Quote:
|
This translation reverts 4:34 and ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? back to its original interpretation meaning ?????????????????????¢??to go away?????????????????????¢??????????????????????
|
Quote:
|
With the blessings of God, this is the first complete English translation of the Quran that uses the original meaning of ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? in 4:34 which was ?????????????????????¢??to go away.?????????????????????¢??????????????????????
|
Quote:
|
Three arguments are given for why this is so:
|
Quote:
|
1. The words ?????????????????????¢??beat them?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? in 4:34 are a command, an imperative form of the verb.
|
Quote:
|
Yet the Prophet, peace and the mercy of God be upon him, never carried out this command.
|
Quote:
|
Even if one were to say that just because a word in the Quran is grammatically a command does not mean that the Prophet had to carry it out; it means it is permissible for him to do or not to do.
|
Quote:
|
The retort: He chose not to do it.
|
Quote:
|
Therefore, whoever follows the Sunnah of the Prophet should also choose not to do it.
|
Quote:
|
2. The word interpreted as ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? for over 1400 years in the Islamic world has over 25 meanings.
|
Quote:
|
Why chose a meaning that goes against both the legal and moral principles of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet?
|
Quote:
|
3. The strongest argument for why the Arabic word does not mean ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? but rather means ?????????????????????¢??to go away?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? is because interpreting the Arabic word as ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? contradicts another verse in the Quran.
|
Quote:
|
We start with a premise: Islam encourages marriage and while divorce is allowed,
|
Quote:
|
= it is discouraged. The Prophet said: Marriage is half of faith. He also said: Divorce is deplorable.
|
Quote:
|
In 2:231 the Quran says as translated in the Sublime Quran: ?????????????????????¢??When you divorce wives, and they (f) are about to reach their (f) term, then hold them (f) back honorably or set them (f) free honorably; and hold them (f) not back by injuring them so that you commit aggression, and whoever commits that, then indeed he does wrong to himself; and take not the Signs of God to yourselves in mockery; remember the divine blessing of God on you and what He sent forth to you of the Book and wisdom; He admonishes you with it; and be Godfearing of God and know that God is knowing of everything.?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? All English translations translate this verse in a similar way.
|
Quote:
|
That is, a husband may not hold back his wife from divorce by hurting, harming, injuring her or using force against her.
|
Quote:
|
Reading this verse as if for the first time, it suddenly occurred to the translator that what the Quran says in 2:231 contradicts the way 4:34 has been interpreted over the centuries by everyone except the blessed Prophet.
|
Quote:
|
The translation in the Sublime Quran of 4:34 reflects the interpretation as the blessed Prophet understood it:
|
Quote:
|
?????????????????????¢??Men are supporters of wives because God has given some of them an advantage over others and because they spend of their wealth. So the ones (f) who are in accord with morality are the ones (f) who are morally obligated, the ones (f) who guard the unseen of what God has kept safe. But those (f) whose resistance you fear, then admonish them (f) and abandon them (f) in their sleeping place, then go away from them (f); and if they (f) obey you, surely look not for any way against them (f); truly God is Lofty, Great.?????????????????????¢??????????????????????
|
Quote:
|
In 4:34, as translated in a similar manner by all present English translations except the Sublime Quran translation, Muhammad Asad, for example translates 4:34 in the following way: ?????????????????????¢??Men shall take full care of women with the bounties which God has bestowed more abundantly on the former than on the latter, and with what they may spend out of their possessions. And the righteous women are the truly devout ones, who guard the intimacy which God has [ordained to be] guarded. And as for those women whose ill-will you have reason to fear, admonish them [first]; then leave them alone in bed; then beat them; and if thereupon they pay you heed, do not seek to harm them. Behold, God is indeed most high, great.?????????????????????¢??????????????????????
|
Quote:
|
What this tells us (and all present English translations) is that if a woman wants a divorce, a husband is forbidden from harming, hurting, injuring or using force against her while for a woman who wants to stay married, it is permissible for her husband to beat her!!!
|
Quote:
|
Recall our premise: Islam encourages marriage.
|
Quote:
|
If women were aware of this contradiction,
|
Quote:
|
what woman would chose to stay married and be beaten rather than be divorced and unharmed?
|
Quote:
|
The Arabic Word of God was, is and remains the Word of God.
|
Quote:
|
There is no change in the Arabic.
|
Quote:
|
The change is in our perception, our interpretation.
|
Quote:
|
The understanding of saying ?????????????????????¢??go away?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? is a revert interpretation to how the blessed Prophet understood it.
|
Quote:
|
Whoever believes in and follows the Sunnah should logically agree with reverting the interpretation to the way that the blessed Prophet understood it.
|
Quote:
|
We refer back to the first two arguments
|
Quote:
|
: 1. The word ?????????????????????¢??beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? is a command which the Prophet chose not to carry out; and 2. The Arabic word ?????????????????????¢??beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? has 25 meanings so why chose a meaning that does not follow the legal and moral principles of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet? 3. Interpreting the word as ?????????????????????¢??beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? contradicts 2:231 and fosters divorce rather than marriage, commands to immorality and prohibits morality which is one of the definitions of a hypocrite in the Quran (see 9:67).
|
Quote:
|
While I have personally been blessed by my contacts with the most understanding and compassionate of men in my lifetime, and I have never found myself in a situation of being physically threatened or beaten,
|
Quote:
|
reading about and hearing first hand stories of women who have, I felt the deep sense that I am essentially and spiritually one with them by my very existence. The question I kept asking myself during the years of working on the translation: How could God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, sanction husbands beating their wives?
|
Quote:
|
The feeling, however, did not rise to the surface until the day I first publicly presented the results of this translation of the Sublime Quran at the WISE (Women????????????????????????????¹s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity) Conference (November, 2006), in particular in reference to 4:34. There were 150 Muslim women from all over the world who had gathered to discuss the possibility of forming a Women????????????????????????????¹s Islamic Council. I gave the logic as to why the word ?????????????????????¢??to beat?????????????????????¢?????????????????????? in 4:34 has to revert to its original interpretation as understood by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and the mercy of God be upon him.
|
Quote:
|
At the end of the session, two Muslim women approached me. They said that they work in shelters for battered women and that they and the women in the shelters have been waiting for 1400 years for someone to pay attention to this issue through a translation of the Quran.
|
Quote:
|
The heavy weight of responsibility suddenly fell upon my shoulders. I had to publish my findings as soon as possible so that, with the Will of God, one less woman: wife, mother, sister, daughter, cousin, friend, in general, or Muslim wife, in particular, would be beaten at all and especially not in the Name of God; so that by initiating a dialogue, the minds of the exclusivists will awaken to consciousness and conscience; they will counsel those husbands who place their hand on the Word of God and give themselves permission to beat their wives, that they have neither the legal nor the moral right to do that. It is the prayer of all women throughout the world that all future translations of the Quran, in whatever language, will revert the interpretation back to the legal and moral principles of the Quran and Sunnah of the blessed Prophet.
|
Dismissed
Salam all
All times are GMT + 10 Hours
Powered by phpBB 2.0 .0.17 © 2001
phpBB
Group