mohammad hossein akhavan tabasi; mohammadmahdi farrahi; hossein shojaei
Abstract
The root "WSṬ" is a root that is used in various forms in the Holy Quran, and its most important use is reflected in the concept of "ummat-e wasaṭ"(Baqarah/143). The lexicographers have mentioned two separate meanings (middle/superior) and some other marginal meanings for this root. The commentators ...
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The root "WSṬ" is a root that is used in various forms in the Holy Quran, and its most important use is reflected in the concept of "ummat-e wasaṭ"(Baqarah/143). The lexicographers have mentioned two separate meanings (middle/superior) and some other marginal meanings for this root. The commentators of the Holy Quran have also expressed different and sometimes scattered opinions based on these meanings under the relevant verses, especially about the ummat-e wasaṭ. Meanings such as justice, chosen one, moderation or mediator between the Ummah and the Prophet (PBUH) are the most important of these opinions. The present research, using the method Etymology, has studied cognates of “wasaṭ” in Semitic languages in order to discover and reveal the semantic components in the root WSṬ and judge between the opinions based on it. This research came to the conclusion that the root WSṬ in Arabic is a Homonymy that is derived from two completely separate roots with two completely different meanings. This root in the phrase "Ummat-e Wasaṭ" does not mean middle or moderate, but means "powerful, leading and superior".
