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Fatwa CenterVerses describing past nations
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. I was just wondering; are any of these verses talking in the past tense instead of the present tense, or are any of them in the present tense? The Arabic word is Tilka; the verses are 27:52, 28:58, 22:45, and 91:14. I know that the Arabic word Tilka only appears in 27:52 and 28:58. And what does the Arabic word Khaawiyatan mean? Can it mean 'destroyed into pieces of dust', if you know what I mean, or does it just mean 'decaying'?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
All these verses are about the past because they are about the previous nations.
As regards the Arabic word Khaawiyah, then the Tafseer (exegesis) of Al-Baghawi reads, “{Fa-hiya Khaawiyah} means 'fallen into ruin/collapsed'; {‘ala ‘urooshiha} means 'on its roofs'.”
Al-Baghawi also said, “{Fa-tilka buyootuhum khaawiyah}; khaawiyah means 'empty'; {because of the wrong they had done}, i.e. because of their injustice and disbelief.”
You should know that the Arabic word 'Tilka' is a demonstrative noun for a feminine gender, and it is not restricted to the past or the present tense.
As-Suyooti said in Ham’ Al-Hawaami’ fi sharh Jam’ Al-Jawaami’, “There are ten words that indicate the singular feminine gender: …and 'tilka' (is one of them)…”
Allah knows best.
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