The Possibility of Using Dual dan Plural Forms on Arabic Verbal Noun: A Criticical of La-Maqasid As-Syafiyyah by Imam Syatibi

Abstract

The current knowledge of Arabic grammar was not structurally studied in the Jāhiliyyah period and early Islamic periods by the companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Arabs spoke their language fluently without any linguistic barriers in their tongue. The Arabic grammar was introduced after Islam was being spread among non-Arabs in neighboring countries. Muslim scholars began to protect Arabic language principles from being misused by non-Arab speakers through compiling Arabic grammar from Arabian tribes and Bedouins in the Middle of the Arabian Peninsula, the original homeland of the Arab people. Among the prominent Arabic grammarian scholars in the $8^{\text{th}}$ century of Hijrah was al-Shāṭibī. While writing his great Arabic grammar book, al-Maqāṣid al-Shāfiyyah li-Sharḥ Alfiyyat Ibn Mālik, al-Shāṭibī criticized other scholars’ arguments and formed his own opinions. In addition, al-Shāṭibī did not follow any school of thought without any arguments or proofs. This paper aims to analyze al-Shāṭibī’s opinion on the possibility of using dual or plural forms on a verbal noun (gerund / maṣdar). Analytical method was employed by comparing grammarians’ opinions from various types of books. Convincing arguments using strong opinions were used in the judgment. The result showed that al-Shāṭibī agreed on the possibility of using dual or plural forms on a verbal noun. It was supported by al-Zajjājī and Ibn Mālik’s opinion in their books.