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Just fucking READ.
Jun. 17th, 2009 11:06 pmThe insult of the day is "dunderhead dodobrain".
Also, the first word of the Quran is commonly translated as "recite!"
However, in Arabic, the word is "'Iqraq". The root of this word is "qara'" which means "to read". The Quranic context of the imperative is the Prophet being commanded to recite the verses, so, you know, he can share them with others and educate them. To everybody else, the more sensical context is for all readers of the Quran to "read". I learned this in my Tassawur Islam class from the uztaza. In Malay, the first word is translated into "Bacalah!" which, like its Arabic counterpart, can be translated into both "read" and "recite". My Arabic prof, however, told me that it was the Quranic context that mattered ("recite!"). I think the latter is wrong, or at least, off in her interpretation. My high school uztaza's interpretation was corroborated by a post I once read on Baghdad Burning (which I shall seek out for this weekend's linkfest). It just makes more sense to start a holy text with an imperative to "READ THIS AND LEARN" especially if said holy text purports to be the be-all and end-all.
I don't put much stock into religion, much less Islam, unless we're talking about Sufis, but "'iqraq" has been my favourite principle and the prime lesson I derived from my Tassawur Islam class which I carried beyond the classroom. And it chaps my ass to see that apparently Islam's own adherents do not carry out their God's first imperative!
Also, the first word of the Quran is commonly translated as "recite!"
However, in Arabic, the word is "'Iqraq". The root of this word is "qara'" which means "to read". The Quranic context of the imperative is the Prophet being commanded to recite the verses, so, you know, he can share them with others and educate them. To everybody else, the more sensical context is for all readers of the Quran to "read". I learned this in my Tassawur Islam class from the uztaza. In Malay, the first word is translated into "Bacalah!" which, like its Arabic counterpart, can be translated into both "read" and "recite". My Arabic prof, however, told me that it was the Quranic context that mattered ("recite!"). I think the latter is wrong, or at least, off in her interpretation. My high school uztaza's interpretation was corroborated by a post I once read on Baghdad Burning (which I shall seek out for this weekend's linkfest). It just makes more sense to start a holy text with an imperative to "READ THIS AND LEARN" especially if said holy text purports to be the be-all and end-all.
I don't put much stock into religion, much less Islam, unless we're talking about Sufis, but "'iqraq" has been my favourite principle and the prime lesson I derived from my Tassawur Islam class which I carried beyond the classroom. And it chaps my ass to see that apparently Islam's own adherents do not carry out their God's first imperative!