• Mohammad Amin Hawamdeh

  Author

The purpose of this study is to concisely review the translatability of the Quranic text
with special reference to an officially approved yet heavily criticized English version. Based on
both old and new notions and opinions, the study synthetically describes and discusses how
translatable the Quran is and to what extent it is necessary and/or permissible to translate a
highly claimed-to-be holy word of God—as kept intact since revealed—into such a completely
different language and culture as English. The sample case of this study is Hilali and Khan's
Translation (=HKT) as the latest English interpretation (of the meanings) of the Quran produced
in 1996. Sealed and approved by the most esteemed religious authority in the Muslim world, the
HKT is assessed and investigated in terms of its history, contents and criticism. Just like any
manuscript or piece of language, the Quranic text can be generally translated and interpreted; in
point of fact, its being rendered into a foreign language(s) is still necessary and, hence, to be
permissible for the universal call of Islam. Eventually, the HKT is obviously a literal version of
the Quran yet with too many parenthetical additions and explanatory footnotes. However, such
additions should neither cause controversy on the main TL text nor be accused of distorting the
Quranic message.

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