Reply to Be Wary of Racism and Islamophobes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I am a product of Islamic school. I have family still living in several Muslim countries. Trust me. Almost all children learn Quran in Arabic, in the language it was revealed. And I have said this multiple times, they do learn the meaning of some suras, just not all suras because the Quran is hundreds of pages long. Devout Muslims continue to learn throughout their life. They take tafsir classes or study hadith. There are some who don't. But they should. Allah/God expects it.[/quote]
And all you have to do to conclude this argument is to admit that children who learn Quran in Arabic do not in fact get any closer to the linguistic command of 7th century Arabic - that magical, unattainable skill God wants everyone to have.[/quote]

Hmmmm...I learned the meaning of some suras as a child. My siblings and parents did also.  My nephew attends a full time Islamic school here and he is learning the meaning of some suras also. So why do you want me to lie to you? [/quote]
Did you learn the meaning, or did you learn the 7th century Arabic in which they were written?  Would you have been able to translate it word for word? When you were taught the meaning of some suras as a child, did it move you closer to the linguistic command of 7th century Arabic? Yes? No?

You aren't lying when they said you and your nephews learned the meaning of some suras. You were lying when you implied that kind of learning is the same as learning the Quranic Arabic - as in, learning the language, not learning to recite it. [/quote]

You just read two other individuals who also told you they or their spouses were taught the Quran in Quranic Arabic and they also studied the Quran in elementary school. I corroborated these testimonies and explained I learned the Quran in the language it was revealed in. Our sunday school teacher told us the historical context of the suras and translated the suras for us. This happens when children are between 6-12 yrs of age.

The Quran used to teach children is not in modern Arabic. Its old Arabic. Children recite it. They memorize it. Then they learn the background story of the sura. And they learn the translation, often from teachers who know Quranic Arabic, every word of it. Children do not memorize the translation word for word. Unnecessary. Prayers are in Quranic Arabic, not translations. Children do not learn the translation of every sura though. How can they when its hundreds of pages long? And they may not be able to explain from the top of their head the translation to the suras they did learn. But they generally know because there are stories associated with some of them.

Why dont you call the Saudi Academy or ADAMS to find out what children are learning? They will be honest with you.[/quote]

It is true that when taught the Quran in Arabic, the only version of the Quran used is the seventh century version.  I think it would be widely held as sacriligious to translate the Quran into more updated Arabic, although foreign language translation are tolerated.  I imagine understanding of the New Testament by Christians would go way down if we insisted that it be read only in the original Greek.

But there's the problem--we have a book at the center of Islam that cannot be understood even by otherwise literate and educated Arabs without a lot of teaching.  This provides ample opportunity for individuals to self-anoint as arbiters of what it actually says, a sort of modern day priesthood who are guardians of the secrets.  (And yes I know they are no priests in Islam--please take this metaphorically.) And obviously the more emphasis that is put on the teaching of the Quran, hadith, etc.  and the less put on the practice of the five pillars (which require absolutely no special instruction other than in the prayers that can be almost as easily memorized as the basic Christian prayers).

And so we get so called Islamic regimes whose first acts inevitably are about the covering up of women and lowering the female age of marriage, instead of about giving generously to the poor and practicing zakat.[/quote]

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