COLOMBO : The Ministry of Defense has officially given permission to the Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs(DMRCA), to clear the consignment of the copies of Holy Quran lying at the Colombo Customs since April this year,
Colombo Times contacted Prof Rasheen Bappu, for his views on the recent detention of Holy Qurans & translations of Holy Quran. He mentioned that though approval granted to release Holy Qurans , there is a speculation that having these copies under the detention of Customs for 4 months & paying demurrage is a waste of money. There is no point in blaming Customs, Ministry of Defense, DMRCA, ACJU or the review committee. Recommendation to Regulate Religious books, publications videos etc by DMRCA, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Defense came into effect after the Easter attack and it is one of recommendations of the Presidential commission of Inquiry (PCOI) into Easter Attack.
Nevertheless, some countries have restrictions on the Religious Books that are imported into their countries. Muslim counties such as Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman etc. have this procedure where every book imported into the country are subject to an approval by the committee appointed for the same. This is the same practice that Sri Lanka is following. “: We have had enough of matters in the past where the Quran Translations in Tamil & Sinhala translations have brought a serious challenge on the National security of the country. It is believed that the suicide cadres of Easter Sunday Attack were influenced by these Quran translations where it clearly translates as, ‘kill the Kuffar (other faiths) wherever you find them’, which is a literal translation against the Authentic translation of Quran. The Translations in question are a literal translation of the Holy Quran without any explanation to the 30 Verses (Aayats) of Jihad or Aayats that are in relation to the Sifaat (Qualities) of Almighty Allah. Translations like this inspired monks such as Venerable Gnanasara Thera to call Almighty Allah as the ‘Mastermind of the Easter Sunday Attacks. The question is, do we still need such Quran translations that misinform, misinterpret the Holy Message of the Almighty Allah? *
The Review Committee for Imported Books has been working since 2020 under an approved framework to clear Holy Qurans and other Islamic text books. This committee has enabled to recommend the clearance of many such Qurans and other Islamic text books used in the Arabic Colleges. It is an independent body that works voluntarily comprising of reputed and qualified Islamic scholars from ACJU, Sufi Thareeqas and graduates of Jamiyah Naleemiya. The framework clearly mentions as follows with regard to Holy Quran translations:
1. Any translation without the Quranic Arabic Text shall not be recommended.
2. The Translation should not be a linguistic translation of the Quran, but should be a
translation which is in accordance to the “Ummahathuth Thafaseer”
3. Quranic translations must have footnotes or explanatory notes where needed, particularly
for those Aayaath (Verses), which could be misunderstood by the reader without proper
explanation, such as Verses of Jihad and others.
4. Quranic Translations shall use words that are appropriate and respectful to address the
almighty Allah, his beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), all other prophets, angels and pious men and women mentioned in the Quran. Any usage of words that are deemed to be disrespectful towards the above, will not be recommended for clearance.
The Committee understands that the examination of Quranic translations will require a long time, hence the importer must provide at least 10 Sample Copies of the Translations, much prior to importing the books to the Country.”
Unfortunately, the detained translations did not comply to this guideline which are in place since 2020. The donor has sent it with good intention for the benefit of the Students in Arabic Colleges. Though the donor has sent samples beforehand, they were not routed through official channels. If the donor has consigned the shipment after obtaining official recommendations and approvals then the current hazel would have not arisen. Educating the donor on the procedure should have been done by the officials of DMRCA beforehand. Nevertheless, since the review committee has approved only 26,000 copies of Arabic Quran, Ministry of Defence & Customs should release them asap. Rest of the books which include translations could be resent to the donor or proper translations to be added with proper footnotes.DMRCA should coordinate with the donor and customs to get it released without further delay.
