wa laa d-daaleen
nor the astray
I agree with your interpretation Awais. The common knowledge in Egypt is that, those Two lines applies to Jews & Christians. But many Arab muslims, being good people, will refute this common interpretation if they are questioned a little bit. It is a common knowledge they took for granted all their lives and never questioned it. It is what I call a 'weak belief'.
It's in Bukhari or somewhere that it refers to Jews and Christians and the Hilali & Khan Qur'an (which I sadly threw in the recycle bin) has (Jews) and (Christians) (in brackets) (with the footnote) (referring to the Hadith).
What I would like your opinion on though is:
why can't we reinterpret things to suit ourselves? Do we
really know what Muhammad thought about these things? What is wrong with revisionism ( if it is that ) in translation? For example there are at least three translations out there which do not translate 4:34 as "beat". One by Ahmed Ali, one by Edip Yuksel et al, and one by Laleh Bakhtiar. Even if the original intent of the verse was "to beat" what are the arguments against translating it some other way?
You are referring to 'reforming'. You can reform through erasure of scripture, or rewriting scripture. Of course it is great to reform something that needs reforming. However, reforming through translation is a sham. Unless the original language becomes a dead language, only available to academics. How else do you suggest, you can walk to few Hundred million of people like me who speak Arabic, and explain to us that your new translation means anything of value. You think Arabs will read the translations of 4:34 over the Arabic text?
Another issue is 'pace'. What to change and how much to change, and reaching the same conclusion as everyone else?
It is clear that most muslims are happy with seeing 4:34 go away. So that should be a good start, but how far will muslims go along with this reformation? Specially now that information is so widely spread.
You have to actively strike the verse off (at least abrogating or de-activating it), or re-write it, actively.
Historically there have always been people who didn't concentrate on those aspects of the deen which I think we all consider nefarious; for example Ibn Arabi whose book Miskhat al-Anwar consists of hadith qudsi some of which he may have cold made up. Some of our more heterodox predecessors have interpreted what they believe to be the 'hidden meanings' of the Qur'an. At the very least it's an intellectual exercise in literary theory. And seemingly on the other side of the axis you have naked, ganja smoking Qalandars, Abdals and all sorts of other folk described in Ahmet Karamustafa's God's Unruly Friends.
The 40 or so, "Hadith qudsi" (divine hadith) is so far in opposition to everything muhammad said, that it is probable the writer made up/modified this hadith. It is good news indeed that people are so willing to accept such clear fabrications.
But then, what are we saving here? Are we trying to save the good bits of the koran? It is not like the koran has some good stuff that we need to save or hide. The book is horrible on every level. Until now I never managed to find a single good thread of verses.
If we cover the koran under the veneer of some hadith kodsi or a minor re-write, are we really doing a favor to all those people who still have to live under the yoke of theocracy?
The only reform of islam that can have any useful impact, is to follow the same path as Christianity and Convince people that the material in their hands was not directly written by a god. Convince them that they do not possess an absolute Truth. That to get anything done, they have to turn to their secular institutions and Science and most importantly, to reason.
I do not believe that any of those false translations are an advantage to muslims, quite the opposite.
It is a matter of confirmation vs instruction. Once people get confirmation that the book is good, through a translation ruse, then the people will rely more on that book in their life. But the Sharia judges, who will get confirmed by misled muslims, those judges will get their instructions from the koran, not from translations.
Topic: Call to prayer - Opening Prayer