Arabiq Online - Arabic of the Qur'an

Our first Qur’anic Arabic Word of the series on this first night of the holy month of Ramadan 1442 from the 1st Juz’ of the Qur’an is يَتِيْمٌ  which means ‘orphan’. Derived from the root ي ت م , it’s mentioned a total of 23 times in the Qur’an, where the Qur’an encourages:

• being kind to orphans
• treating them fairly
• getting them married
• not usurping their inheritance
• keeping aside for them what belongs to them
• how to treat them all the way up until they reach the age of maturity, when they come of age and are responsible for their own financial affairs

And more than all of this, it especially encourages spending on orphans in several places. The word for orphans in Arabic is يَتَمَى  which is how it is mentioned in Surah al-Baqara, ayah 83:

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَا تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّـهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنكُمْ وَأَنتُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

“When We took a pledge from the Children of Israel, [saying]: ‘Worship no one but Allah, do good to your parents, relatives, orphans, and the needy, speak kindly to people, maintain the prayer, and give the zakat,’ you turned away, except a few of you, and you were disregardful.”

This ayah outlines exactly what Prophet Musa’s community committed to do. And among those important things, right alongside God’s worship, goodness to parents, praying and giving zakaat is kindness to the orphans, the needy and the destitute.

Unfortunately, very few of them kept their pledge, which is why Allah disparages them, and warns us lest we be like the negligent Bani Isra’il.

In a month where we dedicate our time to serving God by way of worship, fasting and praying, let us also remember our commitment to serve Him by being kind to His creation, the most special of whom are the orphans.