Is This Book for All Mankind
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Transcript of Is This Book for All Mankind
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8------ Is this Book for ALL MANKIND? If so what is the CRITERION? P-14-15
Why this Book deserves this status of leading the Mankind ? If this book is for all mankind as it claims to be , then why ?
Why it was revealed why in Arab land Why it describes only the people & prophets of Arabia Why so much emphasis on Arabic language that daily prayer is said only in
Arabic and other language not allowed ?
Yes the Quran claims that it is the book mend for all mankind
At outset let us analyze what should be criterion for a Book to be ofGuidance for all Mankind ?
----- It must be able to bind all the people , all tribes , all nations together ;
must provide a platform where all classes of people , rich or poor , black
or white may stand together .
----- It must present principles which may be applicable to people of all
lands.
----- It must not be time bound , it must be applicable for all time tocome.
----- The basic nature of the principles be same to all but there must be
flexibility for adoption of the principles according to the variations of
lands , geographical conditions and cultures .
------ It must present principles which be helpful in establishing a just well
balanced society i.e. it must establish social justice , free of coercion and
corruption .
------ It must provide the ways and means to meet the basic needs of the
people of all lands .
The Quran claims to present all the above criterion . As you
will dig into it , rest assured you will find all these . It is difficult for us to
elaborate all these here , in a short booklet however we will try to hint
some of them in other chapters.
Now come to the next questions as to
Why it was revealed only in Arab Land; why local color in the book? Why emphasis on Arabic language?
These are simple to understand. A Book had to be sent by Allah as
it is He Who only can know the needs and short comings of man . He had to choose
some person through whom Rules and Regulation be promulgated. The land and the
people could be any , however as we guess the choice of Arabia may be due to its
central location almost same distances to the main inhabited world then : Africa in
south , Europe in west and Asia in East and central Asia in North .Even a thousand and
half years back Arabic was the most developed language . It is the language which
could cope with the conveying the ideas of Allah ( as an example : there are around ten
words for carrying the sense of creation)
Why adhering rather sticking to rabic language so much so that daily prayer has to be done only inthis?
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Al-first thought if seems to be very reasonable to recite daily prayer in local language, so that all
men could understand what is being recited. Conversely it looks odd that one utters prayer-words which
he does not understand. No doubt it is beneficial to adopt mother tongue or local language in which one
is conversant. But there are occasions when a benefit of a thing is to be ignored to save it from a greater
calamity. Such is the case with the Quran. Original Language of any Scripture is very important because
each word of it connotes a particular shade of meaning ;for example there are about eight words in
Arabic for the conveying the meaning of creation (khalaqa,fatara,jaala,ansha,sawwa falaqa ,
badaa, baraaa),each having its own nuance. Thus a translation can never convey the very exact
meaning
and sense .To maintain the purity of the Text of the Quran the scholars of Islam prudently disallowed
use of any language other than that of the Quran as revealed to the Prophet .There is not even a single
slight difference among the scholars in this regard. However it should be pointed out that this strict
order is only for the main salaah(namaaz) and it is surely allowed rather encouraged that translation be
used for general understanding and in personal supplications as praising, asking, and seeking
forgiveness from Allah in native language facilitates reverence, love, and sincerity with Him.
Here we may remember what calamity befell on the Bible by not adhering to the language in which
Prophet Christ spoke; it led to so many versions of the Bible that now Christians are at loss as to which
one is the original one.(It has come to such pass that it is now debatable as to which language Christ
spoke:see Wikipedia---It is generally agreed that thehistorical Jesusprimarily spokeAramaic,[1]
perhaps along with someHebrewandGreek(although there is some debate as to the
degree[2]). The towns ofNazarethandCapernaum,where Jesus lived, were primarily Aramaic-
speaking communities, although Greek was widely spoken in the major cities of the
Mediterranean Basin.Jesus may have also known enough Hebrew to discuss theHebrew Bible,
and he may have knownKoine Greekthrough commerce in nearbySepphoris
Apart from this aspect in daily prayers, if translation were allowed in the daily five-time prayerthere would be much infighting among the people as to which language and whose
translation be adopted. .
.At the same time universal brotherhood would be lost among Muslims: now it happens thata man from Nigeria going to China does not feel alienated at least during prayers, only
because of the unique language adopted all throughout the world.
The minimum Arabic required to carry out the Prayer isapproximately 80 words (based on my quick estimate). I imagine
that a person of average intelligence and foreign language skills
could memorize this within a few hours. Furthermore, he couldeasily memorize the meanings of the words in his native
language in even less time. Many mosques in the West offer basic
Arabic lessons, and thus a new Muslim could learn basic Arabic
grammar along with Quranic vocabulary, constructs, and
locutions in a matter of weeks. I myself went through a similar
learning process after accepting Islam a few years ago.
On the other hand, supplication (du`aa) of Allah and glorifying
Him verbally can be done in any language. Thus, that the ritualPrayer must be conducted in Arabic in no way detracts from a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Basinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Basinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepphorishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepphorishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepphorishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepphorishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Basinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koine_Greekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#cite_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus -
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non-Arabic-speaking Muslim's personal relationship with his
Creator. Your praising, asking, and seeking forgiveness from
Allah in your native language facilitates reverence, love, and
sincerity with Him. It is for this reason that supplicating Allah is
considered worship in Islam and is one of the best ways to
achieve closeness to Him, as the experts agree.
To conclude, you must not let yourself feel frustrated or
overwhelmed by the use of Arabic in some aspects of Islamic
worship. Allah intended Islam for all peoples and tongues until
the end of time, and though only 20 percent of Muslims
worldwide are of Arabic-speaking ethnicities, the use of elevated
Quranic Arabic in the Prayer has never generated complaint or
dissention. Rather, the device has stood as a strong unifying
factor for Muslims worldwide, and it has kept us connected with
the original Word of Allah in its exactly original and unadulterated
state. Islam is unique in this regard.