Synonyms and the
Miracle of Qur’an
While it is well known that the miraculous nature of the
Quran in the prophetic era lay in its linguistic superiority,
the Quran continued to raise the stake by challenging
mankind to produce something equal to it, “And if you are
in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then
produce a chapter like these, and call your witnesses apart
from Allah if you are truthful” (2:23).
The literary miracles of the Qur’an are in classical Arabic
and cannot be easily appreciated by even the modern
Arab. However, there are ways to reveal the linguistic miracles
of the Quran even today. One of the easiest ways is to take
synonymous words in the Quran and compare them. The
Quran is not a product of human thought so where we
use such synonymous words as ‘boring,’ ‘uninteresting,’
and ‘dull,’ to save our writings from wordiness, the Qur’an,
which is free of all linguistic imperfections, is almost
completely devoid of synonymous words.
There is, however, one interesting exception to this rule:
synonyms that share the same antonym. A good example
of a shared antonym can be seen in the usage of the
common words Islam and iman. The antonym of Islam and
iman is kufr, a derivative of the root word, ka, fa, ra. We are
all familiar with the habit of synonymous words that when
used in a general context, they have a similar meaning,
but when used side by side, their distinctive features pop
out. Since such words as Islam and iman are synonymous
and have similar opposites, they are used in the Quran
interchangeably unless used together.
On the surface, they seem to be identical but on further
inspection, their meanings differ greatly. One major
difference between Islam and iman is that Islam refers
to the external aspect of Deen, such as the tongue, while
iman defines the internal aspect of Deen and the state of
the heart. The first ayah is an example of iman while the
second Islam:
“The Messenger (a) has believed (iman) in what was
revealed to him from his Lord, as did the believers” (2:285).
“Allah bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the
angels, and those who are endowed with knowledge—
upholding justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the
Wise. Verily, the only religion with Allah is Islam” (3:18-19).
Here, we notice how brilliantly Islam is placed after the
shahadah (testimony of faith) to indicate that the tongue is
the external manifestation of iman and state of the heart,
the place where belief in the kalima resides.
The next ayah, however, brings out the distinction between
iman and Islam, “The Desert-Arabs say, ‘We have believed
(iman).’ ‘Say, ‘you have not believed (do not have iman)’; but
say, ‘We have submitted (Islam),’ for faith (iman) has not
yet entered into your hearts. But if you obey Allah and His
Messenger, He will not diminish any of your deeds. Allah is
Forgiving and Merciful” (49:14).
Know the Qur’an
by Shaykh Omar Baloch
20 January - February 2020 | AL-MADINAH