Reading the word in a foreign tongue: Islam’s scripture and non-Arab Muslims

Abstract

Observant Muslims strive to live in accordance with the teachings of our scripture, the Qur’ān. However, the vast majority of Muslims is neither literate nor Arab and cannot understand Arabic, the language of the Qur’ān’s revelation. Thus, we rely on dominant interpretations and translations of it in our own languages. Yet, Muslims also believe that the translated Qur’ān is not the “real” Qur’ān. What does it mean, then, for Muslims to encounter our sacred text in a foreign tongue? As a non-Arabic speaker, I grapple with this conundrum by giving examples from my own life, as well as my work on Qur’ānic hermeneutics. In the process, I touch on some of the themes in the conference’s description about language, identity, and translation.