The trials of reading the Quran in Malaysia

Spanish, anyone?

Taman Tun, 4 March 2016:

Read this in the Mole today ...

PUTRAJAYA — March 3, 2016: The Quran Printing, Control and Licensing Board (LPPPQ) today declared that writing and reading the Quran in languages other than Arabic is prohibited.

A statement by its chairman Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria reasoned that this is because the text of the Quran in other languages not accompanied by the Arabic text cannot be considered as Quran.

He said such an act is punishable under the Printing of Quran Text Act (APTQ) and the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

Harussani, who is also the mufti of Perak, was commenting on the “Let’s Read The Quran” campaign to write and read the Quran in languages other than Arabic.

According to him, as the body responsible for the monitoring of the printing, publication and import of Quran texts under APTQ, the board views the campaign seriously.

He stressed that the board and the respective state Islamic authorities would take stern action to stop the movement and campaign.

Harussani said a Quran which has been translated into other languages for the benefit of those who do not understanding Arabic cannot be considered Quranic texts but are translations of the Quran or interpretations of the

Quran.

“Translations of the Quran which are not accompanied by the original text in Arabic are prohibited as it is feared they could cause confusion,” he said. — Bernama

So what now, let's NOT read the Quran?

This is the kind of statements that shouldn't see print because 

1. it makes the person being quoted, in this case Harussani, sound shallow and moronic when I'm sure he's not 

2. it makes Islam look so rigid, uncompromising, archaic, prohibitive when it sure is not

Having said that, what are we doing to learn Arabic, the language of our RM2.6 billion donor? I know our primary schools TRY to teach some basic Arabic to our kids but you and I know that hasn't gone very far. I can read, I can recite but I won't understand most of it without translation. When we were riding through the Muslim civilisations in China, I met a young Iman who was astounded that most of us in the group could not speak or understand Arabic. "But you are a Muslim, and the Quran is in Arabic, so how can you not know the language?" he had asked me via an interpreter.

Well, there's a lot that we don't know. But one thing I know, if someone wants to read the Quran, you should encourage him/her to read. If there's a campaign like Let's read the Quran, the Board should send over an officer to facilitate. -rocky's bru