On reading the Qur’an
Sep 24th, 2007, 06:11 pm
Since the beginning of Ramadan, I’ve dedicated about ten to thirty minutes nearly every day to reading the Qur’an in English (specifically, The Meaning of The Holy Qur’an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali). Because I read every footnote (255 down, 6055 more to go), I’ve progressed very, very slowly. I’ve been on Al-Baqarah, where I started, for like a million years now.
“Che, boludo. ¡Estás loco! ¿Por qué vos hacés eso?” (”Hey, idiot. You’re crazy! Why do you do that?”)
To put the surahs into perspective and to learn the historical contexts in which they were revealed. I would be totally clueless about what I’m reading without them. Footnotes are my friends, my friends. Maybe that’s just the sociology major side of me speaking. Although the footnotes are subject to the author’s biases, they reveal many of the thoughts that ran through his head during the translation process.
As someone that speaks English (native: 158% fluent), Bengali (native: uh, I suck at it), and Spanish (non-native: 85% fluent), I am well-aware that translations can significantly alter the original meaning of texts, especially literary, highly complex works that make extensive use of figurative language. Given the highly poetic nature of the Qur’an, all translations of it are best seen as interpretations. However, unless one speaks and understands seventh-century classical Arabic, translations are the next best thing.
Plenty of non-Arabic speaking Muslims grow up reading the Qur’an in its original language, but few take the time to understand and analyze what they read. Am I right, or am I right? Simply reading and reciting something without understanding a word of it will not teach you anything about Islam.
As a child, I always wondered why my mosque Sunday school teachers hardly emphasized the meaning of the lessons taught in the Qur’an and how to implement them into our daily lives. Probably because they were just taught to memorize and not analyze. Memorization, analysis, and interpretation are all integral parts of Qur’anic study.
An avid reader, I learned far more about Islam on my own than in Sunday school, but then again, I dropped out at the age of nine or ten, mostly due to the humiliation I bore being stuck in the class with the kids that were just barely out of their diapers. Ugh, didn’t the adults realize that sticking a ten-year-old with kindergarteners could have a detrimental effect on his self-esteem? I was reading great classics like James and the Giant Peach while they were watching Barney and Sesame Street. Just because I was slow at learning Arabic doesn’t mean they had to put me in the class with the kids that couldn’t even read English. Because of their negligence, I often cried and begged my parents to stop making me go.
I bet many Muslim kids out there in the US have to bear the brunt of “teaching techniques” imported from the Pakistan, Bangladesh, and wherever else. Hopefully, Sunday school education has changed for the better since my elementary school days back in the early and mid-1990s. If they haven’t, I need to go out there and fix it.
(This has little to do with what I just said, but I once I had a Sunday school teacher in Florida who saw me yawning without covering my mouth. Upon seeing this, she scurried over and told me to cover my mouth to prevent Shaytan from entering my body. Even though I was seven or so, I thought that was ridiculous. Where exactly did she get that from? I was a clever kid and immune to such quackery. If Shaytan really wanted to enter my body, why wouldn’t he just go through my ears or something since they’re not covered? Or when I open my mouth to take a bite out of a juicy samosa? Why does he have to wait for me to do such an innocent act as yawning to corrupt me? No offense to my British readers, but her British accent made it all the more humorous.)
Reciting and memorizing the Qur’an has little meaning if you don’t have a clue what it actually says. I’m not saying that learning to read and correctly pronounce Arabic is pointless (it’s important), but what we take out of it is more important than sounding beautiful when you lead prayers. However, I do have to admit I feel a bit envious of those that rock da mic while leading prayers.
If you don’t take the time to read the Qur’an in a language you understand, you will surely lose valuable knowledge, and Islam will be reduced to nothing more than austere rules and regulations without any sense of spirituality.