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Thread: The Quran needs to be better translated.
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QuranStudy

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Salaam,

I believe the Quran needs to be better translated since current translations lead to wrong ideas. For instance:

"Do not take the Jews and Christians for friends"
(Surah 5:51).
Click to expand...

The most accurate translation would be:

"Do not take the Jews and Christians for military allies"
(Surah 5:51).

See how the entire meaning changes that easilly??

Zakir Naik also cited a few places in Yusuf Ali's translation which results in parts of the Quran becoming contrdictory. Also, the transltions are not specific enough. For instance, nowhere in the Quran is the shape of the Earth compared to an ostrich's egg, which is indeed what the Quran was saying!!

One Arabic word can have multiple meanings. We need a better interpretations of the Quran so that youth in foreign nations can have a better idea of the truth.
 
:w:

Not every translation is perfect. Saheeh International is one of the best. It's a huge task translating the qur'an, may Allaah reward those who take up this task.
 
Asalaamu alaykum.

I think the inability to accurately translate the Quran is part of the Quranic miracle. We're told we're never going to be able to produce even an ayah like the Quran - whether in Arabic or English - and the many translations available that do not even come close to the Quranic beauty is a testament to this.
 
The most accurate translation would be:

"Do not take the Jews and Christians for military allies"
(Surah 5:51).
Click to expand...

I believe the word is Wali, in that case it should be translated to:
"Do not take the Jews and Christians for leaders"

Yes, i agree, that translation is wrong, and we can have friends that are Christians and Jews, and that's one of the most arguments against Muslims is from that mistranslation. But Wali, is like Leader, or person in charge.

Kidman
 
What we should hope for, is that we are able to learn to read the Arabic in order to truly understand Its meaning. Also, you have to study and find out when such verses were revealed and why.
 
Far7an said:
:sl:

It's available here: http://quran.islamicnetwork.com/

They have a few translations for every surah, check the box and click on Submit.
Click to expand...

Jazakallahu Khairan

Excellent link. I like to use several translations for each. Although I can read Arabic fairly well, it is not my native language I know I still do not comprehend the full implications of many words. I still have to rely on transltions for when I am in doubt and I learned a long time ago to use as many translations as are available. The true meaning usually seems to be all of them in combination.
 
QuranStudy said:
Salaam,

I believe the Quran needs to be better translated since current translations lead to wrong ideas. For instance:



The most accurate translation would be:

"Do not take the Jews and Christians for military allies"
(Surah 5:51).

See how the entire meaning changes that easilly??

Zakir Naik also cited a few places in Yusuf Ali's translation which results in parts of the Quran becoming contrdictory. Also, the transltions are not specific enough. For instance, nowhere in the Quran is the shape of the Earth compared to an ostrich's egg, which is indeed what the Quran was saying!!

One Arabic word can have multiple meanings. We need a better interpretations of the Quran so that youth in foreign nations can have a better idea of the truth.
Click to expand...


Where did the word "military" come from.???

See problem is that the literarist are taking every thing literaristly...
its not the translation....

U n i shoudnt be even discussing this matter...its best left to the ulama...
Why is it suddently the qurans translations fault...? it's been ok all this time

There are moves out ther by non-muslim n so called muslims to reinterpret the whole quran...so its more moderate..

And we are helping by paving the way..

!!! WAKEUP PPL !!!
 
Isma'el said:
Where did the word "military" come from.???

See problem is that the literarist are taking every thing literaristly...
its not the translation....

U n i shoudnt be even discussing this matter...its best left to the ulama...
Why is it suddently the qurans translations fault...? it's been ok all this time

There are moves out ther by non-muslim n so called muslims to reinterpret the whole quran...so its more moderate..

And we are helping by paving the way..

!!! WAKEUP PPL !!!
Click to expand...

There are moves out ther by non-muslim n so called muslims to reinterpret the whole quran...so its more moderate..

Translation and interpretation are seperate things. Arabic does not translate very well into English. Many Arabic words have no English equivelant. This is the reason a person who is not fluent in Arabic needs to rely on the most accurate translations. A person reading a translation needs to under stand that a translation is not the Qur'an nor an explanation of the Qur'an it is only an attempt at writting it in the language the people know.

An interpretation is not a translation it is a rewritting into the writters belief as to what it says. Interpretations are wrong and need to be seen as such.

Translations are also inaccurate but only because of language barriers not changes in meanings.

Translations can always be improved as people become more adept at the Arabic language. Another problem is most languages constantly change so every few decades the most accurate translations are no longer usefull. We do need to either have the most up to date translation or learn Perfect Arabic. The learning Arabic is the best, but until a person can accomplish that they need to use the best translation available. We do need to know what are the latest translations are if we are to have any concept as to what the Arabic says.
 
Everyone knows that the most accurate form of the Quran is its original Arabic text, which has been perfectly preserved from the time it was revealed. No other language can give you an accurate translation of the Arabic text.

Why? Simple reasons. No language cn be translated perfectly to any other language. And in the case of Arabic, each word has many meanings and can be interpreted in different ways. Therefore each ayath in the holy quran can be interpreted in different ways.
Another is that we have to understand that we can;t take the superficial meaning of what we read in the Quran or its transltions. (Whihc is sadly what most people do). Neither is Islam a superficial religion.

So the best we can do is to look at the different transaltions and the explanations given to the ayaths. I know for a fact that in Yusuf Ali's translation certain ayaths have been footnoted so that a further explanation can be given to the ayath. This is because the english translation alone is indufficient to understand the meaning of certain ayaths.
 
QuranStudy said:
Salaam,
Zakir Naik also cited a few places in Yusuf Ali's translation which results in parts of the Quran becoming contrdictory.
Click to expand...

I must admit Zakir Naik is a genius. Nevertheless I'm wondering if after noticing the contradictions due to the translations, has he considered translating the Quran himself?
 
manaal said:
Everyone knows that the most accurate form of the Quran is its original Arabic text, which has been perfectly preserved from the time it was revealed. No other language can give you an accurate translation of the Arabic text.

Why? Simple reasons. No language cn be translated perfectly to any other language. And in the case of Arabic, each word has many meanings and can be interpreted in different ways. Therefore each ayath in the holy quran can be interpreted in different ways.
Another is that we have to understand that we can;t take the superficial meaning of what we read in the Quran or its transltions. (Whihc is sadly what most people do). Neither is Islam a superficial religion.

So the best we can do is to look at the different transaltions and the explanations given to the ayaths. I know for a fact that in Yusuf Ali's translation certain ayaths have been footnoted so that a further explanation can be given to the ayath. This is because the english translation alone is indufficient to understand the meaning of certain ayaths.
Click to expand...



That was exactly my point in my post. Also, the Arabic in the Qu'ran was and is not the common Arabic spoken amongst the people. That is why when you learn Arabic for Qu'ranic recitation, you must also learn the Tajweed, because mispronounciation of a word or a syllabol can change the meaning. Therefore, we do not need a better translation, we need to learn the Arabic.
 
blackjubba said:
That was exactly my point in my post. Also, the Arabic in the Qu'ran was and is not the common Arabic spoken amongst the people. That is why when you learn Arabic for Qu'ranic recitation, you must also learn the Tajweed, because mispronounciation of a word or a syllabol can change the meaning. Therefore, we do not need a better translation, we need to learn the Arabic.
Click to expand...

A teacher of Arabic once told me that it all Muslims should learn Arabic as it leads to the better understanding of the quran. An Aalima freind told me that "Arabic is the key to the quran". We should find the key the understand the quran better. We are ignorant because we do not understand the beautiful language of the quran.
 
Asalaamu alaykum.

There are a few hadith that showed the importance of Arabic to Islam, it was in a lecture I heard a few years ago. I can't find any references but perhaps someone will recognise them and be able to help.

The first is regarding Umar:

When he was Khalifah, he was observing Muslims practising in shooting the bow. Some of the younger Muslims we're very inept and kept missing the target. Umar (ra) questioned them as to why they were so bad. One of the Muslims replied "we are only beginners", but while doing so, he a made an grammatical error in Arabic.

To this, Umar responded "your second mistake worries me more than your first".

How important is Arabic if simply making a grammatical mistake while speaking colloquially worries Umar (ra) - the greatest man on this earth after the Prophets and Abu Bakr.

The second hadith is regarding Abu Bakr, who is reported to have said "I would prefer to forget ayats of the Quran rather then make a grammatical mistake".

We see Arabic as sometimes being superfluous part of the deen - but its so essential.

Imam Shafi said "the fitnah of the Ummah is due to Muslims leaving Arabic for the language of the greeks".

It's almost insane that people recite Quran with no attempt and understanding the message.

Subhanallah. May Allah help us all learn Arabic. Ameen.
 
simple...learn Arabic!! jus yesterday i was listenin to a cassette in which it said that almost all translations have mistakes..n it is impossible to translate Allah's book..
 
QuranStudy said:
I would like to learn Arabic but it takes years to master the language.
Click to expand...

To master it, yes, it takes years.

To get a superficial understanding, enough to understand whats being said in the Quran will take less then a year.

If you find someone to teach you, thats great. Then read Quran and read translaton straight after in your spare time. Slowly your vocab increases. The Quran only uses 2000 different words, easy to pick up. Also, since Arabic is root based, you can guess the meaning of most words to a general degree of accuracy.

It'll only be good enough to understand the simple meaning of the Quran, but its a start.