zama@midway.uchicago.edu (iftikhar uz zaman) (08/16/90)
(Someone sent this to me a little while ago...I thought it might be useful) There is a publication by the Young Mens Muslim Association from South Aftrica which discusses the errors made in Yusuf Ali's translation of the Qur'an. Briefly, Yusuf Ali decides to treat anything which goes against his rationalism as being a methaphor. This he does even when it goes against the specific explanations given by the Prophet (sall allaho alaihe wasallam). The he states that interest (in its modern form) is acceptable, not- withstanding the declaration of war by Allah and his Rasul against it. He denies the reality of Jinn, or the Hoors (which he claim are androgynous despite numerous ayat from the Qur'an and Hadeeth). In attempting to do this sleight of hand, he often has to suppress well known references and dig up and quotes as authorities people who are unknown to the Muslim world. In this way he not only dilutes the effect of the message of the Qur'an, but opens up the door for people to do the same sort of self-deception whenever they come across a passage that doesn't seem to fit with thier desires. This is not a theoretical issue. I have often come across muslims raised on Yusuf Ali, and noticed this particular characteristic that they regard many things metaphorically which were regarded by the Prophet (saw) and his companions (ra) as the literal truth. Thus, even if it was written in beautiful English, and Yusuf Ali's mastery of the Arabic language was excellent, it would not be a good choice as a translation.
beekun@ncar.UCAR.EDU (R. I. Beekun) (08/20/90)
In article <1990Aug16.013059.18913@laguna.ccsf.caltech.edu> zama@midway.uchicago.edu (iftikhar uz zaman) writes: > >(Someone sent this to me a little while ago...I thought it might be >useful) > >There is a publication by the Young Mens Muslim Association from >South Aftrica which discusses the errors made in Yusuf Ali's translation >of the Qur'an. I agree with you that Yusuf Ali's translation contains errors, but in contrast to many others floating around (e.g. TB Irving's, M Asad's, etc), he still comes out ahead. The new version of Yusuf Ali's translation (published 1990 by Amana) has attempted to remedy most of these errors. At the same time, there is now a project to re-translate the Qur'an as accurately as possible and with a complete set of annotations. Abu Syed Marwan ............................................................................ :... We decreed for the children of : : :Israel that whosoever kills a human : : :being for other than manslaughter or : / | "" | : :corruption in the earth, it shall be : / | | | | : :as though he had killed all mankind, : | | __| | | | : :and whoso saves the life of one, it : ____|___| | <__|__|__| | : :shall be as though he had saved the : | * : :life of all mankind. (Qur'an 5: 32) : _ / : :.....................................:....................................: