Dalam menghadapi al-Mushaf, orang Islam lebih bersikap
seperti kerbau dan bukan separti manusia yang punya
otak: memamah biak saja apa yang dikatakan orang
Arab...
Sementara itu orientalis melakukan penelitian secara
ilmiah.
Dan karena penemuan mereka ini banyak yang
bertentangan dengan omongan orang Arab yang tidak
disertai bukti, yang dimamah biak orang islam tipikal
itu, maka orang Islam itu rata-rata jadi sewot.
Missionaris, salibis, zionis....
Siapa diantara orang Islam yang telah membeli buku
Luxenberg misalnya?
Atau buku Lüling?
Atau buku Wansbrough?
---
Interview with Angelika Neuwirth
"The Koran A Book in Many Languages"
Angelika Neuwirth is one of Germany's most renowned
Koran experts. In this interview with Kurt Scharf, she
talks about the aesthetic dimension of the Koran, the
trouble with translating sacred texts, and the notion
of "inlibration"
| Bild: Angelika Neuwirth (photo: private opyright)
Angelika Neuwirth: "The purely norm-specific in the
Koran that is common in fundamentalist circles today
does not do justice to the Koran" | You chose the
title "The Koran A Book in Many Languages" for a
lecture you once held. Isn't that somewhat risky?
Wasn't the Koran according to the understanding of
most Muslims revealed by God himself in the Arabic
language, such that it cannot be adequately translated
or that translations serve merely as an aid for those
who don't understand Arabic at all or not well enough?
Angelika Neuwirth: The title was meant to be
provocative. The narrow perspective on the purely
discursive, the norm-specific in the Koran that is
common in fundamentalist circles today does not do
justice to the Koran. If we look at the history of the
Koran, it is clear that the aesthetic dimension of the
Koran has always been part of its reception and still
is; it is a multimedia text.
Certainly, as far as translation is concerned, the
dogma that posits the Koran as un-reproducible has
hindered all meaningful attempts to create an
authoritative translation into another Islamic
language, such that a common translation would result
something like the Luther translation of the Bible
into German, for example.
As far as European translations go, some did gain
recognition among Muslims, primarily the (partial)
early 19th century translation by the German poet and
translator Friedrich Rückert. This version was
successful because it was able to convey the Koran
poetically, while the translation by Rudi Paret and
Hans Zirker recommended in academic circles today
reduced the text to its discursive dimension which
only scares off the Western reader who has no interest
in religious debates from late antiquity.
Many Muslims say that the Koran is the center of Islam
much like Christ is the center of Christianity. Why is
it that you find it daring to talk about the
"inlibration" of God's word, the writing down of God's
word in a book (rather than the "incarnation" of God's
word in the body of Christ)?
Neuwirth: The notion of "inlibration" is, of course, a
Western idea that Muslims would find very strange.
Sure, the Koran is the center point of Islam after
the death of the Prophet. But not the Koran as a text
located between two book covers. The Koran is more
often received as a spoken text rather than a written
text, it is the qur'an in the sense of a recitation. I
would refer instead to a space for the resonance of
God's word.
Consider the Friday service: note the role of the
Eucharist in the Christian service, in the Koran it is
the prayer, which is primarily recitation, which has
been recognized as the most intimate communication
with God in Islam and even has been compared to the
Eucharist, which I would accept.
I think you are right to criticize the fact that
modern Western researchers do not consider the Koran
to be part of late antiquity. But shouldn't our
critique go further still? Wasn't the Koran one of the
most fundamental holy scriptures also for large parts
of Europe, one that greatly influenced our cultural
development? I am thinking of the medieval Christian
theologians' debates about Islam. Shouldn't the
European constitution, if it makes recourse to the
Judeo-Christian tradition, also either incorporate
expressis verbis the influence of Islam, or formulate
this issue neutrally, as is done in the preamble of
our basic law, or even refrain completely from any
reference to religion?
Neuwirth: My sentiments exactly. But I still think
that the task of reintegrating the Koran into the
theological literature of late antiquity should take
priority. This seems to be the sticking point. As long
as we continue to refer in an imprecise manner to "The
Book of Mohammad," that is, if we deny the Koran the
status of a holy scripture with all the attending
implications, this epigonal character will make it
impossible to understand Islam on equal terms.
I thus do not simply want to compare traditions, but
would also try to find the amalgam that made these
traditions into something new. The Koran certainly
presents a case of cultural translation, but it is
also a late result of the successful transmission of
transcendentalism. All the issues you mentioned are
very important.
You are currently working on large-scale projects
related to the Koran for the Academy of Sciences
Berlin-Brandenburg, the Institute for Advanced Study,
a special research project at the Free University of
Berlin, and Suhrkamp publishers. Can you tell us more
about these projects?
Neuwirth: There are four projects.
BBAW: The Corpus coranicum is a double project
consisting of 1) a documented edition of the Koran
that integrates many of the oldest manuscripts and
electronically evaluates them, and that also takes
into account the scholarly literature on the different
ways of reading the texts. The goal is to produce a
well-documented, but not necessarily a critical
edition; and 2) a historically-based, critical
commentary that includes the extra-Koranic references
for each sura, its place in daily life, and, of
course, the current state of research.
The Free University's special research area on "The
Aesthetic Experience of the Arabic Language": Here two
different projects are concerned with the Koran: 1) A
comparison between the Koran and the Psalms; 2) Koran
calligraphy in context: Arabic and Hebrew script in
historical and theological comparison.
The Institute for Advanced Study: "The Koran as a text
of late antiquity, historical lectures on the Koran"
(within the project "The Islamic Orient"). This is
about, on the one hand, a historical lesson on the
Koran based in extra-Koranic traditions, and on the
other hand it is about the historical controversies
stemming from the Koran. The project is being pursued
with the collaboration of three young Muslim scholars.
The International Summer Academy of Istanbul 2007:
Methodological approaches to the Bible and the Koran.
Young theologians from the Islamic world and from
Europe and the United States have been invited to
participate in this project.
Interview: Kurt Scharf
© Qantara.de 2007
Angelika Neuwirth is a Professor at the Seminar for
Semitic and Arabic Studies at the Free University of
Berlin. Her research focuses on the Koran and Koranic
exegesis, among other subjects.
Translated from the German by Christina M. White
Letter to the EditorAdd a comment
Qantara.de
---------------
Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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