India in the service of Islam
Translation of the Quran has made it possible for millions of people to understand the message of the holy book. There are thousands of websites providing translation in many languages of the world and there are institutes that have been setup just to do the translation work.
But do you know that the first ever complete translation of the Quran was done in India. The credit for the translation for the very first time goes to Shah Waliullah. He translated the book in Persian. He was criticized for it by people who thought he is doing something that will dilute the message of the book. He had his sons Shah Rafiuddin translate the Quran in Urdu- this was a literal word for word translation so though useful not very easy to comprehend. His other son Shah Abdul Qadir Muhaddis Dehalvi did a literary translation in Urdu, which became very popular and help spread the message to common people.
Shah Waliullah became such a revolutionary figure that now all Islamic groups, ideology, movements in South Asia trace their linage to him and pay him their respects.
This is just one of the examples of the numerous contributions that Indians have made for the service of Islam. Unfortunately, this has not been recognized by the Arab world and even we Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis don’t know contributions of our ancestors.
Grave markers of Shah Waliullah and two of his sons:
But do you know that the first ever complete translation of the Quran was done in India. The credit for the translation for the very first time goes to Shah Waliullah. He translated the book in Persian. He was criticized for it by people who thought he is doing something that will dilute the message of the book. He had his sons Shah Rafiuddin translate the Quran in Urdu- this was a literal word for word translation so though useful not very easy to comprehend. His other son Shah Abdul Qadir Muhaddis Dehalvi did a literary translation in Urdu, which became very popular and help spread the message to common people.
Shah Waliullah became such a revolutionary figure that now all Islamic groups, ideology, movements in South Asia trace their linage to him and pay him their respects.
This is just one of the examples of the numerous contributions that Indians have made for the service of Islam. Unfortunately, this has not been recognized by the Arab world and even we Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis don’t know contributions of our ancestors.
Grave markers of Shah Waliullah and two of his sons:
Comments