What is “ism” in Surah 7:33?
Question
Salam,
In the translation of the Ayah 33 of Surah 7, where Allah (SWT) mentions the things which are absolutely Haram, Mr. Ghamidi translates the Arabic word
"ism" as "Haq Talfee" (usurping of rights). Most other translators translate it as "sin", such as Maududi, Muhammad Junagarih, and even Sahih International to name a few. Could you please elaborate the basis of why Mr. Ghamidi translates "ism" as infringement of rights, and not sin as other scholars have done so?
Best regards.
Answer
Salaam
اثم 'ism' in Arabic comes as an antonym of بر 'bir'. 'Bir' stands for giving due rights and 'ism' stands for usurping the rights of others. Yes it is generally used in the sense of sin, but in such cases it occurs in isolation without any indicator in the discourse that could move it from its generally understood meaning and that meaning depends on the context. However, here it occurs in consonance with فواحش 'fawaahish' and بغی 'baghyi'. Therefore, it cannot be translated vaguely as sin; because both these acts are also sins. Therefore, in this Aayah, just as in Qur'an 2:182, 'ism' connotes 'usurping the rights of others'.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
