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The difference here is in some schools of Islamic theology, the Koran in any other language than the original Arabic is no longer the Koran. Valuable, but not the Koran. that is why a number of Muslims around the world can recite the Koran in Arabic even though they don't speak Arabic. This then forces them to rely upon Imams to tell them the meaning. Which now that I type that sounds an awful lot like the days of the Bible only being available in Latin...
I'm sure that I already pissed off the Catholics enough on this thread, so I'm not going to chime in on your last sentence....
But I agree with a lot of what you've said. I think it is primarily a Sunni doctrine that holds that the Koran is only the Koran in Arabic, but I can't be sure. I'm just assuming it is them because Iran is largely Shi'a and they speak Farsi over there.
When you get down to it, that can be a great Cultural unifier:
- Koran must be in Arabic
- Koran is meant to be spoken/chanted/sung, etc.
Therefore, you end up with a lot of Arabic speakers (cultural unity contrasted with Christendom) and it stops the language from evolving too much, though I'm no linguist.
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But I agree with the basic premise, which is why I keep a Greek interlinear out when studying the new testament and don't just completely trust one translation.