As soon as our Elders introduce us to God ,they start telling us the ways to communicate with him and very soon one realizes that what a difficult task it is! as Arabic seems to be the only language which can travel from the earth to the skies so we have to speak it even when we do not understand it!
At later stages we learn expressions like inshallah which means with God’s will but practically our acts prove that we believe in everything but God’s Will like References to get Jobs or bribery for smooth functioning. We offer our daily prayers in Arabic and again when we do not understand what we are saying to God so deeds contradict the words. We rush to finish our prayers only to get back where we had left from in the life based upon the sole objective of directly or indirectly accumulating wealth.
When we are born than call for prayer (Azan) is made in our ears and when we would die than our prayers would be offered. In spite of knowing this as the time between the Call and the prayer we are occupied in everything which is temporary and we are ignorant of what would last beyond death. Probably without exception all the religious scholars are convinced that prayers should not be performed in Urdu (some might not be sure if prayers in Urdu would even be accepted)but if prayers are meant to discipline us than how can we follow a discipline which we do not understand ?
Similarly if we are handed over a machine manual than this manual is supposed to help us running the machine and if we can not understand it than it wouldn’t be of any use even if we learn it by heart. Quran is supposed to be the manual of Life. We take pride in finishing its chapter in 20 min, we show respect to the people who have learned it by heart by addressing them Hafiz saab but what’s the point in learning it or reading it with command when we fail to comprehend the code of life in it!
Is language actually significant in religion if we actually believe that God is all around us?
How can we be proficient in a language (Arabic) which is not practiced in routine and if we need to practice it than what is that need?
Do you think Quran should be taught in Urdu at the age when our kids start taking its lessons?
Should prayers be offered in Urdu?
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And remember that this blog has been established to generate discussions and sharing of ideas by common people so no body is right and no body is wrong .Its just ordinary people sharing what they have in mind!
seriously I do agree with you on this one, At times we are praying not even knowing what we are doing. I guess inam's point of view is right if I could make sense of what I was saying It would affect my practical life.
ReplyDeleteYet I could'nt disagree with you more.
I find this hard to explaing umm....... the words of The Quran are very deep and the harder a person delves into it the more these words make sense the more you try to reach out to make sense of what is written more wisdom you get....SO you see in plain urdu that depth will simply not be there
Bazil LGS
every language has its own grammatical rules and standards. a single word reflects various perceptions. Namaz in arabic is not a matter of more reward, its a matter of comveying the exact meanings.
ReplyDeleteit is totally agreeable the Allah's message must be learnt properly in one's own language but translating every bit of it loses most of the in depth meanings. the arguement is why so many works of scientists are translated into different languages by scholars? and why people learn the other languages? so learning or making effort for Allah's language is not a big deal. is IT? this is only a trial by Allah for the human kind whether they strive to learn his message the hard way.
Ambreen
PART I
ReplyDeleteInam, my impression is that even little babies of 3 or 4 years do not feel difficult to communicate with God, and they invoke Him very spontaneously and naturally in their mother tongue. I think there is no such impression in our society that we have to use Arabic in order to offer supplications to God.
We offer our Salaat in Arabic, as Shariah requires it, and we do not understand what we are uttering. Believe me if we attach any importance to God and Hereafter, and if we give only 5% of importance and time to our religion, as compared to what we give to our carriers and other passions, we will be able to know Arabic to that much extent that we will understand what we are uttering in Namaaz, and we will be able to understand a lot of Quran, during reciting it. The problem is just that of our priorities! The real problem is that GOD AND ISLAM ARE NOT OUR PASSION, THIS WORLD IS OUR PASSION.
Mullahism is a great hurdle between masses and our religion. It is Mullahism, which makes people tend to believe that only uttering some “mantras” during Namaaz is enough. Mullahs have modified our religion into a religion of “mantras”. We utter mantras during reciting Quran, during uttering Arabic invocations, during Hajj and everything.
As far as I know, no scholar allows us to offer Namaaz in languages other than Arabic. In the case of interpreting Shariah, only scholars can perform Ijtihad, otherwise it will be quackery and thus an oblivious attitude. (Religious scholar is not like a priest. Any person who acquires knowledge of medicine can practice medicine, after passing through a prescribed system. Similarly anyone who acquires knowledge of some specific disciplines up to a certain level can perform Ijtihad). But the important point is that Namaaz is not meant for discipline, it is for the remembrance of God, according to Quran. Yes, how can we do this remembrance when we are uttering a mantra in Namaaz. So we must attach ultimate importance to it, and must develop such familiarity with Arabic that we could understand our Azkaar of Namaaz. Imagine a person who has lost his job. What will he do? He will put his utmost effort in searching a new one. But our religion is the most unimportant aspect of our lives.
I totally agree with you that we must read different translations of Quran. It should be a part of our daily routine. But we do not do this, as we are satisfied with mantras.
PART II
ReplyDelete*** To communicate with God, there is no compulsion of language. While Arabic is not compulsory for communication, it is of more importance, as far as those invocations are concerned which are “masnoon”, Our religion is “God centred” in principle, and “Prophet centred” in practice. So everything that has an association with the Prophet (PBUH) becomes sacred and holy. But once again, all these supplications must be offered after knowing what are we communicating through them. I agree that what is the use of offering these supplications like mantras.
*** We do not need to be proficient in Arabic at all. We only need to have a good working familiarity with Arabic. And it is very easy. The only question is that of priorities.
*** Our schools teach us English so that we could succeed in this world, these schools do not teach us Arabic. Why? Because Hereafter is not of any priority for our parents, our governments, our society and our own.
*** I totally agree that translation of Quran must be taught in the mother language of the children in very early stage.
*** “Should prayers be offered in Urdu?” This question must be put to a scholar. Only Mr. Ghamidi allows offering some of the supplications of Namaaz in Urdu. Others do not.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE: Please remember that Quran is not only communication. It is primarily not a communication. It is primarily a divine expression. In the very beginning, you come across the expression, “Alif Laam Meem’. It alludes to the fact that it is not solely communication. Quran declares it to be “Hidaayat”. While plain communication can only be “hidaayat” to rational intellect, up to some extent, it cannot become hidaayat for all elements of our personality/psyche. Our personality is made up of three elements. Aqal, Iraadah and tabi’at. Let Quran address our tabi’at. This is the most important end of Quran, among its other important ends. If we succeed to mend our tabi’at according to Quran, only then we will be successful in becoming true Muslims. This end cannot be achieved by reducing Quran to merely communication.
Allah has a perfect personality and knows every thing
ReplyDeleteHe knows what we say and what we hide
we r not given the instructions to translate the namax or quran in our language if we want to understand it we should consider the original text with the translation
we have seen that when Hazret Uthman(RA) was told by the cheif of the army that the Quran is Not read in the same acent as in the arabi so the ordered that all the copies should be collected and should be destroyed by fire and he ordered Zaid Bin Sabit to make copies of Quran same as the original
so we come to know that we r not instructed to translate the Quran and if we say that bible is read in english so we should also know that the original bible is not present only some parts of it are present
Allah Knows everything and he is the master
"Proclaim in the name of your Lord,
who creates,
creates man out of a mere clot of a congealed blood,
Proclaim and your Lord is most Bountiful,
who teaches,
teaches man which he knew not"
In my opinion we should understand what we are reading or praying, because it's the conversation between man and God. If we read as a duty without understanding then I'm sorry to say, there is no point. And if we understand our book, our religion, better then, we will be able to understand and respect others religions as well.
ReplyDeletePART III
ReplyDeleteInam, I am compelled to write Part III, as I could not give answers to some of your questions raised in your blog.
Please reflect on these examples. Every direction is God’s direction, and God is Hazir and Nazir. Even then we have to face Mecca for offering prayers. God created all the seven days, but Friday is chosen to be most sacred and most important for worship etc. God is Hazir and Nazir, but we must travel to Mecca to perform Hajj. We cannot perform it in Lahore or Istanbul. Kaba is not the house of God in the sense that God dwells in it, but we have to circumambulate it during Hajj. These are called “Sha’aair” (symbols). Their serve many objectives. One is to create a sense of unity among Ummah. The purpose of special status of Arabic in Islam is also to create a sense of unity and harmony. It is not because na’uzubillah God cannot understand languages other than Arabic. So it is not God’s need but ours that a standard language be fixed to create harmony among human beings.
My individual conclusion is that Language in religion is important to keep the unity in Muslim race so developing understanding for the religion has to come by having understanding for both the languages and practically we do not have a choice to follow a single language the way an average Arab, Japanese, Chinese, German or an American has!
ReplyDeleteThanks Uzair (For contributing through your value able feedback)
Thanks Omer Nadeem ! It was a very mature reply and i am really surprised by such response at your age!
Thanks to everyone who discussed it personally or through comments
According to me,Yes,language is an issue.....whats da use of reading something if we cannot understand its esscence....but on da other hand there are several places where uone can go and learn the TARJAMA of the words written in Quran....ppl in pakistan do take short courses to learn ENGLISH,FRENCH,SPANISH etc then why cant one take such cours to learn arabic....SIR IMAN to ur question of SAYING OUR PRAYERS IN URDU my answer is tht this is impossible u just try it once(translating the whole namaz in urdu and then offering it)i guarantee tht it will not be easy....Muslims living abroad offer their prayers in Arabic so do we and so will the next generation ....so changing the language to urdu will not be obliged by everyone n there will be a bunch of ppl who will raise great arguments on this..
ReplyDeleteZAHROON MALIK........
i never thought about that,but i offer prayers in arabic but pray in urdu.and Allah always listen to my prayers and i get everything i want :).
ReplyDeleter.
i agree that we do not understand what we are praying or reading in the Quran when we should but i think in all circumstances namaaz should be in arabic and we should read the quran in arabic too because this is what Allah wants or in Quran there would have been mentioned that we are allowed to say namaaz in another language because remember Quran is our guide for ever! but this problem of not understandig can be made right by learning or just reading the tranlation side by side! that is why Quran was translated so that people could understand what they are reading! And if we learn the tranlation of atleast the namaaz then this prob would be solved! We would understand what we are saying!so i think this is because we are lazy and i want to add that dua is a different case it is accepted in any language u say!
ReplyDeletei would just say that i know the translation of the azaan and when i hear it i understand so again we are lazy and we have lost aur true faith language is not a big problem for us this is just another excuse!!
ReplyDelete