TEDxRainier
Lesley Hazleton: On reading the Koran
Lesley Hazleton: Lesley Hazleton: Akhrinteedi Quraanka
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Lesley Hazleton maalin bay u fadhiisatay siday Quraanka u akhrin lahayd. Wixii ay heshay—qof Muslima iyadoon ahayn,ahna dalxiise kitaabka barakaysan ee Islaamka—wuxu ahaa waxaanay filanayn.Muxaadaradan ka imanaysa TEDxRainier, Hazleton kaftankeeda iyo dhuuxisteeda cilmi ee la yaabka leh, waxay inagula wadaagaysaa furfurnaantii iyo cajaaibtii ay la kulantay.
Lesley Hazleton - Writer, psychologist
Writer, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect. Full bio
Writer, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
You may have heard
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Laga yaabee inaad maqasheen
00:17
about the Koran's idea of paradise
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aragtida Quraanka ee Janada
00:19
being 72 virgins,
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inay ku jiraan 72 xuuraylcayn ahi,
00:21
and I promise I will come back to those virgins.
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Waana idiin balanqaadayaa inaan xuuralcaynta kusoo noqon doono.
00:24
But in fact, here in the northwest,
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Laakiin, xaqiiqdii halkan waqooyigalbeed
00:26
we're living very close
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Waxanu ku noolahay wax u dhow
00:28
to the real Koranic idea of paradise,
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aragtida Quraanka ee Janada,
00:30
defined 36 times
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lagu sheegay 36 jeer
00:32
as "gardens watered by running streams."
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inay yihiin 'beero ay qulqulayaan durduro.''
00:37
Since I live on a houseboat on the running stream of Lake Union,
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Maadaamoo aan ku noolahay guri dooni ah oo ku yaal durdurka Harada Union,
00:40
this makes perfect sense to me.
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Tani dareen qiima leh bay ii samaysay.
00:43
But the thing is, how come it's news to most people?
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Laakiin arintu waa, siday u arkaan dadku arintan warkeeda?
00:47
I know many well-intentioned non-Muslims
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Waxan og ahay gaalo niyad wanaagsan
00:50
who've begun reading the Koran, but given up,
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kuwaasoo bilaabay akhrinta Quraanka, balse iska daayay,
00:52
disconcerted by its "otherness."
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markii ay ku wareereen qariibnimadiisa.
00:55
The historian Thomas Carlyle
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Taariikhyahankii Thomas Caryle
00:57
considered Muhammad one of the world's greatest heroes,
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wuxu u gartay Muxamed mid kamid ah geesiyaashii ugu waynaa aduunka,
01:00
yet even he called the Koran
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laakiin Quraanka wuxu ugu yeedhay
01:02
"as toilsome reading as I ever undertook,
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'' akhriskii ugu kakanaa ee aan dhexgalo
01:05
a wearisome, confused jumble."
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kii ugu daalka iyo wareerka badnaa.''
01:08
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
01:10
Part of the problem, I think,
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Qayb kamida dhibaatadu, waxan filayaa,
01:12
is that we imagine that the Koran can be read
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inay tahay inaan u haysano in Quraanka loo akhriyi karo
01:15
as we usually read a book --
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sida aynu caadiyan u akhrino buug-
01:17
as though we can curl up with it on a rainy afternoon
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oo aynu intaynu gees ula baxno galab roobaad
01:20
with a bowl of popcorn within reach,
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inagoo salool dubana ina horyaalo,
01:22
as though God --
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sidii oo Ilaahay--
01:24
and the Koran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad --
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Quraankuna gebi ahaanba waa hadalkii Ilaahay kula hadlayey Muxamad--
01:27
were just another author on the bestseller list.
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uu yahay mid kamida qoraayada liiska ugu wacan ku jira
01:32
Yet the fact that so few people
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Welise xaqiiqadu waxay tahay in dad yari
01:34
do actually read the Koran
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ay dhabtii akhriyaan Quraanka
01:36
is precisely why it's so easy to quote --
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way cadahahay sababta ay aadka ugu fududahay in la soo xigto--
01:39
that is, to misquote.
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taas waxay tahay, in si khalkdan loo xigto.
01:42
Phrases and snippets taken out of context
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Jumlado iyo weedho dulucdoodii laga saaray
01:45
in what I call the "highlighter version,"
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oo ah waxan ugu yeedho ''qeybta naqshada la mariyay'
01:47
which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists
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Kaasoo ah kay jecelyihiin Muslimiinta xagjirka ah
01:50
and anti-Muslim Islamophobes.
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iyo kuwa islaamka neceb labbaduba.
01:53
So this past spring,
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Hadaba gu'gii ina dhaafay,
01:55
as I was gearing up
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anigoo u tafaxaydanaya
01:57
to begin writing a biography of Muhammad,
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inaan bilaabo qoraal aan ka qoro taariikhdii Muxamed
02:00
I realized I needed to read the Koran properly --
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Waxan garawsaday inaan u baahan ahay inaan Quraanka akhriyo si tafatiran--
02:03
as properly as I could, that is.
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sida ugu haboon ee aan awooda, waa taas.
02:06
My Arabic's reduced by now
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Afkayga carbeed wuxu ku xidhnaa
02:08
to wielding a dictionary,
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Qaamuus aan isticmaalo uun,
02:10
so I took four well-known translations
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markaa waxan soo qaatay afar tafsiir oo caan ah
02:12
and decided to read them side-by-side,
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waxan go'aansaday inaan isla akhriyo dacal ilaa dacal,
02:14
verse-by-verse
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ayaad-aayad
02:16
along with a transliteration
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iyadoo alfabeet cod ahna lagu daray
02:19
and the original seventh-century Arabic.
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iyo carabidii asalka ahayd ee qarnigii 7aad.
02:23
Now I did have an advantage.
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Halkaa faa'iidaan hore uga haystay.
02:27
My last book
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Buugaygii u danbeeyay
02:29
was about the story behind the Shi'a-Sunni split,
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wuxu ku saabsanaa taariikhda ka danbaysa kala jabka Suniga iyo Shiicada
02:32
and for that I'd worked closely with the earliest Islamic histories,
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Markaas waxan si dhow ugu kuur galay taariikhdii hore ee Islaamka,
02:35
so I knew the events
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Markaas waxaan ogaa dhacdooyinka
02:37
to which the Koran constantly refers,
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uu Quraanku sida joogtada u tilmaamayo,
02:39
its frame of reference.
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Qaabkiisa ujeedka.
02:41
I knew enough, that is, to know
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Waxan si buuxda u ogaa
02:43
that I'd be a tourist in the Koran --
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inaan ahaa dalxiise Quraanka dhex yimi--
02:46
an informed one,
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mid war haya
02:48
an experienced one even,
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weliba mid khibrad u leh ah,
02:50
but still an outsider,
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laakiin weli ah soo-galooti,
02:52
an agnostic Jew
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Alla-kood Yahuudi ah.
02:54
reading some else's holy book.
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oo akhriyaya kitaabka dhowrsan ee cid kale.
02:56
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
02:58
So I read slowly.
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Marka si degan baan u akhriyay.
03:00
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
03:04
I'd set aside three weeks for this project,
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Sadex todobaad baan u qorsheeyay mashruucas
03:07
and that, I think, is what is meant by "hubris" --
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waxana filaya taasi waa waxa 'isla baxsanaanta' micneheedu yahay--
03:09
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
03:13
-- because it turned out to be three months.
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waayo waxay igu qaadatay sadex bilood.
03:18
I did resist the temptation to skip to the back
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Waxan isku celinayay dareenka ah inaan u boodo
03:20
where the shorter and more clearly mystical chapters are.
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meelaha danbe ee jusaska xaqiiqada dahsoon ku yaaliin.
03:23
But every time I thought I was beginning
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Laakiin markastoo aan is iraahdo
03:25
to get a handle on the Koran --
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hadaad Quraanka majaraha u qabatay--
03:27
that feeling of "I get it now" --
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dareenkaas ah 'hadaan helay''--
03:29
it would slip away overnight,
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waxay igaga sii badataa isla habeenkaas,
03:31
and I'd come back in the morning
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Aroortiina waxan kusoo noqdaa
03:33
wondering if I wasn't lost in a strange land,
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anoo dhex wareegalaysanaya dhul aan ku dhex lumay,
03:36
and yet the terrain was very familiar.
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laakiin weli dhulku wuxu iila eekaa midaan si fiican u garanayo.
03:40
The Koran declares that it comes
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Quraanku wuxu sheegayaa inuu u yimid
03:42
to renew the message of the Torah and the Gospels.
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inuu dib u cusboonaysiiyo fariintii Tawraad iyo Injiil.
03:44
So one-third of it
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Sidaa awaadood 3 meelood meel
03:46
reprises the stories of Biblical figures
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waxay ddib u sheegaysaa ashqaastii Injiil ku jirtay
03:48
like Abraham, Moses,
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sida Ibraahim, Muuse,
03:50
Joseph, Mary, Jesus.
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Yuusuf, Maryama, Ciise
03:53
God himself was utterly familiar
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Ilaahay oo qudhiisu aad loogu bartay
03:56
from his earlier manifestation as Yahweh --
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bayaankiisii hore ee Yahweh--
03:59
jealously insisting on no other gods.
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wuxu si adag u sheegayaa inaan Ilaahyo kale jirin.
04:03
The presence of camels, mountains,
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Joogitaanka geela, buuraha,
04:06
desert wells and springs
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lama-deeganaada iyo durdurada
04:08
took me back to the year I spent
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ayaa waxay dib iigu celiyeen sanadihii aan ku qaatay
04:10
wandering the Sinai Desert.
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dhex wareega Saxaraha Siinaay.
04:12
And then there was the language,
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Waxan jirtay luqada
04:14
the rhythmic cadence of it,
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luuqda ku jirtaa,
04:16
reminding me of evenings spent listening to Bedouin elders
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ay i xasuusinaysay habeeno aan ku qaatay dhegaysiga odayaal Badawiyiin ah
04:19
recite hours-long narrative poems
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oo tirinaya gabayo saacado qaadanaya
04:22
entirely from memory.
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gabigoodna korka ka shubaya.
04:25
And I began to grasp
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Waxan bilaabay inaan fahmo
04:27
why it's said
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sababta loo yiri:
04:30
that the Koran is really the Koran
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Quraanku wuxu Quraan ku yahay
04:33
only in Arabic.
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keliya Af-Carabi.
04:35
Take the Fatihah,
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Soo qaado suurada Faatixa
04:37
the seven-verse opening chapter
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Suurada 7da aayadood ee bilowga ahi
04:39
that is the Lord's Prayer and the Shema Yisrael of Islam combined.
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waa sidan: ''Ducada Eebe'' ee Kiristanka iyo ta Yuhuuda ee ''Shema Yisrael'' oo laysku daray.
04:44
It's just 29 words in Arabic,
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Waa 29 kalmood af carabi ahaan,
04:46
but anywhere from 65 to 72 in translation.
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laakiin waxay tagtaa 65 ilaa 72 marka la tafsiiro.
04:50
And yet the more you add,
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markastoo aad wax ku dartidna
04:52
the more seems to go missing.
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waa markastoo micnihii sii lumo.
04:55
The Arabic has an incantatory,
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Carabidu waxay leedahay meerin,
04:58
almost hypnotic, quality
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taaso soo jiidasho sixira leh, tayoo
05:00
that begs to be heard rather than read,
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u baahan in la dhagaysto iyadoon la akhrin,
05:03
felt more than analyzed.
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la dareemo iyadoon la faaqidin.
05:06
It wants to be chanted out loud,
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Waxay u baahantay in kor loogu heeso,
05:08
to sound its music in the ear and on the tongue.
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si looga dhawaajiyo muusigeeda dhagaha iyo carabka.
05:11
So the Koran in English
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Markaa Quraanka Ingiliishka ahi
05:13
is a kind of shadow of itself,
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wuxu u eeghay hadh wax daboolaya,
05:16
or as Arthur Arberry called his version,
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ama sida uu Arthur Arberry uu ugu yeedhay
05:19
"an interpretation."
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'' sharaxaad''
05:22
But all is not lost in translation.
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Laakiin dhamaanteed ku lunto fasiraada.
05:25
As the Koran promises, patience is rewarded,
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Sida Quraanka lagu balanqaaday, sabirka waa la abaal marinayaa,
05:28
and there are many surprises --
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waxana jiri doona wax yaabo lala kulmi doono oo cajiib ah--
05:30
a degree of environmental awareness, for instance,
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wacyigelin deegaanka ah ayaa ku jirta ah, tusaale ahaan,
05:33
and of humans as mere stewards of God's creation,
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Biniaadamku waa khaliifka abuurta Ilaahay ee dhulka,
05:36
unmatched in the Bible.
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Injiil laguma sheegin.
05:39
And where the Bible is addressed exclusively to men,
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Halka Injiil si gaara loogula hadlayo raga
05:42
using the second and third person masculine,
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iyadoo la isticmaalayo jinsiga rageed labbaad iyo sadexaad,
05:44
the Koran includes women --
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Quranku wuxu ku soo darayaa dumarka--
05:47
talking, for instance,
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wuxu ka hadlaya tuusaale ahaan;
05:49
of believing men and believing women,
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raga mu'miniita ah iyo dumarka mu'miinta ah,
05:51
honorable men and honorable women.
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raga sharafta badan iyo dumarka sharafta badan.
05:56
Or take the infamous verse
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Ama soo qaado aayada aan caanka ahayn
05:58
about killing the unbelievers.
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ee ka sheekaynaysa gaalada oo la dilo.
06:00
Yes, it does say that,
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Haa, saasay leedahay,
06:02
but in a very specific context:
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laakiin duluc gaar ah weeye.
06:05
the anticipated conquest
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Furashadii la filayay
06:07
of the sanctuary city of Mecca
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ee magaalada barakaysan ee Maka
06:09
where fighting was usually forbidden,
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taaaso dagaalku xaaraam ka yahay,
06:12
and the permission comes hedged about with qualifiers.
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Ogolaanshuna wuxu la imanayaa shuruudo
06:15
Not "You must kill unbelievers in Mecca,"
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Keliya ma aha ''Waa inaad dishaan gaalada Maka.''
06:18
but you can, you are allowed to,
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Waad awoodaan, waa laydiin ogolyahay,
06:21
but only after a grace period is over
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laakiin keliya waa marka waqtiga xurmada lihi dhamaado
06:25
and only if there's no other pact in place
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waana keliya marka aan heshiis hore u jirin
06:28
and only if they try to stop you getting to the Kaaba,
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waana keliya marka ay idinka joojiyaan galida Kacbada,
06:31
and only if they attack you first.
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waana keliya haday marka hore idin soo weeraraan.
06:34
And even then -- God is merciful;
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Intaasoo dhan kadibna-- Ilaahay waa naxariiste;
06:37
forgiveness is supreme --
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Cafiska ugu sareeya--
06:40
and so, essentially,
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Asal ahaantiina
06:42
better if you don't.
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waxa kasii wanaagsan inaanaydin samayn.
06:44
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
06:47
This was perhaps the biggest surprise --
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Tanina macquul inay tahay cajiibnimadii ugu waynayd--
06:50
how flexible the Koran is,
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ee ina tusta sida Quraanku u furfuranyahay,
06:52
at least in minds that are not
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ugu yaraan maskaxaha aan
06:54
fundamentally inflexible.
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asalkoodu ahayn kuwa xidhxidhan.
06:57
"Some of these verses are definite in meaning," it says,
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''Aayadaha qaarkood macnohoodu waa biya-kama-dhibcaan''
07:00
"and others are ambiguous."
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''qaarkoodna waxay leeyihiin micne mutaashih ah''
07:03
The perverse at heart
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Qalbiyada aan wanaaagsanayni
07:05
will seek out the ambiguities,
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kuwa macnohoodu mutashaabiha yahay ayay wax ka baadhaan,
07:07
trying to create discord
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iyagoo is-diido abuuraya
07:09
by pinning down meanings of their own.
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markay ku ladhaan macne ay u samaysteen iyagu.
07:12
Only God knows the true meaning.
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Ilaahay keliyaa og micnaha dhabta ah.
07:16
The phrase "God is subtle"
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Jumalada ''Ilaahay waa ladiif''
07:18
appears again and again,
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ayaa soo noqnoqota in badan,
07:20
and indeed, the whole of the Koran is far more subtle
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taasina xaqiiqdii waxay ina tusay in Quraanku la ladiifsanyay
07:22
than most of us have been led to believe.
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sida in badan oo inaga midi u rumaysay.
07:24
As in, for instance,
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Tusaale ahaa,
07:26
that little matter
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arintii ku saabsanayd
07:28
of virgins and paradise.
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bikranimada iyo jannada,
07:31
Old-fashioned Orientalism comes into play here.
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Oryantaaliiskii qadiimka ahaa ayaa arinka soo galaya markan.
07:35
The word used four times
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Kelmeda afarta jeer lagu sheegay Quraanka
07:37
is Houris,
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waa Xuur.
07:39
rendered as
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kelmeda waxa loo tarjuntay
07:41
dark-eyed maidens with swelling breasts,
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jaariyado indha madmadow oo naasa buurbuuran,
07:44
or as fair, high-bosomed virgins.
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ama curubooyin bikra ah.
07:48
Yet all there is in the original Arabic
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Laakiin waxa carabida asalka ah ku jira
07:50
is that one word: Houris.
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waxa weeye mid kaliya oo ah ''Xuur''.
07:54
Not a swelling breast nor a high bosom in sight.
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Ma aha mid naasa buurbuuran mana aha mid curubo ah.
07:57
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
07:59
Now this may be a way of saying
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Tan waxa la dhihi karaa
08:01
"pure beings" -- like in angels --
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''Abuur saafi ah' sida malaaigta oo kale,
08:03
or it may be like the Greek Kouros or Kórē,
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ama sida Giriiga Kuuros ama Kooree,
08:06
an eternal youth.
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oo ah dhalinyarimo abadi ah.
08:08
But the truth is nobody really knows,
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Laakiin runtu waxay tahay qofna ma oga,
08:11
and that's the point.
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taasina waa ujeedada.
08:13
Because the Koran is quite clear
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Sababtoo Quraanku waa cadeeyay
08:15
when it says that you'll be
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markuu leeyahay waxaad noqon doontaan
08:17
"a new creation in paradise"
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''abuur cusub janada dhexdeeda''
08:20
and that you will be "recreated
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taasina waxa weeye' waxa laguu abuuri donaa
08:22
in a form unknown to you,"
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qaab aanad garanayn adigu''
08:25
which seems to me a far more appealing prospect
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Kaasoo kaba sii qurux badnaa kara
08:28
than a virgin.
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xuuralcaynta aynu aamisannahay.
08:30
(Laughter)
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(Qosol)
08:38
And that number 72 never appears.
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Tiradaa 72 marna lama sheegin .
08:41
There are no 72 virgins
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Laguma sheegin 72 bikro ah/xuuralcayn ah
08:43
in the Koran.
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Quraanka.
08:45
That idea only came into being 300 years later,
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Aragtidaasi waxay aburantay 300 oo sano kadib
08:48
and most Islamic scholars see it as the equivalent
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Culumada Islaamka waxay ku masaaleeen
08:51
of people with wings sitting on clouds
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sidii dad baalal leh oo daruuraha ku fadhiya
08:53
and strumming harps.
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walax dhawaaq macaanna tumanaya.
08:56
Paradise is quite the opposite.
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Janadu waa kasoo horjeedka taas.
08:59
It's not virginity;
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bikronnimo maaha;
09:01
it's fecundity.
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waa irmaan.
09:03
It's plenty.
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waa badhaadhe.
09:05
It's gardens watered
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Waa beero lagu waraabiyay
09:07
by running streams.
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durduro qulqulaya.
09:10
Thank you.
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Mahadsanidiin.
09:12
(Applause)
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(Sacab)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lesley Hazleton - Writer, psychologistWriter, psychologist and former Middle East reporter Lesley Hazleton explores the vast and often terrifying arena in which politics and religion intersect.
Why you should listen
Lesley Hazleton has traced the roots of conflict in several books, including compelling 'flesh-and-blood' biographies of Muhammad and Mary, and casts "an agnostic eye on politics, religion, and existence" on her blog, AccidentalTheologist.com.
Her newest book, Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, celebrates the agnostic stance as "rising above the flat two-dimensional line of belief/unbelief, creating new possibilities for how we think about being in the world." In it, she explores what we mean by the search for meaning, invokes the humbling perspective of infinity and reconsiders what we talk about when we talk about soul.
Hazleton's approach has been praised as "vital and mischievous" by the New York Times, and as "a positive orientation to life, one that embraces both science and mystery ... while remaining intimately grounded and engaged."
Lesley Hazleton | Speaker | TED.com