Despite its daunting appearance, the basics of Arabic grammar are very simple. Most Arabic words stem from tri-literal root letters that convey a meaning. When these letters are structured into pre-defined patterns, known as أوزان (awzān), they produce words and meanings.
For example, consider the letters ر ب ك. These letters mean big, large, or great. When put in various forms, they produce new words that still convey the original meaning but in different ways. Below are examples:
كبر – He made bigger
يكبر – He makes bigger
كابر – The one who makes big
كبير – The big one
The words above are based on the same tri-literal roots, but the patterns that the letters are placed in change the meaning and form new words.
It is important to include the “intense” pattern in this discussion. This would be equivalent to putting –est or –er after an adjective. For example, high becomes highest, and cold becomes coldest. This is formed by placing the أ (alif-hamza) before the first root-letter, then a ْ (sukoon) upon the first root-letter, and a َ (fat’ha) upon the second root-letter. For example:
أكْبَر – The biggest, the most big, the greatest
Three other examples are listed below. The letters ر غ ص mean small, ف ر ش mean noble or honorable, and د م ح means praise. Below are their intense forms:
أصْغَر – The smallest, the most small
أشْرَف – The most noble, The most honorable
أحْمَد – The most praised
Next, consider the root letters م ت ج. According to the Ahmadi understanding, this word means seal in the sense of attestation or authentication. The Dictionary of the Holy Qur’ān, the official Ahmadi dictionary, defines it as embellishment or ornament. When applied to Prophet Muhammad عليه الصلاة والسلام in Sūrah Al-Ahzab, verse 40, one of the definitions the Ahmadis insist on is best of the prophets. However, if the letters م ت ج meant seal of attestation as they understand it, then to produce the meaning of best, or most attested, the word should have been as follows:
أخْتَم – best, highest of quality
If the root-letters meant attestation or authentication, to make it mean most attested, most authenticated, of highest quality or best, أخْتَم should have been used. This would have been a more appropriate and higher praise of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى. Yet, that is not what Allah used in the Qur’ān.
In other words, even if the letters خ ت م meant attestation, they are not in the proper structure to mean best or highest of quality, which would have been a higher form of praise of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم. If the Ahmadi explanation is correct, then it would imply that Allah's speech could have been made better. Therefore, based on Arabic grammar, one can conclude from this that the Ahmadi interpretation of خاتَم is incorrect, whereas the Islamic understanding perfectly fits in, because there is no such thing as a last-er or a final-est, so أخْتَم would not make sense. This is why Allah used the word خاتَم.
Question to ask
Murabbis
1. Why did Allah use the word Khātam (خاتَم) instead of Akhtam (أخْتَم), when Akhtam is a superior form of the same root-word?