Question:
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
The hadith says:
“مَنْ حَجَّ لِلَّهِ فَلَمْ يَرْفُثْ وَلَمْ يَفْسُقْ، رَجَعَ كَيَوْمِ وَلَدَتْهُ أُمُّهُ”
Some scholars, such as Mulla Ali al-Qari and Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni, mention that it is permissible to read “كيومَ” with a fatha on the meem (i.e., as كيومَ rather than كيومِ), even though the particle “كـ” is a ḥarf jar (a preposition), which should normally cause يوم to be read in the majrūr (genitive) case.
Why is it allowed to read “كيومَ” with fatḥa in this context?
Answer:
Nouns of time (ظروف الزمان) that are in the construct state (مضاف إلى جملة) can be treated either as declinable (معرب) or indeclinable (مبني). In such cases, especially when the noun of time is followed by a full sentence, it is permissible to consider the noun indeclinable on fatha, regardless of the preceding preposition.
This is based on the grammatical principle that when a ظرف زمان is added to a full sentence (i.e., a jumla), it may be built (مبني) on the fatḥa rather than declined. This treatment ensures syntactic consistency, particularly when the sentence begins with an indeclinable element. So in the hadith, reading it as “رجع كيومَ ولدته أمه” is grammatically permissible and supported by grammar books.
أسماء الزمان المضافة إلى الجمل يجوز بناؤها ويجوز إعرابها، ويرجح بناء ما أضيف منها إلى جملة صدرها مبني. (جامع الدروس العربية ٣/٦٩)
Allah knows best.
Abbas Afzal
25 Dhul-Ḥijjah / 21 June 2025
