Importance of Translating The Quran

لَا تَقُمْ فِيهِ أَبَدًا لَمَسْجِدٌ أُسِّسَ عَلَى التَّقْوَىٰ مِنْ أَوَّلِ يَوْمٍ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَقُومَ فِيهِ فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُوا وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ

This distinction may be confusing for some causing many to think that one has to be physically clean in order to touch or read the Quran, to the extent that many cultures prohibit menstruating women from touching a Quran. But in Arabic this ambiguity is clear. For one notice that it uses the masculine form for the word touch يَمَسُّهُ / yamassuhu. Individuals have twisted the meaning of this verse to prohibit half the Muslim world from being able to study the Quran and perform these sacred duties for a big chunk of their adult lives. Funny how the verse that states who can access the Quran is misunderstood by so many people.

Secondly, this verse is not a commandment, but instead a statement of fact. If we think that this verse is in the context of physically being clean then how do address all of the physically unclean people who have touched and will touch the Quran well into the future. Does this mean that God’s promise was false? Of course not. Anytime we run into a supposed contradiction in the Quran it is not the Quran that needs to be assessed but our understanding. So by translating this verse that no one can grasp the Quran except those who are sincere it eliminates any contradiction and ambiguity one may have in the understanding of this verse.

CONCLUSION