Anyone Here Speak Islamic?
I honestly didn’t realize how much I missed Rick Santorum.
“A democracy could not exist because Mohammed already made the perfect law,” Santorum said. “The Quran is perfect just the way it is, that’s why it is only written in Islamic.”
Can’t. Make. This. Stuff. Up.
Tags: Republican Crazy
If English was good enough for Our Lord Jesus Christ it’s good enough for me.
I’m glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read this post or anon’s comment. My keyboard thanks me.
Which wingnut was it who used the Shakespeare quote and attributed it to Jesus?
There are legitimate criticisms of Santorum but this is not one of them. The dude gives tens of thousands of words worth of speeches every month and he slips on one word, let it go. Remember when Barry said he had been to all 57 states? Did anyone really think the President though America consisted of 57 states?
Tom,
Stop defending a guy like Santorum. He’s a moron who thinks women belong barefoot and in the kitchen all day. When I read this, my palm hit my head and there’s still a mark.
Santorum is correct in that the Holy Koran cannot be translated into another language because it is perfect in the original language and anything else corrupts it. Any translation is regarded as a commentary. That doesn’t make it sinister but that is a fact.
Democracy is not well regarded by the Islamic hardliners because it often gets in the way of the Law revealed by Allah.
It appears that you should be learning from the former Senator before you criticize him. You may then understand what we are up against.
If you take him in context, you know that he is not blasting Islam, but has a beef –halo of course– with a particular strain of it.
Mike, I don’t know where you get that interpretation of Rick Santorum, but you need to get over it. It is so far removed from reality that it is puzzling.
The same is true of translation from any language.
OK, stop. I, like Mike M, slapped my head and left an interesting impression there.
That said…
…I think some of you are missing the sarcastic point here. Who in the world speaks the language of Islamic? If you can answer that, let me know who else speaks Christian, Catholic, Atheist, etc.
The only people who think that the Quran can’t be translated are scholars and hardliners — the Quran has been translated into about every language where Muslims live because plenty of Muslims never learn Arabic.
Too bad that Santorum didn’t contrast the view of the Quran by Muslim hardliners with the view of the Bible by own own Christianist and Dominionist hardliners. Both insist on textural purity while selectively abiding by those texts.
Democracy is not well regarded by Muslim hardliners because they are hardliners — not because they are Muslim. The Castro Brothers, the Chinese, Hugo Chavez — and many others — don’t have the excuse of the Quran to explain away their opposition to democracy. But the explanation shared by the Saudi royal family as well as the Castro Brothers is found in these hardliners protecting their power and advantages.
Rick Santorum as an expert of anything other than his own Christianist background is a plain joke. And continuing to find something about Islam (and not in the way it has been hijacked) that is dangerous to us (when the people who have this crap imposed on them are always the first casualties of these illegitimate claims to power) just continues an already discredited bit of propaganda. But does a service for the folks whose only organizing principle is fear, though.
Muslim and Jewish hardliners at least read their scripture in its original language. Christianists however select their translations carefully to match their political views and will even create new translations as needed.
David-
I would guess that Mike is referring to the “good” Senators book that was released in 2005- Can’t deny these are the Senator’s own words! :
“The notion that college education is a cost-effective way to help poor, low-skill unmarried mothers with high school diplomas or GED’s move up the economic ladder is just wrong.” (pp. 138)
or this little gem:
“Many women have told me, and surveys have shown, that they find it easier, more “professionally” gratifying, and certainly more socially affirming, to work outside the home than to give up their careers to take care of their children. Think about that for a moment… Here, we can thank the influence of radical feminism, one of the core philosophies of the village elders.” (page 95)
Rick Santorum lost because he was out of touch with over 50%* of his constituents…I believe in respecting Mom’s who stay at home, but mom’s who work are no worse than mom’s who don’t.
(*according to the US census in 2000 51.7% of PA were women)
There are millions of people in Iran who no doubt read the Quran in Farsi. Not all Muslims speak Arabic, as Cassandra notes. I believe the country with the biggest muslim population is Indonesia – I’m not sure what language they speak.
Also, anyone who considers Rick Santorum an expert on Islam or the Quran is a fool.
It is not possible to read the Koran in anyother language. You are not reading the Holy Koran by Islamic tradition. You are reading a transliteration which is not divinely inspired according to every Moslem that I ever spoke with and every thing that I ever read. This is not controversial except here. As I said, that is not evil or sinister. That is just what they believe.
Hundreds of millions of Muslims study Arabic so that they can learn the Koran. Yes, there are hundreds of millions who read translations, but that is not endorsed by leadership as equivalent.
OMG. Is it written in ISLAMIC?!?!
C’mon! Get the gist of Pandora’s post!
It spawned a life of its own! 😯
Everyone is soooo serious! I think too many here are in line to have a stroke!
Feel better now, Smitty? 😉
Sure it’s possible to read the Quran in another language. Muslims all over the world do it all of the time. Many American converts never learn Arabic and no one doubts that they are Muslim. Wahabbi supporters of American Muslim centers and Mosques pretty routinely provide Qurans in English or English with Arabic alongside. Their leadership finds that OK. There are plenty of Muslims in a variety of African nations — most of them have Qurans in their own language too.
The only people who insist on the Arabic are Muslim hardliners and some of scholars. A minority. As an incentive to get people to learn the Arabic, there are leaders who will tell converts that learning the suras in Arabic is a special blessing or some such — but among the more moderate communities, learning the Quran in your own language is AOK.
I don’t know, P. I think I’ll go to a Christian store and read all of the material written in the Christian language. 😉
FWIW, I am enjoying this, as you already know!
:slaps head in bewildered amusement:
RSmitty, I’ve never found myself agreeing with you before. I guess there *is* a first time for everything!
PS – I totally speak Jewish.
RSmitty, I’ve never found myself agreeing with you before.
Then you have never really known me, have you? 😥
(this is dramatic effect only 😉 )
To be fair (to both of us) I’m new here and I don’t read everything. But you’re alright in Pandora’s book, it seems, so I’ll give you a general pass. We can still be friends, as long as you apologize for that “European Kickball” comment. My fellow Spurs fans were foaming at the mouth over that.
Mrs. X, if anyone call pull me over to the dark side, it would be Smitty! 😉
And guys, skip the religious book stores. My bet is it’s the atheist bookstores that have all the good stuff!
Just remember that it *is* the Dark Side. I thought I was the Padawan here! (winks at Delaware Dem)
Oh no…European Kickball retraction? Why do you go for the jugular?
A short list in both cases, no doubt.
Think of it as bipartisan goodwill, RSmitty. 😉
I thought it was written in hebrew
you cant just say “a bunch of people told me and i read it” and call it true…
what is really jumping out at ME here is not his mistatement that “islamic” is a language, but that Santorum is saying Democracy cant work in the Muslim world .. which contradicts the reason he and the Repukes got us involved there in the first place.
…Santorum is saying Democracy cant work in the Muslim world .. which contradicts the reason he and the Repukes got us involved there in the first place.
Oh my, excellent point a. price!
You liberals are all missing the point. There’s only one kind of Islam — the dangerous kind. Just ask Rick.
thank you pandora
Oh my, excellent point a. price!
Which is EXACTLY what you meant for us to think, right, P? 😉
Um… yeah, yeah… that’s the ticket!
Santorum is just all-around silly, IMO. a. price wins the thread!
Santorum should have made a trip to a library. Koran for Dummies is written in English.
Democracy is not working well in the Christian world either….ask Bush, Cheney, Castle et al repukes.
the koran for dummies is not the divine word of G-D it is a blasphemous book written by american infidels.