Quranic root
رهط
r · h · ṭ
A root orientation toward gathering or clustering, especially people into a group or collective.
The root develops from the idea of assembly into terms for a human band or near kin, a congregated group, and several specialized objects associated with gathering, enclosing, or being cut into a collective set of strips. The Quranic noun رهط specifically denotes a near-kin collective or a small male band.
- Maqāyīs · row 2171
- Lane · entry 24709
- Lane · entry 24708
- 1
- Quran-attested forms
- 2
- Quran senses
- 3
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
رَهْط
rahṭ
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 3 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
A man’s near people, close kinsfolk, or tribe.
A collective designation for the closely related people associated with a man; in Quranic contexts it is rendered in terms such as one’s family or people, rather than necessarily a nuclear family.
- Lane · entry 24709
- Mufradāt · row 591
Selected Quran examples
Quran 11:91word 13
“for your family”
Quran 11:92word 3
“Is my family”
A small band or company of men, commonly fewer than ten.
The counted collective is described as male and without women. Classical authorities give varying numerical ranges, including three to ten or seven to ten, with some extending the term to larger groups; the Quran applies it to the nine men in the city of Ṣāliḥ’s account.
- Lane · entry 24709
- Mufradāt · row 591
Selected Quran examples
Quran 27:48word 5
“family heads”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
View all 3 occurrencesBroader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 5 Classical meanings
ٱرْتِهَاط
Being gathered together or congregated; a collective state.
Used in expressions describing people assembled or collected together, including the Form VIII-derived noun ارتهاط.
- Lane · entry 24708
رَهْط
A collection or cluster of plants of the ʿushar kind.
A specialized collective use for a group of plants.
- Lane · entry 24709
رَهْط
An enemy.
A rare Classical Arabic use reported as synonymous with عدوّ.
- Lane · entry 24709
رَهْط
A skin or leather waist-wrapper or garment cut into strips.
Descriptions include a wrapper worn by children, young girls before puberty, menstruating women, or desert boys; the term is also reported for a cloth used in connection with menstruation.
- Lane · entry 24709
- Mufradāt · row 591
رَاهِطَاء
A jerboa burrow or chamber used for taking out and collecting earth and for hiding its young.
A specialized name for one of the jerboa’s interconnected burrows, situated between the nāfiqāʾ and qāṣiʿāʾ.
- Lane · entry 24714
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
Classical authorities differ on the numerical extent of رهط; the Quranic evidence supports both a near-kin collective in 11:91–92 and a counted male band in 27:48.
The Form VIII-derived congregated-state noun is preserved as broader Classical Arabic evidence rather than as a Quranic form, since no corresponding QAC form group is supplied.