What's a good translation of the "Reliance of the Traveller"?
- Thread starter nosmarter
- Start date
- Replies 14
- Views 4K
British Wholesales - Certified Wholesale Linen & Towels | Halal Food Gastronomy | vBulletin 4 php 8.0 patch
I never heard about this book before, but can't you just download it?
I did a quick google search on it and according to wiki:
"Umdat as-Salik was translated into English by the American Muslim scholar Nuh Ha Mim Keller in 1991 and became the first translation of a standard Islamic legal reference in a European language to be certified by Al-Azhar. The translation comprises 26 sections titled according to the letters of the English alphabet, Book A, Book B, Book C, etc."
Searched on different sites for it, but it seems that the book was available as pdf for a while, but because of the copyrights issue it has been removed from most sites. Looks like you have to buy it.
But why are you so interested in this book if I may ask?
no it is not.
We do not have any book that dictates the sharia other than the Quran and hadeeths.
This book from what I understand is derived from the Quran and hadeeths and explains the sharia law from the Shafi point of view.
That's interesting .. what does that mean? Is this book not considered a valid source by most Muslims?
What do you mean with "valid"?
The shariah is dictated in the Quraan and sounnah...there is no other book with jurisprudence within Islaam. All laws of the sariah can be found in there.
This book just explains the shariah law...so it is valid.
Within Islaam we have 4 big schools: Hanafi, Hanbali, Shafi and Maliki
Basically they have the same shariah laws...but differ only in small details...in the sounnah part.
All four schools are lawfull. They acknowledge and respect each other.
I am Hanafi myself. For me, this book certainly would have value...because it provides information about the shariah...but it may vary just a little because it is from a shafi point of view.
To illustrate you one of those details is the standing position in prayer.
As a Hanafi, our standing position is with our feet 5-10 cm from each other. We grab our left wrist with our right hand. If we pray in a group and we form a line...only our shoulders touch each other.
Other schools have a wider standing position. They grab their left forearm just below the elbow with their right hand and in line both shoulders and toes touch their neighbours.
Like you can see...just minor differences.
Re: What's a good translation of the "Reliance of the Traveller"?
- - - Updated - - -
Let me clarify .. if there were to be a dispute of some kind among Muslims, would they go to this book and say " It says here .." and use that as a reference to the law?
I see, Umie. Thank you for the clarification. If I ask a question about something I read in this book, would there be Muslims here who might say that the book isn't accurate? The reason I ask is that I read part of a downloaded version. Some parts seemed a bit harsh to me so I wanted to be sure I wasn't reading a badly translated version which maybe makes certain parts seem worse than they actually are.
- - - Updated - - -
Let me clarify .. if there were to be a dispute of some kind among Muslims, would they go to this book and say " It says here .." and use that as a reference to the law?
Re: What's a good translation of the "Reliance of the Traveller"?
No. The book is accurate. Of course there is always the translation issue...but that remains whatever translation you choose.
In my honoust opinion do not think this book is appropriate for you to use in these kind of purposes.
This because you need a huge load of basic background information why which rules exist and how it should be put in practise.
You are better of reading the quran with the help of a tafsir.
The tafsir will give you the needed background information for every verse. It tells you which verse is revealed when...what was happening in the world at that moment and why the verse was revealed and what is meant by it.
One broadly accepted tafsir is the tafsir ibn Kathir...free to download everywhere.
Muslims usually will not use this book as a reference. They will always strive to refer to the Quraanverse or a saheeh hadeeth...and sometimes the tafseer...but usually not this book you are searching for.
It may be a thing among Shafi's...but not that I am aware of.
No. The book is accurate. Of course there is always the translation issue...but that remains whatever translation you choose.
In my honoust opinion do not think this book is appropriate for you to use in these kind of purposes.
This because you need a huge load of basic background information why which rules exist and how it should be put in practise.
You are better of reading the quran with the help of a tafsir.
The tafsir will give you the needed background information for every verse. It tells you which verse is revealed when...what was happening in the world at that moment and why the verse was revealed and what is meant by it.
One broadly accepted tafsir is the tafsir ibn Kathir...free to download everywhere.
Muslims usually will not use this book as a reference. They will always strive to refer to the Quraanverse or a saheeh hadeeth...and sometimes the tafseer...but usually not this book you are searching for.
It may be a thing among Shafi's...but not that I am aware of.
Re: What's a good translation of the "Reliance of the Traveller"?
Ok, that makes sense. Thanks. I may be veering slightly off topic now, but I think you're suggesting that the Quran should be read with the guidance of someone who has studied the verses in order to give them the proper context and meaning. Not too long ago I was at Leicester Square in London where there was a sort of Islamic booth there to get people interested in the religion. The men there were kind enough to spend a couple of hours talking to me - but one thing was pretty clear to me; they understood the Quran to be the infallible word of God with every sentence being the truth. If that is so, is there any other interpretation beyond the literal words in the book?
Ok, that makes sense. Thanks. I may be veering slightly off topic now, but I think you're suggesting that the Quran should be read with the guidance of someone who has studied the verses in order to give them the proper context and meaning. Not too long ago I was at Leicester Square in London where there was a sort of Islamic booth there to get people interested in the religion. The men there were kind enough to spend a couple of hours talking to me - but one thing was pretty clear to me; they understood the Quran to be the infallible word of God with every sentence being the truth. If that is so, is there any other interpretation beyond the literal words in the book?
Re: What's a good translation of the "Reliance of the Traveller"?
Just reading the Quraan won't help you understand it. you need background information. Some verses are referring to a certain event in time and are meant as an example. If you do not know to which event the verse is referring to, than you may misinterpret the verse, or you would not understand it all.
For example verse 2:65-66:
And you know the case of those of you who broke the Sabbath,[SUP]82[/SUP] how We said to them: “Become apes, despised and hated.”
And thus We made their end a warning for the people of their own time and for the succeeding generations, and an admonition to the God-fearing.
Just reading these verses will not benefit you much, because you do not know what these verses are referring to.
It refers to the Jews who were prohibited to work on Sabbath (saturday). There were a group of Jews living near a river and they were fishing daily for the living, but on Sabbath they were not allowed to fish because that was the resting day.
Allah tested them by making the fish plenty around their village on sabbath day and scarce but just enough to live from on other days.
Of course the Jews noticed this but they were not allowed to fish on that very day. So what they did out of greed, is to set up their nets on friday evening, and let the nets do the fishing all saturday, and then pick them back up on sunday morning...and by doing that they would cunningle be able to say that they did not fish on the saturday...only their nets did...
Of course they cannot fool Allah with this and that is why they have been transformed into apes to set an example for other jews and people.
So it does not talk about all Jews...just a particular group.
What this verse is actually saying is, that if a prohibition of something is obvious, then you may use an excuse to try to justify it but you will not get away with it. you will only fool yourself.
so, back to your question:
I am not suggesting you must have guidance in order to understand the Quraan. of course that would be wise...but do a little more research on the verses than just looking at the translation. Again, the book "Tafsir ibn Kathir" will give you some valuable information about each verse and it is broadly accepted by Muslims.
and Yes, the Quraan is the infallible word of God with every word being the truth. every Muslims believes this, and no, there are no other interpretations of the Quraan other than the litteral one. Of course there are some discussions about some verses how it should be actually interpreted...but that is about details...in general we can say that all schools agree with each other about the Quraan interpretation.
Just reading the Quraan won't help you understand it. you need background information. Some verses are referring to a certain event in time and are meant as an example. If you do not know to which event the verse is referring to, than you may misinterpret the verse, or you would not understand it all.
For example verse 2:65-66:
And you know the case of those of you who broke the Sabbath,[SUP]82[/SUP] how We said to them: “Become apes, despised and hated.”
And thus We made their end a warning for the people of their own time and for the succeeding generations, and an admonition to the God-fearing.
Just reading these verses will not benefit you much, because you do not know what these verses are referring to.
It refers to the Jews who were prohibited to work on Sabbath (saturday). There were a group of Jews living near a river and they were fishing daily for the living, but on Sabbath they were not allowed to fish because that was the resting day.
Allah tested them by making the fish plenty around their village on sabbath day and scarce but just enough to live from on other days.
Of course the Jews noticed this but they were not allowed to fish on that very day. So what they did out of greed, is to set up their nets on friday evening, and let the nets do the fishing all saturday, and then pick them back up on sunday morning...and by doing that they would cunningle be able to say that they did not fish on the saturday...only their nets did...
Of course they cannot fool Allah with this and that is why they have been transformed into apes to set an example for other jews and people.
So it does not talk about all Jews...just a particular group.
What this verse is actually saying is, that if a prohibition of something is obvious, then you may use an excuse to try to justify it but you will not get away with it. you will only fool yourself.
so, back to your question:
I am not suggesting you must have guidance in order to understand the Quraan. of course that would be wise...but do a little more research on the verses than just looking at the translation. Again, the book "Tafsir ibn Kathir" will give you some valuable information about each verse and it is broadly accepted by Muslims.
and Yes, the Quraan is the infallible word of God with every word being the truth. every Muslims believes this, and no, there are no other interpretations of the Quraan other than the litteral one. Of course there are some discussions about some verses how it should be actually interpreted...but that is about details...in general we can say that all schools agree with each other about the Quraan interpretation.
Yes. The Quraan says so...so, yes I believe those Jews were actually turned into apes.
Miracles do happen from time to time and nothing is impossible to God.
Some miracles did happen in the past, like Jesus as walking on water...Moses as spreading the sea, Noah as with his Ark, Jesus as being born from a Virgin mother and being able to talk as a few days old baby, and these Jews being turned into apes.
Yes I do believe in those miracles.
Miracles happen with the will of God to show people His existence so that they believe again. multiple prophets performed miracles by the will of God just to make people see and witness the truth and so that they cannot deny it.
Miracles do not happen on their own out of coincidence or something or to just a single person. Usually there is a large group of people witnessing the miracle.
witnessing such an event convinces people to become believers again because it defies the laws of nature...so obviously it comes from God.
Grandad
Esteemed Member
- Messages
- 192
- Reaction score
- 17
- Gender
- Male
- Religion
- Islam
Hi,
Google: 'RelianceOfTheTraveller-TheClassicManualOfIslamicSacredLawumdatAl-salikByAhmadIbnNaqibAl-misri.pdf' You'll find it in the Archive.org site. Listed as book number 8.
Have a good day.
Last edited:
Grandad
Esteemed Member
- Messages
- 192
- Reaction score
- 17
- Gender
- Male
- Religion
- Islam