The translation of the Qur’an has always been a problematic issue for Islamic theology, for the essence of the Qur’an is considered to be untranslatable. However, the text must also be accessible to those who do not speak Arabic Below we have gathered together some key linguistic and historical references.
The process of transposing the Qur’an into another language has the result of separating the text from its true form, i.e., the Arabic language. The Qur’an is considered miraculous and inimitable; therefore removing it from its original form thus means stripping it of one of its essential attributes.
Another reason that Islamic theology has always been opposed to the translation of the Qur’an is due to the very nature of the Arabic language. Like other Semitic languages,
such as Hebrew or Aramaic, the semantic value of an Arabic word (meaning) depends largely on the context (unlike what happens in the Anglo-Saxon and Latin languages, which are more analytical). This feature makes the translation particularly delicate, and therefore dangerous.
