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By : Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi (Dr. Mohammed Iqtedar Husain Farooqi)
Quranic Name
:
Al-Mann
Common Names
:
Turanjabin, Kazanjbin, (Arab.), Turanjibin, Gazangbin
(Pers.), Kudset helvasi (Turk.) Manna (Eng., Gr., It), Manne
(Fr.), Manna (Russ.), Man (Heb.), Mana (Sp.), Kshiri
(Hindi), , Gazanjbin, Turanbjbin (Urdu). Makanandr Sorga
(Indonesian., Malay)
Botanical Names
:
1. Alhagi maurorum Medic. (Family :
Leguminosae) 2.
Tamarix mannifera (Ehrenb.)
Bunge (Family :
Tamaricaceae).
Quranic References :
1.
SURAH II (Al-Baqarah-the
Heifer). V: 57
And We gave you the shade of clouds and sent down to you manna and quails,
saying: ‘‘Eat of the good things We have provided for you:’’ (But they
rebelled); to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
2.
SURAH VII (Al-A’raf-The
Heights). V: 160
We divided them into twelve Tribes or nations. We directed Moses by inspiration,
when his (thirsty) people asked him for water: ‘‘Strike the rock with thy
staff:’’ Out of it there gushed forth twelve springs: Each group knew its own
place for water. We gave them the shade of clouds, and sent down to them manna
and quails. (Saying): ‘‘Eat of the good things we have provided for you’’ (But
they rebelled); to Us they did no harm, but they harmed their own souls.
3.
SURAH XX (Ta-Ha-Mystic
Letters T.H.). V: 80-81
O ye Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a
Covenant with you on the right side of Mount (Sinai) and We sent down to you
manna and quails: (80) (Saying): ‘‘Eat of the good things We have provided for
you sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My Wrath should justly
descend on you: and those on whom descends My Wrath do perish indeed! (81)
Although the meaning of Mann in Arabic is ‘favour’ or ‘reward’, yet in
general usage it means a saccharine food that God provided to the Children of
Israel when they were wandering in the Sinai desert after their exile from
Egypt. Mr. Abdullah Yusuf Ali has
stated that ‘Mann’ (English, Manna) was a sweet gum obtained from the
Tamarisk trees of Sinai (Note No. 71). In Lugat al-Qur’an,
‘Mann’ is described as something like the Honey-Dew found
deposited on leaves of certain trees and collected early in the morning. Several
authors of the Commentaries of the Quran, like those of Qartabi,
Tabari, Kathir,
Abul Kalam Azad, Thanvi,
Abdul Haque Haqqani, Maudoodi,
Abdul Majid Daryabadi, and Undulusi, have described ‘Mann’ as a plant
product but no one has ventured to identity the actual plant (Botanical) source.
Of course, some of them have written that the present day Turanjbin (a
sweet exudate) was the real Mann. The main reason for this lack of
information about the correct identify of the plant from which Mann was
obtained, is probably the fact that no purposeful scientific work was available
earlier on the systematic botanical identification of the flora of various
regions including Sinai.
Abu Rehan Mohammad Ibn Albairuni (973 A.D.-1050 A.D.)
was probably the first person to indicate that the Turanjabin
obtained from the plant known as ‘Al-Haj’ in Arabic, was the real Mann
of the Qur’an. He also reported that some tiny insects living on certain plants
were responsible for producing Mann. The word Turanjabin is the
Arabianized form of the Persian word ‘Tar-Angbin’. (Tar means
fresh and Angbin means honey).
After Albairuni, for several centuries, not much progress was made to identify
the plants and plant products of Middle East. It was only in 1822 A.D. that J.L.
Burckhard, the author of the famous book ‘Travels in Syria and Holy Land’,
stated that insects found on certain trees of Palestine and Syria were
responsible for the production of a sweet gum.
According to Burckhard, who was also known as Sheikh Barkat in Egypt ,
these insects punctured the bark of the host plant through which a liquid oozed
out during the intense heat of the sunny day and hardened into the form of a gum
during the cool nights. Soon after the publication of the Burckhard’s Book, two
well-known botanists of that time, Ehrenberg and Hemprich, published a report of
their survey in 1829 and identified the Manna producing insect as Coccus
manniparus. They had observed the production of Manna by these insects on
Sinai trees, which they identified as Tamarix. Thus, by the middle of the
nineteenth century, it became amply clear that Sinai trees did yield a
saccharine exudate. Later on, it was also reported that people living around
Sinai collected Manna from the
trees and used them in sweet preparations . As a matter of fact, for certain
tribes of the area, this plant exudate was the only source of sweetness.
On the basis of scientific investigations carried out till now, it may be stated
that the ‘Mann’ referred to in the Qur’an was in fact obtained from two
different types of plants. One was the plant known as Al-haj or ‘Aqul
in Arabic and botanically identified as Alhagi maurorum. It is a thorny
shrub and is a good fodder for camel, and, therefore, called Shauk al-Jamal
(Camel’s Thorn). In Persian it is known as Khare-Shutr. It does not
normally grow beyond three feet in height but has very long roots, sometimes
reaching fifteen to twenty feet deep in the ground. Camel’s Thorn is a perennial
shrub that grows 2 to 3 feet tall. The small, pea-like flowers are produced in
June to August. These brown to maroon flowers extend from sharp yellow spines of
1 to 2 inches in length located along the plant’s rigid branches. The plant
rapidly colonizes an area by producing new plants from its creeping roots. It is
a native of the Mediterranean region and Western Asia.
Besides Sinai, Syria and other Arab countries A maurorum is also found in
Iran, Pakistan and India, mainly on alkaline soils. At present Iran is the
source of Manna called Turanjbin from this plant. In India, the plant is
known as Jawasa, but the presence of Mann has never been reported
from any where in the country, the reason being the absence of the insects
responsible for the production of
exudate.
Apart from ‘Haj’, which must have been a very common plant in Sinai
during the time of Prophet Moses , there was another ‘Mann’ producing
plant, botanically identified as Tamarix mannifera (Arabic, Gaz)
in the same region. Several other plant species belonging to the genus Tamarix
are known as ‘Athl’ or Tarfa in Arabic and occur in Arabia quite
frequently but these do not yield any gummy (sweet) substance. The only Manna
producing Tamarix i.e. T. mannifera is generally found in Palestine,
Syria, Iraq and Iran. Since in Iran this plant is known as ‘Gaz’ its
Mann is called Gazanjabin (Arabic, Kasanjabin). Few species of
Tamarix also occur in India but none of them have been reported to yield Mann.
Manna from Alhagi maurorum and Tamarix mannifera named
Turanjbin and Gazanjbin respectively, are still traded in many parts
of the world. Since sugars from sugarcane and sugar beet have been introduced
throughout the world as the main sweetening agent, the use of sweet ‘Mann’
is now restricted to medicine only. Turanjbin is mostly supplied from the
Khorasan area of Iran whereas the Tamarisk Manna (Gazanjbin) is still
being collected in some northern parts of Africa. The sweetness of these Mann
is due to sugars and sugar alcohols present in them. It has nutritional value as
well as medicinal properties.
Mann
has been mentioned thrice in the Qur’an, and in all these Verses, it has been
referred to with Salva i.e. the bird Quail. These Verses clearly imply
that a food consisting of a sweet carbohydrate (from Mann) as well as
protein and fat (from Salva) was provided to Bani Israel
(Children of Israel), and which by all standard was a balanced diet.
Otherwise by eating only sweet Manna, so many of people (Bani Israel)
could not sustain life for forty years (1491 B.C. to 1451 B.C.). The Quranic
reference of ‘shade of clouds’ in Surah ‘Araf and Ta-Ha is very
significant and meaningful. This indicates that millions of trees, which
provided Mann in sizeable amount for so many people, were not shady and
the Almighty provided cloud shade to protect them from the scorching sun. It may
be pointed out that Alhagi maurorum (Al-Haj) is a small shrub and
hence cannot provide shade to human beings. Similarly, Tamarix mannifera
is also a small tree with scaly leaves and hence not suitable for this purpose.
Thus, these trees must have been occurring in large numbers in the areas of
Sinai but were unfit to provide shade to Bani Israel during their
wanderings. However, these plants in general, and A. maurorum in
particular should have been very suitable shelter for the breeding and rearing
of the birds i.e. Salva (quails) which were available to them in large
numbers.
Manna has also been mentioned in the Bible eleven times but without reference to
Salva. According to Moldenke (Plants of Bible), it is very unlikely that
the Children of Israel were provided with only sweet Manna for forty years. In
his opinion, the Manna referred to in the ‘Book of Baruch’’ was definitely a
sweet substance of plant origin but the Manna mentioned in ‘Book of Numbers’,
was most likely a starchy or proteinous material, as it is stated therein that
Manna ‘rained’ from Heaven and people collected it and made bread from it.
Obviously bread can not be made out of any sweet gum and, therefore, the Manna
of ‘Numbers’ must have been some Lichen which, when fully dried, is very light
and can be flown to long distances and can settle down (rain) at a certain
place. Moldenke has cited the example of the Great Famine of Iran in 1854, when
tonnes of the lichen, named Lecanora affinis (syn. Lecanora esculenta )
‘rained’ over the famine area and
people collected, powdered, and ate its bread for several days. They thanked the
Almighty for His favour (Mann) of ‘raining’ lichen. Some Scientists have
surveyed the area adjoining the Sahara of Africa and found that this particular
lichen grows on rocks and produces fructifications in the form of pea-sized
globules which are light enough to be blown about by the wind. This
occurs there in abundance
and the local tribal people eat its bread whenever there is famine or failure of
agricultural crops. In the Book of Exodus, the phrase ‘When the sun waxed hot it
(Manna) melted’’ indicates the possibility of some algal type of Manna which
Moldenke considers to be the alga of genus Nostoc. This small alga is a
gelatinous substance and grows very rapidly during the cool nights but
disappears when heated by the morning sun.
While concluding the description of Bible’s Manna, Moldenke has very rightly
inferred that two million people could not survive for years on sweet substances
alone and it is also very unlikely that the Lichen and Algae were provided to
them all through these years. He, therefore, states that most probably the
Children of Israel were eating Quails along with Manna of any of the
above-referred three descriptions. Had Moldenke studied the Sayings of the
Qur’an about ‘Mann and Salva’, he would have reached this
conclusion very easily. One must remember that although the provision of ‘Mann
and Salva’ (Quail) has been
very clearly described and explained in the Quranic Verses, yet none of them
exclude the possibility of eating other types of food materials, like the lichen
and algae, which the wandering men could find around.
As a matter of fact, in one Hadith (25) Mann has also been
defined as Al-Kam’a, which is an Arabic equivalent of Mushroom or
Truffle. In Saudi Arabia desert truffles are much appreciated for culinary
despite high prices. ‘Desert truffle’ is a term used to refer to members of the
genera Terfezia and Tirmania in the family Terfeziaceae, order
Pezizales, which grow in arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean region,
the Arabian Peninsula, and North-Africa. Some have been found in South Africa
and China.. Species of Terfezia and Tirmania prefer high pH
calcareous soils, typical of desert soils. The most common species of the genus
Tirmania are Tirmania nivea and T. pinoyi (syn. T. africana).
White truffle [Tirmania nivea] grows underground very fast until
it bursts through and appears on the surface of the ground.
Desert truffles are nutritious, and particularly high in protein. In good
seasons, truffles are dried and ground to powder to supplement the regular diet.
Traditionally, desert truffles are cooked simply, so as not to mask their
delicate aroma.
It may be important to mention here that in Sematic language (from which Hebrew
and Arabic originated), Mann means ‘what’ or ‘who’. Thus, in all
probability when the Children of Israel saw the white substance around trees
they simply wondered about it and asked each other ‘what (Mann) it was’?
It is, therefore, most likely that all the new and strange edible substances
which they encountered and obtained during their exile, were referred to as
Mann by them.
In addition to Turanjbin (Alhagi Manna) and Gazanjbin (Tamarisk
Manna) yielding plants, there are still other plant species that yield sweet
gum, and all of them are termed in English as Manna. For instance, the famous’
plant of South Europe, Fraxinus ornus Linn. (Family: Oleaceae), is a
source of commercial Manna. Its main producing area in Sicily is called Gibelman
which is a corruption of the Arabic name Jabal Mann meaning the Hills of
Manna. Some scientists have considered this Manna as another possible Manna of
Bible.
Cotoneaster nummularia
Fisch and Mey (Family: Rosaceae) is a plant occurring frequency in Iran, and is
the source of a very sweet Manna called Shirkhisht which in Persian means
the milk of stone; reflecting the fact that C. nummularia is a crawling
plant in the rocky habitat, and Manna exuded from the plant falls immediately on
the ground giving a feeling that the rock on which it falls, has exuded it. It
is also sometimes called Shirkhushk, which means dried milk.
Astragalus adscendens Boiss & Haussk. (Family: Leguminosae/Fabaceae)) is
another source of Iranian Manna. Quercus incana Roxb. (Family: Fagaceae),
occurring in Iran and Iraq, also yield good quality Manna. In India,
Calotropis gigantea (Linn) R.Br. ex Ait. (Family: Asclepidiaceae), locally
called ‘Aak’ has been reported to produce Manna, called Sukuri Tighal.
Some people are of the opinion that the siliceous sweet substance, Tabashir
(Hindi: Bans Lochan), obtained from Bamboo is also Manna. The tree of
Olive (Olea europaea) has also been reported to yield a type of Manna.
In Sinai, it is the honey-dew manna obtained from desert shrubs that receives
most attention. Most tamarisks, some Acacias, and even camel thorn produce
exudates. The focus, however, is on the Tamarix mannifera (tarfa), also
rendered T. gallica mannifera (French tamarisk). The exudate production
of all other shrub species is probably less than that of the tarfa.
There has been some confusion about the chemical nature of common gums and
Manna. It may be stated that all the gums, like Gum-Arabic (Acacia senegal
Willd., Family: Leguminosae) or Tragacanth (Astragalus gummifera Labill.,
Family: Leguminosae) are polymers of sugars and, therefore, bland in taste.
These are chemically termed as complex polysaccharides. But the Manna contains
different types of free sugars and sugar alcohols and, therefore, is always
sweet. The sugars and their alcohols generally present in Manna are Glucose,
Fructose, Melezitose, Dulcitol, Mannitol etc. Manna has a peculiar odour and a
sweetish taste. It can be
used in medicine as a gentle laxative. It is
nutritive and a gentle tonic. It is still largely consumed in South
America and was official in the United States Pharmacopoeia. Manna is usually
prescribed with other purgatives, particularly senna, rhubarb, magnesia and the
neutral salts, the taste of which it conceals while it adds to the purgative
effect.
Both gums and Manna are carbohydrates in
nature but the gums do not have much nutritive value, whereas Manna is highly
nutritious. Under the name of Dulcinol, a mixture of Manna and common salt has
been recommended by Steinberg in 1906 as a sweetening agent in diabetes.
The Codex of the British Pharmacopceia describe a Syrup of Manna to be
prescribed as a mild laxative for children, in the proportion of 1 part of Manna
to 10 of water.
Manna of the best quality dissolves in about 6 parts of water, forming a clear
liquid. It has no bitterness or acridity.
Mannite, the crystalline constituent of sugary constituent of Manna was
frequently prescribed in medicine instead of Manna itself.
Some Important Traditions (Ahadith) on Manna :
1. Narrated
Sa’id bin Zaid (R), Allah’s Apostle (PBUH) said ‘‘The Kama
(Mushrooam-Truffle)) is like the mann (in that it is obtained without
effort) and its water is a (medicine) cure for eye troubles-Sahih Bukhari (63).
2. Narrated
Sa’id bin Zaid (R)- ‘I heard Prophet (PBUH) saying ‘‘Truffles are like ( a type
of ) manna (i.e. they grow naturally without man’s care) as their water heals
eye disorders’-Book of Medicine-Sahih Bukhari- (63).
3. Narrated
Sa’id bin Zaid (R)- The Prophet (PBUH) said ‘‘Kam’a (a mushroom-desert
truffle) is a sort of Mann which God provided to Children of Israel. Its
water is useful for eyes (69,75).
4. Narrated
Abu Huraira (R). Once someone described Kam’a (mushroom/desert truffle)
as a pox on earth but the Prophet (PUBH) said ‘‘It is a kind of Mann.
(103).
(The above Article is one of the Chapters of
Plants of the Quran by Dr. M.I.H.
Farooqi, 9th edition, 2011, Sidrah Publisher, Lucknow.India.
email : mihfarooqi@yahoo.com; Mobile: +919839901066)
Valued Comments
1. Muscat Daily (April 19,
2011): Ruler of Oman, Sultan
Qaboos bin Said has honoured Dr. M.I.H.Farooqi (Alig), retired Senior Scientist
( Deputy Director), NBRI, with an Award of 25 Thousand US Dollars (Rs 12 lakhs)
in appreciation of his work
on PLANTS OF THE QURAN and
MEDICINAL PLANTS IN THE TRADITIONS OF PROPHET MOHAMMAD.
2. Mohammed VI, King of Morocco (Letter, 3rd June, 2010)
I want you to know how impressed I am
by your work on Plants in the Qur’an and Medicinal Plants in the Traditions of
Prophet Mohammad.
3.
Dr. Mohammad Abdo Yamani, Chairman, IQRA International Educational Foundation,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
‘‘-Most impressive and interesting book. The book has really filled a
gap that has been yawning for centuries-and in the most perfect way-useful and
comprehensive informations-book shall remain and forever a unique attempt and a
useful accomplishment.’’
4.
Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi,
Founder-Member, Rabitah Al-Alami Al-Islami. and
Rector, Darul-Uloom Nadwat-ul-Ulema, Lucknow. ‘‘-observations and
identification of certain plants particularly with respect to Sidrah and Kafur
unrael severl knots and are of immense help in removing many confusions....this
work is not only useful and valuable but also an important addition to Quranic
literature.’’ |
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