What does Al-āfa mean?

Islam > Glossary > Al-āfa

Discover the meaning of the term Al-āfa (آفة) in Islamic vocabulary.

Definition Al-āfa

Al-āfa according to Mufradat (Ar-Raghib)

It is the 'aha (affliction, calamity).

Al-āfa according to Dustur al-'Ulama (Al-Ahmadnagari)

The non-obedience of the instruments (alat), whether by natural disposition (fitra), constitution (khilqa), or otherwise, as in the weakness of the instruments. Do you not see that the afa in speech may be according to the natural disposition, as in the mute, or according to the weakness of the instruments and their failure to reach the degree of strength, as in childhood? Know then that the afa in speech is verbal and mental, for it is the opposite of discourse: as discourse is verbal and mental, so is its opposite. The verbal afa is the incapacity for verbal speech, as in the mute and the child; the mental afa is the speaker's incapacity to manage within himself the meaning he indicates by expression, writing, or gesture.

Al-āfa according to Mu'jam al-Mustalahat al-Fiqhiyya

In language: the 'aha; in 'Al-Muhkam': an accident corrupting what it afflicts of a thing. One says: the afa of the rude character is coarseness; the afa of knowledge is forgetfulness; plural: afat; 'affa ash-shay'' in the maf'ul pattern: the calamity befell him. The afa may be general, as intense heat and cold, or particular, as madness. Al-Ahmad Bakri said: the non-obedience of the instruments, whether by natural disposition, constitution, or otherwise, as in the weakness of the instruments; do you not see that the afa in speech may be according to the natural disposition, as in the mute, or according to their weakness and their failure to reach the degree of strength, as in childhood? Know then that the afa in speech is verbal and mental, for it is the opposite of discourse: as discourse is verbal and mental, so is its opposite. The verbal afa is the incapacity for verbal speech, as in the mute and the child; the mental afa is the speaker's incapacity to manage within himself the meaning he indicates by expression, writing, or gesture. The jurists use afa in the same sense, except that they usually qualify it as heavenly (samawiyya), that is, what no human being has any hand in; they say: al-ja'iha (calamity) is the afa that strikes fruit or vegetation with no human part in it.

Al-āfa according to At-Tawqif (Al-Munawi)

An accident that corrupts what it befalls; it is the 'aha.

Al-āfa according to At-Ta'rifat al-Fiqhiyya (Al-Barkati)

The 'aha; in the 'Dastur al-'ulama': 'the non-obedience of the instruments, whether by natural disposition, constitution, or otherwise, as in the weakness of the instruments.'