The Concept of Tawaqquf in Grammatical Analysis In the Context of Ibn Hishām’s Idea of Murāʻāt al-Maʻnā
Bünyamin AydınIbn Hishām stated that iʻrāb must be done by considering the meaning and as required by the meaning, otherwise wrong results will be achieved. Tammām Hassān expressed this situation as grammatical analysis based on meaning which necessarily requires considering the context. Accordingly, the context, with its internal and external elements, can determine not only the lexical meaning of the word, but also its functional meaning. From the interpreter’s point of view, the effects of contextual elements on grammatical analysis can be seen in the following ways: by not analyzing unknown words, by listing the possibilities in meaningful words or by making a choice based on contextual factors. After explaining some basic concepts of meaning and iʻrāb, this study will discuss how iʻrāb is dependent on meaning at the levels of lexical and contextual meaning. In this sense the study will research aspects on which the grammatical analyses of the preposition mā in the sixth verse of Sūrah Yāsīn are based, reveal the linguistic, epistemological and theological foundations on which the grammatical analysis is based, chronologically review the grammatical comments and evaluate the dimensions of the relationship between meaning and iʻrāb as part of the concept of tawaqquf.
Gramatik Çözümlemede Tevakkuf Kavramı Üzerine -İbn Hişâm’ın “Mürâʻâtu’l-Maʻnâ” Değerlendirmesi Bağlamında-
Bünyamin Aydınİbn Hişâm (ö. 761/1360) iʻrâbın mana gözetilerek ve anlamın gerektirdiği şekilde yapılması gerektiğini, aksi takdirde yanlış sonuçlara ulaşılacağını belirtir. Temmâm Hassân (1918-2011) bu durumu gramatik çözümlemenin anlama tevakkuf etmesi şeklinde ifade etmiştir. İʻrâbın manaya tevakkuf etmesi zorunlu olarak bağlamı göz önünde bulundurmayı gerektirmektedir. Buna göre iç ve dış unsurlarıyla bağlam, kelimenin sözlüksel anlamı üzerinde belirleyici olabildiği gibi iʻrâbını da tayin edebilmektedir. Yorumcu açısından bakıldığında bağlamsal unsurların gramatik çözümleme üzerindeki belirleyiciliği; temel olarak anlamı bilinmeyen kelimeleri iʻrâb etmeme, anlamı bilinen kelimelerde ise muhtemel vecihleri sıralayıp bırakma ya da bağlamsal unsurlar üzerinden bir tercihte bulunma şeklinde tezahür etmektedir. Çalışmada iʻrâb ve anlama ilişkin temel kavramlar açıklandıktan sonra iʻrâbın manaya tevakkufu olgusu sözlüksel anlam ve bağlamsal anlam düzeylerinde ele alınacaktır. Bu bağlamda Yâsîn Suresi altıncı ayetteki mâ kelimesine ilişkin gramatik çözümlemelerin hangi hususlar üzerinden temellendirildiği araştırılacak; tercihin dayandığı dilbilimsel, epistemolojik, itikadî temeller ortaya konularak yorumlar kronolojik bir biçimde incelemeye tabi tutulacak ve anlam iʻrâb ilişkisinin boyutları tevakkuf kavramı çerçevesinde değerlendirilecektir.
Ibn Hishām stated that iʻrāb must be done by considering the meaning and as required by the meaning, otherwise wrong results will be achieved. Tammām Hassān expressed this situation as grammatical analysis based on meaning which necessarily requires consideration of context. Accordingly, context, has internal and external elements and can determine not only the lexical meaning of the word, but also its functional meaning. From the interpreter’s point of view, the effects of contextual elements on grammatical analysis can be seen in the following ways: by not analyzing unknown words, by listing the possibilities in meaningful words or by making a choice based on contextual factors. This study will discuss how iʻrāb is based on meaning at the levels of lexical and contextual meaning after explaining some basic concepts of meaning and iʻrāb. In this sense the study will research the aspects on which the grammatical analyses of the preposition mā in the sixth verse of Sūrah Yāsīn are based, reveal the linguistic, epistemological and theological foundations on which the grammatical analysis is based, chronologically review the grammatical comments and evaluate the dimensions of the relationship between meaning and iʻrāb within the framework of the concept of tawaqquf.
Tawaqquf is a general term that means the dependence of one thing’s existence on another. Tawaqquf in grammatical analysis refers to the dependence iʻrāb has on meaning. As a result of this iʻrāb is impossible for sentences whose meaning is unknown, and one of the possible iʻrāb cases cannot be preferred using purely grammatical methods in sentences whose meaning is known. In such a case, the exegete can be content by listing the possible iʻrāb cases, by referring to other verses if the text of the Qur’an is in question or by referring to the contextual elements surrounding the text. The decisive factor in matters such as putting the possible iʻrāb cases in order of correctness and eliminating one of the possibilities or preferring one over the other is the context of linguistic expression. In some sentences, the context necessitates one iʻrāb case while other times may allow all cases equally. This situation is the appearance of polysemy at the syntactic level, which is one of the reasons leading to tawaqquf and referred to in the Arabic language as iltibās, ġumūd, labs, taʻaddud al-awjuh and ihtimālāt iʻrābiyyah. This language fact can occur due to reasons related to phonetic, morphological, syntactic and semantic aspects and is expressed through the concept of ambiguity in English. Ambiguity means: 1) having more than one semantic interpretation of syntax structure 2) the situation in which a linguistic form leads to two or more interpretations in the absence of correspondence between form and meaning and 3) having more than one syntactic structure of a sentence. In such ambiguity, the exegete has to refer to the linguistic and extra linguistic elements surrounding the expression. This shows the analysis to have an aspect that goes beyond grammatical boundaries the iʻrāb process to be one carried out based on the meaning, and the historical, epistemological and theological elements to be able to be determinant regarding the grammatical analysis.
Ibn Hishām (d. 761/1360) focused on the relationship between iʻrāb and meaning in the section of his book Muġni’l-Lebīb titled “Possible Objections to the Exegete Regarding İʻrāb” and emphasized at the beginning of this section that iʻrāb should be done by considering meaning and as required by the meaning. According to Ibn Hishām, the exegete has to know the meaning of the expression upon which he wants to perform the iʻrāb at the word and sentence levels. Considering this necessity at the word level results in the inability to do iʻrāb for words that are included in the sentence construction but whose meanings are unknown. For example, some letters in the beginning of certain Sūrahs of Qur’an, have no iʻrāb. In addition, the meanings of all the words in a sentence should be determined in order for the iʻrāb process to take place. At the sentence level, wrong results are achieved if the iʻrāb is not done by considering the meaning and direction required by the meaning.
The necessity Ibn Hishām emphasized was expressed by Tammām Hassān (1918- 2011) as iʻrāb’s dependence on meaning. Tawaqquf can be said to apparently have three cases. One of these is that iʻrāb is impossible for words whose lexical meanings are unknown. Secondly, if the grammatical and semantic structures allow different iʻrāb cases in sentences consisting of words with known meanings, the context may necessitate one or the other of these cases. Thirdly, if no preferential reason exists, the exegete can remark on the possible cases one by one. This study will discuss these three cases within the concept of tawaqquf. Firstly by explaining the basic concepts of meaning and iʻrāb and then by revealing the appearing of tawaqquf at the lexical and contextual meaning levels. Afterward, the study will chronologically evaluate the analyses of the exegete regarding the word mā in the sixth verse of the Qur’an’s Sūrah Yāsīn.
As a linguistic fact, syntactic ambiguity is expressed with concepts such as labs, iltibās, ihtimālāt al-awjuh in Arabic and refer to situation where a syntactic structure permits open to more than one semantic interpretation, and this shows the sign of iʻrāb to not always be sufficient for distinguishing meanings. This also shows that in the case of mabnī or different iʻrāb positions being indicated by the same case endings, grammatical analysis can be carried out through meaning based on non-linguistic elements. This shows the need to consider meaning in iʻrāb to not be independent of the interpreter’s preferences, as emphasized by Ibn Hishām.