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First Mass-Release of Sinhala Translation Of Qur’an
By Sambra Marickar
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (IslamOnline) – An important religious and cultural event took place in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, on Thursday: The ceremonial release of the 4th edition of the Sinhala translation of the Holy Qur’an.
The occasion was attended by the director of the United Arab Emirates’ Zayed Bin Al-Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, Abdullah Sultan Al-Dhahiri. The foundation financed the reprinting of the translation.
Prominent Sri Lankan Muslims, Muslim parliamentarians, ministers and ambassadors of Muslim countries also attended the grand ceremony.
In a speech, Al-Dhahiri emphasized the need to follow the teachings of the Holy Qur’an with serious commitment and sincere faith, saying, “Unless the Muslims change themselves Allah will not change there conditions.” He also emphasized the fact that Islam is a religion that preaches tolerance and peace.
The Sinhala translation of the Holy Qur’an, completed by Moor’s Islamic Cultural Home, in Colombo, undoubtedly is an important landmark in the history of Islam in Sri Lanka.
Sinhala is the language spoken by the majority Sinhala community, who constitute 70 percent of the total population of Sri Lanka. It being the main official language, now even Muslim children who previously studied in the Tamil language are now increasingly studying in Sinhala.
The absence of a translation of the Qur’an in Sinhala was considered a serious vacum that existed in the community. Moor’s Islamic Cultural Home, an organization founded in 1944 with the objective of serving the Muslim community in the religious and cultural field, came forward to fill this need by undertaking the task of translating the Holy Qur’an into Sinhala. A committee consisting of Islamic scholars and linguists proficient in Sinhala language was formed for this purpose.
The first publication came out in the year 1961 and thereafter two editions followed. But on all these occasions very limited copies were printed due to financial constraints. The demand for more copies could not be met. It was on this occasion that the Zayed Foundation came forward to finance the publication of 15,000 of the Sinhala translation to be distributed free of charge.
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