Muslims often disarm those who criticize the Qur'an by asking if they have read the Qur'an in Arabic. Whenever we debate with Muslims about the deficiencies, contradictions, absurdities, or violent verses of the Qur'an, their favorite line of defense is "Can you read Arabic?" The inference is that all the difficulties of the Qur'an will somehow disappear if we read it in the Arabic language. The Muslim game is that the Qur'an can only be fully understood in Arabic. Therefore, one cannot criticize Islam without knowing Arabic.
Muslims claim that the language of the Qur'an is so unique that an accurate translation of it into another language is virtually impossible. This is a deception by Muslims. They try to silence any criticism that is raised against the Qur'an by resorting to this deception. Since most of us do not understand or speak the original language of the Qur'an, they quickly dismiss our arguments as baseless. We are told that since we do not know Arabic, we are not in a position to raise any objection against the Qur'an. "Can you read Arabic?" has often been the battle cry of Muslims when they engage in debates with Christians. Critics of the Qur'an are often reduced to an awkward silence with this Muslim tactic. This lie needs to be exposed.
Firstly, the Qur'an claims to be a universal message for all humanity at all times. If the message is universal, then it must be understood by all people. If the great majority of mankind cannot understand the message, then by definition it is not universal. To claim that we need to know Arabic to understand the Qur'an belies the claim that the Qur'an is a universal message for all humanity. Therefore, this shameful tactic of Muslims comes at a heavy price for them, since Islam cannot be protected in this way without sacrificing its claim to being a universal religion.
Secondly, how many Muslims can read the Qur'an in Arabic, let alone with understanding? The great majority of Muslims are not Arabs or Arabic-speaking people. In fact, the largest Muslim nation, Indonesia, and the second largest Muslim nation, Pakistan, are non-Arabic-speaking nations. To these, we can add Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, India (which has a sizeable Muslim population), and many others. In other words, the majority of Muslims have to rely on translations of the Qur'an in their native language to understand it. Most Muslims who raise the language objection are non-Arabs who do not understand Arabic. How then did they become Muslims without understanding Arabic?
Additionally, it must be made clear which Arabic is being discussed here. The Arabic of the Qur'an is classical Arabic. Classical Arabic of the Qur'an is different from the Arabic of today. In other words, the great majority of modern Arabs cannot effectively read the original Arabic Qur'an and understand its meaning. Thus, even Arab Muslims have to rely on translations to understand the Qur'an. It is estimated that fewer than a thousand scholars who read classical Arabic can compose a paragraph in classical Arabic script on a given subject.
