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Islamic scholars propose Quran translation 'anybody could read'

The new version will be comprehensible for a wide readership and appropriately present the main features of Islam as a world religion

© ITAR-TASS/Valeriy Sharifulin

MOSCOW, December 09. /ITAR-TASS/. A group of Islamic scholars understanding the subtleties of both the Russian and Arab languages has set about a new semantic translation of the Quran into Russian, the Council of Muftis of Russia reports.

The new version will be comprehensible for a wide readership and appropriately present the main features of Islam as a world religion.

“This is our duty to modern society - to create such a semantic translation that anybody could read: people with higher education and without it, a Muslim and non-Muslim alike,” deputy chairman of the Council of Muftis Rushan Abbyasov told Itar-Tass.

Cleric Abbyasov was speaking ahead of the opening of an international forum discussing Islam in the development of civil society in Moscow on Monday.

Existing translations were personal versions, he noted, created not by a group of scientists that “could in disputable cases, try to find a common truth and bring the message of the sacred text to Russian society as correct as possible, taking into account the richness of the Russian language”.

The idea of a modern translation had long been discussed in the council, he said, adding that the sacred Quran was granted in Arab.

No translation of a divine revelation - which Muslims believe the Quran to be - could entirely reflect all meanings”, Abbyasov said. But a comprehensible translation “will contribute to the education of youth”, the cleric said.

Setting any precise term for such a large project was impossible but the work should not take more than five years, he added.

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