# Muttawa مطوع



## majuk

Hello,

I'm translating a book into Polish language. The book is written in English, but the action takes place in Saudi Arabia. I have problem with religious police called Muttawa. When the author referes to specific people, they are called Mutaween. I don't know why the shadda disapears. I'd like to know also, if Muttawa is the name of organisation/institution or a person being member of it. If it's a collective noun, so what is the singular? If it's a singular noun, so what is the common name of whole police? 

If somebody could write it for me in Arabic script, it would be easier for me to transliterate it in Polish, instead of passing through English. 

i've found in Wikipedia what follows: "The word *mutaween (Arabic: المطوعين‎ muṭawwiʿīn; variant English spellings: mutawwain, muttawa, mutawallees, mutawa’ah, mutawi’, mutawwa') most literally means "volunteers" in the Arabic language,[2] and is commonly used as a casual term for the government-authorized or government-recognized religious police (or clerical police) of Saudi Arabia.*" 

I'd like to be sure if it's correct and in English transliteration the "t" is doubled without the reason.

Thanks


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## AndyRoo

The correct vowelling is مُطَّوِّع , i.e. muTTawwi` [it's verb form V], it literally means "a volunteer". The plural is muTTawwi`īn. I know expats in Saudi call the religious police force "the mutawa", but I'm not sure if that is the correct Arab collective noun.


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## majuk

Thanks a lot. 

If there is anybody, who knows what is the correct Arabic form, please, tell me. So, if Muttawwa is the name of institution, so how is called singular member of it? I mean, the author uses it in quite chaotic way, and I'd like to know how should I refere to one member of religious police and how to it in general. 

Thanks


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## rayloom

The name of the institution is هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر, translated into English as *Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.*
Although مطوع is commonly used to refer to it's members, it's considered by some derogatory. The term was originally used to refer to highly observant muslims in the already conservative Saudi society.
The plural of مطوع mu6awwi3 is مطاوعة ma6aaw3a. (vocalizations according to my dialect)
AndyRoo has thankfully mentioned the origin of the word and its original meaning


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## WadiH

rayloom said:


> The name of the institution is هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر, translated into English as *Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.*
> Although مطوع is commonly used to refer to it's members, it's considered by some derogatory. The term was originally used to refer to highly observant muslims in the already conservative Saudi society.
> The plural of مطوع mu6awwi3 is مطاوعة ma6aaw3a. (vocalizations according to my dialect)
> AndyRoo has thankfully mentioned the origin of the word and its original meaning



Yes, the proper plural is "Mutaaw3ah"/"Mataaw3ah". No Saudi would ever say "Mutaw3iin." Although practically every member of the Committee is a mutawwa3, Saudis don't refer to the religious police in particular as "Mataaw3a"; they use the word "Hay2a" (meaning "the Committee") instead. Mataaw3a is used more generally to refer to religious conservatives, most of whom are not members of the Committee.

I don't know the situtation in the western province, but generally speaking it is not derogatory at all (informal, perhaps, but not derogatory).

Nobody really knows the etymology for certain (could have originally meant "volunteer," could have meant "obedient"/"observant" or it could mean something else entirely), but it is a relatively old Najdi word. I've seen references to it dating from the 1600's to refer to prayer leaders (imams) and to pious people in general, but the full scope of its usage is unclear.


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## WadiH

AndyRoo said:


> The correct vowelling is مُطَّوِّع , i.e. muTTawwi` [it's verb form V], it literally means "a volunteer". The plural is muTTawwi`īn. I know expats in Saudi call the religious police force "the mutawa", but I'm not sure if that is the correct Arab collective noun.



No, the correct vowelization is مطوَّع (mTawwa3) [passive participle of طوّع].  Perhaps the double "t" was used here (incorrectly)to convey the emphatic nature of the T ط.


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## fdb

Purely from the standpoint of grammar there are three possible ways to vocalise مطوع :



muṭawwiʽ = “subjugator” (stem II active participle)
muṭawwaʽ = “subjugated” (stem II passive participle)
muṭṭawwiʽ = mutaṭawwiʽ = “volunteer” (stem V active participle)

Which one makes the best sense?


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## rayloom

Although I agree with Wadi Hanifa that's it's difficult to ascertain the origin of this particular term with this meaning, and although the forms used today are those of the active & passive stem II participles...
I would still go with AndyRoo on this one, that it comes originally from the active participle of stem V, with a gemination of the t and ط.

It makes the best sense, especially in this context. In addition, muṭṭawwiʽ is attested quite early on, and in a similar context. 
You have for example:
*"الَّذِينَ  يَلْمِزُونَ الْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ  وَالَّذِينَ لا يَجِدُونَ إِلا جُهْدَهُمْ فَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ سَخِرَ  اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ*"


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## dkarjala

rayloom said:


> Although I agree with Wadi Hanifa that's it's difficult to ascertain the origin of this particular term with this meaning, and although the forms used today are those of the active & passive stem II participles...
> I would still go with AndyRoo on this one, that it comes originally from the active participle of stem V, with a gemination of the t and ط.
> 
> It makes the best sense, especially in this context. In addition, muṭṭawwiʽ is attested quite early on, and in a similar context.
> You have for example:
> *"الَّذِينَ  يَلْمِزُونَ الْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي الصَّدَقَاتِ  وَالَّذِينَ لا يَجِدُونَ إِلا جُهْدَهُمْ فَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ سَخِرَ  اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ*"



I think when you have not only a Quranic attestation, but an attestation in contexts that give more significance to the concept itself, it's more than enough evidence. I really like this because it's an old, standard word that not only has assimilation of the emphatic, but also syncope of the _fatHa _on the reflexive _taa_. Very cool.


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## WadiH

dkarjala said:


> I think when you have not only a Quranic attestation, but an attestation in contexts that give more significance to the concept itself, it's more than enough evidence. I really like this because it's an old, standard word that not only has assimilation of the emphatic, but also syncope of the _fatHa _on the reflexive _taa_. Very cool.



I don't see any evidence of a connection between this and the Najdi مطوّع other than the shared root ط و ع.  There is no reason for مطّوَّع (< متطوع) [active participle from taTawwa3] to become مطوّّع [passive participle from Tawwa3] as Najdi Arabic has plenty of active participles in that form of مطّوّع.  The Quranic verse is clearly meant in the specific context of almsgiving (i.e "those who volunteer to give alms").  It does not imply a special class of people called مطّّوعين.


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## fdb

What we need are citations from texts form the early history of the Wahhabi movement to illustrate how the word was understood at the time. Wadi Hanifa has informed us that the Najdi dialect pronunciation is mṭawwaع. If I am not mistaken, in Najdi, as is many other dialects, historic –iع regularly becomes –aع. In this case, Najdi mṭawwaع could be either an active participle “subjugator” or a passive “subjugated”. Is that correct? As I said, what we need is a context to clarify how the word is actually understood locally.

(I see that rayloom has said basically the same thing, but it might be helpful to repeat it in a slightly different wording.)


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## WadiH

fdb said:


> What we need are citations from texts form the early history of the Wahhabi movement to illustrate how the word was understood at the time.



The word is attested from the 1600's, over a century before Muhammad ibn Abdelwahhab became active (c. 1740).  It was used to mean either the imam of a mosque (e.g. "the mTawwa3 of the mosque of Unayzah"), a student of religion or a pious and observant Muslim generally.  The _maSdar_ طوع (Tuu3) is also used to mean piety or observance (e.g. the old saying الطوع دربه طويل, "the path of piety is a long one").  Here are some references (do a search for the sequence طوع):
http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C08.html
http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C09.html
http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C10.html



> Wadi Hanifa has informed us that the Najdi dialect pronunciation is mṭawwaع. If I am not mistaken, in Najdi, as is many other dialects, historic –iع regularly becomes –aع. In this case, Najdi mṭawwaع could be either an active participle “subjugator” or a passive “subjugated”. Is that correct?



No, that is not correct.  -i3 is -i3 and -a3 is -a3 -- one does not become the other.  The only dialect I know of that sometimes shifts -i3 to -a3 is Egyptian.


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## rayloom

Wadi Hanifa said:


> The word is attested from the 1600's, over a century before Muhammad ibn Abdelwahhab became active (c. 1740).  It was used to mean either the imam of a mosque (e.g. "the mTawwa3 of the mosque of Unayzah"), a student of religion or a pious and observant Muslim generally.  The _maSdar_ طوع (Tuu3) is also used to mean piety or observance (e.g. the old saying الطوع دربه طويل, "the path of piety is a long one").  Here are some references (do a search for the sequence طوع):
> http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C08.html
> http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C09.html
> http://www.saadsowayan.com/Publications/Ar_Book3/C10.html
> 
> 
> 
> No, that is not correct.  -i3 is -i3 and -a3 is -a3 -- one does not become the other.  The only dialect I know of that sometimes shifts -i3 to -a3 is Egyptian.



The first mention of the word in the context of الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر "Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" comes probably from 9th century Baghdad, when a group of "volunteers" مطوعة appeared for the purpose of الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر "Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice".

I'll leave you with an exerpt from تاريخ الطبري:

"وفي هذه السنة تجردت   المطوعة  على الفساق ببغداد 
[...]
فلما رأى الناس ذلك وما قد أخذ منهم وما بيع من متاع الناس في  أسواقهم وما قد أظهروا من الفساد في الأرض والظلم والبغي وقطع الطريق وأن  السلطان لا يغير عليهم قام صلحاء كل ربض وكل درب فمشى بعضهم إلى بعض وقالوا  إنما في الدرب الفاسق والفاسقان إلى العشرة وقد غلبوكم وأنتم أكثر منهم  فلو اجتمعتم حتى يكون أمركم واحدا هؤلاء الفساق وصاروا لا يفعلون ما يفعلون  من إظهار الفسق بين أظهركم      فقام رجل من ناحية طريق الأنبار يقال له  خالد فدعا جيرانه وأهل بيته وأهل محلته على أن يعاونوه على الأمر بالمعروف  والنهي عن المنكر فأجابوه إلى ذلك وشد على من يليه من الفساق والشطار  فمنعهم مما كانوا يصنعون فامتنعوا عليه وأرادوا قتاله إلا أنه كان لا يرى  أن يغير على السلطان شيئا ثم قام من بعده رجل من اهل الحربية يقال له سهل  بن بالإجماع الأنصاري من أهل خراسان الغرماء أبا حاتم فدعا الناس إلى الأمر  بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر والعمل بكتاب الله جل وعز وسنة نبيه صلى الله  عليه وسلم وعلق مصحفا في عنقه ثم بدا بجيرانه واهل محلته فأمرهم ونهاهم  فقبلوا منه ثم دعا الناس جميعا إلى ذلك الشريف منهم والوضيع و بني هاشم ومن  دونهم وجعل له ديوانا يثبت فيه اسم من اتاه منهم فبايعه على ذلك وقتال من  خالفه عدا ما دعا إليه كائنا من كان فاتاه خلق كثير فبايعوه"

A member of المطوعة was also called المطوع, as in "فقاتل سهل بن سلامة المطوع" from تاريخ ابن خلدون.

As for its vocalisation, most sources list it with a doubled ط.


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## إسكندراني

Wadi Hanifa said:


> No, that is not correct.  -i3 is -i3 and -a3 is -a3 -- one does not become the other.  The only dialect I know of that sometimes shifts -i3 to -a3 is Egyptian.


Egyptians don't do this (maybe you mishear -e3?), but Libyans seem to do it quite often.


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## dkarjala

What a mess. So let me get this straight: in actual usage in SA, the group is called المطاوعة and a member *could* be referred to as a مُطَوَّع with a vocalization corresponding to the passive participle of طوّع. Can this much be agreed upon?


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## WadiH

إسكندراني said:


> Egyptians don't do this (maybe you mishear -e3?), but Libyans seem to do it quite often.



Really?  How do you say مقطّع?


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## WadiH

dkarjala said:


> What a mess. So let me get this straight: in actual usage in SA, the group is called المطاوعة and a member *could* be referred to as a مُطَوَّع with a vocalization corresponding to the passive participle of طوّع. Can this much be agreed upon?



Yes, but in Arabia it doesn't really mean a group of people who engage in "promoting virtue and prohibition of vice" but rather it refers to the whole class of pious, observant Muslims in general (which, of course, includes members of the Committee).  Which is why the reference cited by Iskandarani, while interesting, is not conclusive.  In the earliest Najdi references, مطوّع seems to mean nothing more than the imam of a mosque and طوع simply means piety and religious scholarship.  Here is another interesting reference:

*ذكر مسعود الندوي في ترجمته للشيخ محمد بن عبد الوهاب في إحدي حواشيه: "المطوع: طالب العلم المتقي لربه" أو ما معناه ذلك .*


This Nadawi died in 1954.

By the way, in the 19th century, the Saudi emirs instituted a kind of religious/moral police not unlike "the Committee" of today.  Their name was not المطاوعة but المتْديّنة (pronounced المدّيّنة).


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## WadiH

Some additional information from Abdelkareem Al-Jehayman (1912-2011), author of the 10-volume collection الأمثال الشعبية في قلب جزيرة العرب (_Folk Sayings from the Heart of Arabia_):
"مطوّع الحنشل منهم ("the mtawwa3 of the thieves is one of them")
المطوع هو الإمام الذي يصلي بالناس
***
المطوّع لو يشوف خديْد سارة طوّح المصحف وعجّل بالصلاة
المطوّع هو نصف عالم وعادة الذي يصلّي بالناس في المساجد ويعلمهم مبادئ الدين .. ويرشدهم إلى بعض ما يجهلون من آداب الإسلام
***
مطوّعٍ ما كبر هوله وجوره
المطوّع هو نصف عالم أي الذي يعرف قراءة القرآن مجوّدة ويعرف بعد ذلك بعض الشؤون الدينية الهامة
***
المطوّع من طاع ربّه
المطوع كلمة مشتقة من الطاعة .. وهي الخضوع والانقياد لأوامر الله ونواهيه ..
والمطوّع في عرف أهل نجد هو أقل من العالم .. وفوق مستوى العامة بحيث أنه يعرف قراءة القرآن .. كما أنه يعرف أن يكتب الكتاب ويقرأه .. وهو علاوة على هذا وذاك يعرف مبادئ الدين وأصوله والعبادات ومستلزماتها ويصلي بالناس إماماً
وهذا المثل يضرب في أن كلمة المطوع لا تقتصر على أئمة المساجد فقط بل إن كل عبد طائع لربه يسمى مطوعاً لأن لقب مطوع لقب كبير في نظر المواطنين والذي يتصف به أو يتحلى به له مقام مرموق فيما بينهم
***
مطوّعٍ وبالخفا إنْ شاف شٍ لشّه
لشّه أخذه وأخفاه .. وهذه تهمة يتهم بها العوام المطاوعة .. وهم الذي يصلون أئمة في مساجد القرى ويعلمون أطفالها​
The above explanation largely confirms my own conclusions from the various references and from the way the word is used by older people, namely, that a muTawwa3 was a petty or small-time village preacher or imam, who, while familiar with the basics of Islamic teachings, is not a full-fledged religious scholar (3aalim عالم or sheekh شيخ).  The mutawwa3 lead the prayers, advised on day-to-day matters, taught the local children to read and to recite the Quran, etc..  A student training to be such a local imam would also be called a مطوّع.  Najd, being an impoverished country where people had very little access to large libraries and specialized tracts, had only a few true 3aalims scattered among the major towns (Riyadh, Unayzah, etc.), many of whom studied abroad in Mecca, Medina, Syria, Egypt, etc..  Most other towns and villages had to make do with مطاوعة, who probably studied with a 3aalim for a period of time before returning to their villages. The bulk of the religious class was therefore made up (as is the case today) with مطاوعة who were students of various _3ulama_.

As to the etymology, it could have come from:

(1) volunteering (i.e. a person would volunteer to become a student of religion and to handle the religious affairs of his village or neighborhood).  This etymology would be consistent with other similar instances, such as the مطّوّعين of Abbasid Baghdad, even though those مطّوّعين seemed to be more like a group of religious vigilantes rather than a class of small-time imams and local clerics.

or (2) it could have (as many Najdis seemed to believe judging from the portion in red above) been derived from طاعة meaning obedience, piety, observance of God's commandments, etc.  This would be more consistent with the morphological pattern of the word (being a passive participle from طوّع).


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## إسكندراني

Wadi Hanifa said:


> Really?  How do you say مقطّع?


me2aTTa3
I see what you're saying; this in my head is not a change of pronunciation at all. It is a different conjugation altogether; the whole of مُفَعِّل becomes مِفَعَّل
so instead of 'al khaTTu moqaTTi3' it's 'el khaTTe m2aTTa3'.


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