Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, confirmed that the fall of the city of Al Andalus is not just the occupation of a territory; rather, it is “the first defeat for Arabs and Muslims.”

His Highness revealed a cultural, historical, and religious project on the offensive translation of the Holy Quran written by the Englishman, “Robert of Ketton,” in agreement with the leader of Christian thought against Islam, “Peter the Venerable,” in the year 1142 AD, which was printed in the year 1162 AD.

His Highness said in a telephone interview on the “Direct Line” programme, which is broadcast on Sharjah Broadcasting Authority, with Mohammed Hassan Khalaf, Director General of the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority: “I studied the fall of Al Andalus, and many Muslims believe that Al Andalus is a land that was occupied and ended. While it is not like that, it is “the first defeat for the Arabs and Muslims,” and therefore I wrote a play called “The Case,” but at the time neither the actors nor even the viewers knew what I meant, and I meant that this was the first defeat for the Arabs and Muslims, and therefore we hope, God willing, that the setbacks in the Arab world will not continue.”

Peace, not war

His Highness continued: “I have written many books on the subject of refuting Islam in Al Andalus and the reasons that led to that, and also the secret inquisition courts that practised execution, burning, and many other matters against Muslims. Islam spread in 711 AD, and this spread has a story that many people do not know. They believe that Tariq Ibn Ziyad first entered Al Andalus. While he first entered the city of Toledo, which is close to the city of Madrid, and he did not destroy, but only besieged the city, so the people of the city asked him: "Why are you besieging the city when we are now at the time of harvesting the fruits of our agriculture? What do you want?" He replied, “I just want to enter the city in peace without war.”

They allowed him to do that. He entered the city peacefully and the religion of Islam remained there until the year 1086, and thus the city of Toledo was Muslim for 374 years. After that came a leader whom the Arabs call “Alfonso Ibn Fernando,” “Alfonso the Brave,” and “Alfonso VI,” and he has many names. They believe that he was brave, while in fact, when he came to Toledo, he besieged the Muslims there for 3 years, and prevented anyone from entering or leaving, and he also did not allow food to enter, until the world closed in on them, so this city was handed over to Alfonso Ibn Fernando.”

Offensive comments

His Highness stated: “After the city of Toledo was handed over to Alfonso Ibn Fernando, they found that the Muslims did not choose to take the path of resistance; rather, they were striving to present and spread their Islamic thought. They feared people of other religions to the point that the fear reached Europe, where Europe feared that people would abandon Christianity and embrace Islam, so the leader of Christian thought against Islam, “Peter the Venerable,” appeared in the year 1142 AD, and he was the head of the Abbey of Cluny, which was founded in 910 AD in France, and it is the largest abbey.

At this time, Islam was strong in the city of Toledo. So the Christians wanted to do something that makes Christians hate Islam, so “Peter the Venerable” agreed with an Englishman who works in astronomy called “Robert of Ketton” to refute the Holy Quran in exchange for money, and they appointed 4 translators to help him do that, so they translated the Quran into a realistic translation for him, and he adds his offensive comments, and these translations were not released for publishing and printing until the year 1162 when a printing press printed these translations.

The government in the city of Basel in Switzerland imposed on it not to mention the name of the printing press on the printed copies, and this edition was published in the year 1162, that is, 20 years after it was translated. This manuscript is in the French library, and I acquired it from there, and I reviewed all the translations. The Italian translation does not include any insult to Islam. Because Italy was dealing with the East and had interests and trade with the East.”

37 errors

His Highness maintained that: “Peter the Venerable" said in his memoirs, ‘I will publish this book to match the Latins in the West’ – and he meant the Italians – which prompted me to do the great project ‘The Recorded Quran’ in 1979, and I came up with a translation of the Holy Quran by the Pakistani translator, Yusuf Ali, and the English translator, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. I gave the specialists in the English translation and its meanings to work on it. We asked permission from the rightful owners of the book of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, to correct the approximately 37 errors in the book, but they refused to correct the errors within the book, and they gave us permission to place the correction individually and add it to the book. I would like to point out that the translation of Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall is better than the translation of Yusuf Ali. However, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall wrote in the introduction to his book, “It is not enough to read my translation, and I invite you to learn Arabic to taste this elegant style.”

After we brought the translations and corrected them, we brought in a voice training specialist from the British Broadcasting Corporation to train our person, who is an English Muslim. He was registered with a company in the Greek capital, Athens, and we gifted this recording to many regions. Especially those that were English colonies, and although the tapes were written on them “to give away and not to sell”, however, a group of store owners recorded the tapes and sold them for the purpose of trade. The Greek company learned of this and asked us: "Why are you selling the tapes?" We explained to the company that we had nothing to do with this matter, and after that we found that the recording had spread throughout the earth, and this is our intention, but we wanted it to reach people for free.”

'We must not forget... we forgive'

His Highness said: “I am now working on the offensive translation of the Holy Quran written by the English astronomer "Robert of Ketton." The problem I face in this work is that I cannot mention what "Robert of Ketton" says, as all of this is slander against Islam, and the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless Him and grant Him peace. Therefore, I avoid mentioning many things that are found in Robert of Ketton’s book in the English language. I would like to point out that the translation of Robert of Ketton’s book in the Italian language has nothing to do with the translation of the Holy Quran in the Italian language, as they are two separate books that have nothing to do with each other, knowing that the translation of the Holy Quran in the Italian language is impeccable. I will complete this work soon, God willing, and this distinguished work is in an uncomplicated and interesting style that narrates many historical situations. These books help the reader in knowing his history and knowing his enemies as well.”

His Highness concluded his statement by saying, "We say that we must not forget...we forgive, but we do not forget what happened to us."