[Mmzmptvk]

The way I see it, the problem is not in seeking knowledge, as that is the goal of each and every one of us; the problem is in wavering, doubting, looking elsewhere, dabbling here and there, trying to merge everything, seeking commonalities, highlighting differences... in other words, simply not being content with the whole of what was given such that there is no room for further evaluation and analysis. Otherwise, I'm afraid something other than what was intended for us (Islam) emerges and that is misleading and erroneous.

I don't see the things you mentioned as being problems within themselves. Without doubts, there would be no reverts to Islam. (By the same token, doubts also take people out of the fold of Islam.) In itself, doubting is not a problem. Doubts lead to questions, which lead to truths. It is through wavering, doubts, looking elsewhere, etc. that we learn and grow. From my understanding, your concern is that these things may lead people away from Islam. But these same things are also what lead people to Islam.

When it comes to seeking commonalities and highlighting differences, I think those things are unavoidable. There was a thread posted on the forum recently that discussed the "hand of God" from Christian, Jewish, and Islamic viewpoints. The intent of the thread was to point out the differences between how Christians and Jews view God's hand and how Muslims view (or should view) God's hand. I did not respond to that thread, although I contemplated doing so for a long time. My response would have been that I am glad to see that the manner that Muslims should understand "god's hand" is the same manner in which Christians and Jews should. The author of the post saw differences, while I saw the commonality. The problem was not the way each actually view God's hand, or should view God's hand, the problem was in how each perceives that the other is viewing this.

Let me provide another example along the same lines that I have mentioned before. On a Christian forum, there was an individual who commented that a missionary to a Muslim country came back and reported that Muslims women say that they wear hijab because of shame. The error was a miscommunication/ misunderstanding. The missionary heard that Muslim women have shame, whereas the Muslim women were speaking of shame in the context of modesty, similar to in the Bible where women are instructed to be "shamefaced" (modest). The Christian missionary only saw differences between Christians and Muslims, when the truth is that the concept is one that is shared within the two religions.

Alhamdulillah for this thread and our communications here because, as a person who has always fared better with application than with theory, after reading some discrepancies in the older Yusuf Ali translation that made me worried and then noticing how the translation leaves some crucial lines quite blurred, I now finally get why the Yusuf Ali translation is not ideal.

Oh, how I wish I understood Arabic!

Is it his translation that you have a problem with, or is it his commentary? Would you share which things bother you? I made a thread on Yusuf Ali, if you want to post there so that this one doesn't take a new goat path. I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts!

http://www.sunniforum.com/forum/show...li-Translation