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A Very Concerned Reader: Mecca? Medina? And when the meaning of the verse changes! Quran: 25:52

Reader comment on item: A Saudi Prince's Threat to the Obama Administration
in response to reader comment: Dhimmi No More! Shocking that this translation is the number one on top searches and a bit more of my experience

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Apr 7, 2021 at 08:25

A Very Concerned Reader: Now you are aware that al-Mufasereen tell us that there are Meccan verses in chapters revealed in Medina and vice versa.

In this case Q52:52 we have a bigger problem so this is from an old post which I'm editing

Well here is Q25:52

فلا تطع الكافرين وجاهدهم به جهادا كبيرا

And here is the verse in Mr. Khattab's translation
https://quran.com/25/52-59

And here is the shameful translation

"So do yield to the disbelievers but strive diligently against them with the Quran "

Now, if you tap the words of the Arabic text that he provides you will get the following:

"So do not obey the disbelievers but strive diligently against them with the Quran."

Notice that you will not find the following words: "Yield, diligently and Quran" which makes me wonder that more likely than not he did not take the time to read the translation provided by him through tapping the words in Arabic.

Here is the correct translation

1. فلا تطع means So do not obey

2. الكافرين means the unbelievers

3. وجاهدهم means and declare Jihad

4. به means with it (Notice that the author of the Qur'an does not tell us what is really the "it" but this did not stop Mr. Khattab from adding the word Qur'an which is not in the text)

5. جهادا كبيرا means (the declared jihad is) a big jihad

If we turn to Ibn Manzur's Lisan al-Arab the word jihad here should be read as holy war

Or: So do not obey the unbelievers and declare jihad (against them) with it (and it is) a big jihad

Notice that:

1. The word Qur'an is not in the Quranic text

2. The so called al-jihad al-akbar is not in the text

3. The author of the Qur'an does not define the "it" in the text

4. The word jihad here can only mean holy war

5. Notice that if the "it" in the verse is the Qur'an and this verse was revealed in Mecca then we have another problem: There was no copy of a complete Qur'an during the Meccan period .

The most important word must be به or "with it"

If we turn to al-Qurtubi's tafsir we find the following:

al-Qurtubi does not know and he defines the above "it" as

1. القران The Qur'an

2. Or الاسلام or Islam

3. Or السيف or THE SWORD because what the word jihad means is holy war

Then he wrote that "this Sura is Meccan and it was written before the order to fight (during the Medina period)."

It is very clear that the word jihad in the verse can only mean to fight the unbelievers and more evidence that jihad can only mean holy war

And yet another case when the meaning of a verse would change if it was revealed in Mecca or Medina!

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