The Shaykh Al-Albani’s response to the Maronite priest’s objection that Muslims do not permit the translation of the Qur'an

The Shaykh : They said, “And you are strict about translating the Qur'an and say it is not permissible.” So I explained to him the difference between literal translation and semantic translation, and I said, “We forbid literal translation and make semantic translation obligatory. This is how the scholars of the Muslims have proceeded, for Islam, praise be to Allah, spread to the lands of the non-Arabs who do not know the Arabic language and do not understand the Noble Qur'an when it is recited to them. This is how the practice of the Muslims has been. As for literal translation, we forbid it because opening the door to it leads to changing the meanings of the Noble Qur'an. I mentioned to him the reason for these words, which are words of contradiction, such as, for example, . So he interpreted *qur'u* as menstruation, and he also interpreted it as purity. What do you do? And I brought him the strange, unusual word for the non-Arab listener. I said to him, “How do you interpret His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: ?” “Welcome, we are pleased to hear how you are doing.”
The student : Okay.

The Shaykh : “Insha'Allah, better. Oh Allah, there is no god but Allah. How are you?”
The student : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : “Your voice sounds as if you are tired.”
The student : “By Allah, it has returned to me, praise be to Allah.”

The Shaykh : “In any case, the believer is tested, so all you have to do is be like a saw, cutting both up and down, and you will receive reward, insha'Allah, in your health and in your illness.”
The student : O Allah, amen.

The Shaykh : “And as you remember His saying, peace and blessings be upon him: .”
The student: Yes, by Allah.

The Shaykh : “And praise be to Allah. We ask Allah to make us satisfied with His decree and patient through His trial.”
The student: Yes, by Allah.

The Shaykh : “So I mentioned this verse to him and said to him, ‘How do you interpret this? These Maronites are proficient in French. How do you interpret in French ?’ He was at a loss. He said, ‘What does *'as'asa* mean?’ I said, ‘Here is the point: *'as'asa* in the Arabic language has two opposite meanings: it approaches and it recedes.’ So he thought for a little while. He said, ‘I am thinking. He is cunning, meaning he has some knowledge. He said, “I look at the context and the preceding text, and I choose one of the two meanings of this word that gives the two contradictory meanings. I take the meaning that is closer and more appropriate to the context and the preceding text.” I said, “This is the problem. Another translator may come and choose the opposite of what you chose, and this is a place of independent legal reasoning, so we would have two Qur'ans with two words of limited, contradictory meaning. He had no choice but to concede this objection or this contradiction. He said, “Then I combine the two meanings, and I say: , whether it approaches or recedes, we say ‘stay in your place.’ The problem returns. Or he said: , it approaches and it recedes. I said, “Also, another person may come and contradict you in this. Therefore, a literal translation of the Qur'an is impossible. And if the door to it is opened, distortion will sneak into the Qur'an, and the Qur'an will suffer what the Torah and the Gospel suffered. My purpose with this example is that the Prophetic hadith is not more noble and higher than the Noble Qur'an. If it is permissible to interpret the Noble Qur'an semantically, then it is even more permissible to interpret the hadith semantically, whether this meaning is in Arabic for the general public, for students of knowledge, or for those higher than that, or whether it is in a non-Arabic language. So if you know this condition, the problem collapses and disappears, insha'Allah. And perhaps it is clear?”
The student : Is that clear?

The Shaykh : “Anyone else? What do you have?”