The Message and it's Interpretation

The followers of Islam believe that Prophet of Islam is the last Messenger of God and the Message he brought has been perfected and cannot be changed 

So Orthodox Muslims believe that the followers of earlier prophets had distorted the Divine Messages and hence God sent the same Message through The Holy Quran 

It was revealed in verses and paragraphs from time to time to the Prophet Mohammed ( peace be upon him ) after he was blessed with Divine Enlightenment , via Angel Jibriil ( peace be upon him ) 

And so one can conclude that The Message in its essence has not changed , it has only been " corrected " , and the " distortions " , if any have been sorted out 

Therefore , it follows that Quran is Almighty Lord's Message for the entire mankind and is supposed to remain unchanged at all times 

So be it 

But the world has changed from what it was fourteen / fifteen hundred years back 

And if The Holy Quran is a Message for the entire mankind for all times , then it must be interpreted according to the times 

It has been studied and explained by learned researchers for the better understanding of the ordinary people 

An old belief is like an old shoe. 

We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it ...

The scholars of the olden days were human and their interpretations were not word of God 

They translated and interpreted the Quran as per customs and traditions of that era and their own understanding of The Holy text 

Believing their words to be the gospel truth , absorbing those interpretations in our lives without analysing / questioning , and trying to justify the texts of the scholars who lived in another era to be valid even today is an insult to the intelligence of the present day observers , researchers and students of theology 

Islam does not believe in stagnation of the people and the society 

And if it is a philosophy based on reason , equality and justice , newer interpretations with changing times must be accommodated to keep the faith relevant to the times in which we live 

And this is possible without sacrificing the basic principles of Islam if the believers really care about what they believe in

Here I would like to point out how translations without deep understanding have also changed , if not the meaning , then at least the sentiment of the Message , and hence the thinking of the people 

Take for instance the word " banda" ...

In Urdu we say Allah / Khuda ka banda 

In English I have seen "Allah / Khuda ka banda" being translated as "servant of Allah " at many places

The dictionary meaning of "banda" is "fellow"

So how the word that translates as " fellow " has been appropriated as "servant" ?

This sounds like a baal-ki-khaal-nikaalna kind of exercise because we are talking about a word that is seemingly such an insignificant and ordinary word 

But I think it is important because of the image it creates of the relationship between Man and God 

Obviously the words used for conveying The Holy Message , are pertinent if the essence of The Message is to be kept intact 

Religion is essentially for the people to help them become better human beings 

Facts and knowledge that kill compassion and empathy are useless for mankind's progress because vested interests will always use them to hurt and harm those who disagree