Question

As Salam Alikum:

I was looking at ayat 20 in surah Al-MULK  and noticed the use of the word   HAADHA, which means "this." None of the translations use "this",  they instead use "THAT".  What does HAADHA mean, this or that?

Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.  Terms used in one language cannot be used the same way in another.  When  translating from one language to another, the translator has to use terms in the way they are normally used in the language to which he/she is translating.   means “this”, but when a phrase is being translated, the word may be changed to “that” in English, so there will be a meaningful English sentence. 

The phrase in question though,  is more complicated when trying to translate into English. The word  is actually referring to a non-specific single male here and is not literally translated”.  The explanation of the phrase may be translated as: Or who is it that could be an army for you to aid you other than the Most Merciful?

The meaning that is being translated as “that” is not the word in this case. 

There are many places where you will find  easily translated as “this” in the Qur’an, such as: , (This is what the Most Merciful promised) Ya Seen 52, but it is necessary to understand that we cannot translate word for word to get a proper explanation of the meaning of the Qur’an in English.