Is it true that in order to become a "true" follower of Islam you have to be fluent in Arabic in order...?

Question

...to read the Koran and interpret it the way the prophet meant it to be?
I have heard several converted Moslems I know complain that learning Arabic is a waste of time and that the Koran means the same in English, French, Spanish and German as well as Arabic.
Is this true? Are there problems in translating the Koran into other languages and misinterpreting the words?
I am not trying to cause any problems here, just curious.

Answer 1

Nice question.

No. Muslims don't have to be fluent in Arabic. Muslims from Arabic countries are by instinct fluent, but non-Arab Muslims aren't. For them, they have to learn as much as they need for Islamic purposes, how to pronounce the words and what they mean, such as the Takbeer, verses of Qur'an those that are obligatory in the prayer and for other duties. In reality, most Muslims who observe prayers routinely know correct pronounciation, I hope so.

Learning arabic is not a waste of time, such that Qur'an is all the same in all languages. Qur'an is Qur'an only when it is in it's perfect language, which is Arabic. When it is translated, it is called "Translation". I remember a sentence I read in the intro part of a book: "Translation of the Qur'an in any language is neither Qur'an nor the part of Qur'an, rather it is the interpretation of the meaning of Qur'an."

Translation is not any less important. But, no one, even a regular Muslim is not allowed to make rulings or decisions out of Qur'anic verses reading those translations. Only highly learned group of Islamic scholars collectively make rules based on Qur'anic verses, related verses, related Hadiths, related issues happened in prophet's time etc.

These days I see a tendency on here that some wicked people take out one or two verses out of whole Qur'an and say this & that. This is totally wrong.

Answer 2

Great question.

I am a Muslim, an Imam and I am not fluent in Arabic. I struggle every day with understanding the original language of the Quran. But there is a Hadith which tells us that God loves those that struggle (do you know the Arabic word for struggle?) for knowledge, including understanding the Quran.

Even those that speak modern standard Arabic do not necessarily understand the laguage of the Quran and may struggle with it's meaning. Additionally I have heard it said that any revealed scripture has at least seven deeper meanings and that we can contemplate on the words to find the deeper meanings.

Personally, I find most of the English translations of the Quran to be less than adequate. I use several different ones as well as an 8 volume lexicon to try and tease out all the different meanings. One has to persevere. But God is merciful and guides those with a true heart to the essence of the meanings. If one approaches any scripture with true intention of an open heart and mind, God will lead one.

As far as a translation not being the Quran, any well educated Muslim will tell you that even the Arabic writing is not the Quran! Quran literally means "recitation" and the book form is called a Mushaff. No printed book is the Quran even if it is in Arabic.

If you dropped a Quran book into the sea and the water washed away the ink, the Quran would still exist.

Lastly, I would pose the same question about other translated works, the speicific example I would give here is the King James translation of the "Lord's Prayer". If you read it in the Aramaic, which some say that Jesus (peace be upon him) spoke, you might find a totally different meaning. If you are interested in that you can read "Desert Wisdom" by Niel Douglas-Klotz, an expert on Semitic languages and translations of scripture.

Peace and Blessings,

Salim

Answer 3

What your friends probably don't realize is that the Quran is not a book from which strictly meanings are derived, but rather many other effects from reading it are also part of the overall 'miracle' of the Quran. And just as a side note, any translations can never purely present the exact same message. It's important to understand what the verses mean (in English) but it's also important to understand the various techniques in the literature that also add meaning (through other foot notes and other sources).

An example of how certain aspects of the Quran can influence certain people is good to know: In the time of the Quran's revelation, a great period of poetry and literature was flourishing throughout the Arabian peninsula, so when people heard the recitation of the Quran they were attracted to it, because of it being such great poetry.

Your question is very relevant and I'm glad you're curious.

Answer 4

Translating anything into anything will affect the loss of meaning. So if you want to actually understand the Koran, is to be fluent in Arabic. But it also does not mean that you can't get the general idea. I mean, most muslims follow certain rules like praying 3 times(or is ti 5) a week. Then honoring certain holidays. If you are not sure what to do, ask some fo your muslim friends, they'll be able to help you out,

Answer 5

no ... but its good if u learn arabic ..as u'll understnad the Koran more easily ... but its important to read the "tafseer" ... which means the explanation of anu Surah u read ..so u get the real meaning that Allah is trying to tell us....

there isnt anythign wrong in translating Koran into anyother langauge ...... it is encouraged in ISLAM so that any person from any continent can understnad Koran ....
but dont misinterpret the words ... cuz a little mistake can make huge diff in meanings ..

Answer 6

i know that u are not trying to make any proplem and i am so pleased with ur question
my answer is:it is better to read the holly quran in the Arabic but what shall u do if u are not Arabic speaker?????
u may learn Arabic if u can and if u can not and if u fing that learning Arabic will be so hard to u so u can read the translation of the holy quran and the translation of the Hadies and everything.
our religion make everything easy for us,i do love my religion and my native langauge

Answer 7

Yes. But not fluent.
I read the Qur'an in Arabic like a song. And IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL.
I read it in English language, I said: What is this?

But, not fluent. Just understand a little make a difference.
I am a Muslim living in Indonesia. In Indonesia, there is no formal Arabic Language subject. But, I heard some sermons in Friday Praying and in TVs, make i am understand a little.

And A little understanding in Arabic, like Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, Allahumma, etc. makes it.

Answer 8

Koran is a language's miracle.so in order to get that you has to read it in Arabic.the Koran is Arabian and it would be redden in Arabic.

Answer 9

i'm a muslim. it is required for us to be able to read the quran. if the quran is written in any other language, then it's not a quran anymore. it's just a translation book.

as for me, i am not fluent in arabic. i can tell you that most of us aren't fluent in it. it's a fact. i can only read the language. i know how to read arabic. however, i don't know every meaning to every word i read.

i suppose, it would be best if we knew how to read and understand it to become "better" muslims. but... the fluency of arabic does not count as a criteria to be a "good" muslim. well, for me, it isn't.

Answer 10

I wonder the same thing about the bible
it loosely says if any man changes what is written he will have something bad happen to him(i know that's chopping up what it actually says but i can not remember it exactly so i would rather be way off the actual words and u know about it then thinking i am trying to quote the bible). any way the translation can not be perfectly word for word, can it?