Secular Hermeneutics and Sacred Text: A Case Study of Reformist Translation of the Quran

Abstract

This research examines the dynamics and interpretative concepts in Quran: A Reformist Translation by Edip Yuksel, Layth Saleh al-Shaiban, and Martha Schulte-Nafeh, emphasising the translators' influence on Quranic discourse. The translation employs a modernist viewpoint, contrasting the conventional interpretations by Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, and Shakir. Two principal enquiries are examined: Do we need Muhammad (PBUH) to understand the Quran?” and the second one is “Was Muhammad (PBUH) illiterate? Fairclough's three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis is utilised to compare interpretations and paratextual elucidations. The study demonstrates the translators' ideological influence on the text; the produced translation is the parallel discourse and the translators seem present in the translations. Translators have manipulated the original text and translated it according to their views and ideologies. Subsequent research should investigate the effect of translator ideology on religious texts and its implications for interpretation.