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Something Lost in Translation?

Reader comment on item: Non-Muslim Politicians Immersed in the Koran
in response to reader comment: Add bush

Submitted by Dean (United States), Dec 30, 2008 at 18:25

I've tried reading the Koran in several English translations.

Of all the scriptures of other cultures I have striven to read and understand, the Koran has proven to be the most difficult for me to see in a positive light. The few Muslim people I have known have seemed to be such nice people, so I've wished to understand their faith better.

Their holy book, however, in no way seems holy to me, but rather to be an imitative and severe distortion of the Hebrew scriptures. Not only that, in the Five Books of Moses the Divine Law is given in terms of the maximum possible punishment for which the mitigating aspects are preserved in context of the oral tradition, later written down in what is called Talmud. But it appears to me that the maximum punishment and harsh condemnation of "sinners" is the starting place for the Koran. Am I wrong?

I don't want to sell the book short. I've heard that it really can only be understood in Arabic. I have a fair grasp of Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic but I have not studied Arabic. To give the book the benefit of the doubt, considering the fine Muslim people I've known, I am assuming that something is lost in translation. If Tony Blair and others can read the book in English can get past the language barrier, and find inspiration, more power to them.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (17) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Koran shows what Islam is [89 words]anonJan 11, 2009 20:27147791
Hadiths are shocking [44 words]mriitunjayMay 15, 2009 04:44147791
Dhimmitude of the highest order. [123 words]M.D'SouzaJan 5, 2009 11:15147005
Hey, cowardice rules! [6 words]kmanJan 6, 2009 23:57147005
Tony Blair a Christian? [44 words]UgriDec 31, 2008 08:11146424
Update This List Often Dr. Pipes [57 words]AnneMDec 31, 2008 06:35146414
Odd how politicians will finally read Koran & not Bible from which it was distorted ... [42 words]kmanJan 6, 2009 23:55146414
Koran translations need work... [139 words]suitepotatoDec 30, 2008 18:30146342
Koran translations [134 words]UgriJan 13, 2009 04:45146342
The Light of Islam [145 words]AhmedDec 30, 2008 04:51146247
Blair, if anything is a pragmatist not a closet Islamist [281 words]the Grand Infidel of KaffiristanDec 31, 2008 03:35146247
Truth [201 words]One-eyed eagleDec 31, 2008 08:33146247
Thank You Dr. Pipes- for this so Imperative List. [21 words]YnnatchkahDec 29, 2008 13:26146158
Add bush [30 words]Jinn 'n' tonicDec 29, 2008 10:02146139
Something Lost in Translation? [236 words]DeanDec 30, 2008 18:25146139
All languages are capable of being translated [121 words]JSobieskiJan 2, 2009 03:45146139
2I hope this explanation will help [777 words]GladeJan 8, 2009 18:54146139

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