Quran required in Arabic? or Translated?

786

Bismillah

Assalamoalykum Brothers and Sisters,

Im here today because me, my dad and wife got into an argument with my step-mother regarding the reading the recitation of the quran. She claims that the Quran should be read only in the translated form. She says that most people learn the arabic form because its tradition I believe there is a hadith that the Prophet (SAW) says that the Quran is to be read constantly, with translation or without. I cant find this Hadith, if anyone could point me to it I would really appreciate it.

OR

Is she correct? Are we suppose to give more importance to the translation?

OR

the word of Allah?

OR

is it a misunderstanding and could it be both ways?

jazakullah kair in advance.
-shahid

anyone?

I'm not 100% sure bro', but I think if you want to recite it, it has to be in Arabic. This doesn't mean you have to learn Arabic and read Qu'ran in your spare time only in Arabic, for understanding purposes you can read in any language. But for reciting, Arabic only.

So do you get hassanaat while reading the translated version of the Qu'ran or does it have to be arabic ??

I would say that meaning of the qur'an is most important, so somebody who doesn't understand Arabic would do well in reading the translation. The technical difference here is that we are certain of the hassanaat for reading the arabic, but not certain about the hassanaat for reading a translation. However that doesn't mean that you don't get anything, that simply knows we don't know how much or wheter or not. On the other hand, it's also important to know that every action is judged by it's intention. So reading a translation with the intention to learn and practice Islam better might be more rewarding then reading Arabic simply because you want to earn points. Note that I said "might" since nothing is revealed regarding these, all we can do is speculate.

Abdul Fattah said:

I would say that meaning of the qur'an is most important, so somebody who doesn't understand Arabic would do well in reading the translation. The technical difference here is that we are certain of the hassanaat for reading the arabic, but not certain about the hassanaat for reading a translation. However that doesn't mean that you don't get anything, that simply knows we don't know how much or wheter or not. On the other hand, it's also important to know that every action is judged by it's intention. So reading a translation with the intention to learn and practice Islam better might be more rewarding then reading Arabic simply because you want to earn points. Note that I said "might" since nothing is revealed regarding these, all we can do is speculate.

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Barrakallahu fiek , thanks , so the intention is very important

I'd refrain from using such words as 'only' with this form of authority... is she a scholar?

Personally I fear that, what happened with other divine revelation might happen with the Quran, because something will always be lost to you in the translation...

Most converts I know, resort to anywhere from 2-5 different translations of the Quran to get ful meaning and still it isn't the same as reading in Arabic, it becomes more a supplication than a recitation.. just the other day I was reading the translation of suret Al'moe'menoon by pickthall, and I notices so many errors, that much of context, meaning and resonance was lost...

Now, (pickthall) really did his best to make the noble Quran available to a wider audience and may Allah reward him for that.. but he is also human and not immune from error.. thus it is incumbent upon you to tread and seek perfection where others have faltered... if you take everyone's whose name you read on a good solid strong book of fiqh or jurisprudence you'll find that, that person has made a very strong ijtihad and didn't merely take their step mother's word for it.. I believe abu hurirha was blind? some didn't even speak Arabic..they sought their own path to Allah...

My personal suggestion is, you get a book where there is transliteration and while reciting listen to your favorite reciter and repeat after him.. that way you might even memorize and what a great thing that is considering the Quran is ones only companion in the trials of the grave..

Allah knows best


the abridged version of suret Al'moe'menoon
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnMsUWruRfY&eurl=http://www.islamicboard.com/islamic-multimedia/55429-fan-jibreen-suret-almoemnoon-him.html#post890048[/media]

Güven said:

so the intention is very important

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Yes, it is.

It could be that you're shouting at two children telling them to stop swearing at eachother and you could hurt their feelings by shouting at them, but your intention is to make them realise what they're doing is wrong.

(That's not a very good example though, you should always refrain from becoming angry. But you see what I mean.)

so is there a hadith that states that we get hassanath for reading in arabic? she thinks there is no point in reading in arabic while she has a english translation ( mind u, she CAN read arabic, she just feels like its a tradition and pointless)..i need to quote a quranic verse or hadith or she wont listen.

SpeedInfusion said:

so is there a hadith that states that we get hassanath for reading in arabic? she thinks there is no point in reading in arabic while she has a english translation ( mind u, she CAN read arabic, she just feels like its a tradition and pointless)..i need to quote a quranic verse or hadith or she wont listen.

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I don't have a hadith, sorry.

Maybe someone else can help you out insha'Allah.

SpeedInfusion said:

so is there a hadith that states that we get hassanath for reading in arabic? she thinks there is no point in reading in arabic while she has a english translation ( mind u, she CAN read arabic, she just feels like its a tradition and pointless)..i need to quote a quranic verse or hadith or she wont listen.

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:salamext:


The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said (translation of the meaning):

"A person who recites one harf (letter) of the Qur'an, obtains one virtue; each virtue multiplies to ten virtues. I am not saying that (Alif Laam Meem) is one harf [letter]. But, Alif in it is one harf; the Laam in it is one harf and the Meem in it is one harf." (Recorded in Tirmidhi, Darimi).


So for each letter we recite of Qur'an in arabic, the person gets 10 rewards. So if they recited Alif (10 rewards) Laam (10 rewards) Meem (10 rewards) = 30 rewards. Just for 3 letters.



In regard to reading a translation of the Qur'ans meaning, then this is not Qur'an (its just a translation of its meaning i.e. a tafsir) so the reward will not be 10 rewards per letter, but the person will be rewarded for understanding the meaning of the Qur'an.


I've heard this in a fatwa programme on IslamQA.



And Allah knows best.

- Qatada - said:

:salamext:


The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said (translation of the meaning):

"A person who recites one harf (letter) of the Qur'an, obtains one virtue; each virtue multiplies to ten virtues. I am not saying that (Alif Laam Meem) is one harf [letter]. But, Alif in it is one harf; the Laam in it is one harf and the Meem in it is one harf." (Recorded in Tirmidhi, Darimi).


So for each letter we recite of Qur'an in arabic, the person gets 10 rewards. So if they recited Alif (10 rewards) Laam (10 rewards) Meem (10 rewards) = 30 rewards. Just for 3 letters.



In regard to reading a translation of the Qur'ans meaning, then this is not Qur'an (its just a translation of its meaning i.e. a tafsir) so the reward will not be 10 rewards per letter, but the person will be rewarded for understanding the meaning of the Qur'an.


I've heard this in a fatwa programme on IslamQA.



And Allah knows best.

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Jazakallahu Khair for the info :thumbs_up

But what does 'Alif Laam Meen' Mean?, I read it in the Qu'ran but never knew what it meant

The Message of The Quran

Translated and Explained by Muhammad Asad

APPENDIX II

AL-MUQATTA’AT


ABOUT one-quarter of the Qur'anic surahs are preceded by mysterious letter-symbols called muqatta’at ("disjointed letters") or, occasionally, fawatih ("openings") because they appear at the beginning of the relevant surahs. Out of the twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet, exactly one-half - that is, fourteen - occur in this position, either singly or in varying combinations of two, three, four or five letters. They are always pronounced singly, by their designations and not as mere sounds - thus: alif lam mim, or ha mim, etc.



The significance of these letter-symbols has perplexed the commentators from the earliest times. There is no evidence of the Prophet's having ever referred to them in any of his recorded utterances, nor of any of his Companions having ever asked him for an explanation. None the less, it is established beyond any possibility of doubt that all the Companions - obviously following the example of the Prophet - regarded the muqatta’at as integral parts of the surahs to which they are prefixed, and used to recite them accordingly: a fact which disposes effectively of the suggestion advanced by some Western orientalists that these letters may be no more than the initials of the scribes who wrote down the individual revelations at the Prophet's dictation, or of the Companions who recorded them at the time of the final codification of the Qur'an during the reign of the first three Caliphs.



Some of the Companions as well as some of their immediate successors and later Qur'an-commentators were convinced that these letters are abbreviations of certain words or even phrases relating to God and His attributes, and tried to "reconstruct" them with much ingenuity: but since the possible combinations are practically unlimited, all such interpretations are highly arbitrary and, therefore, devoid of any real usefulness. Others have tried to link the muqatta’ at to the numerological values of the letters of the Arabic alphabet, and have "derived" by this means all manner of esoteric indications and prophecies.



Yet another, perhaps more plausible interpretation, based on two sets of facts, has been advanced by some of the most outstanding Islamic scholars throughout the centuries: Firstly, all words of the Arabic language, without any exception, are composed of either one letter or a combination of two, three, four or five letters, and never more than five: and, as already mentioned, these are the forms in which the muqatta’at appear.

Secondly, all surahs prefixed by these letter-symbols open, directly or obliquely, with a reference to revelation, either in its generic sense or its specific manifestation, the Qur'an. At first glance it might appear that three surahs (29, 30 and 68) are exceptions to this rule; but this assumption is misleading. In the opening verse of surah 29 (Al-Ankabat), a reference to revelation is obviously implied in the saying, "We have attained to faith" (amanna), i.e., in God and His messages. In surah 30 (Ar-Rum), divine revelation is unmistakably stressed in the prediction of Byzantine victory in verses 2-4. In verse l of surah 68 (Al-Qalam) the phenomenon of revelation is clearly referred to in the evocative mention of "the pen" (see note 2 on the first verse of that surah). Thus, there are no "exceptions" in the surahs prefixed by one or more of the muqatta’at: each of them opens with a reference to divine revelation.



This, taken together with the fact that the muqatta’at mirror, as it were, all word-forms of the Arabic language, has led scholars and thinkers like Al-Mubarrad, Ibn Hazm, Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Kathir - to mention only a few of them - to the conclusion that the muqatta’at are meant to illustrate the inimitable, wondrous nature of Qur'anic revelation, which, though originating in a realm beyond the reach of human perception (al-ghayb), can be and is conveyed to man by means of the very sounds (represented by letters) of ordinary human speech.



However, even this very attractive interpretation is not entirely satisfactory inasmuch as there are many surahs which open with an explicit reference to divine revelation and are nevertheless not preceded by any letter-symbol. Secondly – and this is the most weighty objection – the above explanation too is based on no more than conjecture: andso, in the last resort, we must content ourselves with the finding that a solution of this problem still remains beyond our grasp. This was apparently the view of the four Right-Guided Caliphs summarized in these words of Abu Bakr: "In every divine writ (kitab) there is [an element of] mystery – and the mystery of the Qur'an is [indicated] in the openings of [some of] the surahs."

very abridged by Muhammad Asad Leopold weiss

my pleasure I didn't do anything lol..
I too have long wondered of their meaning but not wanting to get so deep as to border upon an innovation I desist...

I asked a scholar once and he told me that he 'thinks/believes' that the Quran in its integrality rests on those few muqatta’at and that it is one of those things that one attributes to the inimitable nature of the Quran.. you know when people say it is transcendent, with wonders never ceasing it is truly on many levels... sob7an Allah..

Güven said:

But what does 'Alif Laam Meen' Mean?, I read it in the Qu'ran but never knew what it meant

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:salamext:


Only Allah knows their true meaning However, like the sister posted - the scholars do try to find an understanding as to their meaning, but none knows their true meaning except Allah.