Fhassan, one more question to you on Islam. I know that you guys dont translate the Koran, so how does the lay muslim who does not know arabic read the Koran
Thank you for your question.
We do actually have translations of the Qur’an, in every language for non-Arab Muslims. Most of the Muslim world does not speak Arabic as it’s first language and so the Qur’an has been translated in virtually every language.
However, even though we have translations of the Quran, we do not accept that the translation of the Qur’an is the word of Allah. This is because the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and Arabic is a very complex language – this makes certain verses almost impossible to translate into other languages.
For example – one word could have 4 meanings all of which are applicable in the context of the verse – so translators have a difficult time translating such words, and they often make mistakes.
Also, the Qur’an flows very well and when heard sounds very beautiful – however, once you translate the poetic majesty is lost. For example:
On this basis, the Muslims do not accept the translation of the Qur’an as the direct word of Allah, and only the original Arabic is regarded as the direct word of Allah.
Non-Arab Muslims therefore, seek guidance from a tafsir of the Qur’an - which is basically an explanation of the Arabic Qur’an in detail.
Non-Arab Muslims (as do Arab-Muslims) seek guidance from the Sunnah of the prophet (pbuh) these are the sayings and actions of the prophet (pbuh).
Muslims seek guidance from scholars who have spent years studying the Arabic Quran etc in Islam, it is very important to sit with scholars because true guidance comes from keeping good company. For example, when you want to learn karate you go to a karate expert and you don’t just read a book.
This is why Allah sent the Qur’an and the walking and talking Qur’an with it, which was prophet muhammed (pbuh) – both are important.
Anyway, If you have any more questions please PM me, and ill try to answer –no point discussing on this unrelated thread.
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