Ch Muhammad Latif
A miracle of Holy Qur’an oceans meeting together but their waters do not mix due to an invisible strong barrier between them.
The word Behar has been used in the Holy Quran to mean as a big sea ie an ocean like the Atlantic, Pacific Arctic and Indian Ocean.
Whereas in Arabic the word Bohera is used for a small sea e.g Bohera-e-Arab, Bohera-e-Tusman, Bohera-e-Aswad, Bohera-e-Ahmar, Bohera-e-Qulzim, Bohera-e-Murdar, Bohera-e-Taimor, Bohera-e-Koral, Bohera-e-Barang, Bohera-e-Burfort etc. The word (Nehar) is commonly used for a river in Arabic.
The phenomenon of mistranslation of the Arabic word Behar as a river has diminished the extraordinary significance assigned to the word Behar in the Holy Quran.
It has been admitted by the modern scientists who have prepared films and photos of the divine phenomenon of meeting of oceans by the use of drones and placed on Youtube, Google and Facebook.
The divine phenomenon of meeting of two oceans is visible on earth in the gulf of Allaska (America) where the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific meet together but their waters do not mix due to strong barrier between them.
The second similar phenomenon has been recorded in the Strait of Gibraltar. Where Atlantic and Mediterranean meet but do not mix.
The vast range of sea research has corroborated the significance of the use of word Behar for oceans and it is an open invitation to the Muslim religious scholars to review the translation of the word Behar used to mean as a river rather it in fact stands for an ocean.
It is evident from the following references and quotations I have come across in the Holy Quran.
I have also sought guidance from their Urdu translation of the word Behar of our highly distinguished religious Muslim scholars like Hazrat Syed Abul Ala Maudadi, Dr. Farhat Hashmi, Kanz-ul-Eman by Imam Ahmed Raza Khan, Dr Israr Ahmed Khan, Allama Taqi Usmani, Allama Hassan Rizvi, Allama Amin Islahi and Mohtarma Nighat Hashmi.
All of them have used both the translation of the word Behar as a river and sea. I hereby refer the text of translation in Urdu of the word Behar by Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri.
A-In para 2, surat 2, Ayat 164 the translation of the word Behar is recorded as sea in which ships and boats are used for the benefits of human beings.
B-In para 7, surat 6, Ayat 59, 63 and 97 thrice the word Behar stands translated as a river. This translation of the word Behar?as a river has rendered a miracle and gigantic ocean phenomenon to a simple river which is normally a scene of flowing water on land.
There are, no doubt, almost eleven places on the land in the world where flowing rivers have different physical characteristic and they do not mix and maintain their separate entity. But the word Behar cannot aptly be used for those rivers.
C-In para 15, surat 18, Ayat 6 (Majma-ul-Baharain) has been translated as meeting place of two river. As such the word Behar has been translated as a river.
In Ayat 61, 63 and 79 of the same surat the word Behar?is translated as a river but in Ayat 109 of the same surat the same word Behar is translated as sea.
Four times in the same surat Al-Kahf the word Behar is translated as a river whereas for the fifth time in Ayat 109 the same word Behar is translated as a sea.
So in this situation how a common layman Muslim or non-Muslim would understand or justify to assign two different meaning to the same word Behar repeated in the Holy Quran several times carrying tremendous miraculous importance. Allah Almighty fully well knows where the word (Behar or Nehar) is to be used.
We cannot assign conflicting meanings to the word Behar unintentionally to the divine intentions which are being brought to the knowledge of the mankind by the application of latest devices of Information Technology.
D-In para 18 surat 24, Ayat 40, the word Behar has been translated as a deep sea. E-In para 19, surat 25, Ayat 53, the word Behar the word has been translated as a river which does not seem to convey the exact and correct meaning of the word Behar nor is it consonance with miraculous phenomenon visible on the face of the earth.
As two oceans namely Atlantic and the Pacific meet in the Gulf of Alaska (America) and they do not mingle despite huge storms and mighty waves in the oceans.
Similar physical phenomenon is visible in the strait of Gibraltar where Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet but their waters do not mix due to strong barrier between them. So the Urdu translation of the word Behar needs to be reviewed and revisited to give true picture of the natural phenomenon being witnessed by the world at large.
The problem of mistranslation of the word Behar in Urdu as a river and a sea simultaneously is faced in Indo-Pak only and not in Arabic speaking countries. F-In para 25, surat 25, Ayat 12, the word Behar is translated as sea. G- In para 27, surat 55, Ayats 19, 20 the word Behar has been translated as sea.
These two Ayats are the serious subject of deep scientific studies and the meeting of two oceans referred in this article are mainly explanation and physical expression of mighty powers of Allah Almighty who has ordained that two oceans meet side by side but do not mix due to a strong barrier between them, so they cannot transgress their limits unlike normal behaviour of two water.
The translation of word Behar by other famous religious Muslim scholars is recorded and referred as under. 1:- Hazrat Syed Abul Ala Maududi: In para 18,19, 20, 25 and 27 (sea) and only one reference in para 2 Ayat 164 (River). 2:- Dr. Farhat Hashmi: In para 2, and 15 (Rivers).
In other references the word Behar has been translated as sea. 3:- Kanz-ul-Eman by Imam Ahmed Raza Khan: In para 2, 18 and 25 (River) in other references sea. 4:- Dr. Israr Ahmed Khan: Para 15, 19, 20, 25 (River) and in para 27 (sea). 5:- Allama Taqi Usmani: In para 19 (River) in all other reference (Sea). 6: Allama Hassan Rizvi : In para 20 (River) in all other references sea. 7: Allama Amin Islahi: In para 15 and 19 river.
In all other references sea. 8: Mohtarama Nighat Hashmi: In para 15 river and in other references sea. As is evident from the above quoted translation of the important word Behar the learned religious Muslim scholars who are held in high esteem and honour have failed to assign one uniform translation of the word Behar as ocean.
The prevailing situation makes it imperative for all our authoritative religious Muslim scholars to join hands and assign a uniform translation of the word Behar as enshrined in the Holy Quran keeping in view the Arabic language and utilizing the latest Information Technology devices which have facilitated the study of divine phenomenon already ordained by the Allah Almighty.
—The writer is a retired Additional Chief Secretary of AJK and Advocate Supreme Court of AJK.
