Propagation of Islam and proficiency in English language

Propagation of Islam and proficiency in English language

(The Editorial, Shabab Weekly dated 30^th May 2008 - Translation)

Diversity of language is a heavenly sign, says the holy Quran (30:22), so that the believers need not have any kind of aversion or an unseemly craze towards any language. We always feel more inclined to use our mother tongue as it makes things easier for us to better express ourselves and to communicate freely and effectively. However, Arabic, being the language of Quran and the books of prophetic traditions, has got special status in Islam. It is very important for an Islamic worker to be able to understand the basic doctrines of Islam in its original self, as it is important for him to convey its true meaning and ideas to his audience through his own language.

English is considered to be the world language of communication, used by the majority of people for information interchange across the globe. Though the world has gone a long way after the colonial era the relevance of English language, rather than diminishing, is getting more and more far reaching. Even in countries where English is not spoken, millions of people throng English teaching centers with great enthusiasm. As a result English language dailies, periodicals and publications of similar nature get unprecedented acceptance all over the world. Is this not reason enough for propagators of Islam to make the best use of English language as a medium to spread the message of this universal religion? Arranging lectures in colleges and universities, publication of articles and rebuttals in news papers and periodicals, hosting of attractive and at the same meaningful websites, sponsoring various literary and other works in English that would guide people to the right meaning and interpretation of Islamic concepts and hence expose falsehood and misrepresentations ..... are some of the activities that would help us make the best use of English language in this connection.

When certain conservative scholars of yester years in Kerala branded English as the ‘language o f the hell’ and prevented people from studying the language Islahi movement made strenuous efforts to drive home the idea that no knowledge , be it science or language, is taboo for muslims. Their hard work has paid rich dividends so much so that even the new generation conservatives who find it hard to cover up such skeletons in their cupboard are today well aware of the need for modern education.

But, it is daunting to note that though muslims armed with the knowledge of English language and modern subjects came up in the society there are hardly a few of them who make themselves available to contribute their time or effort to the spread of Islam . Islahi movement in Kerala, in spite of having made great strides to guide its enlightened audience to the right path and convince them of the fundamentality of quran, has almost

failed to tap their potential in the filed of English language and literature. This is the language that is more often used to abuse Islam world over, to hurl insults on its prophet and to call the source and origin of Quran in question! It is true that there have been attempts on the part of Muslims to counter such hostile propaganda through books, articles, web portals etc.. etc... but without much success in as much as it fails to attract the majority of English readership . Shortage of scholars with knowledge in and insight into the fundamental sources of Islam along with the required command over the English language is one of the main reasons.

Again, it is true that we do have a few English translations of Quran and Hadiths as well as a number of well maintained websites with reasonable accuracy. But the area is still fraught with problems and shortfalls. It is pointed out that the prose and style of some of the English translations, renowned and time honoured, are now archaic or nearly obsolete. It also includes quite a number of comments which are incompatible with the authentic sources and unanimous conclusions of the RIGHTEOUS GENERATION. It is seen that one translation that has paid much attention to this area doesn’t offer sufficient explanations and hence lacks readability and comprehension. Most of the English translations of famous books of prophetic traditions are neither popular nor do they maintain quality of language. As far as web sites are concerned, though the quality of language matters much less, they are presently inadequate to outwit the confusion generated by critics world wide.

Mr. V Abdu Rahiman, formerly the head of the translation wing of King Fahad Quran printing complex at Madeena Munawara, which is responsible for translation to 93 languages, during a meeting with this writer, stressed the need for comprehensive English and Hindi translations of Quran. If an English translation with superiority of language and uncompromising authenticity is made available the King Fahad Complex, he said, is happy to publish it. Regarding Hindi translations he pointed out that in the name of Hindi translations only Urdu translations in Devanagiri script are available. Muslim scholars do not take much interest in acquiring proficiency in modern Hindi, he added.

Only when those people who are talented in the field of language and literature together with sufficient knowledge in Islamic concepts stitch their capabilities together and engage in major literary activities keeping the changing needs of the contemporary world in view, we will be able to over come our incipiencies and inadequacies in this area

Translated by

TTARazak

Puthur (The editorial, Shabab weekly , 20080may 30)

06-06-08