Is the Koran comprehensible? Is it translatable?

Question

Before you hit the report buttons, hear me out. Muslims on YA often quote English translations of the Quran, implying it is both comprehensible and translatable. But at other times, they say it can only be understood in the original language it was written in: a form of Arabic that is no longer in everyday use. If it is only comprehensible in this original language, it cannot be comprehensible to anybody today, given that nobody still speaks it. If it is not comprehensible, it is not translatable. But if it has been translated into modern Arabic, English, or whatever, there must be Muslims who believe it is comprehensible. Please enlighten me.

Apologies for calling it Koran rather than Quran in the question, no offense intended

Answer 1

You are correct it can be translated but then everybody would realize the heresies in it and their goose would be cooked. Ignorance breeds followers.

Answer 2

The Quran is inimitable, that is it cannot be reproduced in its own language. Certainly much of it is lost in translation. There are over a 100 translations in English alone and the efforts to capture the meaning is dismal. The Quran was revealed during the pinnacle of linguistic eloquence in Arabic culture, but nobody could produce even one verse like it. The classical arabic culture is very rich and every nation should make it compulsory for all students to study the language. As it is now only the elite at top universities are privileged to study it.
You cannot just read the Quran and hope to understand it. There is a reason for every revelation and its important to understand the culture and context. Its a rewarding study especially if the Almighty opens your heart to embrace the faith!!! May God guide you all. Aameen

Answer 3

noone should report, its ur right to know the truth. well i dont really know where to start. well its like u translating shakespeare into todays english. does it make sense. thats how it is with the quran. noone speaks it the way it is but alot and i mean alot of words are used by arab speaking people everday. not only that the reason why we say it is not traselatable is cuz when u traslate it, its not exact. instead of traselating we should learn it in arabic so we dont have to traslate, that way it stays accurate and pure the way allah said it. i hope u understand what im trying to say. if u have further qurstions feel free to ask me and ill be happy to answer. ur muslim sis. take care and salaam(pe@ce).

Answer 4

With all things, it's best to read it in language it was written in. People get all worked up over translations because translations are opinions. Therefore, if you read it in its original language you can read it without outsider bias. It probably depends on how conservative the Muslim is. Most Christians don't know the ancient Hebrew or Greek and are comfortable with Bible translations. Saying it is not comprehensible/translatable is a way to keep you out of their religion and nullify your opinions.

Answer 5

Any text loses a little bit in translation (the judeo-christian bible being no exception) but most of the meaning is still there, for what it's worth.

Answer 6

You can read it in english ( or any language you understand), in fact i read it in Malay everytime! ( as it is my language that i could really understand) and then when u already understood the meaning you can read it in arabic as the original language it was written in. And that is what it meant by comprehensible yet translatable

Answer 7

Well technically anything is translatable, including the Koran, but as with any translation, some meaning will be lost. The idea is to keep the Koran from being retranslated again and again to keep the meaning of it as pure as possible.

Answer 8

Yes, the Qur'an is translatable and comprehensible. What we say is that when you "Interpret" or "translate" the Qur'an from Arabic to English, it is no longer the "real" Qur'an, but only an interpretation. Yes, you can "comprehend" the Qur'an, if you couldn't, then i'm sure there would be no Muslims in the world because they wouldn't know what they believe. However, the message of the Qur'an is for all of mankind and it would be unjust for creation to not understand its message. But, since Allah is the Most Merciful, he gives all of creation an equal chance and understanding the message of Truth: The Qur'an and Sunnah (sayings and actions of The Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him)).

Answer 9

Great question!

Were it translated into modern Arabic, eventually it's true meaning would be changed (altered by people) - that's what happened to Bible. Qur'an cannot be translated. There is no such thing as the translation of Qur'an, not in any language. It can be only called interpretation of Qur'an. That's why every interpretation of Qur'an goes through rigorous checks by the Islamic scholars of each country before being published.

Hope this helps :)

EDIT: It's ok :)

Answer 10

great question. there are words in arabic that are not even translatable in modern arabic: "alif," "laam" and "meem," are examples. there is no meaning for these words and nobody can tell you. therefore, if the koran is quoted in english, then defended with the ploy that certain points cannot be translated into english, the person translating it is trying to have it both ways and this is impossible in any form of religious debate. nobody can enlighten you on this point because there is no light to give.