Issues in the Translation of Quran

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ISSUES IN TRANSLATION OF THE QURĀN By Thameem Ushama* Abstract This article analyses the meaning of the terms tarjamah, altarjamah al-harfiyyah and al-tarjamah al-ma’nawiyyah which are widely used in Arabic works while discussing the issue of translation of the Quran. It discusses the issue of salah in translation, as there is a common belief that it is valid with translation of the Quran, elaborates the views of the Muslim jurists in this regard, examines the importance of Arabic language in addition to its benefits and pre-requisites for translation, especially of the Quran. It highlights the uniqueness and genius of the Arabic language, exposes some of the obstacles and impediments confronting a translator, includes some of the views of the selected translators and a brief assessment of some of the translations of the Quran into English. Introduction Undoubtedly, Muslims believe that the Quran is the Word of God revealed to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through the medium of human language. It was Arabic, the language of the Arabian Peninsula: the language of the people. The revelation of the Quran in Arabic was regarded as a social necessity for the understanding of the message and felicity of the mission of Islam due to the fact that the immediate audience who received it was the Arabs who were the means of communication to the rest of humanity at large. Since then, Arabic has become an integral component of the essence of God’s message. The Divine Text asserts that the mission of the Prophet was for the whole of humanity unlike other prophets whose teachings were essentially directed to their respective communities as the Quran clarifies in verses (Quran, al-A’raf: 158) and (Quran, Saba’: 28).1 As the nucleus of the Islamic community was developed in the Arabian Peninsula, Arabic was animated with the life of the ummah. In

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