Hello, hello, all! Are you ready for 2011?
I've been floating under the radar for health reasons mostly. My health isn't bad, that's for sure alhamdulillah, but the constant muscle stiffness/tightness is really wearing me out. It puts such a damper on living when your muscles won't relax, and therefore, you can't relax. I find that I end up "escaping" so much more when I'm physically not up to speed - in other words, I waste time. Games, movies, music, t.v. - anything to keep my mind off the here and now and focused on something outside my body. Eek?
Anyhow, that small confession aside, here's another answer to that list of questions I mentioned a few posts back!
Q: I've seen so many spellings of 'Quran' that I am unsure which one to use. Which one is correct?
A: I love this question, because it's so nice being asked which one is preferred.
It comes down to a matter of accuracy - we're looking for as close an English match to the Arabic word itself.
In Arabic, al-Qur'an means literally "the recitation" (al is a prefix added to show "the" rather than "a" - ex. the car vs. a car).
Here it is in Arabic (read left to right): القرآن
When we look at the letters for this word, you have alif & lam (A L) then qaf - ra - alif - nun (Q R A N).
Arabic has two letters that form a k or hard c sound: qaf and kaf. The qaf - the letter that is used at the beginning of "Qur'an" - comes from deeper in the throat and is very distinct from the kaf. This is why people prefer using the letter Q to represent the sound rather than a K.
Two syllables for Qur'an. The first syllable carries a long "u" vowel (like in moon) rather than a short "o" (like in so), hence why "Qur" works better than "Kor."
The break between the two syllables comes here, and that is why the most accurate spelling has the ' after Qur, to signal that the air stops before pronouncing the alif & nun together. I know I've frequently seen people put the apostrophe in the wrong place (Qu'ran), which effectively breaks up the word into improper syllables. Funny how such a little mark could be so powerful!
Put it all together, and you have the best, most accurate English spelling of the Arabic: Qur'an.
So, why is this all so important?
When it comes to reciting the Qur'an, there's a very, very particular science of pronunciation and memorization that goes back centuries. This is to keep the original Arabic text from being altered through sloppy recitation, especially if someone is going off ear. Putting down one wrong letter could change one word into another, and that could change the entire meaning of one or more verses!
The Qur'an is very different from the Bible in this need for specificity - there is only one text, and while translation into any language can be found, those simply do not pass as THE Qur'an. Furthermore, the Arabic that is found in the Qur'an is often dubbed "classical Arabic" as opposed to the more "modern" Arabic used by speakers worldwide today. To provide some kind of modern day parallel, think of Shakespeare's plays or the Declaration of Independence: you can memorize them word for word, and it'd be problematic if we started getting sloppy in our readings or when jotting down the text.
That said, I wouldn't say it's the worst thing ever or even horribly offensive to spell it Koran. After all, we're trying to match Arabic letters to English ones. However, it goes a long way to have someone really take that extra step of using the most accurate spelling, especially if we're starting to discuss content from the Qur'an. It's like, if you can't be bothered getting the most accurate version of the title right, then what does that suggest about how you'll treat what's actually in it? However, the majority of people aren't looking to get into a heated debate with you over the translations of verses, so really, I don't think twice if I see someone using Koran instead of Qur'an. In fact, I'm usually pretty impressed if I notice someone using Quran! The way I see it, it's an extra respectful gesture, like someone holding a door open for you when you're not directly behind them.
That's all from me for now. I'll try and come back with more than one answer next time. Seven questions remain!
Happy early New Year's!
