Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
You left out the most important point (IMHO) understand Arabic
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make it 5 
thanks.
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Doesn't the Quran proclaim in the very first verses that the book contains guidance for the righteous? It doesn’t say guidance for the scholars, or those with knowledge of Hadiths or Arabic.
Anyway, restricting knowledge & opinion about Quran is as old as Quran itself. There was a time when translating Quran in other languages was considered a sin now we have a little different version of such sins like only scholars can have an opinion on it.
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Really...people actually thought translating the text was haraam????
:o
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Ahmadjee, define righteous please… and do it with a refrence from Quran so we are all clear on that…plus I dont see anyone calling it a sin to translate Quran or only scholars can have opinion about it. It is however safe to say that if you dont understand the context (which would imply a bit of history…also includes language used at the time) you will be in a better position to understand the message.
Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
That is true. No one needs to be a scholar to understand Quran but one needs to be righteous. Righteous by heart and when it comes to do righteous deeds, one needs to know what Quran said and what Prophet:saw: advised. One needs to understand Quran. you lose the meaning of any language in the translation anyway.
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Kaleem are u going so far as to claim that you know what the status of another's knowledge is??
Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
For most of Islamic history, yes.
Translations were only reluctantly allowed in recent centuries, because a translation does not mean the same thing as the original.
Besides which, only under western colonial rule did you get muslims who were educated but not fluent in arabic.
Since before the West conquered the Muslim world, all education was done in religious institutes, every literate Muslim from Morocco to Indonesia was able to read and understand arabic.
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Absolutely not…My post does not imply that all. All I am saying is that it is better if a person learnt arabic, it will give you a better perspective and understanding that is all. Now mind you I did not say that it is compulsory…you never know with you and your crazy assumptions.
Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
iss kaarwaaN maiN jaan kar khushi huvee kay raaqim-ul-huroof tanhaa naheeN 
Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
Talk to me AQ...you have to spell everything out for her she will understand it one way and run with it.
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Kaleem Bhai, let me take this opportunity to quote one of my favorite verses of Quran:
"*It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but truly righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets, and spends his money out of love for Him, on the kindred and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and those who ask for charity, and for ransoming the captives; and observes prayer and pays the Zakat; and those who fulfil their promise when they have made one, and the patient in poverty and afflictions and the steadfast in the time of war; it is these who have proved truthful and it is these who are truly God-Fearing. *(From Surah Al-Baqarah)
So you see, one doesn't need to be a scholar or an Arab language expert or even a history buff to be righteous and therefore the sole bearer of Quranic teachings.
I am all for knowing the different opinions about Quran and the knowledge of Hadiths, what I am totally against is limiting it to one person or a group's understanding.
The very Hadiths that explain the context of verses and at time explain them beyond our imagination also claims that Quran’s single verse can have several different meanings. If I remember correctly it is claimed to have 7 different meanings. So, limiting any verse of Quran to a single interpretation or prohibiting the 'out of the box understanding' is limiting the virtues of Quran.
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kaleem:I know man, I became from Allama to a scholar and then was raised to a sexist pig status in a span of 24 hours:mash:
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Cracked me up 
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Thank-you ahmadjee for that excellent knowledge. May Allah bring light to the darkness in peoples' minds. :)
Oh look there, I pulled an AQ.
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And may ALLAH:swt: save us from Shaitaan. Aameen
Re: Sheikh Character Assasination
The Qur'an comprises many layers and levels of understanding... perhaps not everyone can reach to all these layers or indeed is required to do so...
--- on a basic level, the fundamental message of the Qur'an is understood irrespective of the language in which it is read... namely, that there is One God, He has sent Books, Messengers, Revelation, Heaven and Hell, Day of Judgement, key prohibitions etc. etc....
--- on a deeper level, to appreciate the subtle nuances and literary beauty of the Qur'anic text a grounding in Arabic is naturally indispensable...
--- deeper still, to issue judgements/rulings based on the Qur'an (particularly if one wants to do this on their own without recourse to scholars) then not only is Arabic required but also other important tools such as awareness of all the verses on a given topic, the date order of revelation (if one is taking abrogation into account), the context of revelation (although a verse's application is not necessarily limited to the context of revelation), awareness of how the Prophet (saw) understood and applied said verses... at this level, anyone who thinks he/she can get away with less than this is not only deluding him/herself but likely misguiding others as well
... the more effort you put in, the more you get out
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This should be an eyeopenner of a post for all those who claim that one do not need a scholar to understand Quran.
Well put brother. JazakAllah
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disagree.. a Book revealed for all times to come does not have to be bound by ‘context of revelation’ Allah wasn’t rambling along correcting Himself.. He knew the whole revelation to be revealed.. He’s perfect.. He doesn’t make mistakes.. or ‘abroagte’ His own verses and then let them get included in the Book.. these are all fantasies spurned by Persian mischief makers.
once again not necessary.. The Qur’an is a Book for all times .. even when the Prophet wasn’t available to remind people how he understood it.. The Qur’an directly addresses The Muslims and the Believers so after the message was conveyed they are on their own to understand it. Unless there is iron clad evidence as to what the Prophet actually understood and applied, believing any historical evidence at it’s face value is extremely deterimental and severely undermines the Qur’an and it’s teachings.