As-Salaamu-Alaikum

'Verily, We have sent it down as an ARABIC Qur'an in order that

you may understand.' (12:2)

'And thus have We sent it (the Qur'an) down to be a judgement of

authority in ARABIC' (13:37)

'And thus We have sent it down as a Qur'an in ARABIC and have

explained therein warnings, in order that they may fear Allah, or
that it may cause them to have a lesson from it'

'An ARABIC Qur'an without any crookedness...'(39:28)

'A Book whereof the Verses are explained in detail a Qur'an in

ARABIC for people who know' ((41:3)

'And thus We have revealed to you a Qur'an in ARABIC....' (42:7)

'We verily, have made it a Qur'an in ARABIC that you may be able
to understand' (43:3)

Know that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"The Arab is not by blood. The Arab is by tongue"

The Prophet(peace be upon his) as also said:

".....the Qur'an is Arabic and the tongue of the People of

Paradise is Arabic"

Know that Sheikh Abdalqadir al-Murabit says in his at-Tarbiyat al-

Islamiyyat al-Asliyya:

"....for someone approaching Islamic education there would be a

primary requirement which we would not even list it -it would be
the 'given', ....it is frankly, and there is no escaping it, a clear
grasp of the Arabic language. And I would say for the ajami who does
not speak Arabic, it is necessary for him to take it on and get it by
the most traditional means possible in order to arrive at an Arabic
which is in itself more related to fusaha, more connect you to the
Qur'an and Islamic 'ilm."

Let us be clear from the outset...to be a Muslim and derive the

wonderful blessings of this great deen, one does not have to be
fluent in Arabic language! Many beautiful and wonderful Muslims do
not speak Arabic! My grandmother who is a wonderful Muslimah and a
great inspiration in my life knows very little arabic! Just enough to
say her salat!
However, My grandmother does not claim to be a faqih either!She
hasnt issued any fatwas, or made any outrageous claims like the
ulema 'dont follow the Qur'an'! I find it incredible how many people
make judgements, suppositions, and render 'fatwas' and are unable to
read the Qur'an in the language which it was revealed! These same
people then proceed to attack and criticize the ulema of our deen!
Incredible!!!!!!
To the english-speaking 'faqih' who insist upon 'judging' by way of
the Qur'an only....that the reality is that you actually rely on
the 'translators' of the Qur'an in your own 'judgements'! Everytime
the non-arabic reader/'faqih' of the Qur'an makes the claim
that "Allah has said" the more accurate discription is that
the "translator has intrepreted that Allah the Most High means by
this statement" !!! This is an accurate discription of the process of
what you read in the translations. Of course, we are on a medium
where english language must be used....and english translations of
the Qur'an are very important! We can and should give inspiration,
advice and exhortations to do good, and things like this....however,
the anti-scholar wants more than this.....he wants to issue fatwas
and condemn the ulema, and convince people that his 'INTERPRETATION'
of the Qur'an by way of the english medium is the actual word of
Allah as a commandment and judgement!
Therefore it is not surprising that the anti-hadith and anti-scholar
who makes these fiqh judgements can not and does not discern this
difference between the actual Qur'anic text and the translation which
he relies upon!!! The anti-scholar ignorance is deep, he does not
even realize that the translators of the Qur'an that he relies so
heavily upon....they themselves rely on the 'mufassirs' or the ulema
(scholars) who have written commentaries on the Qur'an!!! As they
attack reliance on the ulema, they can not name one Muslim
translator who does not refer to the very same ulema to aid the
translation of the Book of Allah! Scholars like Ibn Katheer, Qurtabi,
Fakhr ud-din al-Razi, Shawkani, Baydawi,Tabari, and others. There is
not one translator of the Qur'an that does not utilize Sahih Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim and the hadith text!!!!

Why is this? What is often not apparent to the non-arabic reader is

that many ayats in the Qur'an can contain more than one meaning.
Ta'wil is a process in arabic language where a shift in the meaning
of word can occur with the availabliity of a proof that indicates
that the word has another meaning which is plausible in the text. In
many instances the translator chooses a meaning according to his
understanding and reflections! A proof of this is obvious by simply
picking up a Qur'an and examine some of the different renderings of
the same arabic text!
Learning and studying arabic frees one from being constrainted to
what the translator has chosen for the non-arabic reader. The serious
student of Islam can not be constrained by translations of others!
He/she must learn arabic to expand his/her knowledge! If a student
striving to struggle and learn the deen has to learn arabic....what
does this say for the 'faqih' who will expouse, pontificate, and
elucidate the meanings of the Qur'an for us.....without knowing the
language of the Qur'an!!!!

I say again.....beware of the anti-scholar/hadith!!! You can rest

assure they have no knowledge of arabic language! Learn the language
of the Qur'an and defend your deen against the corruption of the
corrupters who desire to influence the hearts of people with their
own vain desires!!!!!!

Ma-Salaam Khalil Muhsin