Itha (if) in Prophetic Hadith Qudsi: A Grammatical-Semantic Study

Abstract

Some grammatical terms are defined by scholars in a way that makes the definition limited to a specific scope of usage. Other terms are defined so broadly that they can go beyond the limited scope to include various usages. The general definition is concerned with the individual aspect and is subject to the rules and regulations stipulated by the Arab. The specific definition refers to the meaning determined by a specific context; it is concerned with the structural aspect and is determined by the specific rules and regulations of the Arabs. One of the terms that has both a general and a specific definition is“Itha”; the general definition includes all forms of usage in various contexts: conditional, abrupt, adverbial and non-adverbial, and superfluous. The specific definition limits the usage to the conditional. In this research, we try to tackle the different forms of “itha” through a textual-grammatical study that assess the powers and potentials of (itha). This textual study tries not only to examine the usage and recurrence of this term in the text, but also to measure the power and impact of this particle. Considering “itha” as its subject matter, the study tries to provide an accurate definition with a tree branch of relevant concepts associated with the term and its components. Focusing on “itha” in Prophetic Hadith Qudsi is due to its frequent use in multiple forms in those texts. In addition, the study offers a semantic study of all forms of “itha” in the texts of Hadith Qudsi.