002:208

The Holy Qor-aan                                                                                                                  002:208

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنۡ يَّشۡرِىۡ نَفۡسَهُ ابۡتِغَآءَ مَرۡضَاتِ اللّٰهِ‌ؕ وَ اللّٰهُ رَءُوۡفٌ ۢ بِالۡعِبَادِ‏

Wa-may-nun-naa-say-mun-yush-ree                                                                                            Nuf-sa-hoob-tay-ghaa-aa-mur-dzaa-til-laa-hay                                                                         Wul-laa-ho-ra-oo-foon-bil-ebaa-d

And among the people is he who trades his soul                                                            Seeking the pleasure of Allah.                                                                                                By God Allah is very compassionate with the obedient servants.

• وَ — Wa — And (= Conj., links words, phrases or clauses; additionally; but; also; more over; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
• مِنَ — May-n…(un) — Among (= From among or out of the class, category, count, kind or several articles, things, persons or phenomenon)
• النَّاسِ — Un-naa-say — The people (= Factions; folks, mankind, groups, men, nations or tribes. Human beings)
• مَنۡ — Mun — Who (= Anyone; whoever; whom;     whomever; whoso)
• يَّشۡرِىۡ — Yush-ree — Trades (= v., s., Barters; buys and sells; gives; exchanges; purchases; traffics; takes)
• نَفۡسَ — Nuf-sa — Soul (=An individual’s heart, life; mind or soul; person; self)
• هٗ — Hoo…(b) — His (= pro., s., m., 3^rd person. Refers to aforesaid person)
• ابۡتِغَآءَ — (Ib) tay-ghaa-aa — Seeking (= Aspiring; desiring; going after; looking for; pursuing; searching; trying for; wanting and wishing to get)
• مَرۡضَاتِ — Mur-daa-t..(il) — Pleasure (= Acceptance; agreement; appreciation; approval;  consent; endorsement; positive reception; sanction; support)
• اللّٰهِ‌ — Alla-hay — Allah (= The Almighty God; the One Only worthy of worship)
• وَ — Wa — And (= The وَ  vaao is tantamount to taking oath; solemn declaration or calling as a witness.   Normally a Conj., links words, phrases or clauses; additionally; also; and; but; more over; though; when; while; yet; whereupon)
• اللّٰهُ — Laa-ho — Allah (= The Almighty God; The only One worthy of worship)
• رَءُوفُۢ — Ra-oo-foon — Compassionate (= superlative form indicates the greatest, the highest, the most. and none more than Him is Caring, Kind, Compassionate, Considerate and Merciful)
• بِ — B…(il) — With — (= The Arabic word  بِ  literally means ‘with’ in English
• الۡعِبَادِ — Ebaa-d — Servants (= n., pl., Bondsmen; devoted servants; devotees; slaves; supplicants; true believers who worship; worshipers)

* Note 002:208.  The literal, simple and straightforward translation of this verses is “he who trades his soul seeking the pleasure of Allah.”  Correct are also the verbal variations of the same thought process stated in the following translations.

• Who ‘would sell himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah’ – M Pickthall.
• Who ‘sells himself, seeking the pleasure of Allah’ – Dr Al-Hilali and DrKhan].
• Who ‘dedicate themselves to seeking the pleasure of Allah’ – Zafrulla Khan.
• Who ‘sells himself to seek the pleasure of Allah’ – Maulvi Sher Ali, M Muhammad Ali and Malik Ghulam Farid.

            But words matter.    And there are translations that convey a different message by their words they have employed.    They reflect a militant nature to self-destruct as suicide bombers have recently demonstrated.    Some sects have professed that view and the Japanese Kamikaze practiced it during the WWII.    We opine that incorrect is the use of words that reflect militancy in the following translations.

• ‘Type of man who gives his life to earn the pleasure of God‘ – A Yusuf Ali.
• ‘Who sacrifices his very life seeking the pleasure of Allah’ – AR Omar.
• ‘Who gives his life to earn God’s pleasure’ – Ahmad Zidan.
• ‘Who would give away their lives in order to find favor with Allah’ – NJ Dawood.

The enemies happily take such publication as the Manna from Heaven to find faults in Islaam.    But such extrapolation is not the Truth as shown in the True Teachings Of Islam site.    Commentary Jihad – War Of Aggression Is No Isslaam shows the self-aggrandizing projection by the insiders and inimical construction by the outsiders have tried to embarrass the majority of Moslems and deface Islaam – the Peace.

         The entire verse taken as a whole eliminates the idea of self-destruction in a different way as well.  Translation of the subject clause with ‘who gives his life to earn the pleasure of God‘ added to that of the remaining verse as ‘Allah is very compassionate with the obedient servants’ clearly shows that ‘laying down life by killing yourself is NOT what the Most Compassionate God wants from his people.’   The prohibition against the destruction of life by suicide-bombing could not be any more clear.