Critical and Comparative Analysis of the Legal Ruling Verses (Āyāt al-Āḥkām) in the English Translations of the Qur'ān

Abstract

Qur’ānic translation is an area on which scholars focus their interrogation due to the book’s relevance to the Muslims. Another interesting area is the influence of religious ideology on the rendering of the translation. This study aims to examine how Qur’ān translators transferred the language of the legal ruling verses into English. It also explores how the religious ideologies of specific translators are embedded in their Qur’ānic translations and how that might have influenced the meaning of the ruling verses that these verses contain. This study adopts a descriptive comparative approach, using critical discourse analysis, to examine the legal ruling verses of the Qur'ān and demonstrate how the religious ideologies of the translators have implications on the selected Qur'ānic translations. The research engages two analytical levels: the textual level, for which an analytical comparison was applied to the lexical and semantic choices and employed Ivir's (1987) translations strategies. At the paratextual level, the critical discourse analysis was limited to the translator’s footnotes. The research was conducted to analyse the verses according to the standard beliefs of Islam that are based on a wide range of references such as Qur’ānic dictionaries, Qur’ānic exegeses, and the opinion of jurists and scholars. Due to the word limit, this study only analyses the Qur’ānic legal ruling verses related to Marital law and Punishment. The three selected Qur’ān translators are Ünal (2006), Yüksel (2007), and Nasr et al. (2015). The research conducted on Qur’ān translation reveals fascinating insights. Each translator had their own distinct purpose and ambition, which is evident from their footnotes. The research reveals the differences in reformist’s and traditionalist’s approaches to Qur’ān translation. The research also highlighted how translators used different strategies to translate words with legal connotations that were influenced by their cultural and religious ideologies. These findings have significant implications for comprehending legal ruling verses in the Qur’ān, as the translators' ideologies may be unconsciously or consciously reflected in their translations. This thesis draws attention to the fact that translators' ideologies must be taken into account while reading translations of legal terms. It also emphasises the vital role played by Qur’ān translators in translating legal ruling verses and lays the foundation for future research in this area.