Open Cultural Studies (Oct 2024)
Marriage Parties, Rules, and Contract Expressions in Qur’an Translations: A Critical Analysis
Abstract
Marriage is one of many important topics discussed in the Qur’an and is a vital component of the customs and traditions of every community. This study aims to qualitatively investigate the procedures employed by classical and recent translators in rendering Qur’anic marriage expressions into English and see whether there has been improvement in tackling them. The collected data consists of a set of marriage expressions that are critically analyzed from a translational perspective. Eight famed English translations from 1930 to 2015, which are trustworthy and easily accessible, are examined, along with three exegesis. They are unlike other earlier translations of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that were done by non-Muslims who had little knowledge or no background Islam and were often criticized for biased and erroneous content. The results reveal that both classical and recent translators offer successful renditions in some cases, but they fail to do so in several cases due to hurdles involving lexical and cultural gaps, as well as figurative usage. Although workable formal equivalence should remain a priority, paraphrase, transliteration, footnoting, or combinations of them need to be considered when formal equivalence falters. Further, the results show that there has not been any noticeable improvement in this area from classical to recent translations. The differences between them mainly involve lexical variation only, apart from conceptual emendations. The study recommends that Qur’an translation be conducted by an expert team, rather than one individual, whose members must have high language and cultural competence in both languages, have solid religious and cultural background in Qur’anic discourse, consult authoritative exegeses, and have adequate knowledge of translation strategies and procedures.
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