The Word of mAn[S]o0r

Once again, Scott Adams has gone down the religious path, and what he had to say this time was really interesting. He's noticed that the translations of the Quran have different text written in them, and while the translation's may contain text which tells Muslim's to kill Christians n Jews... the actual doesnt. What the Quran does say is Go to jihad against those who try to kill you.

Im attaching both the blog post as well as my comment on his blog.

The Dilbert Blog: Koran Translations: "Koran Translations"

Soon after 9/11 I decided to read the Koran to see what would inspire believers to pilot a jet into a building. I picked up an English translation and dove in.

My impression of this translated version was that it was stuffed with warlike language about killing the Christians and Jews and infidels whenever they are on your land or otherwise threatening you. Im no religious scholar (perhaps youve noticed) but my reading of the Koran seemed to clearly support Osamas interpretation. The equation was simple: Christians and Jews were on Muslim land, and the Koran seemed to clearly and repeatedly say that killing them was not only allowed but strongly encouraged.

Indeed, it seemed to me as I read this translated version that killing non-Muslims was the major theme of the book. I wasnt reassured by the instructions that its okay to let non-Muslims live as long as they dont spend any time on your land and dont interfere with your affairs. That leaves a lot of wiggle room.

To be fair, I also remember lots of peaceful and positive stuff in the Koran, about helping widows and that sort of thing. But the emphasis seemed to be about defending the religion with force. And to be fair again, it clearly and consistently said not to engage in an offensive war. Any non-Muslims who don't bother you are allowed to die of natural causes and burn for eternity in the afterlife. Thats more than fair.

Since then I have had numerous discussions, usually via e-mail, with Muslims who are obviously familiar with the non-translated Koran. They assure me that the stuff I read in the translation doesnt exist in the original.

Huh?

One learned Muslim informed me that translated versions of the Koran are notorious for rewriting the Koran to make it"

I had this to say on his post.

Scott, I've also been a non-participating reader of your blog for quite some time.. and frequently republish your entries on my own blog. But this topic was just too good not to comment on. A little background, i am a born muslim and live in an islamic state and deal with my fair share of 'mullahs' (wayword clerics).

I'll be going a little off topic here.. and not discussing whats
all bad in the Quran (since many people have already commented on that). Suffice to say, Islam is NOT violent and killing infidels is not in our way of life. What i did notice however was.. just how many people have actually read the Quran after 9/11.

It is said that for Quran, God himself took the responsiblity to preserve it in its original form, hence the reason we still have the original arabic version of the book, and that He would make sure it is spread. It just dawned upon me how true those lines are.

As for translations, the one at Muslim Society of America is pretty good, since it gives translations from three sources for each line of the Quran. I must note here, that in the few surah's i read there.. i was really amazed at the difference there was in each
transalation on a couple of lines.

Lastly, i totally agree with a comment made previously here that Islam asks an individual to understand themselves what
is right and follow it. Instead of blindly following whatever they've been told.

And so said mAn[S]o0r on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 8:52 AM | Permalink | |