In 19. 20 21. 22 Guiding Light Selection from the HoZy Qurizn Comments by Abdul Hamid Abu Sulaymun Translation the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful. e- Truly man was created &C$&&$& oL*3JbI&)tc And niggardly when g $ p zQf-n Not so those devoted & & 3 l $ . W Very impatient; Fretful when evil Touches him; Good reaches him; To Praver: 9 P.t'tf ? 5' 4 23. Those who remain steadfast To their prayer; 24. And those in whose wealth Is a recognised right; 25. For the (needy) who asks And him who is prevented (For some reason from asking); 26. And those who hold To the truth of the Day Of Judgment; 27. And those who fear The displeasure of their Lord, . . . 29. And those who guard Their chasity, . . . ; 32. And those who respect Their trusts and covenants; 33. And those who stand firm In their testimonies; 34. And those who guard (The sacredness) of their worship; 35. Such will be The honoured ones In the Gardens (of Bliss). Surah LXX. For behavioral scientists, especially psychologists and psychiatrists, most of whom these days are preoccupied with wide-spread psychological anxieties and suicidal behavior, the Qur'an in this part of Suruh ul Mab-rij proposes certain traits and qualities of man which counter human fears and anxieties. It is the duty of Muslim behavioral scientists in general and psychiatrists in particular to study and research these Qur'anic directions and propositions about human nature, and the traits, habits and behaviors necessary to counter their negative effects on human life, peace and mind and gratification. It is their duty to make people understand the important role of these Qur'anic direc- tions in human life and suggest the ways and means to the Muslims to develop the traits recommended by Qur’an in the individual life and the structure of society. We need to be reminded that spiritual and moral aspects of human life are as important and essential as the physical aspects. These are different dimensions of one whole and are complementary to each other as well as inter-related. Empirical and systematic scientific research by Muslim social scientists is neededato bring these aspects to light, and making the inter- relationships, understandable, defining their scopes, and developing ways and means for helping human beings to appreciate and adopt them. It is very important to point out here that understanding the Arabic text of the Qur’an and Sunnah is crucial because partial, careless, or casual study and poor translation cannot help scientists to understand adequately and ap- preciate properly the Qur’anic and Islamic proposition and direction. It is also important to notice that translation, no matter how good it is, cannot reveal all possible meanings of these texts which could be obtained only from specialized deep scientific study of the original texts. Many of the available translations may be very good‘ for general readers but they are not precise and comprehensive enough so as to enable the scientists to comprehend the meaning of the Qur’anic or the Sunnah texts to the extent to undertake serious study for the purpose of subjecting its propositions and directions to scien- tific research. The above portion of the Qur’an which I am commenting on here is a good example. I find that the translation of the words hafuii, Juziii and uf-musuffin of Yusuf Ali and M. Pickthall are not accurate and comprehen- sive enough, especially for the purpose of scientific behavioral and educa- tional studies. The word halu’a is derived from the word hala‘ and means to frequently and easily get shaken and frightened. The word Juz6b is derived from the word Jum: It means to easily lose patience, control, become griev- ed, fall apart or lose hope. The word impatience, the definition used by most translators, is not complete considering its use for scientific research. The word ul-mu&lin is derived from salah. People who understand Islam know that salah besides being a form of worship is a specific form of medita- tion to be performed regularly at certain times of the day. The word ul-mzqullin here means only to describe those people who are puncutal in their prayers and meditations which signify the regular contact, consciousness and awareness of these people and a sense of accountability to Allah (SWT) consequences of their acts and deeds in this life. It should give them on one hand a sense of security, and direct their lives toward good deeds and pushing them away from evils on the other hand. It will help them live peaceful lives free of fear and anxiety. That is why the Qur’an emphasizes here the aspect of punctuali- ty (da‘imzin). But if the word salah i s translated to convey only the general meaning of worship, it will not be able to signify the aspect of punctuality and regular contact with Allah because many readers may m i s s the specific aspect which the Qur’an meant to emphasize. This translation as the ones above misses the specific points the Qur’an is making in discussing the whole issue.