Lost in Translation: The Ideological Effects of the Translator and the Interpreter on the Qur’ānic Text

Abstract

this article focuses on how the ideological views of an interpreter or translator of the Qur’ān affect the meaning of the translated verse. Extremist Muslim groups, such as ISIS, have misinterpreted some verses of the Qur’ān according to their extreme views to facilitate their political agendas. Some Orientalist translators have also distorted the meanings of some verses of the Qur’ān due to their weakness in the Arabic language. This article discusses issues in the Qur’ān that have been interpreted differently by liberal and classical exegetes of the Holy text, such as those relating to the reality of the stories of the Prophets and hitting disobedient wives. While the liberal interpreters have not adhered to the Arabic language and the traditional interpretation of the text, the classical translators have emphasized the importance of explaining the Qur’ānic text according to its traditional meaning, relying on the classical Arabic language and the Prophetic tradition. This article presents these issues with the goal of proving that many meanings in the original text have been lost and misinterpreted, mainly because of the ideological views of the interpreters.