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Offline Sardar Miyan

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Translation and Tafseerً
« on: July 22, 2012, 01:54:37 AM »
Salam All,I understand Translation of Quran done by so many people in different languages of world but I do not understand Tafseerً of Quran.My understanding is since The Quran in Arabic is easy to understand who know Arabic Language but Quran is not fully translatable in any other language. Therefore they resort to Tafseerً. Lastly I do not think there was any need for Prophet SA to do any Tafseerً as all audience were Arabs. Thanks Bro to pl clarify.
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Offline Truth Seeker

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Re: Translation and Tafseerً
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2012, 12:11:53 PM »
Salaam,

The tafseer that you read has been translated, as originally it was written in Arabic. This was centuries after the death of the prophet (pbuh).

It seems that throughout time, people have had a deep sense of curiosity as to the exact situation surrounding a particular verse being revealed. From this curiosity, the tafseer developed.

The problem is that now, many people consider it to be factual. In my opinion, having the translator's thoughts in the foot notes is not a bad thing per se, as long as they do not introduce external sources to support their understanding of the verses. That is where the problems start to arise.

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Offline Sardar Miyan

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Re: Translation and Tafseerً
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2012, 12:22:56 PM »
I think there is no need to know the circumstances under which the Ayaat were revealed if so did Prophet explain & if so where are those facts recorded. The prophet is supposed to tell exactly what had been revealed to him no less no more. Asad & some other translators have noted in the Margins the Ahadith while Quran is not dependent on Ahadith as otherwise the Prophet would have asked the Sahaba to write it down.


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Offline Truth Seeker

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Re: Translation and Tafseerً
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2012, 05:04:33 PM »
Salaam,

I agree with you. As some verses were addressing only the people present at the time of the revelation, they would be aware of the background for the verses. We however do not need to know and just the message should suffice
The tafseer suffers when, as you say, the translators introduce Hadith to explain verses.

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Offline Joseph Islam

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    • The Quran and its Message
Re: Translation and Tafseerً
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2012, 09:47:33 AM »
Salamun Alaikum

Thanks Truth seeker for your great response. I'd like to humbly share a few of my own sentiments on this quite important topic.

It is important to appreciate that the Quran is not a book of riddles or crookedness (39:28). It is a book with clear instructions and guidance for mankind.

Much is made of Quranic revelations with respect to what time and for what purpose they were revealed (Occasions / reasons - Asbab (plural of sabab) of revelation (nazul)) as a prerequisite to understanding the Quran's message. There is no warrant for such an assertion from a Quran's perspective. [1]

The Quran clearly dealt with situations and questions during the Prophetic ministry in which guidance was required and was then granted. For example, we note many expressions with the prefix 'yasalunaka' They ask thee ..." (2:219; 5:4, 7:187, 8:1 etc) which support this inference.

The minute details of the circumstances or ‘perceived narrative gaps’ [2] are not important. From a Quranic perspective, it is the guidance and the wider wisdom which has necessary appeal for mankind. If such details were absolutely necessary, the Quran would have expounded on them as God certainly does not have a limitation on His words (31:27).

However, the Quran does have multilayered wisdom which slowly unravels as an understanding of the Quranic message deepens. This wisdom is oft shared by many commentators of the Quran in the form of 'tafseer'.  As with anything, there are good interpretations which rely mainly on the inner consistency of the Quran, and weaker interpretations which indiscriminately use Islamic secondary sources and at times the Quran, pinning alien meanings to its concepts.

This should only be appreciated as a human effort by an individual and not necessarily indisputable truth or fact. The ultimate discernment of veracity should remain with the reader using the Quran as a criterion (furqan).

The Prophet too would have been granted wisdom by God to understand the Quran deeply (75:19). However, it quite another matter to assert that elucidations of the Prophet's wisdom are held in the Ahadith corpus which were not canonised until centuries after his ministry ended.


Related Articles:

[1] FLUID BEGINNINGS OF ASBAB UL-NAZUL
http://quransmessage.com/articles/asbab-ul-nazul%20FM3.htm

[2] UNKNOWN TOWNS AND NAMES - WHY FILL IN THE GAPS?
http://quransmessage.com/articles/unknown%20towns%20and%20names%20FM3.htm

Regards,
Joseph.
'During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act' 
George Orwell