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Why did the verb "yughfar" (is forgiven) appear in the masculine form in the verse, "And say, 'Hittah' (forgiveness), and your sins will be forgiven you," despite the word "khatayakum" (your sins) being feminine?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Nafi' recited "yaghfiru lakum khatayakum" (He forgives you your sins) with a 'ya' (ي), based on the fact that "khataya" (sins) is a plural for non-rational beings, and it is permissible to use both masculine and feminine forms with it. Whereas Ibn 'Amir recited it with a 'ta' (ت) indicating femininity. Al-Shatibi alluded to this, saying: "And in it and in Al-A'raf, 'naghfir' with a nun... and no Damma and break its fa' when shaded, and he mentioned here an origin, and for the people of Sham, they feminized it, and from Nafi' with it in Al-A'raf, it reached." Al-Saffaqsi mentioned that Nafi' recited it with a Damma on the 'ya' and a Fatha on the 'fa', and Al-Shami likewise with an upper 'ta', while the others recited it with an open 'nun' and a Kasra on the 'fa'.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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