A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN THE FIELD OF
TAFSEER:
MEANINIGFUL CONTRIBUTION OF THE MUSLIM
COMMUNITY
This article is published to mark the releasing of Tafheemul
Qur’an in Sinhala, to be held on the 16th Feb 2012, at BMICH.
Islam is one of the four important religions of the world. Every one of the four in the world is the
follower of this great religion. The
total Muslim population of the world is in the region of 1.57 billion. Muslim majority countries stretch from
Indonesia to Morocco and there are around 310 million Muslims live as
minorities across Europe, North America and other regions. Sri Lankan Muslim population is estimated to
be around 8%.
Muslims believe that Allah is Almighty and He is the Creator of
the entire universe and everything on it, and nothing is but His creation. He is One and Unique, does not have a partner
and none is equal to Him.
Man is a dignified creation of Allah Almighty, the first man to be
created was Adam(Peace and blessings be upon him). Today’s 7 billion world population is nothing
but Adam’s progeny. Allah Almighty sent
chain of Prophets with the mission of reminding mankind of the purpose of their
lives on earth. Abraham, Ishmael, Moses,
David, Solomon, Jesus(Peace be upon them) were prominent ones amongst the
prophets. Allah Almighty revealed scriptures to these prophets and Torah,
Injeel, Tablets of Abraham etc., were among the revealed scriptures. Prophet Muhammad was the final one in the
chain of prophethood and the Qur’an remains the final scripture revealed by
Allah Almighty. Name of the religion
revealed to entire mankind by Allah Almighty is Islam, and Muslims believe that
all the above prophets were Muslims.
With the last revealed scripture, the Qur’an, prophethood came to a complete
end and Qur’an was declared as the universal message and Prophet Muhammad as
the final messenger for the entire mankind.
Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) began his divine mission at the age of forty and continued until his death at
63.
The Qur’an was not revealed at once, but piece by piece over a
period of 23 years. Transcribing the
revealed text began during the life time of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) and the
mission of collecting and preserving the transcribed text too were done almost
during the same period. In the meantime
there were hundreds of devoted companions of the Prophet who memorized the
entire Qur’an by heart, 6666 of its verses.
This is a unique feature exclusive to the Qur’an. The sacred mission of compiling the Qur’an in
the present book form was conducted during the time of Islam’s third Caliph
Usman. Such compiled copies were sent to several
parts of the Islamic world, three of such original copies still available in
the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey, Cairo museum, Egypt, and the archives of
Tashkent.
It is a proven fact that the Qur’an is the root of present day
Arabic language and grammar. The
eloquent and prolific language used in the Qur’an themselves testify for its
miracle. The Qur’an is the book of
guidance for entire mankind, it explains the purpose of man’s life on
earth; it talks about the unity of
God(Tawheed), creation of all living beings, social, political and economic
affairs of life, life after death, ethical and moral codes of life and various
other sciences for human life on earth.
Muslims believe that Qur’an is the solution to man’s problems.
Qur’an has been the driving force behind a great civilization as
Islamic civilization, which according to many Western scientists and
philosophers, was the prime contributor toward the scientific and intellectual
enlightenment and discoveries the West saw in the past centuries.
The economic system, for an instance, the Qur’an introduces too
testifies to the miraculous nature of the Qur’an. Now the West and the rest of the world, have
began realizing that Islamic economic system possesses the ability to solve the
economic problem of man. This is the
reason behind the increased interest in embracing Islamic banking system all
over the world.
The science of Tafseer or giving exegesis to the verses of the
Qur’an has been an important science in the Islamic scholarship throughout
history. There have been hundreds of
such Tafseers by eminent Islamic
scholars. They have attempted to
interpret Qur’anic verses contextually according to the time they lived. In this series, Tafheemul Qur’an of Moulana
Maududi takes a significant place.
Moulana Maududi was born in the year 1903, in
the undivided India. He was the founder
of the popular Islamic movement, Jama’at E Islami. Tafheemul Qur’an came into being as a result
of thirty years of strenuous scholarly hard work by Moulana Maududi. It was originally written in Urdu and has been translated into several prominent
world languages. Moulana Seyed Abul A’la Maududi’s monumental Tafseer , Tafheemul Qur’an,
is acclaimed as a comprehensive work presenting the universal message of the
Qur’an to mankind. Moulana Maududi, in his own prolific style presents
the Qur’an as the panacea for all the problems modern man faces.
Sri Lanka Jama’at E Islami took the
praise worthy initiative of rendering the work into Sinhala. The
translation and commentary of both, Surah Al Fatiha and Al Baqarah were
published in the year 1989. After a lapse of nearly a decade, the project was
resumed in the year 2000 by a team under the leadership of Moulavi. A.L.M.
Ibrahim, former Ameer, Sri Lanka Jama’at E Islami. After strenuous and concerted effort by this team,
the translation project saw completion on the 17th Ramadan 1432 / 2011 C.E.
The six volumes of Tafheemul Qur’an
has been published in twelve volumes in Sinhala, each volume comprising of 350
pages. The credit goes to Sri Lanka Jama’at E Islami for publishing the first
ever Tafseer in the Sinhala language.
The publication sees the light after
serious scholarly effort, thanks to the members of the team, who displayed
selfless dedication towards the cause. It is envisaged that a large number of
Muslim students pursuing their education in the Sinhala language would
immensely benefit from this Tafseer. It is a well known fact that more than 40%
of Muslim students across the island pursue their education in the Sinhala
medium. Further, it also would be of
great benefit to other Sinhala readers who show keenness to understand the
message of the Qur’an. Besides, this outstanding Qur’anic commentary,
celebrated for its use of simple and eloquent language, would be a
significantly great contribution towards Sinhala literature, occupying a
distinguished place in Sri Lankan history.
It is noteworthy that many people who are not Muslims, have
developed a very positive understanding of Islam as a result of their reading
the Sinhala translation of Tafheemul Qur’an.
They have greatly appreciated its publication in Sinhala.
Keep it in mind! If you
happen to introduce Islam to any interested seeker of knowledge from other
communities, do not miss the opportunity of presenting him with a copy of
Tafheemul Qur’an. It possess the power to pierce through his/her heart and
shake conscience.
Media and Public relation Unit,
Sri Lanka Jama’ath E Islami
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