‘ĀʼISHA BINT AL-SHĀṬI’S THOUGHTS ON TARĀDUF AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ISTINBĀṬ OF LAW

As a book containing miracles, in literature, the miracles of the Quran have been proven by ʻĀʼisha Bint al-Shāṭiʼ through her theory i‘jāz lughawī. She showed the importance of the correct method of interpretation of the Qurʼan from aspects of tarāduf (synonym). However, despite following the rule of "there is no word that has the same meaning (tarāduf) in the Quran" as commonly known in the theory of iʻjāz al-qur’ān (the inimitability of the Qurʼān), her thoughts on tarāduf and their implications for the istinbāṭ (inference) of Islamic law are still unclear. Hence, this article discusses the relation and influence of ʻĀʼisha Bint alShāṭiʼs thoughts related to verses of laws. By studying the book of al-I’jāz alBayānī lil Qur`ān wa Masā’il Ibn al-Azraq and other relevance sources, this article concludes that ʻĀʼisha Bint al-Shāṭiʼs thoughts related to verses of law are still abstract and difficult to be applied, hence it does not give a significant influence on the strengthening of Islamic legal propositions.


Introduction
In understanding the Quran and Sunna, at least one must comprehend Arabic. 1 It is because Arabic is a language that is rich in vocabulary and has a unique grammar.One of its uniqueness is the existence of synonyms or tarāduf, 2 such as -females‖ and -women‖, -males‖ and -men‖.Although these words are synonymous, yet in terms of placement they are different.Therefore, in the theory of the inimitability of the Qurʼān (iʻjāz al-qur'ān), there is a rule stating that there is no word that has the same meaning in the Quran (la tarādufa fī alqur'ān). 3However, Bint al-Shāṭiʼ still follows this rule, her thoughts on tarāduf and their implications for the istinbāṭ (inference) of law are still abstract and difficult to apply when compared to existing results of fiqh.For that reason, this paper explores the tarāduf theory of Bint al-Shāṭi' and its implications for the istinbāṭ (inference) of Islamic law.The paper focuses on answering two questions: how is the relationship of tarāduf in the Bint al-Shāṭi's theory when related to the verses of law?How far is the influence of tarāduf according to Bint al-Shāṭi' to the verses of law?
We argue that it is important to ask the two questions above because ‗Ā'isha ‗Abd al-Raḥmān Bint al-Shāṭi', hereinafter is referred to as Bint Shāṭi', is a female cleric who has become a focus of interest among researchers of Quranic exegesis, but is ignored by researchers of Islamic law.There is no doubt that her expertise in Arabic literature, Quranic exegesis, and balāghah (eloquence) has drawn scholarly attention. 4et her commentary on tarāduf associated with istinbāṭ of Islamic law, has so far not been found.
(synonyms), before further discussing what and how tarāduf and the scholarly debates about it.The core point of this paper is to examine the concept of ʻĀisha Bint al-Shāṭi's tarāduf such as between the words al-ru'yā and al-ḥulm, ānas and abṣar, ḥalf and aqsam, imra'ah and zawj, and their implications for the istinbāṭ of Islamic law.

A Glimpse of 'Āʼisha Bint al-Shāṭi'
Her full name was ‗Ā'isha Muḥammad ʻAlī ‗Abd al-Raḥmān (1913-1998 AD).She was commonly known as Bint al-Shāṭi'(a girl by the river), a nickname that was inspired by her habit to contemplate on the bank of the Nile river in the village of Dimyāṭ.The nickname was often used as a pseudonym in her articles because she did not want to be overshadowed by her father's great reputation.She was born in the village of Dimyāṭ, a region in the Northern Delta of Egypt on November 6, 1913 AD. 5 Her education began from her educated family since childhood.Her father, Muḥammad ‗Alī ʻAbd al-Raḥmān, was a well-known teacher and scholar at al-Azhar University.Her mother, Farīdah ‗Abd al-Salām al-Muntashīr, was an alumnus of al-Azhar University. 6As an educator, her father taught her to memorize the Quran and study Islam.When she was 7 years old, ‗Ā'isha wanted to go to school, but her father disagreed owing to her family's tradition of not allowing girls to leave the house and go to school.In fact, support came from her mother who told him to go to school outside the home. 7 the age of 16, she managed to get a first-level teaching certificate in 1929 by achieving first place.She then continued to the advanced level of teacher education and completed her study with a degree of licence (Lc) in Arabic Studies at the Adab Faculty of Cairo University, 1939.She completed her master's degree at the same alma mater in 1941. 8ter completing her master's degree, she married Prof. Amīn Khūlī  (1895 -1966)   (1975-1983). 10r writing talent was seen since she was 18 years old when she served as an article writer for al-Nahḍah al-Nisā'iyyah weekly magazine.Two years later she began to regularly write articles for the al-Aḥrām newspaper until the end of her life.Her last article was published on November 26, 1998.Her intellectual thoughts were all written in the forms of writings and books.Her main concern was to defend Islamic norms that are distorted by certain parties, respect rational thinking, and provide room for a more dynamic study of fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh. 11r works are more than 40 book titles, covering the fields of fiqh, Islamic studies, literature and history. 12  Kuwait (1988).She was also awarded the King Faisal Award in the Field of Arabic Literature and Islamic studies (1994).She was also a member of Islamic Higher Institutions, which had never previously involved women, such as the Cairo Islamic Research Academy and the Special National Council. 13 the end of her life, her heart disease caused her physical condition to weaken.She died at the age of 86 on Tuesday, December 1, 1998 AD / 11 Shaʻbān 1419 H in Cairo. 14

The ʻĀʼisha Bint al-Shāṭi's Model of Thinking
In general, the principles of the miracles of the Quran are of two kinds.First are miracles on the content of a verse or better known as iʻjāz tashrīʻiyyah.Second are miracles on the linguistic aspect of a verse or is called iʻjāz lughaw- iyyah. 15Like her husband, Amīn al-Khūlī, 16 Bint al-Shāṭi' states that the miracles of the Quran are only found in iʻjāz lughawiyyah, not in iʻjāz tashrīʻiyyah.She tries to uncover the special secrets of rhetoric in the Quran that contain miracles through literary approach, especially in the analysis of texts of the Quran, phrases and letters. 17Explicitly, she uses inductive method (istiqrā'i) to prove iʻjāz al-qur'ān with cross-reference procedures based on data from texts that are arranged thematically and chronologically, by examining relationships of words and linking them to each other. 18The methods, as discussed in al-Iʻjāz al-Bayānī lil Qur'ān, are as follow: First, understanding Quranic texts methodologically (al-aṣl fī al-manhaj), that is texts are understood objectively through a thematic approach in the interpretation of the Quran by gathering all related verses into one discussion.Second, understanding texts in the context that surrounds them (fahm mā hawla al-naṣṣ), namely understanding of asbāb al-nuzūl to find out the conditions, time, and places of a verse when it was revealed.Third, understanding the in-   structions of texts (fahm dilālat al-alfāẓ) by searching for the meaning of words based on their original linguistic meaning, both in the uses of the true meaning or majazi.The words are then examined through collecting all forms of the words in certain verses and letters.Fourth, understanding difficult expressions (fahm asrār al-ta'bīr), namely studying the standard form of texts and contexts through linguistic approach.In this fourth point, all interpretations of isrā'iliyyāt that are forced into the understanding of the Quran must be discarded and interpretations that are based on the interpretation of certain schools of thought and ta'wīl al-Qur'ān must be shunned. 19e methodology used by Bint al-Shāṭi' is actually not a new approach.Previous commentators have already used the approach which is examined separately such as by Muḥammad ‗Alī  al-Sāyis (d.1976) 1952) made their interpretations through linguistic approach. 20Bint al-Shāṭi' seems to be trying to incorporate all these interpretation approaches into her literary scientific frame.

The Definitions and the Debate of Tarāduf among Ulemas
Arabic is a unique language.Among its uniqueness is that its vocabularies have correlated meaning, such as tarāduf (synonym), mushtarak al-lafẓī (homonym) and 'aḍdad (contrnym). 21The term al-tarāduf in Arabic can be interpreted as a synonym.Terminologically, al-tarāduf is (taʻaddadu al-alfāẓ li al-maʻnā al-wāḥid) or ‗a number of words that have one meaning', 22 such as the word -women‖ for -females‖, -men‖ for -males‖.
Tarāduf has become an interesting discussion among Arabic linguists.An argument states that tarāduf or a word that has one meaning exists in every language (especially Arabic), and every word that has a different pronunciation has a possibility to have the same meaning.Another argument states that there is no tarāduf because each word in Ara- bic has a special meaning that is not possessed by other words. 23 its early development in the second century Hijri, tarāduf was better known as gharīb.This is evident in the discussion of al-Aṣma'ī (d.216) in his book Mā Ikhtalaftu Alfāẓahu wa Ittafaqtu Maʻāniyahu (Words that I think are different and have the same meaning).This book discusses a dialogue of Hārūn al-Rashīd with al-Aṣma'ī that Hārūn al-Rashīd asked al-Aṣma'ī's opinion about words which he thinks were still ambiguous (gharīb).Al-Aṣma'ī then mentioned seventy gharīb words which have the same meaning. 24However, not all scholars agree with al-Aṣma'ī's opinion.Muḥammad Ziyād al-A'rabī (d.231) for example, rejected the opinion because according to him it is impossible for two words to have the same meaning. 25 the third century Hijri, the discussion of tarāduf became specific with the presence of scholars such as Ibn Jinī (d.346)  From the fifth to eighth centuries of Hijri, scholars who refused tarāduf did not get support from their students due to an attempt to strengthen the existence of tarāduf studies as done by al-Jawālīqī (d.539)  After centuries have passed, the discourse on tarāduf with all its debates is no longer heard.It was in the 19th Century that the discourse reappeared resonated by several figures such as Ṭāhā Ḥusayn, Amīn Khūlī, Muḥammad Shaḥrūr and so on.Some of them studied tarāduf through literary approach while some others examined it through hermeneutic approach. 31As a result, the discourse gave birth to not only normative Islamic legal thought, but also the culture of each region that was in accordance with Islamic teachings. 32In its development, the reading of the texts of the Quran by the above figures was not textual but instead contextual with historical and humanistic approaches. 33int al-Shāṭi' through her literary approach on the other hand, argued that tarāduf does not exist in the Quran because each word shows a special meaning that cannot be equated with other words. 34 to the word al-ḥulm.In fact, the root of the word al-ḥulm can be interpreted as gently, thought, and mature.
The word ḥalīm/ḥalīman in the form of ṣīghat mubālaghah means gentle.It is mentioned 15 times in the Quran which signifies the nature of Allah that is the Most Gentle. 38Bint al-Shāṭi' does not give an explanation on the correlation of al-ḥulm (a dream) to ḥalīm (gentle) in the verses of the Quran.Indeed, it must be examined word by word, both in terms of giving the right meaning and the context of the conversation (siyāq alkalām).
Likewise, the word aḥlām means -thought‖ like in QS al-Ṭūr, verse 32: The word aḥlām in this verse seems to be closer in meaning to -a dream‖, that is a dream that arises or comes from thoughts.Bint al-Shāṭi' again does not give comments on this verse.In fact, the word ahlām in this verse has two possible meanings that can be used together, namely: thought and or a dream.Furthermore, the word al-ḥulm, which means mature or -balīgh‖ as in Q.S al-Nūr (24): 58-59, و‬ Bint al-Shāṭi' does not explain the correlation of this verse with the term al-ḥulm (a dream) despite the fact that the derivation of the word shows similarity.This verse explains a law regarding the ethics of 38 Muḥammad Fu'ād 'Abd Al-Bāqī, Mu'jam  Al-Mufahras Li Alfāẓi Al-Qur'ān Al-Karīm  (Qāhirah: Dār al-Ḥadīth, n.d.).children, be it those who have not yet reached full maturity or children who have already reached the age of balīgh and have understood private parts of the body (ʻawrah) to ask permission when entering an adult's room in three time settings: before dawn, noon and after evening. 39e interpretation of QS: al-Nūr (24): 58-59 suggests an obligation that should be carried out by children who are not yet mature, or their parents, as follows: first, parents are obliged to give moral lessons to their children if they are to enter their parents' bedroom.Second, for children who have not reached the age of balīgh, they must first ask permission when they are to enter their parents' bedroom at three time settings, namely before dawn, noon, and after evening.Third, children who have been balīgh are obliged to ask permission in advance when entering their parents' bedroom or other people's bedrooms at all time.Fourth, exceptions are reserved for women who are elderly and no longer have lust that they are allowed not to cover their aurat fully.Fifth, the above verse is an ethical guide in the family. 40 the above verse, ‫األط‬ (when your children have reached the age of balīgh) can also be juxtaposed with the definition of alḥulm (a dream).However, different interpretations are possible, whether the rules / ethics apply to boys or girls and / or include both.This kind of problem is not addressed by Bint Shāṭi' in her book.In fact, Egyptian scholars have agreed that the age of balīgh for men is 18 and 15 for women. 41Also, it has been explained in fiqh that the signs balīgh for one are a wet dream (iḥtilām) for boys and menstruation for girls.According to Ibn Qudāmah (d.629 AH) there are no scholars who disagree about these signs. 42Thus, the missing discussion of al-Shāṭi' about this case is assumed that she purposefully gives room for fiqh and uṣūl al-fiqh studies to run dynamically by not giving too much comment.
Second, ānas and abṣar are interpreted as ‗seeing'.Ānas means seeing an object while listening to its sound.This word is mentioned five times in the Quran, namely QS: In relation to the legal verse in al-Nisā' (6), Bint Shāṭi' disagrees with the scholars of fiqh that according to her the verse ‫دا‬ ْ ‫ُش‬ ‫ز‬ ْ ‫ُى‬ ‫ه‬ ْ ُ ِ ‫ي‬ ْ ‫ى‬ ُ ‫ْر‬ ‫َس‬ ‫آَ‬ ٌْ ِ ‫َا‬ ‫,ف‬ (if you have seen their intelligence to marry) is no longer understood as -physical maturity after reaching the age of balīgh‖ but as -someone who is mentally ready to face trials and challenges‖. 43Such an interpretation becomes more complicated because there is no standardization regarding the age of one's mental readiness to face trials and challenges which certainly has implications for the age limit of marriage.Thus, the opinion of Ālī al-Sāyis is far more applicable that intelligence can be measured by an ability to manage wealth, practice religion well, and being responsible for what is done. 44More concretely, the effort to reactualize Islamic law in determining the age limit of marriage has been accommodated by marriage laws that are applied by modern Muslim countries.For example in Indonesia, as explained in Law No.1 of 1974 that the age limits for marriage is 19 years for men and 16 years for women. 45reover, the word ānas in al-fi 'il almuḍāri' (tasta'nisū)   Al-Shāṭi', Al-I'jāz Al-Bayānī Li Al-Qur'ān Wa  Masā'il Ibn Al-Azraq.44   Al-Sāyis, Tafsīr Ayāt Al-Aḥkām.
the reply of the house owner‖.According to her, if interpreted as -asking for permission‖, it is certainly not justified that a police, tax collector or creditor to enter a house without permission from its occupants despite the fact that there are matters that are ḍarūrah or hājiyah involved. 46In interpreting the word tasta'nisū, Bint Shāṭi' ignores the basic rules istafʻala formula which uses al-ṭalab (asking).It appears here that Bint Shāṭi' does not use linguistic approach consistently and instead makes a more general interpretation based on customs (‗urf) of the Arab region.The authoritarian Arab countries grant freedom to the police, tax collectors and creditors to enter residents' homes while in countries with a democratic system that kind of act is not justified.If the opinion of Bint Shāṭi' is adopted it seems that it is relevant to be applied to territories with an authoritarian system which is in accordance with the political conditions of her lifetime.For regions that use a democratic system it is more appropriate to interpret it as ‗asking for permission' because neither the police, tax collectors nor creditors are allowed to enter the house arbitrarily without permission from the house owner, warrant and / or according to the law, such as; police searches, court executions and emergency situations.
Third, the words ḥalf and aqsam have the same meaning, namely, -promises and oaths‖.According to Bint Shāṭi', the 46 Al-Shāṭi', Al-I'jāz Al-Bayānī Li Al-Qur'ān Wa  Masā'il Ibn Al-Azraq.use of the words ḥalf and aqsam in Arab culture is different. 47Ḥalf refers to a treaty that is broken while aqsam refers to an honest or faithful treaty.In the Quran, the word ḥalf is mentioned in 13 verses. 48They all mean oaths that the hypocrites disobey.The word aqsam on the other hand, is mentioned in 10 verses.In general, they all refer to promises that are well-kept and impossible to break. 49According to Alif and Saipul Hamzah, Bint Shāṭi' distinguishes the words ḥalf and aqsam in three ways, namely: first, the word ḥalf absolutely means false oaths whereas the word aqsam have two meanings: true oaths and false oaths.Second, the word ḥalf is attributed to hypocrites while the word aqsam is attributed to Allah and the believers.Third, the use of the word ḥalf is specific while the word aqsam is general. 50us, if associated with the discussion of the verses of law, unfortunately, Bint al-Shāṭi' does not associate it with the word -oath‖.For example, the ilā' ‫ه‬ ِ ‫َائ‬ ‫س‬ ِ َ ٍْ ِ ‫ي‬ ‫ىٌَ‬ ُ ‫ن‬ ‫ُإْ‬ ٌ ٌٍَِ ‫ر‬ (for those who īlā' their wives).In fiqh studies, īlā' literally means ḥalf (oaths). 51uslim scholars agree that ilā' is an oath of a husband in the name of Allah to his wife not to have sexual intercourse within a certain period of time. 52xamining the previous opinion of Bint Syāṭi' it is clear that the words ḥalf and aqsam have different uses.If the word īlā' is understood using the meaning of the word ḥalf in Bint Syāṭi's interpretation, it will be contradictory to the meaning of the word īlā' itself.The concept of īlā' as ḥalf is not in the context of fake oaths or related to the oaths of the hypocrites.If īlā' is interpreted as aqsam, in accordance with linguistic aspects and various madhhabs, there is no definition found that states that aqsam is interpreted as īlā'.But from the difference in the third point above, it can be understood that īlā' is used in special situations.
Furthermore, in the case of liʻān in fiqh, according to Hanafiyah and Hanabilah, it is understood as a testimony that is strengthened by a promise (aymān) as many as five times and in the fifth phase it is followed with cursed words on seeing his wife committing adultery and / or denying the baby in 51 Wahbah Al-Zuhailī, Al-Fiqh Al-Islāmi Wa  Adillatuhu, Vol.VII (Bayrūt: Dār al-Fikr,  1985), p. 536.may be that the literary approach used by Bint al-Shāṭi' in understanding the Quran can be considered successful in terms of iʻjāz al-qur'ān.However, the literary sensitivity of Bint al-Shāṭi' is very minimal in commenting on the verses of law thus its relevance in the attempt to extract laws in the Quran becomes insignificant and difficult to find.

Conclusion
From the discussion above, it can be concluded that Bint al-Shāṭi' may have proven the miracle of the Quran through a literary approach, but several aspects need to be criticized.First, Bint al-Shāṭi' barely focuses on the study of the verses of law, making her concept of tarāduf still abstract and difficult to apply when compared to existing results of fiqh.Secondly, Bint al-Shāṭi' is very minimal in providing comments related to the verses of law that limits her influence on the strengthening of Islamic legal propositions, such as: the ethics of children at home, age requirement for marriage, the ethics of entering the house, the ilā` oath, the liʻān oath, and the mention of azwāj in the case of ṭalāq, ẓihār and the death of the husband.Such limits are a consequence of Bint al-Shāṭi's strong focus on linguistic approach, neglecting tashriʻiyyah approach that results in an interpretation of meaning that is difficult to apply.Yet in my opinion, in exploring Islamic law from the Quran and Sunna, there has to be balance between linguistic (lughawiyyah) and tashriʻiyyah approaches.

Bint al-Shāṭi', Tarāduf, and Legal Verses
Hence, Bint al-Shāṭi' belongs to the group that rejects the existence of tarāduf in the Quran.