Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asslamualaikum,
Lately I read some books from Darussalam publishers which is based in riyadh, saudi arabia. They are quite useful books and i found it similar to the views presented by you.

I heard from one of my collegues that this particular publisher alters the translation and make its intended meaning different.

My questions are whether this is true and if this is true, how we can believe in any other translation since we dont know arabic?

Wasslam

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Dar-as-salaam publishers & translations

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

To the best of our knowledge and experience, the Dar-us-Salaam company based in Riyadh are publishers of good Islamic literature and their published works are available throughout the world in good Islamic Bookstores. To the best of our knowledge, the company simply publishes the books translated by others, thus they neither have the right to translate or alter the translations in any way whatsoever.

Although we have absolutely no association or interest with Dar-us-Salaam Publishers, to the best of our knowledge they are a honorable and respected publishing house who publish good Islamic literature.

If one does not know the Arabic language and wishes to understand Arabic literature, the best way is to ask and seek translations of good, respected authors who have translated Arabic and Islamic literature into various languages.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan