Say, "He (is) Allah, the One.
Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute.
Not He begets and not He is begotten.
And not is for Him equivalent any [one]."
Abstract
The meaning of الْبَرُّ according to the usage of the root bā rā rā (ب ر ر) across The Quran, building upon some prior learnings from The Bible and The Quran.
Full Text
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْبَرُّ الرَّحِيمُ
innā kunnā min qablu nadʿūhu innahu huwa l-baru l-raḥīmu
[Al-Quran
52:28; Transliteration]
The Quran quotes that the people of The Gardens will declare that Allah is
الْبَرُّ الرَّحِيمُ .
The root bā rā rā (ب ر ر) is used across The Quran 32 times. It is used once to describe Allah. It is also used for land, and it is used for people in both verb and noun form.
When used for land (
الْبَرِّ in Q5:96, Q6:59, Q6:63, Q6:97, Q10:22, Q17:67, Q17:68, Q17:70, Q27:63, Q29:65, Q30:41, Q31:32), it is generally contrasted with water bodies (
الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ) which clarifies that it should mean land:
When used for people, the word is generally translated in shades of dutiful, righteous, good, ... even though other words in Arabic are also similarly translated, such as words formed with the roots:
wāw qāf yā (و ق ي) ||
ṣād lām ḥā (ص ل ح) ||
ṭā yā bā (ط ي ب).
Like land, we know that we humans are made from dust. The Quran encourages us to attain al-birr (
الْبِرَّ), while it also quotes a prayer to grant us death among the
الْأَبْرَارِ :
رَّبَّنَا إِنَّنَا سَمِعْنَا مُنَادِيًا يُنَادِي لِلْإِيمَانِ أَنْ آمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ فَآمَنَّا
رَبَّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَكَفِّرْ عَنَّا سَيِّئَاتِنَا وَتَوَفَّنَا مَعَ الْأَبْرَارِ
Our Lord, indeed we [we] heard a caller calling to the faith that "Believe in your Lord," so we have believed.
Our Lord so forgive for us our sins and remove from us سَيِّئَاتِنَا, and cause us to die with the الْأَبْرَارِ.
[Al-Quran 3:193]
May Allah accept this prayer from us, bless us, and make us one of the الْأَبْرَارِ. Aameen.
Forgiving of our sins (ذُنُوبَنَا) and removal of its consequences (سَيِّئَاتِنَا) from us seems to be a prerequisite to die as one of the الْأَبْرَارِ . Does then becoming الْأَبْرَارِ mean that we, who are made of dust, becomes pristine and absolutely flawless?
The Quran repeatedly encourages spending for the sake of Allah (Q2:261 يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ) as a means of earning Allah's forgiveness (please read
Q57).
Consider the following ayaat:
لَّيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَى الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ
It is not [the] الْبِرَّ that you turn your faces towards the east and the west, [and] but الْبِرَّ (is he) who believes in Allah and the Day [the] Last, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Prophets, and gives the wealth in spite of his love (for it) (to) the near relatives, and the orphans, and the needy, and (of) the wayfarer, and those who ask, and in freeing the necks (slaves) and (who) establish the prayer, and give the zakah, and those who fulfill their covenant when they make it; and those who are patient in [the] suffering and [the] hardship, and (the) time (of) [the] stress. Those (are) the ones who are true and those, [they] (are) الْمُتَّقُونَ.
لَن تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّىٰ تُنفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا مِن شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ
Never will you attain الْبِرَّ until you spend from what you love. And whatever you spend of a thing then indeed, Allah of it (is) All-Knowing
So, by spending from what we love, if we are able to earn Allah's forgiveness and removal of the consequences of our sins (سَيِّئَاتِنَا), and thereby attain
الْبِرَّ , then it means we can be reverted to the pristine condition, as we were when Allah created us? As
our forefather Adam was before they ate from the forbidden tree? In Surah at-Tin, we read that:
لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ
ثُمَّ رَدَدْنَاهُ أَسْفَلَ سَافِلِينَ
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds,
Then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the low,-
Except such as believe and do righteous deeds: For they shall have a reward unfailing.
[Al-Quran,
95:4-
6, Translation: Yusuf Ali]
In Surah `Abasa, the word
بَرَرَةٍ (same root as الْبَرُّ) is used to describe the scribes. Many translators translate this word as virtuous:
كَلَّا إِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ
فَمَن شَاءَ ذَكَرَهُ
فِي صُحُفٍ مُّكَرَّمَةٍ
مَّرْفُوعَةٍ مُّطَهَّرَةٍ
بِأَيْدِي سَفَرَةٍ
كِرَامٍ بَرَرَةٍ
By no means! Verily it is an admonition.
So whosoever willeth - let him be admonished therewith.
Inscribed in Writs honoured,"
Exalted, Purified,
By the hands of scribes.
Honourable and virtuous.
[Al-Quran,
80:11-
16, Translation: Abdul Majid Daryabadi; typos edited]
In Surah al-Maidah, we find
virtue (
الْبِرِّ) directly contrasted with
sin (
الْإِثْمِ):
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ وَلَا الشَّهْرَ الْحَرَامَ وَلَا الْهَدْيَ وَلَا الْقَلَائِدَ وَلَا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَانًا وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَادُوا وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
O ye who believe! profane not the landmarks of Allah nor any sacred month nor the offering nor the victims with the garlands nor those repairing to the Sacred House seeking the grace of their Lord and His goodwill. And when ye have put off the state of sanctity, ye may chase. And let not the hatred against a people, because they kept you from the Sacred Mosque, incite you to trespass.
Assist each other to virtue and piety, and assist not each other to sin and transgression,
Fear Allah: verily Allah is Severe in chastising.
[Al-Quran,
5:2, Translation: Abdul Majid Daryabadi]
As discussed in
The Lord is my Rock, from
Q24:35, we learn that Allah is also described as ... glass like a brilliant planet ... (... الزُّجَاجَةُ كَأَنَّهَا كَوْكَبٌ دُرِّيٌّ ...), a reading which is supported by The Bible which mentions The Rock. I have tried to understand the Noor emitting from within in another post:
Gamma Rays, Visible Light & The Electromagnetic Spectrum.
We know from many ayaat across The Quran that Allah is ar-Rahim, which is generally translated as The Most Merciful, root
rā ḥā mīm (ر ح م).
So, I wonder if we should understand
الْبَرُّ الرَّحِيمُ as:
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ
إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْبَرُّ الرَّحِيمُ
Indeed, we [we] used to before call Him.
Indeed, He [He] (is) The Pristine Virtuous Land, the Most Merciful."
The Quran questions:
هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَأْتِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي ظُلَلٍ مِّنَ الْغَمَامِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَقُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ
Are they waiting [except] that comes to them Allah in (the) shadows of [the] clouds, and the Angels, and is decreed the matter? And to Allah return (all) the matters.
Last updated on: July 21, 2019
