ʿAdscham
ʿAdscham ( Arabic عجم, DMG 'aǧam , non-Arabs, Persians') is a term of national, constitutional, cultural and religious conflict, especially within the Islam and the community of Muslims . The word has about the same comprehensive meaning for Arabs as the word " barbarians " for Hellenes . It is those strangers who do not correctly articulate Arabic ( faṣīḥ ). Derived from the root ʿ – ǧ – m “check, try” a person is characterized by ʿujma /عجمة / ʿUǧma / 'accent' which speaks incorrectly and incomprehensibly. The term ʿajam was derived from this basic meaning in pre-Islamic poetry as a designation for non-Arabs, later almost exclusively for the Persians .
According to Bernard Lewis , however, the most common word for “outsider” in the language of Islam is kāfir “unbeliever”.
In the Koran
Accordingly, the word mentioned in the Koran becomes Arabic أعجمي, DMG ʿaǧamī 'non- Arabic , non-Arab' (Koran, 16, 103) and al-ʿaǧamīna (Koran, 26, 198) and ʿaǧamīyan (Koran, 41, 44), which literally means “foreigner” or “foreign language (r ) ”Means, translated with“ non-Arabs ”or (erroneously) with“ barbarians ”. Koran, 26, 198f. expresses this understanding of the term:
"If we had sent it down on one of the non-Arabs and he had read it to them (in his own language), they would not have believed it (anyway)."
Similarly in sura 41 , verse 44:
"If we had made it (i.e. the Koran) a non-Arabic Koran, they would say, 'Why are its verses (w. Signs) not set out (in detail) (so that everyone can understand them)?' (What is that about :) a non-Arabic (Koran) and an Arabic (herald)? "
In the Koran exegesis ( tafsir ) it is generally stated that the “unbelievers” accused Mohammed of having invented the Koran because he was an Arab and the Koran in Arabic. They claimed that it would have been a real revelation from God if Muhammad had started speaking in a foreign (non-Arabic) language. Exegesis explains that the Koran counteracts precisely this reproach by saying that the Koran was revealed in Arabic precisely because it was intelligible to the Arabs, in order to avoid the “unbelievers” saying: “How strange: An Arab envoy came to the Arabs, but his revelation is in a language that neither he nor the Arabs understand. "
In the hadith
During the farewell pilgrimage, the Prophet Mohammed judged on the mountain of ʿArafāt a . a. the following words to his followers:
“I left something clear and distinct for you; if you hold on to it, you will never go astray: God's book and the sunnah of his prophet. People! hear my words and understand them! You should know that every Muslim is a brother to a Muslim, and that Muslims are brothers (among themselves) [...], the most excellent of you is the most pious of you with God. An Arab has priority over the non-Arab ( ʿaǧam ) only because of his piety . "
This sense of equality, which is demonstrated here, can only be ascribed with reservations to the prophet's speech, since this addition is consistently missing in the oldest sources of Islamic tradition and - as Ignaz Goldziher has already pointed out - will probably be regarded as a later ingredient. However, this positive attitude towards non-Arabs already appears in the extensive tradition collection of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855 in Baghdad ) as part of the Prophet's speech. Other prophetic statements with similar content, which were handed down in written form at the latest at the time of al-Shafi'i (d. 815 in Egypt ), also suggest the idea of the equality of Arabs and non-Arabs:
“Five things have been granted to me and no one else before me (by God): the whole earth has been given to me as a ritually pure place of prayer. Fear brought me to victory. The spoils of war have been allowed to me. I have been sent to the red and the white (alike). Intercession (between God and man) has been given to me. "
The color designation - red and white - stands in the sense of: "for all of humanity". The Arabs referred to the Persians - the ʿaǧam - as "red", that is, light-colored in contrast to "black", as the Arabs called themselves at the time. The color combination yellow and white also occurs in the meaning of "all", the whole of humanity. ( Lit .: Goldziher, Schwarze und Weisse. ) Correspondingly, in the above-mentioned traditional collection of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the color combination “black” (Arabs) and “red” (Persians) is used.
Another development is the juxtaposition of the “black” slave ( raqaba saudāʾ ), referred to as ʿaǧamiyya , and the “white” ( baiḍāʾ ) slave in Islamic jurisprudence. The former is to be understood as black in today's sense.
See also
literature
- The Koran. Translation, commentary and concordance by Rudi Paret . Kohlhammer 1979, ISBN 3-17-005102-4 .
- Ignaz Goldziher : Arab and 'Ağam. In: Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammedanische Studien. Volume 1. Niemeyer, Halle 1888, pp. 101-146 (2nd reprint of the edition. Olms, Hildesheim et al. 2004, ISBN 3-487-12606-0 ).
- Ignaz Goldziher: Black and White. In: Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammedanische Studien. Volume 1. Niemeyer, Halle 1888, pp. 268-269 (2nd reprint of the edition. Olms, Hildesheim et al. 2004, ISBN 3-487-12606-0 ).
- Gustave E. von Grunebaum: Islam in the Middle Ages. Artemis Verlag, Zurich et al. 1963.
Remarks
- ↑ Bernard Lewis : The Political Language of Islam. Rotbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-88022-769-1 , p. 192 f.
- ↑ Bernard Lewis: The Political Language of Islam. Rotbuch-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-88022-769-1 , p. 18.