Arabic root

س-ا-ل

Sin-Alif-Lam

4 words from this root family

About this root

Sin-Alif-Lam (س-ا-ل) has 4 words in the Fahm dictionary: saʾala (to ask), masʾūl (responsible / official), masʾūliyya (responsibility), musāʾala (accountability).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 129 times in 118 verses, across 47 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:61. The form سَأَلَ (to ask) accounts for 106 of them.

Themes: Verbs, Communication, Work, Abstract Concepts, Academic Formal

Words from this root

Word	Meaning	Type	In the Quran	Taught in
سَأَلَ saʾala	to ask	verb, A1	106×	Action Verbs - Movement & Travel
مَسْؤول masʾūl	responsible / official	adjective, A2		Work Skills & Technology
مَسؤولِيَّة masʾūliyya	responsibility	noun, B1		Time & Change
مُسَاءَلَة musāʾala	accountability	noun, B2		Scholarly Discussion

“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.

In the Quran

أَمْ تُرِيدُونَ أَن تَسْـَٔلُوا۟ رَسُولَكُمْ كَمَا سُئِلَ مُوسَىٰ مِن قَبْلُ ۗ وَمَن يَتَبَدَّلِ ٱلْكُفْرَ بِٱلْإِيمَـٰنِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَآءَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ

Or would ye question your messenger as Moses was questioned aforetime? He who chooseth disbelief instead of faith, verily he hath gone astray from a plain road.

Quran 2:108

۞ لَّقَدْ كَانَ فِى يُوسُفَ وَإِخْوَتِهِۦٓ ءَايَـٰتٌ لِّلسَّآئِلِينَ

Verily in Joseph and his brethren are signs (of Allah's Sovereignty) for the inquiring.

Quran 12:7

وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ مَالَ ٱلْيَتِيمِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ ۚ وَأَوْفُوا۟ بِٱلْعَهْدِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلْعَهْدَ كَانَ مَسْـُٔولًا

Come not near the wealth of the orphan save with that which is better till he come to strength; and keep the covenant. Lo! of the covenant it will be asked.

Quran 17:34

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani 1.1), CC BY 3.0, tanzil.net. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via Project Gutenberg. Counts and verse choice: Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology data (corpus.quran.com).