The Ideological Impact on the English Translations of the Qur'an: A Case Study of Muhammad Asad's Translation

Abstract

This research attempts to explore the influence of ideology on Muhammad Asad's translation "The Message of the Qur'an". It exposes how the translator remodels the source text to present his viewpoints in the target text. Moreover, the article demonstrates and scrutinizes the relationship between translation and ideology. The research answers the main questions about the ideology and translation so it divides into two parts. The first part focuses on the definition of the ideology and translation of the Qur'an especially Asad's work while the second one highlights the impact of ideology practically through exploring mistranslation, misinterpretation, and misrepresenting the Islamic creed and Islamic sciences. The research uses the comparative method to compare Asasd’s translation from different perspectives for scrutinizing the influence of ideology on the translated text. Muhammad Asad follows the rational and Mu’tazalite attitudes in his translation so he prefers the intellect, personal knowledge and rejects the imitation of traditions. He supports the allegorical meaning of verses, mentions unintended meaning of the verses to convey his opinions, rejects the mainstream exegesis and interprets the meaning regarding to the probability.