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How To Read Quran?

Do you think a standardized translation of the Quran should be available? If so, should Muslims read it?

  • This question is primarily for Muslims. Unlike the Christian Bible, for example, it seems that the Quran is generally considered meaningful only in its original (Arabic) language. There are many translations available in English and other languages, but they are generally done by individuals who translate according to their personal interpretation. For example, one popular version is the Hilali-Khan translation, which is provided free but seems to be a rather extreme interpretation compared to others. When a non-Muslim wants to learn about Islam, they would have to read a translation into a language they understand, but they would often be unaware of how much interpretation has gone into the translation. Translators of the Bible have attempted to solve this problem by collaborating in large groups to prevent personal misinterpretations, and documenting ambiguity when there are various possible translations of a word - a problem common to Hebrew and Arabic. Would such a translation of the Quran be useful to help non-believers to understand its message? And could reading a translation be of any benefit to a Muslim who can recite the Quran in Arabic, but cannot understand the meanings of the Arabic words?

  • Answer:

    No, not really. There are already a number of quite good, readable translations. The Oxford Press edition translated by Arberry, or the Penguin edition translated by N. J. Dawood are good examples. These are both quite accessible for an outside, balancing between technical word for word accuracy and a capture of the poetry, grandeur, and rhythm of the original. For a believer, the best route is to consult various translations, comparing the subtle differences. Ideally in parallel with an effort to continually increase knowledge of Arabic, helped out with tools like Lane's Arabic Lexicon to help understand the bigger meaning cloud of the roots of the words.

Cyril Anderson at Quora Visit the source

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There are many free translations that are widely available (Pickthall, Shakir, Yousuf Ali). For one to say that the Quran cannot be understood, or that it loses some of its vernacular prowess without reading it in Arabic is silly. I am not aware of any other religions who make this claim. For example, the Old Testament, originally written in Hebrew (which, like Arabic, has strong Aramaic infusions), and the New Testament in Koine Greek are both beautifully translated into English. I would argue that the Quran doesn't have near the beautifully translated poetic liturgy as say, for example, the Psalms. If there is a gray area in the translated text, perhaps it is in the text itself rather than the translator. Besides, the Modern Arabic that Muslims read from today has a lot of differences from the original Quarashi Arabic, the original dialect of the Quran. If you want to know the *ahem* true true meaning of the original words, you'd have to study this dialect which almost no Arabs use today. I believe Yousuf Alis is on his 9th edition of his version of the Quranic translation. If he can't get it right in 9 revisiosns, who can? :) A decent site that has multiple versions of the Quran translated into English is http://quran.al-islam.org/. Pickthall's version is endorsed by Al-Azhar University.

Keith Wright

The linguistic beauty and eloquence of Quran cannot be translated into any other language. I think if a non-muslim is really eager to learn about Quran, she/he should contact a Quran scholar. The knowledge of quran is transmitted from heart to heart via master disciple tradition. As the language of Quran is a living breathing language and it's knowledge has been continuously practiced by the Scholars from the prophetic time, It is very easy for us to find scholars. In addition to giving explanation of Quranic verses they can show you the true essence of Islam and true meaning of being a Muslim. Allah gives guidance to humble and sincere ones.

Muhammad Arafat Azam

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