Is It Beneficial to Read the Translation of Al-Qur'an al-Kareem?

 

     Our current age is, as we know, the age of "speed." The concept of speed is active in every area of our lives and, naturally, affects our spirituality (if there is any left). But this speed is not always to our advantage. When the obsession with speed and quickness pushes us to consume information that should be spread out and learned gradually over the long term, taking it in the form of a "concentrated" pill in a short period of time, it often settles in our systems as permanent and effective "side effects." One of the areas that speed and the desire to be fast have permeated is, unfortunately, "religion." When we say "religion," we are of course talking about Islam, not Christianity, which has been "robbed of its spirit" by Westerners.

one of the many translations

     When learning about religion without being "left behind" by the rest of life, the disease of reading the "Meal" (translation) and giving meaning to Islam according to it, exactly as required by "hamburger culture," comes into play. Furthermore, for those who are introduced to Islam for the first time, the effort to understand the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem manifests itself in resorting to translations. This is essentially a very natural action because when you start to get interested in Islam, the need arises to examine the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem, and somehow, someone immediately shoves a translation under your arm. There is nothing wrong with "this," but what comes "after" this is a bit complicated.

     A meal is a translation made by someone who knows a certain degree of Arabic, based on his own understanding. A person reading a translation understands not the divine will in the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem, but the explanation in the mind of the person trying to translate it into any other language. However, the person with little knowledge who reads the translation reads it as if it is the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem itself. In fact, the translations circulating on the market today are mere translations. That is, they are word-for-word translations. However, there are explanations in places where explanations are needed. It is not possible to briefly translate the verses anyway; it would lead to many misunderstandings.

     In reality, the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem cannot be translated into any language, including Arabic. To understand the meaning of the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem means to understand what Allah wants in any given verse. Nothing is gained from a translation made by a religiously ignorant person who does not even practice the basic commands and prohibitions, other than harm that could lead to blasphemy. Translations written for money and fame sow seeds of doubt in the minds of readers. However, misunderstanding the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem or doubting it can lead to apostasy. Unfortunately, some young people who are fed by translations think of the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem as a book consisting of mythological stories and meaningless thoughts that is "not so noble." Especially when they try to derive judgments from these translations that contain personal opinions and build their faith and worship on what they have understood, it is outright leaving the Islamic faith and following their own "-ism." Books sold with gilded words like "Read the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem in your own language" or "The commentary of the age" cause incurable illnesses in their readers.

     The love for making Muslims read translations is not actually very old. The Ottoman Empire, even though it was ruled by a non-Arab majority and governed very large and diverse non-Arab communities for centuries, never had the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem translated and read into any language, including its own. This is because our ancestors knew very well the method of learning and teaching the Islamic religion. Instead of translations and commentaries, basic books on Islamic theology (kalam), creed (akaid), and jurisprudence (fiqh) were taught (for example, the famous Mizrakli İlmihal). The Ottoman Empire handled religious matters with such sensitivity and without corrupting their origin that it even had the Friday sermon (khutbah) read only in Arabic because it could not find permission for it in religious sources, and to make the sermon understandable, it established the sermon (va'z) before the prayer.

     In the last years of the Ottoman Empire, especially after the deposition of Abdülhamid II and the declaration of the Second Constitutional Era, with the great decrease in competent and authorized religious scholars, a lot of deviators emerged. It is a historical fact that the first translation efforts in the geography of Turkey came from the hands of non-Muslims (you can imagine how much these efforts would be to the benefit of Muslims). Instead of books on kalam and fiqh, efforts were made to produce an environment where everyone would derive their own rulings. In this way, just like with the distorted Christianity, everyone would have their own path, and the path of unity would be broken.

     Today, those who get into this "translation" business are generally alienated from Sunni Islam and follow their own philosophical thoughts. A lot of so-called "theologians" who think of themselves as "world scholars" get into the "translation writing" business in a race against each other, and they do not neglect to slander each other. Since there are people who think of everyone who writes a book that looks like a translation or a religious book as a scholar, those who are eager to earn money and fame from these works are increasing every day.

     In fact, how harmful and misleading the "translationism" is can be clearly seen from the current state of the Christian world. As is known, in the Christian religion, after the distortion of Christianity, the Gospels began to be rapidly translated into other languages. Especially after the Protestants, who were angry with the Catholics, charted their own course, the place was overrun with Bible translations in every language. This caused everyone to act according to their own capacity and understanding, and the unity was broken. In other words, the love for reading translations and acting according to what is understood from them clearly smells of Christianity.

     Anyone who wants to understand and learn the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem should read the books of the old scholars on kalam and fiqh. This is because the books of these religious scholars were taken from and written from the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem and hadiths. The religious books and ilmihal prepared by righteous Muslims as a result of their years of strenuous efforts are already comprehensive and deep translations and commentaries.

     If everyone understood the Al-Qur'an al-Kareem correctly, could the Islamic world be so fragmented? Aren't there so many ridiculous and bizarre paths because everyone does what they want and misunderstands?