Question

Any Arabic reading Muslims willing to translate a passage in the Qur'an for me? (Their own interpretations not literal.)

Answer 1

So the story is, I have been reading the Qur'an (in Arabic) to get a better understanding of Islam and not make any irrational judgements upon the religion. So far the book when read in context of other ayahs seem to make complete sense to me, though I am a bit interested in what exactly is said in the Surat (surah) called An-Nisā. More specifically Surat (surah) 4, and ayah 34.

I read it as that men are the protectors of women and their livelihood, and that Allah (SWT) has made them to excel women (in strength). And that women that are truly devout to Allah are obedient to their husband. If they refuse, advise them, if in then they still refuse then hit them. (Okay this is my issue, in modern Arabic the term used in the Qur'an is as to hit someone with force, while in classical Arabic the translation varies? Presuming back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) he may have used either meaning.) So what is the way to interpret this? How do you Muslims interpret it?

Answer 2

ι мєαη ησтнιηﻭ яυ∂є, тσ αηуσηє σƒ αηу яєℓιﻭιση. ι αм נυѕт тяуιηﻭ тσ є∂υ¢αтє муѕєℓƒ, ιƒ уσυ ƒιη∂ αηутнιηﻭ ωяσηﻭ ωιтн му тяαηѕℓαтισηѕ σя му νιєωѕ σя ιηтєяρяєтαтισηѕ, ρℓєαѕє ∂σ тєℓℓ. тнαηкѕ.

(I mean nothing rude, to anyone of any religion. I am just trying to educate myself, if you find anything wrong with my translations or my views or interpretations, please do tell. Thanks.)

Answer 3

Your dumb for even reading a book of lies it doesn't make sense at all if the Quran is the literal word of god, therefore it's absolutely perfect, there's not a single mistake and everything is 100% true. If quran commands something (beat your wife if she's disobedient), then it must be good, since god (with absolute morality) commanded so.
As a result, if you can prove that there's a mistake in the quran, then you will also prove that it's not from god (god wouldn't make a mistake), and in turn the whole islam was made up. However, it's pretty much impossible to disprove anything because naturally no muslim will accept the fact that their holiest book and most of their life was a lie.
They claim that there are "scientific facts" and stuff in there, but if you manage to prove that those "facts" are wrong, then they all suddenly become metaphors for something.
Example: quran says that mountains are set on earth like pegs ("They're set like pegs so that the Earth wouldn't shake with you"), they are supposed to prevent the Earth from shaking during earthquakes. Obviously every muslim ignores the fact that earth still shakes as flutter, saying "It would shake a lot more without mountains!" They ignore the part where mountains themselves are a result of Earthquakes. After a while (as predicted) the whole mountain verse turned into a metaphor, where mountains are imams (muslim priests, sort of) which are supposed to hold the society's beliefs from shaking, or something...

Answer 4

You read it right muslim men get to abuse muslim women

Answer 5

Well I can't make a defense statement here, but they way I interpreted the Surat you mention is it was written for the eyes of a human. It wasn't to show cast the science of the earth (which it does later, bare with me I'll explain.) In Surat An-Naba the one you are referring to, it doesn't simply give raw science but just simply states the marvels of what god (Allah) has given the world. The mountains as pegs are just a poetic term for plate tectonics. (Again, you need to ask a Muslim, it is just how I interpreted it.) If you attempted to read the Qur'an in classical Arabic I think you would find it extremely silly to see your claim. Perhaps you read with a narrow-mind then again you are an atheist, and there is a limit to how far you imagination goes. (At least from what I have seen, most atheist seem to refute a tactic that holds no bounds to any holy books/scripture as they do not believe anything can be holy.) It is quite a narrow-mind, illogical system. I can though, thank you for being extremely rational in an irrational world. I still fail to see how your answer, refers to my topic. Perhaps you miss read my question or are you trying to debate Islam with me, if so Islam is not my area of study nor do I know much about it, I simply want to educate myself about it. As for scientific proof in the Qur'an there is quite a lot, whether it can be claimed as a revelation from god himself or just a human is not for me to judge.

- I am a convinced theist, and strong believer in the after life. (Don't hate me for it, I cause no harm to others and welcome science.)

Answer 6

Hello @opcode :)
Every-time I see Muslim scholars or any Muslim individual holying the hadith, is surely wrong. The hadith wasn't written from the words of Allah SWT, the hadith was written by Bukhari and he isn't a prophet. He's just a dude who gathered valuable information about Mohammed and islam. The hadith took place 200 years after the time of Muhammad PBUH, from people who told stories from him. Yet, some Muslim scholars or individuals assume that the hadith is another book (evidence of islam) and a reminder for us to learn more about Prophet Mohammed's life and actions that wasn't additionally presented in the Quran. The Quran focused not more on Mohammed's biography but to other prophets too. The Holy Quran, on the other hand, is way much sacred than the Hadith and it's the central religious text for Islam. I'm sure you you know all this but just to be clear, the hadith and the Quran way of translating the relationship of a man and a women in dispute is slightly different. Different, by how they translate words or use traditions in the hadith that Muslims must practice them but never really shown in the Quran.

Many translators translate this text "Al-rijal qawwamun 'ala al-nisa" as men are in charge of women. Muhammed Asad and some other scholars that i mostly agree on translate the word "qawwamun" as "shall take full care of." Full text means, "men are the providors for women" Not in Charge!!! They did have text evidence to back their translation. If you looked at the verb “qawwamun” throughout the whole Quran, you’ll see that “charges” is never translated to it.

[004:034] Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because God has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.

other ayat that use the same word "Qawwamun" presented in 5:8; 4:127; 2:229; 55:9, 4:135 gets be translated as observant, provider or maintain. That's the actual meaning. Therefore, how come in the surat al-nisa 4:034, the verb "Qawwamun" gets be translated as in charge of rather than maintainers????? One simple translation mistake, can cause a distortion among Muslims.

@opcode , the verb that you're a little confused about is the verb "idribuhunna" which is by the majority it's translated as "hit" or "beat (lightly)" which in my opinion, is the most faultiness translation in the quran.

And again, just like how the verb "qawammun" was translated into many aspect of definition and in one particular ayah it gets to be translated differently. But with the verb "idribuhunna", which is derived from the word "Daraba" has multiple meanings in many surat and ayat but "daraba" doesn't necessarily mean "hit"

This site/forum shows examples and reasons on how this verb is misleading the whole meaning and views on women in Islam, i recommend reading the whole thing because every bit of this information is important to your question. Scroll down to see the comments and the responses for more explanation regarding this specific topic.

http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?277019-4-34-Mistranslation

Good Day Brother,
Zale~

Answer 7

I read through the link you provided, though I am still a bit confused, according to the post on the link, it says that, "daraba" has multiple translations of which some are, "beat", "go abroad", or "give."

From what I have learned, "daraba" is mostly used in the context of hitting someone (at least from all the Arabic drama shows I have seen), though I am still very much confused upon the major 14 translations of the Qur'an they all agree the the word used is, "beat them."

Source:
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Beat_your_Wives_or_%22Separate_from_Them%22%3F_%28Qur%27an_4:34%29#Agreed-Upon_Translations

Though many of the translations add, "lightly" and "only if useful" as well as there are some hadiths that forbid violence towards women correct? So how should one interpret the surah? As the surah contradicts with a hadith :-/.

Answer 8

True, the hadith does contradict with the Quran but in regard on what doctrine to practice, the Quran is the one. Hadith is useful when learning more about Mohammed pbuh, his history, how he coped with society, what decisions he made. After all, following the Sunnah is by following Mohammed pbuh. In the Ayah “Beat” doesn’t mean to physically beat them until they are harmed, bruised, or bleeding. When following the Sunnah (following Mohammed), Mohammed pbuh never beaten his wife, children, or any people at all.

When the Quran stated “idrabhuna”, it was the last resort if a wife committed any haram manners (which are a one necessary dispute). Prophet mohammed used the siwak (toothbrush) and tapped it lightly without leaving any mark, he also emphasized that face must be avoided. He never hit any female and praised the men whom never hit their wives. As he said “The best among you is the one who is the best towards his wife.” In one Hadith he expressed his extreme abhorrence from the behavior of abusing wife and said, "How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then embrace (sleep with) her?”
(Al-Bukhari, English Translation, vol. 8, Hadith 68, pp. 42-43)

After the compromise failed with the wife, then avoid sleeping with them. If his wife’s misconduct still goes on, then the husband should be wise enough to use the correct disciplinary actions in order to save the marriage and to resort to a very serious situation to show his wife that their marriage is meaningful and serious.

Answer 9

You are extremely wise, Zale thank you. :-)