TRANSLATIONS OF THE QUR’AN TO ENGLISH

Abstract

The Qur’an is one of the most issued and translated books in the world. It has been translated to more than sixty languages, among these is English. During the half of the millennium, the Qur’an has been translated to this language by various people, with different motives, by Muslims as well as by non-Muslims, by religious and linguistic experts as well as by amateurs and linguistic dilettantes, by those with good intention, but also by those with malicious purpose. First people to take up the task of translating the Qur’an to English were non-Muslims. First Muslim translations of the Qur’an, however, appeared as a response to disputable, Orientalist and missionary translations of the Qur’an. This article deals with translations of the Qur’an to English language, discusses all the characteristics of these translations, their particularities, intentions, structure, stiles, motives, some specific and disputable translation options, translators, their similarities and differences. These translations of the Qur’an are mostly characterized by diversity of motives and aims of translating, as well as by the distinctiveness of the terminology and linguistic stiles. One of the features of English translations of the Qur’an is loads of disputable, if not absolutely wrong and unacceptable interpretations, what, undoubtedly makes the credibility of these translations questionable. In this article we identified, on the bases of religious background, motives and intentions of translators, three basic types of translations of the Qur’an: Muslim translations, sectarian and non-Muslim translations. The quality of the translations of the Qur’an to English language varies, depending on expertise of the translator, historical period in which it was written and finally upon the intentions and motives of the translator. Thus, not all the English translations of the Qur’an are relevant or suitable for the practical usage with the aim of the interpretation of the Islamic faith in the West, nor for educating young generations of Muslims in the West.