Speech (al-kalām)
Definition
- Lexically, al-kalām is a lafẓ (uttered expression) coined to convey a meaning.
- Technically, it is a lafẓ that yields a complete, intelligible meaning, such as: “Allah is our Lord” and “Muḥammad is our Prophet.”
The smallest unit that qualifies as speech is either
• two nouns, or
• a verb and a noun.
Example of the first: “Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
Example of the second: “Muḥammad stood upright.”
A single instance of al-kalām is called a kalimah (word). A kalimah is a lafẓ coined for one, self-contained meaning and is of three kinds: a noun, a verb, or a particle.
A. The noun (ism) is that which signifies a meaning by itself without carrying any indication of time. Nouns fall into three categories:
(1) those that convey generality, such as the relative pronouns;
(2) those that convey absoluteness, such as an indefinite noun occurring in an affirmative statement; and
(3) those that convey particularity, such as proper names.
B. The verb (fiʿl) is that which signifies a meaning by itself and whose form points to one of the three tenses. It is either past, like fahima (he understood); present, like yafhamu (he understands); or imperative, like ifham (understand!). Every form of the verb conveys absoluteness; it never denotes generality.
C. The particle (ḥarf) is that which conveys a meaning only in relation to something else, among them: