CAN MUSLIMS PRAY IN TAMIL AND OTHER NON-ARABIC LANGUAGES?
Topic started by arifmohammed (@ 210-210-33-75.lan.sify.net) on Fri Jun 6 03:01:48 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.
Can we use other than the language of Arabic when we pray to Allah Almighty?
Well, there is no Noble Verse from the Noble Quran, nor there is any Saying (Hadith) from Prophet Muhammad peace be upon that directly say that praying to Allah Almighty has to be done with the Arabic language.
It is obvious that Prophet Muhammad taught us how to pray in Arabic, because that was the only language he spoke. And it is obvious that the Noble Quran was revealed also in Arabic. But to me, these are NOT good enough reasons or proofs to tell a TAMIL-speaking Muslim convert for instance that he or she can not Islamically prostrate to Allah Almighty until they memorize few Noble Verses in Arabic so they can recite them in their prayers.
These tAMIL Muslims don't speak Arabic. To them, Arabic is nothing but babbling. It's like me reciting in Chinese. It will not mean anything to me, because I don't speak Chinese. This will disable the spiritual connection of the new non-Arabic Muslim convert with Allah Almighty. It is important to Allah that we have the spiritual connection with Him in our prayer. If we don't have it, then our prayer is worthless:
"Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (to practise it) yourselves. And yet ye study the Scripture (i.e., the Noble Quran)? Will ye not understand? Nay, seek (Allah's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit--Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord, and that they are to return to Him. (The Noble Quran, 2:44-46)" Notice here that Allah Almighty clearly says that prayer is hard except on those who have the spiritual connection with Him. So, unless the Muslim really knows what they are reciting in their prayers, there is no way they can establish that spiritual connection.
Allah Almighty doesn't care about our Physical prostration if it's not also spiritual: "The hypocrites--they think they are over-reaching Allah but He will over-reach them: When they stand up to Prayer, they stand without earnestness, to be seen of men, but little do they hold Allah in remembrance. (The Noble Quran, 4:142)" Notice here how the hypocrites for instance don't have that spiritual connection even if they physically prostrate to Allah Almighty.
"Recite what is sent of the Book by inspiration to thee, and establish regular Prayer: for Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; and remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt. And Allah knows the (deeds) that ye do. (The Noble Quran, 29:45)" How can prayer restrain someone from shameful and unjust deeds if he doesn't have the spiritual connection with Allah Almighty because his prayer doesn't make any sense to him what so ever when he performs it?
Certainly the hypocrites as shown above don't have the spiritual connection, even though they do sometimes prostrate. So it is not the physical prostration alone that Allah Almighty is looking for. How can a new non-Arabic speaking Muslim brother or sister have the spiritual connection when his/her prayer doesn't make any sense to him/her?
I am not in anyway trying to put our Muslim brothers and sisters who don't speak Arabic in the same categories as the hypocrites. No, that is not what I am trying to do here. I am just using the case of the hypocrites in the Noble Quran to help strengthen the case of our non-Arabic speaking Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam.
So my advise, or my opinion, or my verdict, whatever you wish to call it, is that a Tamil Muslim should try his best to prostrate to Allah Almighty in Arabic. If he doesn't know Arabic, then it is ok for him to recite the Noble Quran in Tamil once in a while and to perform the rest of the prayer also in Tamil, including Glorifying Allah Almighty and making wishes to Him, until he is able to master few Noble Verses in Arabic from the Noble Quran, and is able to memorize and appreciate the true Arabic meaning of the Glorifying of Allah Almighty and the making wishes parts. Until he is comfortable with that, he should stick with his language and perform the prayer in his language.
BUt all Tamil Muslims should, as far as possible conduct prayers in Arabic. That too, JUma prayers should always be conducted in Arabic.Those who donot know Arabic should first take a sabbatical and learn Arabic.WITHOUT KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING ARABIC, YOU WILL BE A KAFIR.No connection will be established with Allah Almighty and it is disobeying Prohet (Pbuh).
Responses:
- Old responses
- From: maraickar (@ dup-200-64-191-49.prodigy.net.mx)
on: Sat Jun 7 02:13:30 EDT 2003
Donot get angry at me. Allah has given us the Quran, but there is no compulsion in religion. At no place, there is any bar in conducting our prayers in Tamil. If you Urdu muslims have inferiority complex and fall at the feet of arabic scholars, it is your problem. Tamil language and culture are as old as Arabic and we are not an inferior language like Urdu. So, Stop this non-sense. Allah judges best!
- From: maraickar (@ dup-200-64-191-49.prodigy.net.mx)
on: Sat Jun 7 02:13:54 EDT 2003
Donot get angry at me. Allah has given us the Quran, but there is no compulsion in religion. At no place, there is any bar in conducting our prayers in Tamil. If you Urdu muslims have inferiority complex and fall at the feet of arabic scholars, it is your problem. Tamil language and culture are as old as Arabic and we are not an inferior language like Urdu. So, Stop this non-sense. Allah judges best!
- From: maraickar (@ dup-200-64-191-49.prodigy.net.mx)
on: Sat Jun 7 02:29:25 EDT 2003
This is a reply i posted in TamilIslam discussion forum last month to Irshad:
I read with care Maulana Irshad's statement. I respectfully disagree with him on his opinion that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic and it is forbidden to give Khutbah in any language other than Arabic.
Let me explain my position a little more on the basis of the Qur'an, Sun.nah and the opinion of the Imams on this subject. In the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, "When the call for the Friday prayer is given, then hurry to the dhikr of Allah…" (al-Jumu'ah 62:9)
The word "dhikr" is used in the Qur'an for "remembrance" as well as for "tadhkir" for "reminding". See the Qur'an Yusuf 12:104; Yasin 36:69; Saad 38:87; al-Zukhruf 43:44 etc. Thus Friday prayer is both for dhikr and tadhkir.
The Khutbah is basically for reminding (tadhkir) while the Salat is for the remembrance of Allah (dhikr). One cannot remind the people in a language that they do not understand. It is reported that the Khutbah of the Prophet (PBUH) on Fridays used to consist of dhikr of Allah and His praise, then he used to remind the people and he used to give them advises (thumma yudhakkiruhim wa ya'izuhim). This is reported in many books of Hadith.
The Prophet (PBUH) used to speak to the people in his Khutbah. Sometime he even interrupted his Khutbah by telling some people "sit down", "say your prayer", "come closer," etc. He did not do this in his salat. He used to make people understand what he was saying, while in his prayers he was conversing with his Lord.
There is a big difference between the Salat and Khutbah. The Prophet(PBUH) told us how to pray and what to say in each part of our prayer. No imam has the authority to change the salat. In salat we only recite the Qur'an, we cannot even recite Hadith. We have fixed du'a for ruku', sajdah and tashahhud etc. and the whole salat must be performed exactly in the way of the Prophet (PBUH). Those who do not know Arabic language and know Tamil only, can and they should learn the basic meaning of these few prayers.
However, the Khutbahs are not fixed like the salat. We are not told to read only the Qur'an, Hadith or Prophet's sermons in our Friday Khutbahs. The Imam is allowed to make his own Khutbah, give the message to his audience according to their need. If the Imam is permitted to give his message according to the needs of the audience, why is he not permitted to use the language according to the needs of his audience? The language is a medium. A message cannot be conveyed to a Tamil community in a language unknown to them. I donot understand reading the words of Allah and His prophet in Arabic, because they are not legible to me; but, no translation has the authority of the original, I agree.Some could change the meaning in Tamil.But, now we have Quran in Tamil, so this is ruled out.
But what is so special about my own words or the words of any imam that they must be in Arabic and not in Tamil? Even when the imam and his audience have no clues what they mean. I have heard some Khutbahs in Arabic that were totally irrelevant and useless. On the other hand I have heard some Khutbahs in Tamil that were highly inspiring and motivating.
Can we say that the first type were Halal because they were in Arabic and the second type were Haram because they were in Tamil? It is not correct to say that "all Madhhib are unanimous in their opinion that the Friday Khutbah must be in Arabic."
The unanimity is only on this that the Khutbah must consist of the praise of Allah and peace and blessings upon His prophet. This part should be in Arabic, but no one said that the whole Khutbah must/should be in Arabic. In the Fiqh 'ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'ah (Fiqh According to Four Schools) it is mentioned: According to Hanafi School, there is only one essential part of Khutbah and that is dhikr. It is sufficient if the Khutbah has only Tasbih, or Hamd or even La ilaha illa Allah. But it is makruh to make the Khutbah so short. According to Imam Malik, the Khutbah also has one essential part and that is warning and good news (tahdhir and tabshir).
According to Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, the Khutbah has four essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Recitation of at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 4. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah.
According to Imam Shafi'I, the Khutbah has five essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah, 4. Reading at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 5. Prayers for the believers, especially in the second Khutbah. See vol. 1, pp. 389-390) I agree that Hamd and Salat on the Prophet and reading at least a verse from the Qur'an should be in Arabic. But according to the Qur'an, Sunnah and the opinions of the major Imams it is not required that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic, it can be in Tamil or any non-arabic languages.
The basic confusion comes when we read the opinions of the Imams and other scholars that the Khutbah should be in Arabic, some of us think that means that everything in the Khutbah should be in Arabic. Now there are thousands of Masajid in India, Srilanka,Malaysia, Singapore,Penang where Khutbahs are given in Tamil. The Khateebs are from all schools of thought: Sun.nis, Shi'is, Deobandis, Ahamadis etc.
I have travelled around the world and seen many Muftis and 'Ulama of different countries giving Khutbahs in local languages. Can we say that all these 'Ulama are committing Haram and their prayers and the prayers of millions of Muslims behind them are invalid? I mentioned that the Supreme Council of Masajid in its first meeting held in Makkah in 1975. Hundreds of Ulama' and Imams who were gathered there from all over the world gave the fatwa that Khutbah could be given in local languages, but its opening must be with the praise of Allah and the blessings on His Prophet and this should be in Arabic. Friday is a very important day for Muslims. Let us take full benefit of this day by giving the message of Islam to the masses in Tamil so that they understand.
May Allah help us to follow the Sun.nah of the Prophet (PBUH) with wisdom and understanding. Arif bhai, Donot get angry at me. Allah has given us the Quran, but there is no compulsion in religion.
At no place, there is any bar in conducting our prayers in Tamil. If you Urdu muslims have inferiority complex and fall at the feet of arabic scholars, it is your problem. Tamil language and culture are as old as Arabic and we are not an inferior language like Urdu. So, Stop this non-sense. Allah judges best!
- From: Maraickar (@ dup-200-64-191-49.prodigy.net.mx)
on: Sat Jun 7 02:34:15 EDT 2003
This is a reply i posted in TamilIslam discussion forum last month to Irshad:
I read with care Maulana Irshad's statement. I respectfully disagree with him on his opinion that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic and it is forbidden to give Khutbah in any language other than Arabic.
Let me explain my position a little more on the basis of the Qur'an, Sun.nah and the opinion of the Imams on this subject. In the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, "When the call for the Friday prayer is given, then hurry to the dhikr of Allah…" (al-Jumu'ah 62:9)
The word "dhikr" is used in the Qur'an for "remembrance" as well as for "tadhkir" for "reminding". See the Qur'an Yusuf 12:104; Yasin 36:69; Saad 38:87; al-Zukhruf 43:44 etc. Thus Friday prayer is both for dhikr and tadhkir.
The Khutbah is basically for reminding (tadhkir) while the Salat is for the remembrance of Allah (dhikr). One cannot remind the people in a language that they do not understand. It is reported that the Khutbah of the Prophet (PBUH) on Fridays used to consist of dhikr of Allah and His praise, then he used to remind the people and he used to give them advises (thumma yudhakkiruhim wa ya'izuhim). This is reported in many books of Hadith.
The Prophet (PBUH) used to speak to the people in his Khutbah. Sometime he even interrupted his Khutbah by telling some people "sit down", "say your prayer", "come closer," etc. He did not do this in his salat. He used to make people understand what he was saying, while in his prayers he was conversing with his Lord.
There is a big difference between the Salat and Khutbah. The Prophet(PBUH) told us how to pray and what to say in each part of our prayer. No imam has the authority to change the salat. In salat we only recite the Qur'an, we cannot even recite Hadith. We have fixed du'a for ruku', sajdah and tashahhud etc. and the whole salat must be performed exactly in the way of the Prophet (PBUH). Those who do not know Arabic language and know Tamil only, can and they should learn the basic meaning of these few prayers.
However, the Khutbahs are not fixed like the salat. We are not told to read only the Qur'an, Hadith or Prophet's sermons in our Friday Khutbahs. The Imam is allowed to make his own Khutbah, give the message to his audience according to their need. If the Imam is permitted to give his message according to the needs of the audience, why is he not permitted to use the language according to the needs of his audience? The language is a medium. A message cannot be conveyed to a Tamil community in a language unknown to them. I donot understand reading the words of Allah and His prophet in Arabic, because they are not legible to me; but, no translation has the authority of the original, I agree.Some could change the meaning in Tamil.But, now we have Quran in Tamil, so this is ruled out.
But what is so special about my own words or the words of any imam that they must be in Arabic and not in Tamil? Even when the imam and his audience have no clues what they mean. I have heard some Khutbahs in Arabic that were totally irrelevant and useless. On the other hand I have heard some Khutbahs in Tamil that were highly inspiring and motivating.
Can we say that the first type were Halal because they were in Arabic and the second type were Haram because they were in Tamil? It is not correct to say that "all Madhhib are unanimous in their opinion that the Friday Khutbah must be in Arabic."
The unanimity is only on this that the Khutbah must consist of the praise of Allah and peace and blessings upon His prophet. This part should be in Arabic, but no one said that the whole Khutbah must/should be in Arabic. In the Fiqh 'ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'ah (Fiqh According to Four Schools) it is mentioned: According to Hanafi School, there is only one essential part of Khutbah and that is dhikr. It is sufficient if the Khutbah has only Tasbih, or Hamd or even La ilaha illa Allah. But it is makruh to make the Khutbah so short. According to Imam Malik, the Khutbah also has one essential part and that is warning and good news (tahdhir and tabshir).
According to Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, the Khutbah has four essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Recitation of at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 4. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah.
According to Imam Shafi'I, the Khutbah has five essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah, 4. Reading at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 5. Prayers for the believers, especially in the second Khutbah. See vol. 1, pp. 389-390) I agree that Hamd and Salat on the Prophet and reading at least a verse from the Qur'an should be in Arabic. But according to the Qur'an, Sunnah and the opinions of the major Imams it is not required that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic, it can be in Tamil or any non-arabic languages.
The basic confusion comes when we read the opinions of the Imams and other scholars that the Khutbah should be in Arabic, some of us think that means that everything in the Khutbah should be in Arabic. Now there are thousands of Masajid in India, Srilanka,Malaysia, Singapore,Penang where Khutbahs are given in Tamil. The Khateebs are from all schools of thought: Sun.nis, Shi'is, Deobandis, Ahamadis etc.
I have travelled around the world and seen many Muftis and 'Ulama of different countries giving Khutbahs in local languages. Can we say that all these 'Ulama are committing Haram and their prayers and the prayers of millions of Muslims behind them are invalid? I mentioned that the Supreme Council of Masajid in its first meeting held in Makkah in 1975. Hundreds of Ulama' and Imams who were gathered there from all over the world gave the fatwa that Khutbah could be given in local languages, but its opening must be with the praise of Allah and the blessings on His Prophet and this should be in Arabic. Friday is a very important day for Muslims. Let us take full benefit of this day by giving the message of Islam to the masses in Tamil so that they understand.
May Allah help us to follow the Sun.nah of the Prophet (PBUH) with wisdom and understanding. Arif bhai, Donot get angry at me. Allah has given us the Quran, but there is no compulsion in religion.
At no place, there is any bar in conducting our prayers in Tamil. If you Urdu muslims have inferiority complex and fall at the feet of arabic scholars, it is your problem. Tamil language and culture are as old as Arabic and we are not an inferior language like Urdu. So, Stop this non-sense. Allah judges best!
- From: Maraickar (@ dup-200-64-191-49.prodigy.net.mx)
on: Sat Jun 7 02:36:49 EDT 2003
This is a reply i posted in TamilIslam discussion forum last month to Irshad:
I read with care Maulana Irshad's statement. I respectfully disagree with him on his opinion that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic and it is forbidden to give Khutbah in any language other than Arabic.
Let me explain my position a little more on the basis of the Qur'an, Sun.nah and the opinion of the Imams on this subject. In the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, "When the call for the Friday prayer is given, then hurry to the dhikr of Allah…" (al-Jumu'ah 62:9)
The word "dhikr" is used in the Qur'an for "remembrance" as well as for "tadhkir" for "reminding". See the Qur'an Yusuf 12:104; Yasin 36:69; Saad 38:87; al-Zukhruf 43:44 etc. Thus Friday prayer is both for dhikr and tadhkir.
The Khutbah is basically for reminding (tadhkir) while the Salat is for the remembrance of Allah (dhikr). One cannot remind the people in a language that they do not understand. It is reported that the Khutbah of the Prophet (PBUH) on Fridays used to consist of dhikr of Allah and His praise, then he used to remind the people and he used to give them advises (thumma yudhakkiruhim wa ya'izuhim). This is reported in many books of Hadith.
The Prophet (PBUH) used to speak to the people in his Khutbah. Sometime he even interrupted his Khutbah by telling some people "sit down", "say your prayer", "come closer," etc. He did not do this in his salat. He used to make people understand what he was saying, while in his prayers he was conversing with his Lord.
There is a big difference between the Salat and Khutbah. The Prophet(PBUH) told us how to pray and what to say in each part of our prayer. No imam has the authority to change the salat. In salat we only recite the Qur'an, we cannot even recite Hadith. We have fixed du'a for ruku', sajdah and tashahhud etc. and the whole salat must be performed exactly in the way of the Prophet (PBUH). Those who do not know Arabic language and know Tamil only, can and they should learn the basic meaning of these few prayers.
However, the Khutbahs are not fixed like the salat. We are not told to read only the Qur'an, Hadith or Prophet's sermons in our Friday Khutbahs. The Imam is allowed to make his own Khutbah, give the message to his audience according to their need. If the Imam is permitted to give his message according to the needs of the audience, why is he not permitted to use the language according to the needs of his audience? The language is a medium. A message cannot be conveyed to a Tamil community in a language unknown to them. I donot understand reading the words of Allah and His prophet in Arabic, because they are not legible to me; but, no translation has the authority of the original, I agree.Some could change the meaning in Tamil.But, now we have Quran in Tamil, so this is ruled out.
But what is so special about my own words or the words of any imam that they must be in Arabic and not in Tamil? Even when the imam and his audience have no clues what they mean. I have heard some Khutbahs in Arabic that were totally irrelevant and useless. On the other hand I have heard some Khutbahs in Tamil that were highly inspiring and motivating.
Can we say that the first type were Halal because they were in Arabic and the second type were Haram because they were in Tamil? It is not correct to say that "all Madhhib are unanimous in their opinion that the Friday Khutbah must be in Arabic."
The unanimity is only on this that the Khutbah must consist of the praise of Allah and peace and blessings upon His prophet. This part should be in Arabic, but no one said that the whole Khutbah must/should be in Arabic. In the Fiqh 'ala al-Madhahib al-Arba'ah (Fiqh According to Four Schools) it is mentioned: According to Hanafi School, there is only one essential part of Khutbah and that is dhikr. It is sufficient if the Khutbah has only Tasbih, or Hamd or even La ilaha illa Allah. But it is makruh to make the Khutbah so short. According to Imam Malik, the Khutbah also has one essential part and that is warning and good news (tahdhir and tabshir).
According to Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, the Khutbah has four essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Recitation of at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 4. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah.
According to Imam Shafi'I, the Khutbah has five essential parts: 1. Praise of Allah, 2. Blessings upon the Prophet, 3. Reminding the people about the Taqwa of Allah, 4. Reading at least one ayah from the Qur'an, 5. Prayers for the believers, especially in the second Khutbah. See vol. 1, pp. 389-390) I agree that Hamd and Salat on the Prophet and reading at least a verse from the Qur'an should be in Arabic. But according to the Qur'an, Sunnah and the opinions of the major Imams it is not required that the whole Khutbah must be in Arabic, it can be in Tamil or any non-arabic languages.
The basic confusion comes when we read the opinions of the Imams and other scholars that the Khutbah should be in Arabic, some of us think that means that everything in the Khutbah should be in Arabic. Now there are thousands of Masajid in India, Srilanka,Malaysia, Singapore,Penang where Khutbahs are given in Tamil. The Khateebs are from all schools of thought: Sun.nis, Shi'is, Deobandis, Ahamadis etc.
I have travelled around the world and seen many Muftis and 'Ulama of different countries giving Khutbahs in local languages. Can we say that all these 'Ulama are committing Haram and their prayers and the prayers of millions of Muslims behind them are invalid? I mentioned that the Supreme Council of Masajid in its first meeting held in Makkah in 1975. Hundreds of Ulama' and Imams who were gathered there from all over the world gave the fatwa that Khutbah could be given in local languages, but its opening must be with the praise of Allah and the blessings on His Prophet and this should be in Arabic. Friday is a very important day for Muslims. Let us take full benefit of this day by giving the message of Islam to the masses in Tamil so that they understand.
May Allah help us to follow the Sun.nah of the Prophet (PBUH) with wisdom and understanding. Arif bhai, Donot get angry at me. Allah has given us the Quran, but there is no compulsion in religion.
At no place, there is any bar in conducting our prayers in Tamil. If you Urdu muslims have inferiority complex and fall at the feet of arabic scholars, it is your problem. Tamil language and culture are as old as Arabic and we are not an inferior language like Urdu. So, Stop this non-sense. Allah judges best!
- From: mastan (@ 61.11.54.94)
on: Sun Jul 27 12:06:07 EDT 2003
dear friends,
it is proved beyond doubt that allah himself is fictious character created by prophet. prophet being a psycopath, was merciless ...read on...
1)islam is created by prophet on gabriel words in his ears.....hahhahahah no proof.
2)prophet married and mated with 8 year girl..worst on earth..
3)when his brother's son came to him for help on eye problem..prophet split on him mercilessly..then the poor chap told that he is able to see well...haha otherwise he wud have killed him.
4)islam followers cant see god...if tomaro god comes to earth and says he is god..muslims will kill him. So god is afraid to reach them.
5)prophet muhamad was merciless tyrant... cruel person..he threantened all people.
so he must be a bad person or mentally psychotic fellow. Anyway...now after civilization developed..it is very much bad to follow islam.
B.L.Mastanaih Naidu.
- From: Skanthavelu Nadarajah (@ edtntnt5-port-26.dial.telus.net)
on: Mon Jul 28 00:08:29 EDT 2003
Assalaam u waleikum! What is the Arabic term for a Muslim?
Muslim(man) - ???
Muslim(woman) - ???
Tell your friend about this topic
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