Brasília – The Portuguese translation of the Koran, the holy book to the Muslims, is going to further spread the Arab culture in Brazil and demystify biases with regard to the religion. This is the statement of professor Helmi Mohammed Ibrahim Nasr, the Arabic professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), vice-president of Foreign Relations at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and translator of the Brazilian version of the book to be presented to the public this evening, in Brasília.
“This is the beginning, it is the basis of the work. Now everybody interested in the Muslim religion will have a legitimate document,” he said, during a press conference this morning. The translation by Nasr is recognized by the World Islamic League and was the first in Portuguese to be printed at King Fahd Complex, in Medina, an organization connected to the Saudi Government.
He believes that it will be well accepted in Brazil, despite the country being mostly Christian. “The Koran recognizes the Old and New Testament and speaks well of them. It says they bring guidance and light to humanity, and does not deny them,” he declared.
As an example, he said that the book addresses the birth of Jesus Christ and also the birth of Mary. “And the birth of Mary is in no other book,” he guaranteed.
Nasr pointed out, however, that among the sacred books of the three great monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam), the Koran is the only one that was written at the same time it was revealed by God, 1,426 years ago to prophet Muhammad. He added that, apart from spreading the religion, the Koran helped keep the Arab culture alive, as it was written at a time of strong growth of poetry and prose and has remained unaltered along the years.
Gap
The professor stated that the translation also comes to bridge a gap in the academic area. “My students at USP, who belong to a privileged layer of society, did not know the Koran,” he said. “And it is a universal book,” he added.
Nasr declared that his objective is not to convert Brazilians to Islam, but to increase knowledge about the religion I the country and demystify the biases. He said that the Koran brings lessons for the person, the family, the society, nations and humanity as a whole. And this includes information about practical life. “We do not want to make Brazil an Islamic nation, but we want to provide a correct idea of a religion that was born 1,426 years ago,” he said.
Interest, for example, is prohibited in Islam, as it makes a person make money without working, and that is bad. The Koran explains how to sell, bow to educate your children, how to respect your parents, it includes agreements between nations. It therefore has all the rules for a good and correct life,” he pointed out.
In the professors opinion, Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which they fast during the day, is part of these rules for a daily life. “Fasting for one month each year is natural. And it is for all, except for children,” he joked.
He strongly beat down the connection some people make between Islam and terrorism. “I feel sad whenever people mix Islam with terrorism, and that is a crime. It is quite the opposite: God prohibits conflict, aggression. How then can we say that terrorists are Muslim, it is a contradiction,” said the professor. “The Koran is a step in the direction of showing the right path, not the wrong one,” he added.
Privilege
Nasr stated that the publication of the translation crowns his long career. “It was the best present given to me by life. It came without my planning it, I was chosen to translate it. I did not have this ambition, it was the divine wish,” he said, explaining that it is a religious present. “But I do not mean that my work is ideal, another person may come later and do something better,” he added.
The Egyptian Nasr, who arrived in Brazil at the beginning of the 1960’s, at the request of then Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, to set up an Arabic course at USP, was invited in 1982 by the World Islamic League to translate the Koran. The translation took four years and was followed by a long period of proof reading, up to its release this evening at the Saudi embassy in Brasília.
Even before being released, the translation has already received international repercussion. According to the professor, Muslim people in Portugal want to adapt the translation to the Portuguese spoken in their country, which, according to him, has been authorized by the Islamic League. He himself intends to supervise the work. “Up to now the League has promoted the translation to 40 different languages,” he observed.
Together with his wife, Nida Gattaz, and the charges d’affaires of the Saudi embassy, Abdullah Alowaifeer, Nasr, aged 83, joked: “I arrived in Brazil to spend one year and have been here for 43.” The event at the embassy will only take place this evening so as to respect the Ramadan fasting.
