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Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English): Difference between revisions
Mistranslations of Islamic Scripture (English) (view source)
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These pages discuss a few of the more common ones in some detail, and provides the correct translations. | These pages discuss a few of the more common ones in some detail, and provides the correct translations. | ||
==Examples== | == Quran == | ||
===Examples=== | |||
Look at the following verse from 'An-Nisa’. | Look at the following verse from 'An-Nisa’. | ||
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The most widespread mistranslation of a single word throughout the Qur'an, is the Arabic word "[[The Meaning of Qatal|Qatal]]", which means to "kill", "massacre", or "slaughter". Yusuf Ali correctly translates it in An-Nisa’ {{Quran|4|157}} as "We ''killed'' Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they ''killed'' him not", but then distorts the same word as "fight" in At-Tawbah {{Quran|9|29}}, "''Fight'' those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day.", whereas the Arabic text reads "''Kill'' those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day". Yusuf Ali reproduces this translation in Al-Anfal {{Quran|8|39}} and several other verses. | The most widespread mistranslation of a single word throughout the Qur'an, is the Arabic word "[[The Meaning of Qatal|Qatal]]", which means to "kill", "massacre", or "slaughter". Yusuf Ali correctly translates it in An-Nisa’ {{Quran|4|157}} as "We ''killed'' Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they ''killed'' him not", but then distorts the same word as "fight" in At-Tawbah {{Quran|9|29}}, "''Fight'' those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day.", whereas the Arabic text reads "''Kill'' those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day". Yusuf Ali reproduces this translation in Al-Anfal {{Quran|8|39}} and several other verses. | ||
==Mistranslations of Quran 67:5== | ===Mistranslations of Quran 67:5=== | ||
===Literal=== | ====Literal==== | ||
Here is the literal meaning of verse 67:5. It discusses the [[Jinn]] (mythical ethereal creatures that are described in Islamic scriptures as living among humans)<ref>Mawdudi, Sayyid Abul Ala, Tafhim ul Quran, Markazi Maktaba Islami, Delhi, 1995, vol. 6, p.110</ref> and stars from the "lowest heaven" which are used as missiles against any mischievous jinn that attempts to eavesdrop on conversations between angels.<ref>"...''The Jinns would go to the lowest heaven and listen to the Angels conversing amongst themselves about events of the Future which they heard from Allah. The Jinns would then inform the fortune-tellers. This is why before the time of the Prophet (saws) many fortune-tellers were very accurate in their predictions. However, upon the Prophet's arrival the heavens were guarded intensely by the Angels, and any Jinn who tried to listen was attacked by meteors (shooting stars)''..." - [http://www.islamawareness.net/Jinn/world.html The World of Jinn] - Invitation to Islam, Issue 4, January 1998</ref> | Here is the literal meaning of verse 67:5. It discusses the [[Jinn]] (mythical ethereal creatures that are described in Islamic scriptures as living among humans)<ref>Mawdudi, Sayyid Abul Ala, Tafhim ul Quran, Markazi Maktaba Islami, Delhi, 1995, vol. 6, p.110</ref> and stars from the "lowest heaven" which are used as missiles against any mischievous jinn that attempts to eavesdrop on conversations between angels.<ref>"...''The Jinns would go to the lowest heaven and listen to the Angels conversing amongst themselves about events of the Future which they heard from Allah. The Jinns would then inform the fortune-tellers. This is why before the time of the Prophet (saws) many fortune-tellers were very accurate in their predictions. However, upon the Prophet's arrival the heavens were guarded intensely by the Angels, and any Jinn who tried to listen was attacked by meteors (shooting stars)''..." - [http://www.islamawareness.net/Jinn/world.html The World of Jinn] - Invitation to Islam, Issue 4, January 1998</ref> | ||
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*رُجُومًا (''rujooman'') - notice it is from the same root as رجم (''rajm''), meaning "stoning", which is the Islamic punishment for sex outside marriage. The Shaytan is also called "ar-rajeem" (الرجيم), "the stoned one", possibly because of this verse. | *رُجُومًا (''rujooman'') - notice it is from the same root as رجم (''rajm''), meaning "stoning", which is the Islamic punishment for sex outside marriage. The Shaytan is also called "ar-rajeem" (الرجيم), "the stoned one", possibly because of this verse. | ||
===Accurate Translations=== | ====Accurate Translations==== | ||
Here are the three most popular and readily available translations of this verse by Muslims. | Here are the three most popular and readily available translations of this verse by Muslims. | ||
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{{Quote||'''Sher Ali:''' And verily, WE have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and WE have made them the means of driving away satans, and WE have prepared for them the punishment of the blazing Fire.}} | {{Quote||'''Sher Ali:''' And verily, WE have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and WE have made them the means of driving away satans, and WE have prepared for them the punishment of the blazing Fire.}} | ||
===Distorted Translations=== | ====Distorted Translations==== | ||
The following two translations attempt to alter the idea of stars being made for the purpose of stoning jinn by describing the missiles as being made out of/from the stars, but not the stars themselves. | The following two translations attempt to alter the idea of stars being made for the purpose of stoning jinn by describing the missiles as being made out of/from the stars, but not the stars themselves. | ||
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{{Quote||'''Amatul Rahman Omar:''' We have, certainly, adorned the lowest heaven with (stars-like) lamps and We have made them as means of conjecture for the evil ones (and the astrologers who invent good or bad omens from the movement of the stars). (Remember) We have prepared for these (soothesayers) the punishment of the blazing Fire.}} | {{Quote||'''Amatul Rahman Omar:''' We have, certainly, adorned the lowest heaven with (stars-like) lamps and We have made them as means of conjecture for the evil ones (and the astrologers who invent good or bad omens from the movement of the stars). (Remember) We have prepared for these (soothesayers) the punishment of the blazing Fire.}} | ||
===Incorporation of Modern Science into Translation=== | ====Incorporation of Modern Science into Translation==== | ||
The following translation attempts to incorporate modern science into its reading of the verse, though makes it a point to use brackets to differentiate this interpretation from the words of the verse. | The following translation attempts to incorporate modern science into its reading of the verse, though makes it a point to use brackets to differentiate this interpretation from the words of the verse. | ||
{{Quote||'''Bijan Moeinian:''' God has adorned the lowest universe with the sources of light [probably a reference to the Quasars], being used as missiles against the devils [perhaps the reference is to anti-matter which will be destroyed immediately in contact with the matter] and prepared for them a blazing fire.}} | {{Quote||'''Bijan Moeinian:''' God has adorned the lowest universe with the sources of light [probably a reference to the Quasars], being used as missiles against the devils [perhaps the reference is to anti-matter which will be destroyed immediately in contact with the matter] and prepared for them a blazing fire.}} | ||
== Hadith == | |||
==='Aisha reached puberty before consumating her marriage=== | |||
'Aisha lived with her parents before her marriage to Muhammad was consummated at the age of 9 ({{Muslim|8|3310}}). The following mistranslation is often presented as evidence that she reached puberty while she still lived there.{{Quote|{{Bukhari|1|8|465}}| Narrated `Aisha: | |||
(the wife of the Prophet) I had seen my parents following Islam since I attained the age of puberty. Not a day passed but the Prophet (ﷺ) visited us, both in the mornings and evenings...}}The word أَعْقِلْ means to use thoughts or reasoning, but the translator Muhsin Khan has used the word 'puberty'. The meaning rather is that 'Aisha was never aware of a time when her parents were not Muslim. A literal translation would be "I was not aware of my parents other than that the two of them both acknowledged the religion" (لَمْ أَعْقِلْ أَبَوَىَّ إِلاَّ وَهُمَا يَدِينَانِ الدِّينَ). | |||
The same Arabic phrase is translated as follows in another hadith by the same translator:{{Quote|{{Bukhari|8|73|102}}| Narrated `Aisha: | |||
(the wife of the Prophet) "I do not remember my parents believing in any religion other than the Religion (of Islam), and our being visited by Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in the morning and in the evening....}}See also the two other occurrences in {{Bukhari|3|37|494}} and {{Bukhari|5|58|245}}. | |||
The 'puberty' mistranslation also fails to achieve chronological sensibility. 'Aisha's father, Abu Bakr, was one of Muhammad's first followers. It would not have taken until puberty for 'Aisha to notice that her father followed the religion. | |||
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
*[[Mawdu' (Fabricated | * [[Misrepresentations of Islamic Scripture (English)]] | ||
* [[Mawdu' (Fabricated) and Daif (Weak) Hadiths]] | |||
==External Links== | ==External Links== | ||