I was in the mosque last night finishing up my evening prayers and was about to leave when I overheard a conversation that made me sit back down again and stay for a while longer. It was a group of 5 people, sitting in a corner of the mosque, and topic of their discussion initially was if the correct word is Ramadan or Ramzan which later on moved to If saying “Khuda Hafiz” is correct. Though I did not intend to do so but I ended up sitting for another half hour and left only after they left. I was tempted to interrupt and join the conversation myself several times but resisted and just silently sat there, listening to what they were discussing.
People often ask if they should wish each other saying “Ramzan Mubarak” or “Ramadan Kareem” Lets take a look at which one of these is correct.
We in India live in a society where our national and most spoken language took shape from amalgamation of Hindi with Persian and Turkish languages. We go in on our daily lives believing that we are speaking in Hindi but the fact is that we actually speak in a language that has words from all these 3 individual languages.
As opposed to the common belief, Urdu is actually written in Persian script and not Arabic. This is the Persian alphabet.
The Arabic and Persian Alphabet are almost the same except for some additional words in Persian script and the difference in how some words are pronounced. The difference in “Ramadan” and “Ramzan” comes from 31st letter in the alphabet [first one from the right in 3rd row] which is used while writing Ramzan. This letter is pronounced as “Zu’aad” in Persian but as “Du’aad” in Arabic. In other words, It is pronounced with “Z” sound in Persian but with a “D” sound in Arabic and hence the different pronunciations of “Ramadan” and “Ramzan”. The fact is that both of these are correct. In Arabic it would be pronounced as Ramadan but in Urdu, It would become Ramzan.
The same difference comes into play in words like “Allah” and “Khuda”. Allah is is Arabic word used to describe God almighty and Khuda is a Persian word. We in India use both.
Likewise “Salaat” is an Arabic word for prayers while “Namaz” is Persian.
What annoyed me the most about that conversation was that all five of them were in support of the fact that we should keep our pronunciation as close to Arabic as we could. I completely refuse to do so. I am an Indian, not an Arab so why should I be bound to pronounce the way they pronounce. Would it make any difference If I said Ramzan Mubarak instead of Ramadan Kareem? Would it change my belief? Would God answer better If I called him Allah and not Khuda? Does he only understand Arabic and not any other language? Would God only keep a person safe If I said Allah Hafiz but would ignore my well-wishes if I said Khuda Hafiz? Is it not the fact that he is the creator of all beings and all languages? So why should I bound myself with only one language?
Will God refuse to accept my roza if I pronounced it Ramzan instead of Ramadan? Will he not accept my prayers If I called it Namaz and not Salaat? Will he not answer to my devotion If I read Qur’an in Hindi or English and not in Arabic? The fact is that I would rather prefer to not read Qur’an in Arabic because I don’t understand a word of it. I know the script but not the language so what is the point of reading If I cannot understand and implement in my day to day life? I am an Indian as well as a Muslim and would prefer to follow my religion in a language that I call as my mother tongue and not in a foreign language. How does pronunciation matter? Is it not what I truly feel in my heart that should matter? And If pronunciation was so important than people who are born with speech sound disorder by birth can never follow god.
Same thing goes with Hinduism as well? Why should a Hindu be bound to recite shloks or chalisas in Sanskrit which most of the people don’t understand a word of anymore? Why cant these be read in Hindi or English so people can understand them better and implement in their lives?
Truth is that our minds are getting pettier each day and we are dragging God along with us. Does god really belong or understand just one language or does he really answer to just one set of people?
11 comments
I am a Muslim by birth..born and raised in the UK. I have grew up as a Muslim and still am a Muslim and In Sha Allah will die a Muslim when the time comes.
I have a friend in Italy. She is a non Muslim. Yet..for the past few years now she has been learning the Arabic language by reading it first and currently trying to also speak and write it now too.
Today (Wed 22/05/2019) we were chatting via text messaging. She asked me “how is your Ramadan going?”. In which I replied back.. “Alhamdulilah Ramazan is going well thank you”.
Then my friend asked me..why is it you say Ramazan instead of Ramadan? I have been thinking about this myself for a number of years now. Unfortunately I have just kept to my ways and not really questioned it..until today.
After searching on “why is it Ramadan and not Ramazan” on the internet. I have read a few so called explanations from general people around the world.
I get the gist of what they have said. The Persian/Urdu pronounciation which is Ramazan compared to the Arabic pronounciation which is Ramadan.
Although I have always pronounced and said Ramazan or Ramazan Mubarak. According to what I have read on the internet..it seems it is pronounced Ramadan/Ramadhan in the Arabic language and in the Qu’ran. If that is correct..who are we as Muslim’s regardless of which country we live in and which ever dialect of Arabic we read the Holy Qu’ran in to change the pronounciation of a word which was sent down by the all mighty Allah s.w.t to Muhammad p.b.u.h that was then translated from words to written text.
In Sha Allah..I will be looking in to this and speaking to my local Imaam at my local masjid.
If all is right..I would be saying Ramadan Mubarak instead of Ramazan Mubarak in the future.
Thanks for reading.
Hey man, you seem kinda upset in this article, but let me put it this way. The Qu’ran-e-Sharif was originally written in Arabic and there is no perfect translation, so in that case, I’d learn Arabic to try and understand as much of our Book as i can. Second, i thinl it is best to keep it as close to Arabic as possible because this is what happens. A whole lotta confusion. So much time we use to use to understand the difference between these words that are actually the same. Not going against any language, of course, but just to make following our religion a little easier which we already know is so hard to do cuz most people, even Arabs, dont all understand the Qu’ran-e-Sharif cuz it’s like US citizens tryna read Shakespeare but with unlimited amount of knowledge within each word, of course. And as far as you reading the original version (Arabic version), even if you dont understand it, you have te realize there’s a reason why God wrote the Qur’an-e-Sharif in Arabic. I think we should read the Qu’ran-e-Sharif even if we dont understand it because that Book is the most Holy Book and magical so it’s more than just reading a book when reading it soibelieve it still works, to some degree, in some way, even if you don’t understand it. By the way, the diferfence between Khudah and Allah, to me, is that Allah is His name and Khudah means God. Am i wrong or is it a language barrier again?
Hii Vargis Bhai, Salaam Valle kam !!
Your blog and discussion between you, Amit & AJ had really enhanced my understanding of the two different words “Ramadan” & Ramzan”. I being the Hindu loved to participate before wishing to my dearest Muslim Friends.
Anyway Happy Ramadan/ Ramzan to all of you. May Allah keep everyone safe
Hello Sanjay Bhai – Thank you so much for taking out the time to drop a note. Happy Ramzan and Eid to you as well. May Allah keep everyone safe.
I know this is a year after this comment butRamadanMubarak to you guys and everyone.
This blog was helpful for me to sort out my confusion. But, I’d like to add a different perspective. If you would go through history of different languages all over the world then you might find that the languages which have remained reluctant to changes have unfortunately ceased to exist. So, the idea is keep developing & evolving so that the language might become global in a sense. For example english, which has lot of loan words from other languages like Latin, Greek, French, Arabic, Hindi, etc. One must not feel that a language is getting distorted or losing its essence. By doing so we might stop the growth of the language.
I agree Amit
Very truely said.
It is the intention and devotion that counts and not translation or pronunciation..
Right said brother
Let me just clear few things. The words taken from quran “Ramadan’ should b used as is. No zayr zabar can b changed on the quranic words. Ramzan is not a translation of Ramadan but a changed pronunciation by the ppl of east. The rest of the words whether we use ‘khuda Hafiz’ or Allah hafiz are a translation of each other in another language. Like Namaz is a translation of the arabic word Saalat. So there is a difference between using a translated word and changing a pronunciation. Translation is fine but dont change how a word is pronunced. And no it doesnt mean ur prayers or rozas will be less accepted if u use a translated word and not the arabic one.
AJ Bhai … I see what you are saying, definitely a valid point. Thanks for replying.