Need to understand Arabic language to understand the Qur'an

9-9-2003 | IslamWeb

Question:

I am a born Muslim. But due to our secular education system, the government does not emphasize a seeking knowledge of Islam. Subjects such as learning Arabic is not emphasised. As a result we grow up as mediocre Muslims who are not well-versed in the language of al-Qur'an. What a pity. What is the ruling on a Muslim who prays but does not understand the meaning of the verses? I value the initiative of this website to introduce lessons in Arabic for new Muslims. I benefit also from it, but I would like to suggest that the Arabic writing be written in bold type (green or blue color) so that it very clear and easy to read the words/sentences.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. The prayer of the one who does not know the meaning of what he utters in his prayer is correct as long as he completes the obligations, conditions, Sunan, etc. of the prayer. But he will get only the reward of the prayer in which he has full concentration. Imam Abu Dawood reported from Ammar Bin Yasir (Radiya Allahu Anhu) that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: A man may complete the Salah without recording for himself but one-tenth or one-ninth or one-eighth or one-seventh or one-fifth or one-fourth or one-third or one-half of his prayer . [Sheikh al-Albani graded it Hasan] It is known that if a person perceives what he is uttering, it will help him resist the insinuations. Therefore, you should make efforts to learn Arabic language, it is very important for the Muslim to understand his religion and the Qur'an. The enemies of Islam spare no efforts to keep Muslims away from the Arabic language. Until you have learned the language, you should know the meaning of the Qur'an and the supplications with the help of the translations to apprehend, at least, what you are pronouncing. Finally, we will consider your suggestion about the colours of the fonts. Allah knows best.