people in matters such as the placement of the three broken black stone idols that are tied together with a strap (which the Sunnis mistakenly call "the Black Stone"). This again confirms that the prophet was not from a prestigious family.
Now we can understand why despite the fierce resistance to the message by the religious elite, it spread so quickly. It was in the language of the common people that everybody could understand. The fact that the great reading was not only critical of the established religious dogma but was also in the language of the common people, must have added insult to injury as far as the religious and political elite were concerned. This is because the elite religious and political establishment would have looked down at Arabic as a "common people" language and not a "scholarly" one.
JIHILIYA POETRY
According to traditions, alleged Jahiliya Arabic poets were respected and their poems were highly sought after. Traditions contend that powerful political rulers, such as the Ghassanid kings, invited the alleged pagan Arabic poets to court. The Ghassanid courts, such as those of King Nu'man, were supposed to be the venues for the recitation of panegyrics, which are considered in the front rank of Arabic Jahiliya poetry. However, as we saw earlier, the religious and political elite would have looked down on Arabic as a common people language and not a literary and scholarly one. So it is very unlikely that they courted such alleged Arab poets.
If one tries to reconstruct the true history without considering the traditional hearsay reports, what is noticeable from physical archeological evidence is that, despite being Arabs, the Ghassanids did not use Arabic in their religious and formal political communications. For example, here is what an archeologist specializing in Byzantine and Arab 6th century archeology recently said about an important Ghassanid church excavation and the religious inscriptions found [I. Shahid, The Sixth-Century Church Complex At Nitl, Jordan. The Ghassanid Dimension]:
"Remarkable is the fact that the inscriptions are not in Arabic but in Greek, in spite of the strong Arab sense of identity, that the Ghassanids possessed"
Interestingly, some Arabic inscriptions were found on recycled rocks reused to build a church at Umm Al-Rasas in Northern Arabia. The rocks are inscribed in Arabic graffiti with Arab people names. This suggests that the church was built in an area where Arabs lived and that it was catering to Arab parishioners. Despite the parishioners being Arab, as we saw earlier the religious inscriptions were foreign.
So here we see a clear contradiction noticed by archeologists. How come the religious inscriptions are not in Arabic despite the very strong Arabic identity of the Ghassanids? Also, if the Ghassanids held Arabic poetry in such high regard, then how come amongst the multitude of Arabic inscriptions there are no inscriptions of any alleged Jahiliya Arabic poem or even of a single verse of one?
Again, the sign in 16:103 neatly resolves this contradiction. Arabic was simply not a language of religious or literary teaching. That is why the traditionalists cannot produce even one "pre-quranic" manuscript or one inscription of even one verse of one alleged Jahiliya poem. It is not as if Arabs didn't write as some traditionalists claim. There are thousands of pre-quranic Arabic inscriptions talking about much less important things than this alleged Jahiliya poetry and yet there is absolutely zero "pre-quranic" evidence of this all important Jahiliya poetry. All the Arabic inscriptions are informal in nature.
Poets exist in all cultures so there were "pre-quranic" Arabic poets. Even primitive cultures with no advanced literature have poets because they have songs. Singing is the basic form of poetry. However, singing folk songs and "Mary had a little lamb" is different to the supposed Jahiliya poems allegedly uttered by and for the kings of the Arabs and which gave prestige to whoever has the ability to mechanically utter verses that rhyme.
(To be Continued)IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
2:2. This is the book no doubt in it, a guidance for the forethoughtful.
This article reflects my personal interpretation of the verses of the reading as of February 3, 2005. I will try to improve my understanding of the great reading and the universe, except if The God wills and perhaps my Lord guides me to what is nearer in rationality. Please verify all information within for yourself as commanded in 17:36, and remember that simply "none" is the forethoughtful answer to 45:6. If The God willed, the outcome of this article will be beneficial.