Transcending Translation

Although, by 2017, there are more than one hundred English translations of the Qur’an, these translations have received scant critical attention. But since these translations provide the only access to the Qur’an to millions of English speaking readers, the assessment of their faithfulness to the original and their peculiar slants, particularly their dogmatic, sectarian presuppositions, is all the more essential. Ubaid Wafy’s present study seeks to fill this gap on a modest scale. For, it critically examines the stance of only five translators on four sociocultural concerns (jihad, the segregation of women, sex outside marriage and polygamy). Wafy’s assiduity, however, somewhat compensates for his selective, limited study. His judicious critique helps readers map out the approach, methodology and, more importantly, mind-sets of these translators. It unravels how translators’ varying predilections permeate their interpretations and how readers can, and should, avoid their entrapments.