Mohammad Shariq from Bareilly, UP has asked a question.
''People here are divided into sects.
I would like to know about Aala Hazrat.
People believe he is a saint.
However, I believe he is just a cleric.
I would also like to know how many verses of the Qur'an he has mistranslated.
I do not follow any sect.
My heart has been activated by the grace of His Divine Eminence''.
Was Aala Hazrat A Saint of God?
Aala Hazrat was not a saint of God.
This is confirmed.
However, he has expressed his love for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
And it is evident from his poetry that he respected the saints of God.
His tenets were correct.
We can call him an Aalim ba Amal.
However, the prerequisite of becoming a saint is that
one must possess esoteric knowledge,
one must have gone through the process of purification of the Lower Self and the Spiritual Heart
and one must at least have reached the spiritual stage of conversing with God.
Aala Hazrat was not able to converse with God
nor did he come under a shower of divine theophanies.
None of these things applies to him.
He cannot be called a saint of God because he was not one.
He was a cleric.
A scholar.
When the clerics of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaat in both India and Pakistan started to perform Bayt (pledge of allegiance)
and started calling themselves Peer (spiritual guides)
and turned their pupils into disciples,
they needed to portray someone as a saint of God
who talks about the Sacred Law
who only possesses exoteric knowledge
and this would be the basis of his claim of sainthood.
Therefore, the clerics of Pakistan and India
projected Aala Hazrat as a saint of God to make things easier for themselves.
He was never a saint of God nor did he ever claim to be a saint of God.
The clerics projected this for their ease.
So that if anyone asks them, they could prove to them that the knowledge of sainthood exists only in the Sacred Law.
This is why they consider him [Aala Hazrat] a saint of God.
Although he is not.
But he also never claimed to be a saint.
He was a good scholar.
His tenets were correct.
Now, let's talk about translations.
Having a good command of the Arabic language is not the only requirement for translating the Holy Qur'an.
The Holy Qur'an and the reality of the Holy Qur'an
is transmitted from heart to heart.
This is because God Almighty revealed the Qur'an upon the Spiritual Heart of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
The teachings of the Qur'an are transferred from the heart.
So if someone who does not have knowledge of the Holy Qur'an
and he translates the Holy Qur'an based on his knowledge of the Arabic language,
it will definitely have problems.
Now because he was a cleric, and the clerics do enjoy fame,
they love to be praised.
There is a Quranic verse 'Fazkuruni azkurukum' which he translated in the capacity of being a scholar.
He said it means: ''you remember me and I will make you famous''.
They think it means that all the religious scholars
whom God loves, God will make them famous in the world.
They think this is what ''fazkuruni azkurum'' means.
'You remember me and I will make you famous'.
Many people have been adventurous when it came to the translation [of the Holy Qur'an].
There was a man from Hyderabad Deccan.
He had a great command of the Arabic language.
Later, he became known by the name Maulana Maududi.
He also translated the Holy Qur'an.
But he, too, lacked esoteric knowledge.
How can one translate the Qur'an
who does not know what ''dhalikal kitabu la raiba fihi hudal lil muttaqeen'' means?
None of the translators has been correct in their translations.
Tahir ul Qadri also translated the Qur'an.
In Pakistan, there was another Peer before Tahir ul Qadri called Peer Karam Shah Al Azhari.
He was also the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
There is a place near Sarghoda called Bhera Sharif
and that is where he
He was a well-educated man.
A learned man.
Personally, I would say that he was a greater scholar than Aala Hazrat and Tahir ul Qadri.
He also translated the Holy Qur'an.
He titled his translation 'Zia ul Quran'.
I have read many translations of the Qur'an.
However, if I had to choose one from among all the mistranslations, I would personally choose Peer Karam Shah Al Azhari's translation.
That is not to say that he was 100% correct in his translation.
So it's like the best among the worst.
Another thing I really liked about him
is that along with his translations, he wrote about the Disjointed Letters
that the secret and knowledge of these Letters are known only to God and his Messenger.
Only God and his Messenger know about it
or the saints of God upon whom Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) revealed the secrets of the Disjointed Letters.
Nobody else wrote this in their translations.
Maulana Tahir ul Qadri also used to respect him.
And then he also translated the Qur'an.
When Tahir ul Qadri translated the Qur'an, he made it known
that his translation of the Qur'an was of such a high standard that no one would require any explanations.
That's how top-notch his translation is.
However, whenever you read his translation, note that wherever the very special words are written, such as the Disjointed Letters,
he did not write anything in those places.
He translated Sharha e Sadr (Opening of the Heart) in the same way everyone else did.
In this field of clergymen and all these translations that are available
the driving force behind it all that I can see
is that when someone translates the Qur'an, they are held in high regard in the public's eye.
Along with respect, they are given royalties when their translation of the Qur'an is printed.
They make money from it.
So whoever earns a degree in the Arabic language among the clerics,
they want to translate the Holy Qur'an
and they also want to write the explanation and it's easy because there are tonnes of explanations available
so they just cut and paste from the other translators and make up their own translations and explanations.
It's really quite easy to do.
So translating the Qur'an is a way to make a profit for them.
And then, Tahir ul Qadri even wrote a Quranic Encyclopaedia.
And it has the exact same explanations that Naeem Muradabadi wrote.