umm hussain
Junior Member
Maranaos Defend Qur’an Translation
RIYADH, 26 January 2007 — Two Filipino Muslims in Kingdom have defended the Maranao version of the Holy Qur’an, saying charges of “corrupted translations” by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Guroalim Saromantang were unfounded.
A report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer earlier this month quoted Ustaz Mohammad Sulaiman, a supposed specialist on the classic Arabic language of the Qur’an, as saying a line in the second chapter on the story of Moses which described Allah as a cow was “too serious” to ignore.
Sulaiman was reported to have called the attention of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Manila to have the translation reviewed by people knowledgeable of the Maranao language and the holy book.
He said copies of the Maranao translation, the first ever of the Holy Qur’an in a Philippine language, were distributed to Filipino pilgrims departing from Jeddah International Airport following the annual Haj. The book is now available in the Philippines for 1,400 pesos, or about 100 riyals.
Jamil Tamano, a Maranao based in Jeddah, questioned the critic’s understanding of the language, noting that Sulaiman appeared to be a Maguindanaon.
The Inquirer report did not mention Sulaiman’s original tribe.
Of the nine Muslim tribes in the Philippines, Maranao is the biggest, with about 1.15 million speakers of the language, according to Wikipedia.
Maguindanaons are the second biggest, with about 1.1 million speakers, of the language. The Tausugs are a close third with 1.022 million, according to the same source.
The Maranaos are based in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte in central Mindanao, although many of them have migrated to Manila and other parts of the country.
Maguindanaons are based in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Sharif Kabunsuan, and the Tausugs are from Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Palawan and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Rasol Abbas, one of the grandchildren of the late Saromantang, said Sulaiman got it all wrong maybe because he didn’t understand Maranao.
Tamano and Abbas also questioned Sulaiman’s motive for making his criticism public without first consulting with the people concerned, considering it’s potentially destructive effect.
“It was a direct insult to the Maranao scholars and Arabs who reviewed the translations as well as to the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an,” Tamano added.
The spokesman for the Saudi Arabian Embassy in has said its in-house scholars, composed of local Muslims and Arabs, need to go over the book before it could give its official comment on the translation.
Abbas said it was distressing that the work of his grandfather and of other distinguished Islamic scholars was being assailed indiscriminately.
Abbas said his grandfather, a well-known scholar in Marawi — the Philippines’ premier Muslim city — devoted 10 years of his life translating the Qur’an, with assistance by a committee of scholars headed by the late Sen. Ahmed Domocao Alonto and Imam Nashrodeen Basman.
Abbas said almost 30 distinguished scholars in the Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces were consulted before the translation was printed by the Obaro-baro Masa Printing Press.
And before the final printing in the Kingdom by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, the draft was reviewed and corrected by some Maranao Shariah Scholars in the Islamic University, Madinah Al-Munawwarah, headed by Abdullah Hadji Ali Monib and Farouk Sa’adoddin Abdul Rashid.
Abbas demanded a publicly apology from Sulaiman to the translator’s family and to others who have contributed to the noble effort, including the employees of the Madinah Complex.
He said Sulaiman should also retract the charges he made and to ask forgiveness from Allah.
RIYADH, 26 January 2007 — Two Filipino Muslims in Kingdom have defended the Maranao version of the Holy Qur’an, saying charges of “corrupted translations” by Sheikh Abdul Aziz Guroalim Saromantang were unfounded.
A report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer earlier this month quoted Ustaz Mohammad Sulaiman, a supposed specialist on the classic Arabic language of the Qur’an, as saying a line in the second chapter on the story of Moses which described Allah as a cow was “too serious” to ignore.
Sulaiman was reported to have called the attention of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Manila to have the translation reviewed by people knowledgeable of the Maranao language and the holy book.
He said copies of the Maranao translation, the first ever of the Holy Qur’an in a Philippine language, were distributed to Filipino pilgrims departing from Jeddah International Airport following the annual Haj. The book is now available in the Philippines for 1,400 pesos, or about 100 riyals.
Jamil Tamano, a Maranao based in Jeddah, questioned the critic’s understanding of the language, noting that Sulaiman appeared to be a Maguindanaon.
The Inquirer report did not mention Sulaiman’s original tribe.
Of the nine Muslim tribes in the Philippines, Maranao is the biggest, with about 1.15 million speakers of the language, according to Wikipedia.
Maguindanaons are the second biggest, with about 1.1 million speakers, of the language. The Tausugs are a close third with 1.022 million, according to the same source.
The Maranaos are based in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte in central Mindanao, although many of them have migrated to Manila and other parts of the country.
Maguindanaons are based in the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Sharif Kabunsuan, and the Tausugs are from Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Palawan and the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Rasol Abbas, one of the grandchildren of the late Saromantang, said Sulaiman got it all wrong maybe because he didn’t understand Maranao.
Tamano and Abbas also questioned Sulaiman’s motive for making his criticism public without first consulting with the people concerned, considering it’s potentially destructive effect.
“It was a direct insult to the Maranao scholars and Arabs who reviewed the translations as well as to the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an,” Tamano added.
The spokesman for the Saudi Arabian Embassy in has said its in-house scholars, composed of local Muslims and Arabs, need to go over the book before it could give its official comment on the translation.
Abbas said it was distressing that the work of his grandfather and of other distinguished Islamic scholars was being assailed indiscriminately.
Abbas said his grandfather, a well-known scholar in Marawi — the Philippines’ premier Muslim city — devoted 10 years of his life translating the Qur’an, with assistance by a committee of scholars headed by the late Sen. Ahmed Domocao Alonto and Imam Nashrodeen Basman.
Abbas said almost 30 distinguished scholars in the Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces were consulted before the translation was printed by the Obaro-baro Masa Printing Press.
And before the final printing in the Kingdom by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, the draft was reviewed and corrected by some Maranao Shariah Scholars in the Islamic University, Madinah Al-Munawwarah, headed by Abdullah Hadji Ali Monib and Farouk Sa’adoddin Abdul Rashid.
Abbas demanded a publicly apology from Sulaiman to the translator’s family and to others who have contributed to the noble effort, including the employees of the Madinah Complex.
He said Sulaiman should also retract the charges he made and to ask forgiveness from Allah.