JSON_decode() return NULL - php

Question

I am trying to convert JSON plain text to php array but it always returns NULL. Actually, I am building a website which fetches the quran from other website through API. And the text type is ARABIC (utf_8).
Here's my JSON:
{"code":200,"status":"OK","data":[{"identifier":"ur.ahmedali","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0639\u0644\u06cc","englishName":"Ahmed Ali","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.jalandhry","language":"ur","name":"\u062c\u0627\u0644\u0646\u062f\u06c1\u0631\u06cc","englishName":"Fateh Muhammad Jalandhry","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.jawadi","language":"ur","name":"\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0645\u06c1 \u062c\u0648\u0627\u062f\u06cc","englishName":"Syed Zeeshan Haider Jawadi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.kanzuliman","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0631\u0636\u0627 \u062e\u0627\u0646","englishName":"Ahmed Raza Khan","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.qadri","language":"ur","name":"\u0637\u0627\u06c1\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0642\u0627\u062f\u0631\u06cc","englishName":"Tahir ul Qadri","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.junagarhi","language":"ur","name":"\u0645\u062d\u0645\u062f \u062c\u0648\u0646\u0627\u06af\u0691\u06be\u06cc","englishName":"Muhammad Junagarhi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.maududi","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u0628\u0648\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0639\u0644\u06cc \u0645\u0648\u062f\u0648\u062f\u06cc","englishName":"Abul A'ala Maududi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.khan","language":"ur","name":"Shamshad Ali Khan","englishName":"Shamshad Ali Khan","format":"audio","type":"versebyverse"}]}
I think the problem is because of Arabic characters.
I have tried doing:
utf_unicode(json_decode($str, true));
stripcslashes(json_decode($str, true));
But it never worked
I have everything from other questions similar to mine.
Thanks

Answer 1

You are passing in the wrong parameters to utf_unicode() and stripcslashes(), both of these take a string not an array, json_decode() (in your case) is intended to return an array.
In order to use this JSON string in PHP directly, use PHP's NOWDOC or HEREDOC syntax like below:
Please try:
$str = <<< JSON
{"code":200,"status":"OK","data":[{"identifier":"ur.ahmedali","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0639\u0644\u06cc","englishName":"Ahmed Ali","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.jalandhry","language":"ur","name":"\u062c\u0627\u0644\u0646\u062f\u06c1\u0631\u06cc","englishName":"Fateh Muhammad Jalandhry","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.jawadi","language":"ur","name":"\u0639\u0644\u0627\u0645\u06c1 \u062c\u0648\u0627\u062f\u06cc","englishName":"Syed Zeeshan Haider Jawadi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.kanzuliman","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u062d\u0645\u062f \u0631\u0636\u0627 \u062e\u0627\u0646","englishName":"Ahmed Raza Khan","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.qadri","language":"ur","name":"\u0637\u0627\u06c1\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0642\u0627\u062f\u0631\u06cc","englishName":"Tahir ul Qadri","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.junagarhi","language":"ur","name":"\u0645\u062d\u0645\u062f \u062c\u0648\u0646\u0627\u06af\u0691\u06be\u06cc","englishName":"Muhammad Junagarhi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.maududi","language":"ur","name":"\u0627\u0628\u0648\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0639\u0644\u06cc \u0645\u0648\u062f\u0648\u062f\u06cc","englishName":"Abul A'ala Maududi","format":"text","type":"translation"},{"identifier":"ur.khan","language":"ur","name":"Shamshad Ali Khan","englishName":"Shamshad Ali Khan","format":"audio","type":"versebyverse"}]}
JSON;
$arr = json_decode($str, true);
print_r($arr);
Hope this helps,