"Grammatical controversy on the temporality of the imperfect tense in the Qur’ānic text" Is it Mu’rab (declinable) or Mabnī (indeclinable)?

• Main Author: Hassan, Fakhri
• Other Authors: Saidi, Mustapha
• Published: University of the Western Cape 2019
• Subjects: Arabic; Present tense; Grammar; Qur'ānic text
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6601

Magister Artium - MA === This research discusses the temporality of Al-Fi’l Al-Moḍāri’ (present tense) in Arabic in terms of structure and case endings. It also focuses on the time of the imperfect tense and how it is affected by the Adawāt (particles) and justification as well as the meaning, context and the purpose of the sentence. The study also investigates the controversial issues on finding a standardized definition of the actual imperfect tense in order to distinguish it from the outwardly one. It also investigates the changes which the imperfect tense undergoes when preceded by particles and how they change the case endings from Mabnī (Indicative) into Mu’rab apocopate (to be Jussive or Subjunctive). Another focus is investigating the reason why the tense of the verb that comes after particles of negation, prohibition, justification and denial is always imperfect not perfect or future, regardless of the context and the purpose of the text, and the reason as to why this rule applies to all Qur'ānic verses which contradict this rule when being parsed. In addition, it uses semiotics to explain the imperfect tense in the Qur'ānic verses and investigates the effectiveness of applying abstention and assembly to distinguish between the tense and it's meaning in the Qur'ānic text. This can help to determine the actual time of the tense in the Qur'ānic text which in turn helps to parse the imperfect tense correctly and to justify why there is a case ending which contradicts the grammar rules. The correct parsing of the imperfect tense, including indicative, subjunctive and jussive, will pave the way for more attempts to rectify the interpretation of the Qur'ānic verses which create controversy. This can be achieved by presenting the verses which contradict the rules of parsing, making hypotheses, analyzing them and then parsing them in a logical way utilizing an analytical approach.