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Reasons for the Possible Incomprehensibility of Some Verses of Three Translations of the Meaning of the Holy Quran Into English

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Reasons for the Possible Incomprehensibility of Some Verses of Three Translations of the Meaning of the Holy Quran Into English Reasons for the Possible Incomprehensibility of Some Verses of Three Translations of the Meaning of the Holy Quran into English Raed Al-Jabari European Studies Research Institute (ESRI) School of languages University of Salford, Salford, UK A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, October 2008 Table of Contents Subject Page Acknowledgement I Declaration of Originality II Transliteration System LH Abstract IV Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Reasons for choosing this topic 3 1.3 Objectives of the study 3 1.4 Research hypothesis 4 1.5 The translations to be studied 9 1.6 Structure of the research 12 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 What is the Quran? 16 2.3 (Un)translatability of the Quran 18 2.4 The need for the translation of the Quran 22 2.5 Permissibility of translating the Quran 23 2.6 Survey and assessmentof the existing translations of the Quran 28 2.7 Conclusion 36 Chapter Three: The Effect of Literal Translation on the Comprehensibility of Text 3.1 Introduction 38 3.2 What is literal translation? 39 3.3 Views of literal translation 40 3.4 Problems of literal translation 46 3.4.1 Word 46 3.4.2 Strategies for translating words 3.4.3 Idiom 3.4.4 Strategies for translating idioms 3.4.5 Style 3.4.6 Strategies for dealing with style 3.4.7 Culture 3.5 Some problems of literal translations of the Quran and their effect on the comprehensibility of its meaning 3.5.1 Word 3.5.2 Idiom 3.5.3 Word-order 3.5.4 Style 3.5.5 Metaphor 3.6 Conclusion Chapter Four: Translating Culture; Problems and Filling the Gap 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What is culture? 4.3 Culture and language 4.4 Culture and translation 4.5 The translator as a cultural mediator 4.6 Situations where problems arise in translating culture 4.7 Strategies for translation culture 4.7.1 Ivir's strategies 4.7.2 Newmark's procedures 4.7.3 Dickins, Hervey, and Higgins' techniques 4.8 Situations where problems arise in translating cultural elements in the Quran 4.9 Conclusion Chapter Five: Research Methodology 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Research paradigms 5.2.1 Positivism 5.2.2 Anti-positivism 5.3 Quantitative vs. Qualitative research 5.3.1 Strength and weaknesses of Quantitative research 5.3.2 Strength and weaknesses of Qualitative research 5.4 Research approach and methodology 5.5 Research methods 5.5.1 Data collection 5.5.2 Research population 5.5.3 Research sample 5.5.4 Pilot study 5.5.5 Reliability and validity 5.5.6 Questionnaire 5.5.7 Interviews 5.5.8 Questionnaire design 5.5.9 Questionnaire distribution 5.5.10 Questionnaire collection 5.5.11 Problems of the questionnaire 5.5.12 Conclusion Chapter Six: Analysis of the Questionnaire 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The interpretations considered in interpreting the extracts 6.3 Analysis of the extracts 6.4 Conclusion Chapter Seven: Conclusions and Recommendations 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Reasons for incomprehensibility 7.2.1 Style 7.2.2 Literal translation 7.2.3 Cultural differences 7.2.4 Use of old-fashioned words 199 7.2.5 Transliteration 201 7.2.6 Unusual orthography and punctuation 204 7.2.7 Excessive use of Brackets 207 7.3 Recommendations 208 7.4 Assessment of the translators 215 7.5 Conclusion 217 Chapter Eight: The Ideal Translator of the Quran and a Proposed Strategy for its Translation 8.1 Introduction 218 8.2 The significance of the translator in translation 219 8.3 Characteristics of the ideal translator 220 8.4 Faithfulness of the translator 222 8.5 Qualifications and attributes of the translator of the meaning of the 223 Quran 8.6 A proposed strategy for translating the meaning of the Quran 226 8.7 Conclusion 235 Conclusion Findings of the study 237 Bibliography 242 Appendix 1 (Glossaries) 254 Appendix 2 (Questionnaire Format) 258 Acknowledgement I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my unique supervisor, Professor James Dickins, for his greatly appreciated help. His inestimable knowledge, long experience, and logical way of thinking have been of great value for me. His understanding, unflinching encouragement, personal guidance, and support in various ways have provided a good basis for this research. I thank him for his special interest in my work. He spent plenty of time and invaluable effort to help me obtain all materials necessary to accomplish my study. His interest in looking at and discussing my research in detail was of great help in producing a reliable academic work. My warm thanks go to Professor Janet Watson the head of the Arabic section, and Professor Myriam Salama-Carr, and to all members of staff in School of Languages at the University of Salford. I owe my deepest sincere gratitude to Christina Flanagan, Lecturer in Spanish at the University of Salford for her invaluable support and assistance throughout this work. I thank her for her constructive comments and criticism, and excellent advice during the preparation for this thesis. Her encouragement and guidance have had a remarkable influence on my entire work. I would also like to thank Abed Al- Qawasmeh who attracted and encouraged me to come to study in England and who made great efforts to ease my coming. I thank him for his precious support during my stay in England. I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the possibility to complete this thesis. I want to thank Brigadier Rasheed Abu Shbak, Col. Sabri Tmeezi, Col. Ahmad Isa, Hijazi AI-Jabari, Jihad Abu Omar, Nasser Tahboob, Rashed Abdeen, and both my brothers Nidal and Nizar. I DECLARATION I declare that the work in this research was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Salford. No portion of the work referred to in this research has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institution of learning. II Transliteration System This research followed the following transliteration system proposed by Encyclopaedia of Islam. a i u a b t th h_ kh d dh r ý z s sh s ý ä t Z h f k J 1 m n ý h ý w cs a h, t v la JI al III Abstract Translations of the meaning of the Quran in English are becoming amongst the most read books in the world. Unfortunately, almost all the existing renditions fail to transfer the original clearly into the target language. They suffer from serious shortcomings that cause incomprehensibility in parts of the text. These renditions contain some elements that make the target reader struggle to understand the meaning. This research aims to contribute to overcoming the shortcomings of existing translations. It discusses the reasons why the English target reader of the Quran struggles to follow and comprehend the meaning of some of its verses, and attempts to find a workable methodology for translating the meaning of the Quran. It tries to find new methods to help tackle the weaknesses in the translations of the meaning of the Quran and provides suggestions for improving them. It is hoped this methodology will lead to producing a more accurate and comprehensible translation of the meaning of the Quran in which the meaning is transferred clearly in a natural-sounding target- language text, and that will improve comprehensibility for both Muslim and non- Muslim native speakers of English. This research also studies the role and importance of the translator in achieving a good translation, and tries to establish a set of criteria for the attributes and conditions of the translator of the Quran. IV Chapter One The Introduction 1.1 Introduction Translation has played an increasingly significant role in the exchange of knowledge and culture amongst different peoples over the past few centuries. It has also played a vital part in developing some civilizations in relation to others. Translation has recently become an even more important factor than in the past in the understanding of different cultures and reciprocating knowledge. Hundreds of thousands of books and articles are translated every year. One of the most important books that has been translated into other languages is the Holy Quran. Over the past few centuries, with their different intentions, Muslim and non-Muslim translators have been very concerned to transfer the meaning of the Quran into languages other than Arabic. English has been the most important of all these other languages. The importance of English translations has recently become greater than ever. This is because of the growing non-Arab Muslim communities in English-speaking countries, as well as greater academic interest in Islam. Moreover, the 9-11 terror attack and the continuous talk in the media about so-called Muslim terrorism, has inspired large numbers of native speakers of English to obtain and read different translations of this Book in order to understand Quranic teaching and the Muslim mentality. The point is: how accurate and comprehensible are these translations? Despite the great effort of some translators to produce reliable translations into English, those native speakers of English who have read the versions in their language have often failed to understand the real meaning due to the poor translation; the text was written in a peculiar and boring style, and its flow was impaired. They also misunderstood the content either because the meaning was not rendered accurately or was biased.
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