“Translation of the Quran by the People of the Book (Ahl El-Ketab) of Christians & Jews: A Comparative Study”
A PhD Proposal Presented to
Dr. Patricia Bauer
Political Science Visiting Professor
Advanced Research Methodology (EMS 805)
University of Cairo
FEPS – EuroMed Programme
By
Shereen Muhammad Ali Beshr
1
Introduction:
According to the Oxford Dictionary, "translation" means "expressing the sense of a word, sentence, or book in another language"(1). Those who have tried to translate the Quran (also known as the Koran), the primary sacred text of Islam, from its Arabic original have found it impossible to express the same wealth of ideas with a limited number of words in the target language. Some writers even recognize this extreme difficulty; and refrain from calling their works "translation". Pickthall for instance, called his rendering "The Meaning of the Glorious Quran," while Arberry entitled his, "The Quran Interpreted." Both have made their translations directly from the Arabic. Needless to say, in the case of a second or third hand translation such as from Arabic into Latin or French and thence into English, the result is bound to be still further away from the original. Despite the evident inaccuracy of the word, "translation" remains the most convenient one. (2) The Quran being the word of Allah and revealed in Arabic is least translatable. Any translation of the Quran can only be considered an approximation of the meaning of the Quran. The majority of Muslims believe that only an Arabic version of this text is to be regarded as the actual Qur'an.
To be realistic one should never expect any translation to convey in full the idea expressed in the Arabic original. No translation, however faithful to the meaning, has ever been successful. Arabic, when expertly used, is a remarkably terse, rich and forceful language, and the Arabic of the Quran is by turns striking, soaring, vivid, terrible, tender and breathtaking. Comparing any translation with the original Arabic is like comparing a thumbnail sketch with the natural view of a splendid landscape rich in color, light and shade, and sonorous in melody. The Arabic vocabulary as used in the Quran conveys a wealth of ideas with various subtle shades and colors impossible to express in full with a finite number of words in any other language. To illustrate this point let us look at the two Arabic words mata and ayyana between which the subtle difference could hardly be discerned in any translation the author ever read. Although both words mean the interrogative "when" the word ayyana implies a denial that the event in question will ever take place.(3)
(1) www.oxforddictionaries.com/Translation.
(2) "TRANSLATION: TRIED & TRUE?" Mohammad Khalifa. Retrieved 2010.09.07.
(3) Ibid.
2
Translation of certain parts of the Quran started in the life of the Prophet (SAW). It has been reported that when Jaafar ibn Abu Talib (cousin of the Prophet) recited the first forty verses of chapter Mary (Maryam) in the court of emperor Najashi (of Abysinnia), these verses were translated there and then into Amharic (local language). Another companion of the blessed Prophet, Salman- the Persian is said to have translated the opening chapter Al-Fatiha into Persian language. Although Musa ibn Sayyar Al-Aswari is credited with the oral translation of the entire Quran into Persian, The first complete translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh-India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk, writes Kaleem Ullah Khan(4).
The first translation of the Quran into a Western language was made into Latin. It was carried out by Robertus Rotenesis and Hermannus Dalmata in 1143, and was published in 1543. In 1647 Andre du Ryer, French Consul in Egypt, translated it into French. This was later described by Sale as having mistakes on every page besides frequent transposition, omissions and addition. This French version was the basis of the first English version of the Quran and was described by Savary as "despicable;" while Sale described it as a very bad one, no better than its French source. Many later English translations were based on a Latin version by Father Ludovic Maracci in 1698. Maracci was the confessor of Pope Innocent XI and was taught Arabic by a Turk. One of the most famous English translations was by George Sale in 1734, who included a detailed explanatory discourse. Sale depended largely on Maracci's Latin version (he could not fully master the Arabic language). His tutor was an Italian named Dadichi, the king's interpreter at the time. Although Voltaire asserted that Sale had spent "five and twenty years in Arabia where he had acquired a profound knowledge of the Arabic language and customs," this was ruled out in his biography by the historian R.A. Davenport as being "opposed by the stubborn evidence of dates and facts." Undeniably Sale's translation of the Quran contains many faults, each one indicating that he could not have fully grasped the Arabic language. But despite its many inaccuracies, Sale's version has gone through some thirty editions; it was retranslated into Dutch in 1742, German in 1764, French in 1750, Russian in 1792, Swedish in 1814, and into Bulgarian in 1902. (5)
(4) www.monthlycrescent.com/understanding-the-quran/english. Vol: 01, No: 02.
Published for the month of July 2009 (Rajab 1430 AH). Retrieved 2010.09.07.
(5) "TRANSLATION: TRIED & TRUE?" Mohammad Khalifa. Retrieved 2010.09.07.
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A number of translations have also been made by born Muslims, among them Abdul-Hakim Khan in 1905, Mirza Abul-Fazl in 1911, Mohammad Ali in 1916 and Abdullah Yusuf Ali in 1938 [1934]. Another translation was published in 1930 by a Western scholar who accepted Islam: Marmaduke Pickthall.(6)
Since then the Quran has been translated into more than two hundred and fifty local, regional, national and international languages including English- a language spoken, read and understood in most countries world over especially the west. It is strange rather shocking that while as the process of translating Quran into western languages like Latin started in 12th century and English in 17th century, by non Muslim scholars, Muslims awoke to this need only in 20th century. This is perhaps one of the main reason that the image of Islam (which was dubbed as Mohammadanism) and Muslims got tarnished in the west because most of the western translators of the Quran deliberately distorted its meanings and in the absence of an authentic translation by a person of faith (Muslim) there was no source to put the record straight and remove and eradicate such misconceptions and present the meanings of the Quran in its pristine purity. (7)
(6) Ibid.
(7) www.monthlycrescent.com/understanding-the-quran/english, op cit., Vol: 01, No: 02.
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Some of the famous English translations of the Quran are:
1. The Al-coran of Mohamet (1649) by Alexandor Ross. This translation based on Andre Du Ryer’s French rendition contains many distortions and misinterpretations.
2. The Koran: commonly called the AlKoran of Mohammad (1734) by George Sale. Most widely circulated translation with more than 125 editions published so far.
3. The Koran (1861) by John Meadows Rodwell adopted rearrangement of the Quran in so called chronological order and tries his best to establish that the basic sources of the Quran are Jewish and Christian scriptures.
4. The Koran (1880) by Edward Henry Palmer.
5. The Koran translated (1937) by Richard Bell.
6. The Koran interpreted (1955) by Arthur John Arberry. It is a better translation compared to the previously published ones.
7. The Koran (1956) by Niseem J. Dawood. The first translation by an Iraq born Jew.
8. The Noble Quran (1979) by Aharon Ben Shemesh: this translation by another Jew was published by Massada Press (Tel Aviv).
9. The Quran: A new translation (2004) by Thomas cleary and published by Starlatch Press USA).
10. The Holy Quran (1905) by Muhammad Abdul Hakim Khan (a Physician by Profession) published from Patiala (India) is the first complete translation of the Quran by a Muslim.
11. The Quran translated into English (Allahabad (India) 1912) by Mirza Abul Fadl.
12. The Koran: prepared by various oriental learned scholars and edited by Mirza Hairat Dehlvi (1912).(8)
(8) Ibid.
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13. The Holy Quran: translation by Muhammad Ali Lahori (Ahmadi) published from Lahore (Now Pakistan) in 1917.
14. Translation of the Holy Quran (1920) by Ghulam Sarwar.
15. The Meaning of the Glorious Quran (London 1930) by Muhammad Marmaduke William Pickthall. This is the first translation which was received with full acceptance by Muslims and non Muslims.
16. The Holy Quran: translation and commentary (1934) by Abdullah Yousuf Ali. This translation though by a person born in a Bohra family of Mumbai (India) has remained the most widely published and circulated translation since its first publication.
17. The Glorious Quran, text, translation and commentary by Moulana Abdul Majid Daryaabadi (1941). This translation is more true to the text of the Quran and the footnotes inspiring and convincing.
18. The message of the Quran presented in perspective (1974) by Hashim Amir Ali.
19. The Noble Quran (Chicago 1977) by Taquidin Al Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan.
20. The Message of the Quran by Muhammad Asad (formerly Leopoled Weis) published in 1980 from Gijbraltor took the English translation of the Quran to new heights.
21. Holy Quran: translation by M.H. Shakir (New York 1982).
22. The Quran: translation by T.B. Iruing (Now Talim Ali) Published from Vermont in 1985.
23. The Quran: The Conclusive word of God by Q. Arafat (Leicester 1991)
24. The Quran (1990) English translation by Egypt born, husband wife team Ahmad and Dina Zidan now residents of England.
25. The Quran: interpretation in context (1996) Quran Literary Institute Illinois USA by one of greatest scholars of Arabic and English in the present times Ahmad Zaki Hammad of Egypt. The author has adopted a unique and modern scientific method of explaining the Quran. (9)
(9) Ibid.
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His works about Quran include:
I. The opening to the Quran: Commentary and Vocabulary reference of Al-Fatiha.
II. One God: The Everlasting Refuge- Commentary and Vocabulary reference of Surat Al-Ikhlas.
III. Father of the Flame: Commentary and Vocabulary reference of Surat al Masad (Al-Lahab).
IV. The Fairest of the Stories: An interlinear Commentary on Surat Yousuf.
V. Marry: the Chosen Women: An interlinear commentary on Surat Maryam.
VI. The Great Tiding: An interlinear Commentary on Surat Al-Naba.
26. The Quran: Arabic Text with corresponding English meaning by Um Muhammad- an American Women, who accepted Islam- Published by Saheeh International Jeddah KSA (1997). The translation is primarily based on Al-Hilali and Muhsin Khan’s Commentary.
27. Meaning of the Noble Quran- world famous English translation published by Islamic Book Service New Delhi is a good attempt to make understanding of the Quran easy to the (non Arabic knowing) English speaking people.
28. Quran: the living truth by Bashir Ahmad Mohyidin (2003).
29. The Quran- phrase by phrase English translation by Ali Quli Qarai (London 2003).
30. The meaning of the Noble Quran with explanatory notes by Justice Muhammad Taqi Usmani (Karachi 2007).
31. The Gracious Quran: A Modern phrased interpretation in English by Ahmad Zaki Hammad (Quran Literary Institute, Illinois USA 2007).
In addition to the above mentioned translations and commentaries many Arabic and Urdu commentaries of the Quran have been rendered into English. Noteworthy among those are, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, English translation published by Darussalam Publisher and Distributors (Riyad 2000); A.A. Moudoodi’s Tafheemul Quran translated by Zafar Ishaq Ansari (Islamic Foundation UK), Syed Qutub’s Fizilal Al Quran translated into English as ‘In the Sahde of the Quran’ by Adil Salahi and Ashur Shamis; Mufti Muhammad Shafi’s Maariful Quran translated by Prof. M. Askar and M. Wali Razi and Muhammad Al Gazali’s ‘A Thematic Commentary on the Quran’ Published by International Institute of Islamic though Herndon USA in 2000 AC.(10)
(10) Ibid.
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Research Problem:
As above mentioned the translation of the Holy Quran has always been a mission impossible for non-Muslims who do not know Arabic, because of the necessary background about the Islamic religion, in addition to indispensable knowledge of the Arabic language one of the most difficult languages of the world, it goes deeper than Hebrew, which is based on eleven roots, being based on sixteen roots. These two challenges in front of the translator are coupled with Western distorted image and information about Islam and Muslims, starting with calling the Holy Quran, The Koran of Muhammad as if he wrote and it was not revealed to him, which is such a serious misunderstanding which leads the translator to inevitable misunderstanding, and consequently faulty translation of it to the new language.
Another obstacle to an insightful interpretation of the text is the abominable practices of a minority of Muslims which Western Media focus on as representing the behavior of the entire Muslim World, adding to the blurring, distorted image of Islam and Muslims. This image which was only clear during the Renaissance Age when the West looked up to the East for Enlightenment and revival from what it called the Ages of Darkness, has always been blurry, and led to distorted translations of the Quran. However today the problem is even more crucial, after 9/11events, the association between Islam & terrorism, and going as far as emphasizing that Islam is violent, and that the verses of Quran are the reason behind terrorism since terrorists do what they do trying to follow them, in doing all this media officials present us provocative misinterpreted verses and tell the audience this Holy Quran, this is Muhammad, this is Islam, and these are the Muslims. A striking example of such distortion of the original meaning of the Holy Quran is the documentary movie “Fitna” which presented the spectator with wrongly translated verses whose meaning is shockingly different from that introduced by the film.