Another ploy employed by these people is to blame the translators of the Koran, Hadiths and Sunnah. Even the eminent translator like A. Yusuf Ali is not considered as authentic translator. These bigots will never say which one is the authentic English version of the Koran, Hadiths, Sunnah, etc. They will simply say that one must be very good in Arabic to interpret Koran. This is akin to saying that one must be very good in Aramaic and Hebrew languages to understand the Bible and the Talmud. Or that you must be very good in Greek, Latin and Dutch languages to understand Aristotle, Roman laws, Copernicus' 'laws of heavenly bodies,' etc. These are absolutely illogical ideas. Strangely though, you will notice that these bigots will use the English translation of the Koran when it suits their purposes.
From Abul Kasem, an ex-Muslim (and not a convert to Christianity, incidentally).
I think he has really hit the nail on the head here with this critique of how some Muslims defend Islam. I have heard so many times, "Oh the Qur'an really cannot be translated...you have to read it in Arabic." And then you say, "Ok, fine, let's read it in Arabic--I can do that." And then you run into one of two responses. One, well, your a foreigner, so you can't really understand the classical Arabic of the Qur'an! Or, well, I don't know Arabic, so how can I trust you that you are translating it correctly! Ha! The whole thing is either sad or funny, depending on how you look at it. --AD
No comments:
Post a Comment