Issues and Questions
By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi

Hands in Salat, Translation of Qur’an, and Student Loans

 

Q1. I am a Muslim and an American. The majority of the Muslims in the community I live in are physicians or professors from Pakistan It is from these Muslim brothers that I have learned to make salat and work on being a better Muslim. I understand the emphasis upon intention before doing an action. A fellow Muslim, also an American, gave a Khutba on the specifics of prayer, e.g., we should make an extra motion or place hands above the heart, etc. He alluded to the fact that anything else is an innovation and that if we don’t perform exactly we endanger ourselves with hellfire. I noticed the Pakistani brothers kept silent so as not to insult the American brother and continued as they have always prayed. Can you clarify the differences between the salat practices and provide an answers from the Qur’an, Hadiths, and the Hanafi School just in case I need to defend the reason why I pray as I do?
A 1. The brother giving the Khutbah needs to be told (of course nicely and with wisdom) that things are not that rigid in Islam. It is important to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet - peace be upon him - in prayer, but within the Sunnah itself there is some flexibility. The jurists have identified several ways of holding hands during prayers. Some hold them over the navel, some over the chest, some over the left side of the chest on the heart and some just leave the hands down on the sides. All these methods are based on some Ahadith. It is acceptable to follow any of these methods. There is no need to frighten people with hellfire on the issues on which Allah and His Messenger had not warned them and frightened them.
People who give Khutbahs have a responsibility to study and learn before passing judgements. In America we have a unique Muslim community. We have people from many racial, ethnic, national or linguistic backgrounds and we also have Muslims from various Madhahib praying together in the same Masajid. It is important that our Khatibs inform the communities about the Qur’an and Sunnah, but they should also tell our people about the variety and diversity among us and in our Madhahib and teach Muslims to be tolerant of each other. Otherwise we shall divide ourselves more and create difficulties for ourselves and for our next generation.

Q 2. I have a Qur’an with the translation of Dr. Muhsin Khan, not the Yusuf Ali’s translation. Do you recommend Yusuf Ali over it, or the one I have is OK?
A 2. The Qur’an in Arabic is the word of Allah (Kalam Allah), but the translations are the works of human beings. There is no perfect translation. All translations have some good points and some weaknesses. Allamah Yusuf Ali - may Allah bless his soul - did a great service by doing a pioneering work in the English translation of the Qur’an. His is one of the earliest English translations done by a Muslim. His translation also has a brief commentary, which is generally very good and useful. However, in the translation of the Qur’an he used some old classical English style. This style is not much in use today and our young people and common public find it very difficult to understand and appreciate.
Dr. Mohsin Khan’s translation is in simple English which is easy to understand, but its problem is that in many places he has put his own interpretation also within the translation of the ayat. For an ordinary reader sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish what is the speech of Allah and what is the explanation of Dr. Khan. Although all translations are in a sense interpretations, nevertheless, it is important that the translators try to be as close as possible to the original text and must avoid putting their own words in between as much as possible.
As far as my recommendations are concerned, I always recommend to Muslims to read the Qur’an in Arabic and learn the Arabic language. Those who need to read the Qur’an with a translation should try to read more than one translation.

Q 3. What is the Islamic position on taking financial aid (a loan) for college education?
A 3. If a loan does not involve interest then there is no prohibition from taking that loan. But most of the financial aid loans available in this country involve interest (riba) and it is Haram according to the Shari’ah to get involved in interest. It is the duty of rich Muslims to establish interest-free educational loans for Muslim students. There are very few scholarships and interest-free educational loan programs available for Muslim students in this country. This should be our priority and we must establish such programs in every community and all over the country. However, it will take time and, realistically speaking, we shall not be in a position to have enough money in the near future to have interest- free loans available for all our needy Muslim students. Meanwhile we have thousands of our youth who need help now. We cannot say to our students to leave education. Education is a must for the survival and progress of our community. Lack of education will put us backward, make us second-class people and we shall never be able to establish ourselves and our Islamic programs in this land.
It is for this reason, I say that if one tried his/her best to get interest-free loan and was not able to get one, then it is permissible for the person to take any loan available for his/her education. However, the person who is taking such loan must observe two important rules: 1.Take as little loan as possible, 2. Have the intention to pay it back as soon as possible with as little interest as possible.
May Allah help us to provide Halal means for the education of our students.
- DrSiddiqi@aol.com

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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