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NEWS: Manga Version of Koran to Be Published in Japan


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Sanyo



Joined: 11 Sep 2014
Posts: 124
PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 9:46 pm Reply with quote
Oh boy, I see Japanese buildings getting raided by Muslim Extremist now...
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:31 pm Reply with quote
A manga version of the Koran. Is it only me that has a bad feeling about this? If the people doing this aren't careful,it's going to be "Charlie Hebdo,"Molly Norris,and the Danish cartoon controversy all over again. As we've seen before,many Muslims aren't really big on artistic expression of any kind. And that includes the Prophet himself. I've heard stories about him killing artists who criticized him or did works that displeased him. What I also heard was that in the Koran itself,there are passages that say that the Prophet Mohammed wasn't a big fan of singers or artists in general. Basically,in one of those passages,he consigned them all to Hades.
I hope it goes well. Otherwise,a bunch of Muslim fanatics will send the people involved with this to their ancestors. And quite possibly put it on the internet for all the world to see.
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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 10:38 pm Reply with quote
Consider this a peremptory warning: All posts must be directly related to the article. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:21 am Reply with quote
Snomaster1 wrote:
As we've seen before,many Muslims aren't really big on artistic expression of any kind. And that includes the Prophet himself. I've heard stories about him killing artists who criticized him or did works that displeased him.


I was born as a moslem, though honestly there are still not enough knowledge I learned about my religion. However, this is what I can say so far.
There are many interpretations regarding moslems and artistic expression. Some completely despise it, some others tolerate it to a degree where it doesn't contain forbidden content. In addition, I also know many moslem artists who use arts to help introducing Islam to others, and in this respect, many believe it's in fact a good thing. Of course such arts also shouldn't have contents forbidden by Islam (such as containing a picture of the prophet, etc.)

And thus about this manga, I believe it's supposed to consult a moslem expert in the making.
I doubt that, though, since I don't think it's even good to title it the 'manga version' of Koran. If it collects the stories inside Koran and making it a 'based on' works, I think it would be acceptable, also without illustrating the prophet. In this regard, we usually picture our prophet as 'a light' with no visible physical picture.

Snomaster1 wrote:
What I also heard was that in the Koran itself,there are passages that say that the Prophet Mohammed wasn't a big fan of singers or artists in general. Basically,in one of those passages,he consigned them all to Hades.


I'm not sure about any verse explicitly mentioning this, I have to examine and refer to the Koran, but,
I know there is similar advice from our prophet, not in the Koran, but in the Hadith.
Hadith is a collection of our prophet's sayings and examples of living life.

Regarding this, there are many interpretations including those I mentioned previously.
There is an interpretation that said, our prophet banned music, because at that time, many places where there are music playing, are said to be the place for people making sins (I think, like getting drunk or forgetting about preserving a good attitude, forgetting daily prayers). There is also about not allowing picture of living things, in which it is actually because at that time those pictures are likely to being worshipped (while of course we are to worship our God, One and only).
So many moslem nowadays believe they're okay if the arts are for good reason.

The thing is, we are to examine deeper from the historical perspective and/or the reason behind any verse/hadith.

Afterall,
I think I have to re-state that all I wrote here is based on my limited knowledge on Islam.
There might need some correction by a more expert one.

I also want to say that not all moslems are violent. I admit we have many rules but regarding our relationship with other people of different religion, it is mentioned in the Koran that we must respect each other.
If there is the case like Charlie Hebdo, we are suggested to approach it by discussion first of all, gently. And we should not harm innocents or those who don't do harm to us first. In fact our prophet was known to gain followers because he respected and was being kind to people of different religion&/unbelievers who respect Islam.
I don't know myself what those terrorists are thinking.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 9:19 am Reply with quote
Artistically, there isn't a problem with creating a manga versions of popular Public-Domain works. Realistically, there are a lot of people who are just "a bit" touchy on the matter.

As the saying goes: "proceed with caution" Smile
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:07 am Reply with quote
I think that it could be a good thing to have a book that is easily accessible to the Japanese people that shows them the real beliefs of Islam.
Without books such as this the average person will not know much more than what they see in the news about extremists and terrorists.

How well it works will depend a lot on how the book is written, and drawn. That is something that we should find out before too long.
The book has already shipped, assuming it was on schedule. I can not find any scans of it yet but there will probably be some coming.
And there should be legitimate reviews and discussions of it, of course those will be in Japanese for now.

Instead of predicting how bad it will be and forecasting the doom and destruction of Japan we could just wait a few days and see what really happens.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:15 pm Reply with quote
I know my post got unexpected deleted by the site downtime. But I'll say this: Given the recent horrible events (ISIS killing 2 Japanese nationals, the shootings in Copenhagen, and now recently the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya). I'm not comfortable with releasing a manga version of the Koran, ISIS has already threaten Japan after killing the 2 Japanese hostage. Releasing that manga may not only anger Muslim worldwide, it would give more fuel to ISIS and Al-Queda to call for violent attack in Japan.
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:16 pm Reply with quote
Not exercising your right to free speech out of fear of terrorists means they've won, plain, pure and simple. This isn't even being deliberately offensive, like some are doing, it's just attempting to explain a foreign religion. If Daesh has a problem with it, their jihadis can damn well behead themselves and nail their corpses to crosses; they have no power but that we give them.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 4:27 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
Releasing that manga may not only anger Muslim worldwide, ...

Why would this anger anybody?

This is not a parody of the Koran, or a book about the Koran.
It is a translation of the Koran.

Over the past 1400 years the Koran has been translated into every major language in the world. There were already other Japanese translations prior to this.
There have also been many illustrated editions.

Why would Muslims get angry about this one.
Why would Muslims not want other people to understand their beliefs?
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
Releasing that manga may not only anger Muslim worldwide, ...

Why would this anger anybody?

This is not a parody of the Koran, or a book about the Koran.
It is a translation of the Koran.

Over the past 1400 years the Koran has been translated into every major language in the world. There were already other Japanese translations prior to this.
There have also been many illustrated editions.

Why would Muslims get angry about this one.
Why would Muslims not want other people to understand their beliefs?


It can get blown out of proportion from media around the world. I mean if a Middle East news media sensationalize it and exaggerate it (aka Yellow journalism), many people in the Middle East that aren't familiar in Japan may think the Japanese are attacking Islam if the media in Middle East blow this out of proportion. That can play right into ISIS and Al-Queda hand if the manga portray Islam not in a positive light (I'm not sure what the content would look like, but I hope it's not offensive). That's why I'm scared of a manga version of the Koran, it could offend Muslim worshipers rather then give Islam a positive light.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:37 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
It can get blown out of proportion ...

Like what is happening here?

Reputable news organizations do not act like the people in this forum, and if some sleazy tabloid wants to create a controversy they can do it without any real cause. They do not need a book like this to give them a justification.

I see no real reason why this book should not have been written.
The creators and publishers have done nothing wrong that I know of.
Saying that they might be the cause of terrorist attacks is not very reasonable.

As I said before I think that this book is a good thing.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6253
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:32 pm Reply with quote
Touma wrote:

As I said before I think that this book is a good thing.




EDIT: You know what, I'll explain it to you via PM.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 7:12 pm Reply with quote
The problem with this 'manga version' of Koran from my point of view as a moslem, is that it doesn't seem to consult/supervised by a moslem expert (which of course needs to be a devoted moslem one). Releasing it under the title and concept of 'manga version' of Koran is not a good decision first of all.

If it claims to be one of the 'translation' of Koran in the manga form, I don't think it could work. First, I believe many of the verses cannot exactly be translated into pictures, as many have interpretations that should be examined thorougly and to not be limited by the depiction of the pictures.

Second, does it have the authentic arabic verses of Koran side by side with the 'supposedly manga based on the stories'?
For a translation of Koran, there required to be the authentic arabic verses accompanying the translation.
It's been the rule agreed and accepted widely as far as I know of, in order to attain the authenticity of Koran.

I do want people to understand that Islam is a religion which teach its followers to respect others and to treat others kindly regardless of their believes.
But I think it would be more acceptable if it is as far as making a 'based on' adaptation of 'some' of the stories, rather than having a 'pictured version' seemingly without any supervision by a moslem itself.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:01 pm Reply with quote
This is almost like it's going to asking for controversy.
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megazero



Joined: 01 Jul 2004
Posts: 337
PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:09 am Reply with quote
The manga of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure had run into an issue related to this topic as well...
animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-05-22/jojo-anime-manga-sales-halted-due-to-islamic-images
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