002:182

The Holy Qor-aan                                                                                                        002:182

فَمَنۡۢ بَدَّلَهٗ بَعۡدَ مَا سَمِعَهٗ فَاِنَّمَآ اِثۡمُهٗ عَلَى الَّذِيۡنَ يُبَدِّلُوۡنَهٗؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ سَمِيۡعٌ عَلِيۡمٌؕ‏           

Fa-mun-bud-da-la-hoo-bau-da-maa-sa-may-aa-hoo                                                                   Fa-in-na-maa-ith-mo-hoo-alul-la-zee-na-yo-bud-day-loo-na-hoo                                            In-nul-laa-ha-sa-mee-oon-alee-m

So whoever changed him after he heard him                                                            Then the sin for changing that is on those who change that.                                      Allah absolutely is All-Hearing, All-Knowing 

• فَ — Fa — So (= Consequently; as a result; so; thus; therefore; yet)
• مَنۡ — Mun — Whoever (= Anyone; who; whom; whomever; whoso)
• بَدَّ لَ — Bud-da-la — Changed (= v., past, m., 3^rd person. Altered; changed; substituted; took one thing in lieu of another; varied the terms of the will)
• هٗ — Hoo — Him   *   (= pro., s., m., 3^rd person. Refers to the ‘decedent’)
• بَعۡدَ — Bau-da — After  (= Behind; later; subsequent to)
• مَا — Maa — What (= All that; whatever; whatsoever)
• سَمِعَ — Sa-may-aa — Heard (= v., past; 3^rd person; Heard it and listened to it physically and factually)
• هٗ — Hoo — Him   *  (= pro., s., m., 3^rd person. Refers to the ‘decedent’)
• فَ — Fa — Then (= Consequently; as a result; so; thus; therefore; yet)
• اِنَّ — In-n..(ul) — Absolutely (= Certainly; definitely; doubtlessly; earnestly; indeed; in all seriousness; positively; really; surely; truly; verily)
• مَا — Maa — What (= All that; whatever; whatsoever)
• اِثۡمُ — Ith-mo — Sin (= n., Blame; crime; guilt; infraction; illegality; wrong;    unjustifiable or unlawful conduct for which one is accountable; iniquity; injustice; transgression; unjust)
• هٗ — Hoo — That   *   (= pro., s., m., 3^rd person. Refers to the act of altering the will)
• عَلَى — Ala…(ul) — On (= Above; against; before; for; on top of; over; upon)
• ٱلَّذِينَ — La-zee-na — Those who (= Reference is to ‘all those men’ in masculine gender’)
• يُبَدِّ لُوۡنَ — Yo-bud-day-loo-na — Change   (= Alter; exchange; substitute. See بَدَّ لَ above)
• هٗ — Hoo — That    *   (= pro., s., m., 3^rd person.  Can refer to the ‘decedent’s   intent’ and is better applied to the act of altering the will)
• اِنَّ — In-n..(ul) — Absolutely (= Certainly; definitely; doubtlessly; earnestly; indeed; in  all seriousness; positively; really; surely; truly; verily)
• اللّٰهَ — Laa-ha — Allah  (= The Almighty God; The only One worthy of worship)
• سَمِيۡعٌ — Sa-mee-oon — All-Hearing (= superlative form indicates the greatest, the highest, the most and highlights that none more than Him hears the  best.   All-Hearing.   Most Hearing.   The Hearer.  Hears to the ultimate maximum.   Hears all wholly, entirely, truly surely, totally and surely.   Real Hearer.   The One from whom nothing is beyond, missed or out of hearing)
• عَلِيۡمٌ– Alee-m — All-Knowing (= superlative form indicates the greatest, the highest, the most, and highlights that none more than Him knows or is knowing.   Informed to the maximum.  Has total and perfect knowledge. Has nothing out of sight. Knows all.  Well-Acquainted. Well-Aware.  Most Knowledgeable

* Note 002:182.  This verse has used the pronoun  هٗ  (Hoo) four times.    Most translators including Muhammad Ali, NJ Dawood, Malik Ghulam Farid, AR Omar and M Pickthall have applied and translated it to mean the Will.

However, attention needs to be paid to the following.

1. The verse forbids unauthorized alterations by the witnesses who heard him – the testator who made the will when nearing (or expecting) death. Only a human can be heard if and when the will is made, and not the will itself.

2. The verse relates to the word اۨلۡوَصِيَّةُ  (ul-wa-se-ya-ta) used in the preceding verse and that word ends with    ة    (Taa-e-taa-neeth).    If the intended referee was to be اۨلۡوَصِيَّةُ (Ul-wa-se-ya-ta), then the pronoun for the single feminine gender in 3^rd person   هَا   (Haa) would have been used, and the pronoun for the single masculine gender in 3^rd person  هٗ  (Hoo) would not have been used.

3. The pronoun     هٗ   (Hoo) used for the 1^st and 2^nd time in the verse refers to the testator who made the will that must not be changed by the witnesses, and not the will.

4. The pronoun    هٗ   (Hoo) used for the 3^rd and 4^th time in the verse relates to the act of the persons who commit the sin of changing what the decedent had said, and not the will.

5. Thus [a] the physical fact of hearing and [b] the rules of Arabic grammar dictate that the pronoun    هٗ    (Hoo) that refers to things in the masculine gender is not applied to   اۨلۡوَصِيَّةُ   (ul-wa-se-ya-ta) as the above-mentioned Translators have done.

That is why we have concluded that the translation of the pronoun  هٗ (Hoo) [that signifies things in the masculine gender as used in all four places in this verse] is translated as [a] ‘him’ referring to the testator and [b] ‘it’ referring to the ‘act’ of changing the will.