Last week, we discussed the history of one of the đ most đ widely đ used English Qur'an translations. But what about its ideological background? And how does the early 1977 edition of the Hilali-Khan translation differ from later revisions? #qurantranslationoftheweek
First of all, the English text of 1977 is almost completely free from the inclusion of Arabic glosses, i.e. transliterated Arabic words inserted in brackets, with only very few exceptions.
Consider, for example, Q 2:43. In both the 1977 and 1978 editions, one may read: 'And offer the prayer perfectly and give the obligatory charity (Zakat) âŠ
⊠and submit yourselves with obedience to Allah (with Muhammad a.s.) as the Muslims have done (i.e. embrace Islam, worshipping none but Allah alone and doing good with the only intention of seeking Allahâs Pleasure).'
In the 1997 KFQPC edition, we instead have the following amended translation, with commentary appended as a footnote:
âAnd perform AáčŁ-áčąalÄt (IqÄmat-aáčŁ-áčąalÄt), and give ZakÄt, and bow down (or submit yourselves with obedience to AllÄh) along with Ar-RÄkiâĆ«nâ.
âAnd perform AáčŁ-áčąalÄt (IqÄmat-aáčŁ-áčąalÄt), and give ZakÄt, and bow down (or submit yourselves with obedience to AllÄh) along with Ar-RÄkiâĆ«nâ.
Later editions have made the text even more complicated, not only by using Arabic words to retranslate (or reinterpret) the basic Qurâanic vocabulary, but also by adding plenty of explanation in brackets, thereby erasing the line between the âtranslationâ and the âcommentaryâ.
For example, the 1977/1978 editions translate Q 24:36 as follows:
âIn houses which Allah has ordered to be raised, to be cleaned, and to be honoured, in them His Name is glorified in the mornings and in the eveningsâ.
âIn houses which Allah has ordered to be raised, to be cleaned, and to be honoured, in them His Name is glorified in the mornings and in the eveningsâ.
The later editions introduce many changes to the target text:
âIn houses (mosques) which AllĂąh has ordered to be raised (to be cleaned, and to be honoured), in them His Name is remembered [i.e. Adhan, Iqamah, SalĂąt (prayers), invocations, recitation of the QurâĂąn etc.]. âŠ
âIn houses (mosques) which AllĂąh has ordered to be raised (to be cleaned, and to be honoured), in them His Name is remembered [i.e. Adhan, Iqamah, SalĂąt (prayers), invocations, recitation of the QurâĂąn etc.]. âŠ
⊠Therein glorify Him (Allah) in the mornings and in the afternoons or the eveningsâ.
Here we see the insertion of comments explaining that the verse describes only Muslim religious practice, which is not apparent in the early editions.
Here we see the insertion of comments explaining that the verse describes only Muslim religious practice, which is not apparent in the early editions.
For example, the early editions had given âhousesâ for the original Arabic âbuyĆ«tâ, without adding that, in the context, this actually refers to mosques that issue the call to prayer.
The first editions also contain traces of the âscientific hermeneuticsâ of the Qurâan, which was quite a popular trend in the Muslim world in the 1970s.
For example, for the Arabic word âyawmaynâ (lit. âtwo daysâ) in Q 41:9, the first edition provides âDo you verily disbelieve in Him Who created the earth in two Days (Periods)?â, while the later KFQPC edition removes the word âPeriodsâ, thus reducing the meaning to just âdaysâ.
This reflects a particular ideological stance, as modern Salafi hermeneutics considers any interpretation of the Qurâan in the light of contemporary science to be merely controversial âpseudo-rationalism.â
Such ideological differences are even more visible in the respective translations of the word âal-burĆ«jâ from the phrase âwa âl-samÄÊŸi dhÄti âl-burĆ«jâ in Q 85:1.
The first editions render this as âBy the heaven holding the Zodiacal Signs of the Starsâ, while the later KFQPC edition simply provides âBy the heaven holding the big starsâ.
It was Ibn KathÄ«r who explained âal-burĆ«jâ as âal-nujĆ«m al-ÊżaáșáșÄmâ (âthe big starsâ). It seems that his opinion was not taken into account in the interpretation of this phrase in the first editions, but became influential in the later two editions.
Thus we can see that the Darussalam editors here proposed a âmore convenientâ (at least in terms of Salafi hermeneutics) meaning, which was later affirmed by the KFQPC translation.
Probably the most illustrative (and controversial) case is that of Q.1:7, âáčŁirÄáča âlladhÄ«na anÊżamta Êżalayhim ghayri âl-maghážĆ«bi Êżalayhim wa-lÄ âl-ážÄllÄ«nâ (âthe Path of those You have blessed, those who earned Your Anger, and not those who went astrayâ).
The main question here is who is intended by the expressions âthose who earned Your Angerâ (âmaghážĆ«bi Êżalayhimâ) and âthose who went astrayâ (âážallÄ«nâ).
In classical tafsirs it is quite common to interpret this as referring to âJews and Christiansâ and, in the first 1977/1978 translations, the groups mentioned are likewise referred to as âJews and Christiansâ.
The same interpretation appears in the first KFQPC edition of 1997.
The same interpretation appears in the first KFQPC edition of 1997.
Later editions (2019 and onwards) made this formula less specific: â⊠not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (i.e. those who knew the Truth, but did not follow it) nor of those who went astray (i.e. those who did not follow the Truth out of ignorance and error)â.
In the same vein, while the first editions of the translation contained a treatise on jihÄd as a kind of appendix, the later KFQPC edition replaces this with doctrinal appendices on Sunni-Salafi theology (on subjects such as the âtrueâ meaning of âshahÄdahâ, etc.).
In some ways, this shows a kind of evolution in Salafi tradition. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the idea of military jihÄd may not have been perceived in the West as completely unacceptable (due primarily to support for anti-Soviet Islamic movements).
However, the world in the 1990s and, especially, the first decade of this century, has changed significantly. It is thus no coincidence that in his original introduction, al-HilÄlÄ« mentions an anti-Soviet Uzbek fighter he met years ago in AfganistanâŠ
⊠who used only Arabic as the language of the Qurâan and also prohibited his family members from talking in Russian, designating it as a language of enemy.
Warmly accepted by many readers and critically evaluated by others, the Hilali-Khan translation eventually played quite an important role in the rise of Salafi exegesis among a non-Arab readership, and even more so in promoting the extensive use of tafsīr in translation.
Still used as a main reference by a large number of English-speaking Salafi Muslims (and elsewhere in the mainstream Sunni community), its wide availability and extensive use of tafsÄ«r sources marked a very important turn in Qurâanic Studies.
Many critical voices (especially from among Muslim scholars) have, however, spoken out over the last few decades, and these have seriously challenged the popularity of this work.
Due in no small part to such criticism, and with the appearance of new translations, it will hardly continue to retain the predominance it had ten or twenty years ago. ~ MY ~ #qurantranslationoftheweek
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