Publisher releases Koran in German as audio book
A German publishing house is releasing a full-length German translation of the Koran in audio book form on Thursday, coinciding with the opening of the Leipzig book fair.
Scientists and scholars at the Oriental Institute in the city’s university worked to translate the Koran and transform it into an audio book.
They said it was not just aimed at Muslims or those who already know the Islamic holy book but at all people who might be interested in the subject.
Buchfunk publishing house issued a complete audio edition of the Bible in 2006, which sold very well and led to the idea of doing the same with the Koran, David Fischbach, co-owner of the company said.
He admitted that the idea was a controversial one. “Muslims say that the Koran is God’s word and should not be translated at all,” he said.
Therefore they had chosen the 1901 German translation by Max Henning, which had some old-fashioned language.
Translator Stefanie Brinkmann, one of the scholars involved, said the Koran was originally written in seventh century Arabic, which now seems old-fashioned.
She and co-translator Walid Abd El Gawad updated the language a little, using for example woman rather than wench.
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Scientists and scholars at the Oriental Institute in the city’s university worked to translate the Koran and transform it into an audio book.
They said it was not just aimed at Muslims or those who already know the Islamic holy book but at all people who might be interested in the subject.
Buchfunk publishing house issued a complete audio edition of the Bible in 2006, which sold very well and led to the idea of doing the same with the Koran, David Fischbach, co-owner of the company said.
He admitted that the idea was a controversial one. “Muslims say that the Koran is God’s word and should not be translated at all,” he said.
Therefore they had chosen the 1901 German translation by Max Henning, which had some old-fashioned language.
Translator Stefanie Brinkmann, one of the scholars involved, said the Koran was originally written in seventh century Arabic, which now seems old-fashioned.
She and co-translator Walid Abd El Gawad updated the language a little, using for example woman rather than wench.
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