São Paulo – The new translation of the Koran to Portuguese, which will reach the public after its release, today, in the Brazilian capital city Brasilia, is likely to expand the knowledge on the Islamic culture on behalf of the Brazilians. Information from the Brazilian Islamic Federation indicates that there are about 1.5 million Muslims in Brazil. Even so, great part of the Brazilians doesn’t know in depth the religion of the prophet Muhammad.
“This translation is not directed just to the Muslim community, but to all the Brazilian people, independently of religion or origin. It will allow for a better understanding of the Islamic religion and for an increase in general comprehension between the peoples,” said the former president and current treasurer of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Paulo Sérgio Atallah.
Sharing a similar opinion is the executive director of the Federation of Muslim Associations in Brazil, Mohamed Hussein El Zoghbi. “It will serve to give people a better understanding of Islamism. It is an accessible work to read and understand,” he says. Zoghbi believes that the fact that the translation will be distributed for free will make easier the access for the Brazilians.
The author of the translation, professor Helmi Mohammed Ibraim Nasr, is vice president of International Relations at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. “The Arab Chamber is honoured to have amongst its vice presidents a person of the calibre of professor Nasr,” says the president of the Arab Chamber, Antonio Sarkis Jr. “The professor has all the attributes for the translation,” says Paulo Sérgio Atallah.
The counsellor in charge of Business at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Brasilia, Abdullah Alowaifeer, believes that this version will also serve as a means of spreading Islamism in Brazil. “The translation also gives the non Muslim Brazilians the opportunity of knowing this divine religion,” he states.
The president of the Syrian Arab Cultural Centre, Mohamad Alkaddah, emphasises the importance the version will have within the Arab community. “The translation of the Koran to the Portuguese language is a beneficial and useful act for all members of the Arab collectiveness, be they Islamic or Christian, as it allows for anyone who’s interested in knowing the contents of the Koranic texts in a new language,” says Alkaddah.
“We are happy that there is a more recent version and that it is the version of a Muslim,” says the sheikh Jihad Hassan Hammadeh, vice president of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, referring to the fact that the translator, Nasr, is Islamic. Of the other versions of the Koran in Portuguese going around Brazil, only one was by a Muslim. But different from the translation by Nasr, it wasn’t printed at the King Fahd Complex.
There are many descendants of Arab immigrants who don’t speak Arabic and will be able to use the official version in Portuguese. “The majority of the Islamic community in Brazil is formed by descendants of Arabs who don’t have enough knowledge of the Arab language, the original language of the Holy Koran. For this reason the translation of the Holy Koran to the Portuguese language is a necessity imposed for this community to be aware of the teachings of the Holy Koran and the principals of its religion,” says Alowaifeer.
The president of the Syrian Arab Cultural Centre believes it may also contribute for the change in opinion of those who have a wrong image of Islamism. “This translation will contribute for the image of the Arab to be truly portrayed through the texts of love, of tolerance, of peaces, of justice, of freedom, of equality and of respect towards the religions, making the connotation between Arabs and terrorism be banned,” says Alkaddah.
The Arab Chamber is one of the organisers, together with the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Brasilia, of the event for the launching of the translation. “The Arab Chamber supports all sorts of initiatives that may bring closer together Arabs and Brazilians,” says Sarkis.
*Translated by Silvia Lindsey
