cucumberman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 4 Jul 2009
- Messages
- 5,028
I can add an ethnographic perspective to this discussion since I'm a muslim, but even then the caveat is that there are several schools of thought called Mazhab which may or may not influence the opinions of other muslims.
Coming from a country where the official languages are the de facto national dialect and English, it is conceivable that reading the Quran for a person like me, I can phonetically recite the Quran without much difficulty, but ask me what they mean I know not one iota of what I have read in Arabic. Which is why for deeper understanding we have the Tafsir versions. These are literal translation of the Arabic content. Indeed, those who can read and understand Arabic have an upper hand and those who excel in its recitation (Tahfiz) are celebrated, but understanding via a translated medium is not less dignified. So long as the integrity of the content is preserved it is sufficient in the school of thought that I am part of. It is flexible and inferential. Thus I cannot vouch for other Mazhabs that technically I didn't grow up in.
An aside, I've done lots of travels and have seen countless versions of Tafsirs in many languages, Chinese, Korean, English, Urdu, so people do read both Arabic and their native tongue to get the best of both worlds, I.e.literacy of Arabic reading, and semantic understanding of the Quran in their own respective languages. Also in these countries sermons are oftentimes spoken in the local languages its excerpts of Quranic texts immediately followed by thei translations.
Yes Arabic is the language and script of the Quran, but it is also the official languages of most countries in the Middle East. Perhaps there is some truth that in that region the language is held in high regard, but a part of that is also because before these individuals started reading the Quran, they were born in a community whose language acquisition is already primarily Arabic. I assume their first words would include Ummi for mother, long before they can recite the Quran. thus, It has patriotic and familial connotations as well which in turns become one's identity. And with identity in general irrespective of race, religion, gender, etc, some people are more submissive to change while others are as spongy as a brick wall.
And to add, we live by the Islamic teaching that knowledge is an investment, and one needs to acquire it as much as possible even to the kingdom of China (obviously this was said in the 7th century when long distance travels were actually a struggle if not next to impossible). the golden age of Islam was an interesting time with its philosophers and inventors, we missed a trick there back then for seamless integration.