Can somebody please tell me what is the proper English spelling for Islam’s holy book?

Question

This is a true story and a serious question.

Even though I have an MBA I continue to take classes at the local University. My latest class is one covering Islam and is located in the Middle of the East wing in the James Buchanan building.

I am only 1 or 3 Americans in the class of 60 of which most are from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Egypt. One of Americans asked what was the correct spelling for the Qu’ran? Koran, Quran or Qu’ran as we had seen them all in print. Some of the Muslim students began to get very excited and started quarreling. They were speaking Arabic so I could not understand them. All of a sudden a huge fight broke out between them. After about 20 minutes of this the cops showed up and arrested myself and the two other Americans. I was astounded and asked why I was being arrested. One of the cops told me “Hey, you know that anytime there’s violence in the Middle East it’s the Americans fault” and hauled us away. I never found the answer.
Thanks

No, this is a true story. I know the cop was being a smart as* but the real reason we were arrested, the other 2 are women, is that the majority of other students were not citizens and therefore were immune to prosecution.

See, even on this site nobody can agree on the spelling. I don't think I will continue the class.

Answer 1

the Arabic word is قرآن
It cannot be translated to an exact wrod in English. There is a lot of difference between the pronouciation of Arabic Letters & English Letters, i.e. when you say "Cotton" in English it sounds different from the pronouciation of قطن in Arabic which has the same meaning. You may pls. ask your Arab friends to say cotton in Arabic and you'll see the difference.
Therefore, Quran. Qura'an, Koran are all used in English to spell a word in Arabic, it is just that the Arabic is the language of Quran in which God choose to send his last messenger with. Arabic is a great language, the grammers are easier compared to English. for example, you do not have to use much words to describe something, i.e. in English you say " MY BOOK" :two words; wherease in Arabic it is just one word كتابي and if you want to say "HIS BOOK" you just change the last letter كتابه. This is a language which suits our modern world which looks for shortcuts & speed.
The name should not be a reason for quarells...it is not the name of the book that matters, but it is the content!..

Answer 2

Transliterating as opposed to translating a language like Arabic into English is difficult because there are Arabic letters that have no English equivalent. Also, in Arabic, there is no P, V or hard G.
There are ways to write these letters in Arabic. Hard G is written with a line over the letter Al Kaf (which is the same as "K" in English).
The Muslim holy book is written with a letter that is usually transliterated as a Q. It is pronounced something like a K, but further back in the throat. I think that the most accurate rendering is Quran.
I am not fluent in Arabic, but I can read and write it a little.

Answer 3

That's quite a story! I wish I could tell you the answer to how the English version of the Koran is spelled as I have seen it many different ways myself. However, I'm not really sure there is a correct or proper way to spell it as everyone has their own translation of the Arabic word for it. I hope you get an answer, I'll be very curious.

Answer 4

What a bizarre story - the traditional way of spelling the holy book of Islam was the Koran although most Muslims prefer the Qur'an or Quran which seems closer to the Arabic original- what a stupid thing to get upset about

Answer 5

You know I've taken many religion classes at college and this is a great question. In certain books it said the "Qu'ran" and others "Koran." I'm guessing it's one of those things that can go either way. Such as how we often spell "ketchup" when it's actually "catsup" and how people in England spell "favorite" - "favourite." I'm thinking it depends on what area you are from or what your preference is. I'm sure each culture has their own way to write it. Most important thing is that it all means the same thing. I really want to know the true answer too! lol

Answer 6

Wow...that's really sad that you got arrested. Of course, things like that are either ways- depending on where you are, the 'foreigner' of the country gets arrested and blamed.
Anyway before getting carried away, the "English" spelling is Koran, although the "proper" Arabic version which provides the most accurate pronounciation is "Qu'ran".

Answer 7

Wow....that was a very interesting story. Thanks. :)

Seriously though, any of those are proper. Arabic is not an Indo-European language using the same letters found in that language family (Spanish, English, German, etc.). "Qur'an", "Koran", and Quran" are all English transliterations of the Arabic word. There are usually a couple of different transliterations for many Arabic words. Even though all are acceptable, many scholars prefer Quran or Qur'an, although not all scholars. You can't go wrong using any of those transliterations.

Answer 8

It's a transliteration (the use of the alphabet of one language to help you to pronounce a word in another language or in another language that uses a different script), so there is no one correct English spelling. And the person who writes it is always doing their best to get it as close as possible to the actual pronunciation.

You might want to explain that if it comes up again in your class. Oh, and there are different accents in any languages, so some of the transliteration differences may be explainable in that manner.

Congratulations to you for wanting to continue to learn about this world, including learning about other cultures, religions, etc. There is no other way to understand others, and if we understand one another, it's that much more difficult to fight one another.

Answer 9

QURAN ,, OR QU'RAN ?????????????? I have seen all the spellings you have listed ,, go to a spelling web site or a middle eastern site .. I'm sure depending on the country ,, there would be a fight over the spelling ,, just like everything else .. They are ALL right when it comes to religion .. WHEN I SAY ALL, I'M REFERRING TO THE PEOPLE ....

Answer 10

i lost the question from your story....but i would think the spelling would not matter since they're pronounced similarly. most american english words are derived from foreign languages and most of the times the spellings are copied too - then again....does it really matter? people will understand what you are talking about when you say koran, or quran, or qu'ran....know what? let's just call it islam's holy book!

happy new year!