Monday, September 29, 2008

A reminder to those who read the Holy Quran in English translation

I don't want to turn this into a huge post about what I think of the additional brackets and footnotes that are often put into the English copies of the Quran containing so-called "necessary" extra information. But I do want to remind you that these brackets are not the word of Allah (SWT) and should not be taken as devine text. If you can't read Arabic and have to rely on the translations, I urge you to read the translations with the bracket text omitted at least once so that maybe you can draw your own conclusions from the ayat. I know that the Quran has one overall message but it has many thousands in the ayat and I do not believe that their meanings should be changed in anyway, shape or form.

The Quran is for everyone, from the simple to the extremely intelligent and from all walks of life and everyone interprets it slightly differently according to what they have been through in life, how they think etc. This is why I truly believe it's of utmost importance for everybody to be able to find their own messages and meanings in the holy words of Allah (SWT) and in His words only without being confused by brackets and "extra information".

I would also recommend those of you who cannot read Arabic, to learn if you have some spare time. There is nothing like reading the Quran in it's original language.

I know this is kind of an obvious thing to be writing about but I really feel strongly about it and I think it's an important thing to share with you all.

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