What Is the Meaning of the Verse “Not Those Who Have Desire”_ Erba Meaning
What is the meaning of the verse “not those who have desire”? And the response to the doubt and lie that it means “his penis does not stand up”
Content of the doubt:
Christians claim that the Qur’an used a profane word meaning “Zab” in the following verse:
(except for men who have no desire)
Christians cite some interpretations claiming that the word “erba” means “cock”!!!
Response to this false suspicion:
Firstly:
The Holy Book that Jews and Christians believe in is the one that used the word “Zab” a lot; for example:
The Bible uses the Hebrew word (Zove) about 13 times. It is pronounced (Zob) , and means: the sexual fluids that come out of a man’s penis. You can review the book of Leviticus 15:33, for example .
- The Holy Bible also used the word (ZoV) several times, which is pronounced (Zab) , and also means: (the sexual fluids that flow from the man’s penis) .
Second:
The Holy Quran does not use any indecent word.
The word “Irba” does not mean “client”. Rather, if you refer to the dictionaries of the Arabic language, you will find that the word “Irba” means “need” , “purpose” , or “knowledge of something” . You will notice that we still use this word in our daily lives, as we say in Egyptian colloquial language: [Da shakhs Aruba] , meaning clever, skillful, and intelligent.
The phrase “men without sexual desire” refers to a person with a mental disability who is unaware of his surroundings. It may also refer to a person who has no interest in women, meaning that he is not interested in women due to old age or a physical illness that affects his sexual desire.
So the word “Erba” does not mean “Zab” as the lying Christians claim…
Let us review the words of Arabic linguists throughout the ages and what they wrote in Arabic dictionaries 👇
- Linguist Dr. Ahmed Mukhtar Omar says - in ( Dictionary of Contemporary Arabic Language) - 1/81 - the following:
[ Irbah [singular], plural irbat and irb, meaning: a desire and an urgent need, example: “He visits him often because he has a desire with him that he strives to achieve” - “or those who follow him but do not have a desire”: meaning the desire for women, and what is meant in the verse: those who do not have a need for women, such as an elderly man or a child who has not yet reached the age of discernment. ]
- The linguistic scholar Ibn Al-Anbari said - in the book (Al-Zahir fi Ma’ani Kalimat Al-Nas) - 1/311 - the following:
[ And the intelligent person in other than this: the wise one, and desire: the mind… and desire is the need. It is said: “I have no desire for so-and-so”: meaning I have no need for him. God said: “except for those men who have desire,” it is said: he is the one who does not have a firm mind and he is in the position of the imbecile and the like. So desire according to this interpretation means the mind. And it is said: “except for those men who have desire”: he is the boy, the eunuch, and the impotent. So according to this interpretation desire is the need; as if these people have no need for women.]
- Abu Ubaid Al-Harawi said - in the book (Al-Gharibeen in the Qur’an and Hadith) - 1/61 - the following:
[And His statement: “Those men who are not in need” means those who are not in need. It is also said: “Those who are not rational,” meaning those who do not understand their situation. He said: “A man is in need”: if he is in need.]
- Al-Khattabi said - in the book (Gharib al-Hadith - 2/484 - the following:
[And from this is His statement: “Those who are not men of need,” meaning those who are not of sound mind, meaning those whose minds are not yet sound. It may also be interpreted as: those who are not in need.]
- Ibn Manzur said - in (Lisan Al-Arab) 1/208 - the following:
[Arab: Irbah and Irb: need. There are several dialects for it: Irbah, Irbah, Arrab, Ma’ribah, and Ma’ribah. In the hadith of Aisha: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most in control of his Irbah among you,” meaning his need, meaning that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most in control of his desires and needs, meaning he was in control of himself and his desires.]
- Al-Madini said - in the book (Al-Majmu’ Al-Mughith fi Gharibi Al-Quran wa Al-Hadith) - 1/49 - the following:
[To be suspicious of something: to desire it]
- Abu Nasr Al-Jawhari said - in the book (Al-Sahih in Language and Sciences) - 1/53 - the following:
[Al-Arb also means: need, and it has dialects: Irb and Irbah, Arrab, and Ma’rabah]
- Al-Azhari said - in the book (Tahdhib al-Lughah) - 15/185 - the following:
Abu Ubaid said: Irbah and Irb are needs, which are desires, and the plural is Maarib. God Almighty said: “And he has another desire therein” (Ta-Ha: 18).
- Al-Sahib Ibn Abbad said - in the book (Al-Muheet in Language) - 10/267 - the following:
[And the need: the need; and the need. And the arib: the one who has a need. And ariba ya’rab arban and irbah: meaning he needed and became the one who has a need.]
- The linguistic scholar Ibn Faris said - in the book (Maqayis Al-Lughah) - 1/89 - the following:
As for need, Al-Khalil said: Arrab is need, and what is your need for this, meaning: what is your need? And the desire, the desire, and the irbah, all of that is need … Ibn Al-A’rabi said: The mind is also called irb and irbah, just as the need is called irbah and irb. The adjective from irb is arib, and the verb is arab with a damma on the ra. Ibn al-A’rabi said: “A man becomes arab, meaning he becomes irban.” From this category is victory and skill in something. It is said: “I became skilled in something,” meaning: I became skilled at it. Qais said:
I wanted to push back the war when I saw it… The push only increases in proximity.
- Al-Himyari said - in the book (Sun of Sciences and the Medicine of Arab Speech from Wounds) - 1/229 - the following:
[Irbah: need. God Almighty said: “not those who have need”]
- Ibn Duraid said - in the book (Jamharat al-Lughah) 2/1020 - the following:
[And the need: the need]
- Al-Bandaniji said - in the book ( Al-Taqfiyyah in the Language) - 1/155 - the following:
[And the word “arrab” is the plural of “irbah,” which means need. God Almighty said: “except for those men who have need.”]
- Al-Lakhmi said - in his book (Sharh Al-Fasih) 1/229 - the following:
The commentator said: Arb means need, and so is irba. God Almighty said: “Those men who do not have irba.”
- Al-Qasim bin Salam said - in the book (Gharib al-Hadith) 5/369 - the following:
[And desire: also means need. God said: “Those men who have no desire.”]
- The linguistic scholar Ibn Sidah said - in the book (Al-Muhkam and Al-Muhit Al-A’zam 10/288 - the following:
[And irb, irbah, irbah, and irb: cunning and insight into matters. Arrab arabatan, so he is irib from a people of irba’, and irba in something means he trained in it and became skilled and perceptive in it]
Conclusion
Here I have brought to you the words of Arabic linguists and Arabic dictionaries, and I have proven to you that the word (Irba) does not mean “the customer standing” but rather it is a respectable word that has completely different meanings.
Then some Christians attack the Qur’an based on the words of so-and-so, the interpreter. This is a wrong method called “the fallacy of attribution . ”
The interpreter may be right or wrong in understanding and interpreting a Quranic verse. Therefore, not all the interpreters’ words are valid against us. In fact, you will find many errors in the interpreters’ words. Therefore, it is wrong to criticize the Quran based on the words of so-and-so interpreter.
- Ibn Taymiyyah said - in the book (Majmu’ al-Fatawa) 13/329 - the following:
Some brothers have asked me to write an introduction for him that includes comprehensive principles that will help in understanding the Qur’an, knowing its interpretation and meanings, distinguishing between what is transmitted and what is rational, between truth and various types of falsehood, and highlighting the decisive evidence between the opinions. Indeed, the books compiled on interpretation are replete with both the good and the bad, clear falsehood and the manifest truth. Knowledge is either authenticated transmission from an infallible person or a statement for which there is known evidence. Anything other than this is either fabricated and rejected, or suspended, and neither is known to be nonsense nor reliable. The nation has a dire need to understand the Qur’an.
Ibn Taymiyyah himself admits that the books of interpretation contain things that are correct and others that are false, and we must search for the saying of the infallible (the Prophet) or for scientific and linguistic evidence, and if we do not find any, then the interpretation is rejected.
So, it is wrong for the enemies of Islam to attack the Qur’an based on an error made by the interpreter so-and-so. For example, it is ridiculous to attack the Qur’an on the pretext that Ikrimah said such-and-such, even though the Qur’an itself did not say that!!!
In short, the words of the interpreter are the words of the interpreter himself, and the words of the Qur’an are the words of the Qur’an itself.
Second:
Christians cite some weak and fabricated narrations from books of interpretation in order to attack the Holy Qur’an. For example:
A Christian quotes the following narration from the books of interpretation, such as Al-Tabari’s interpretation:
Sad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd al-Hakam al-Misri told me: Hafs ibn Umar al-Adani told us: Al-Hakam ibn Abaan told us, on the authority of Ikrimah, regarding his statement: “Or those who follow those who have no desire,” he said: He is the effeminate man whose penis does not stand up.
But the previous narration☝️ is a weak narration and its attribution to Ikrimah has not been proven. This narration was narrated by the narrator/ Hafs bin Omar Al-Adani , who is a lying narrator whose hadith is abandoned, as the majority of hadith scholars have informed us. For example:
Abu Ahmed Al-Hakim said about him:
[The hadith goes]
Ibn Adi Al-Jurjani said about him:
All of his hadiths are either rejected in terms of text or chain of transmission. Most of his hadiths are not preserved, and I fear that they are weak, but they are closer to being weak.
Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi said about him:
[Weak hadith]
Abu Jaafar Al-Aqili said about him:
He does not establish hadith, he speaks falsehoods about the imams.
Abu Hatim Al-Razi said about him:
[A lying sheikh, who speaks softly]
Abu Hatim bin Hibban Al-Busti said about him:
[He distorts the news and attaches weak texts to authentic chains of transmission. He takes a report that is known through one chain of transmission and brings it through another chain of transmission that is not known. It is not permissible to use it as evidence if it is transmitted by him alone.]
Abu Dawud al-Sijistani said about him:
[He is a denier of hadith, he is nothing]
Abu Zur’ah al-Razi said about him:
[Woah]
- Ahmad ibn Hanbal said about him:
[He was with Hammad in those calamities]
- Ahmad bin Shuaib Al-Nasa’i said about him:
[Not confidently]
- Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Jili said about him:
[He is weak in hadith]
Al-Daraqutni said about him:
[Weak, abandoned, not strong in hadith]
- Zakaria bin Yahya Al-Saji said about him:
[Lies]
- Malik bin Issa Al-Qafsi said about him:
[It’s nothing]
Yahya bin Ma’in said about him:
[He was not trustworthy and was a bad man.]
Al-Dhahabi said about him:
They weakened him
Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani said about him:
[weak]
- It was also weakened by Abu al-Arab al-Qayrawani and Abu al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi.
This narration that mentioned “Al-Zub” is a fabricated narration mentioned by a lying narrator who brings a text for the narration and then attaches a chain of transmission to it.
Today I found some printing presses making a mistake in printing (Tafsir al-Tha’labi) as they put the following phrase in it👇:
Al-Hasan said: It is the one whose penis does not spread.
However, the word “Zuba” is not present in the original manuscripts of Al-Tha’labi’s interpretation. Rather, it was the printer who put this word in the book and placed it between brackets, in order to alert the reader that it was not present in the original, but rather they were the ones who put it.
The fault here lies in this restaurant, not in the book of interpretation.
Therefore, if we go to another edition, such as the Dar Al-Tafsir edition (19/156), we will find the phrase like this👇:
Al-Hassan said: It is the one that does not spread.
- Abu Bakr Al-Khalal mentioned a weak narration on the authority of Ibn Abbas in the book (Al-Jami’ - Ahkam Al-Nisa’), which is as follows:
Muhammad bin Ali told me, he said: Mihna told us, he said: Ibrahim bin Al-Hakam bin Aban told us , on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ikrimah, on the authority of Ibn Abbas: Concerning His statement: “not those who have desire,” he said: He is the effeminate man whose penis does not stand up.
But this narration is very weak; the one who narrated it is: Ibrahim bin Al-Hakam bin Aban , and all the scholars of Hadith agreed on the weakness of this narrator. What is worse than that is that the narrations in this narrator’s book were mursal, so he would mix up and connect these mursal narrations, as Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani informed us.
Therefore, the researcher, Amr Abdel Moneim Salim, commented on this weak narration - in the margin of page 50, saying:
Its chain of transmission is weak; it includes Ibrahim ibn al-Hakam ibn Abaan, who is weak. Ibn Ma’in and al-Nasa’i said: “He is not trustworthy.” Al-Bukhari said: “They kept silent about him,” meaning they abandoned him. Al-Uqayli said: “He is nothing and not trustworthy.”
Abbas bin Abdul-Azim said: “These hadiths in his books were mursal, and they did not include Ibn Abbas or Abu Hurairah, meaning the hadiths of his father, on the authority of Ikrimah.”
Ibn Abbas is innocent of the statement attributed to him that he said: “His penis does not stand up.”
As for Al-Suyuti, he made mistakes as usual and attributed words to people who did not say them. For example:
- Al-Suyuti said in his book (Al-Durr Al-Manthur fi Al-Tafsir bi Al-Ma’thur) the following:
Ibn Abi Shaybah, Abd ibn Hamid, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas regarding “those without desire,” who said: It is the effeminate man whose penis does not rise.
But I went back to the books of Ibn Abi Shaybah, Abd ibn Hamid, and Ibn al-Mundhir, and I did not find in them the phrase “his penis does not rise.”
Knowing that there are hundreds of years between Al-Suyuti and these people to whom Al-Suyuti attributed these words.
Al-Suyuti often made mistakes in attributing sayings to people who did not say them…
Unfortunately, Al-Alusi copied the same mistake from Al-Suyuti!
- As for Ibn Abi Hatim, he mentioned a weak narration on the authority of Ikrimah as follows:
Abu Abdullah al-Tihrani told me, Hafs ibn Umar al-Adani told us , al-Hakam ibn Aban told us, on the authority of Ikrimah, regarding his statement: “Those men who have sexual desire,” he said: He is the effeminate man whose penis does not get erect.
We previously stated that the person who narrated this hadith was Hafs ibn Umar al-Adani , who was a liar whose hadiths were rejected and who fabricated chains of transmission. Therefore, the hadith cannot be considered authoritative against us.
Some people claimed that Al-Bayhaqi mentioned the phrase: “His penis does not rise ,” but I went back to Al-Bayhaqi’s own books and did not find this statement in them.
- As for Ibn Al-Mulqin, he mentioned in his book (Al-Tawdih li Sharh Al-Jami’ Al-Sahih) - 21/483 - the following:
[“Not possessing desire” in the verse: is the effeminate man who does not stand up (for himself), as Ikrimah mentioned]
Ibn Al-Mulaqqin did not mention the word “Zuba” nor did he attribute it to Ikrimah.
- And likewise, Makki bin Abi Talib said - in the book (Al-Hidayah ila Bulugh al-Nihayah) 8/5076 - the following:
[And Ikrimah said: “He who has no desire” is the effeminate one who cannot stand up for himself .]
- As for Ibn Kathir, he claimed the following in his interpretation:
Ikrimah said: He is the effeminate man whose penis cannot stand. This is what more than one of the early Muslims said.
But Ibn Kathir did not provide any evidence or authentic narration for what he claims here. Ibn Kathir claims that Ikrimah said: “The one who commits blasphemy is the one whose penis does not stand up” !
But where is the evidence, Ibn Kathir, with all due respect to you?!
Ibn Kathir even claimed that many of the Salaf said this, but this claim is false and has no evidence.
Knowing that there are hundreds of years between Ikrimah and Ibn Kathir, where is the correct narration that proves Ibn Kathir’s claim??
Finally, we move on to what Abu Bakr Al-Khalal mentioned in (Jami’ Ulum Al-Imam Ahmad), where the following was mentioned:
Abu Bakr Al-Khalal said: Abdullah told us, he said: My father told us, he said: Wakee’ told us, he said: Misa’ar told us, on the authority of Awn, on the authority of Ikrimah, he said: “The one whose penis does not stand up.”
But the previous narration is inaccurate. If you go back to Ibn Abi Shaybah’s book, No. 17191, you will find that Ibn Abi Shaybah mentioned the same narration as follows:
[Waki narrated to us, on the authority of Misar, on the authority of Awn, on the authority of Ikrimah, who said: “He is the one whose weakness cannot be overcome .”]
Ibn Abi Shaybah mentioned the narration on the authority of Ikrimah ☝️, and he did not mention the word “Zuba” in it , but rather he mentioned the word “Irbah” .
Knowing that the narration of Ibn Abi Shaybah is more important and more accurate than the narration of Abu Bakr al-Khalal found in (Jami’ Ulum al-Imam Ahmad) , because the narration of Ibn Abi Shaybah has a higher chain of transmission and is closer to Ikrimah, unlike the narration of Abu Bakr al-Khalal, because the narration of Abu Bakr al-Khalal has a longer chain of transmission and is further away from Ikrimah.
So, the most accurate phrase is the one mentioned in Ibn Abi Shaybah’s book, which is “the effeminate man who has no desire to have sex. ”
The word “erb” is a respectful word and not an obscene one. We still use the word “erb” in our daily lives; for example:
You say, “I cut him into pieces.”
The word “erb” means “member” or “part.”
Even if we assume that Ikrimah said: [His penis does not stand] , what is the relationship between that and the Holy Qur’an?!
The Holy Quran is innocent of this nonsense.
- There is a weak narration narrated by Al-Tabari, which is as follows:
Ibn Hamid told us: Jarir told us, on the authority of Mughira, on the authority of Al-Sha’bi: “Those who do not have the will” means: those who follow a man and his entourage, who have not yet reached the age of looking at women’s private parts.
But this narration is weak, as it was narrated by Muhammad bin Hamid , who is not trustworthy, but rather he was a denier of hadith.
Moreover, this novel does not contain any indecent word, rather the word “irb” is a respectable word, and what is meant by the word “irb” here is “mind” , because if you complete the rest of the sentence, you will find that it mentions the word “talla’” which means to know and understand. I mentioned at the beginning of the article the Arabic language dictionaries and they mention that one of the meanings of “irb” is “mind” .
Changed the channel name: What is the meaning of the verse “not those who have desire”? erba meaning