The Methodological Principles for Translating the Literal Association (al-Mushtarak al-Lafẓī) in the Qur’ān to the English Language

Abstract

The aim of this study is to provide methodological principles for translating the Literal Association (al-Mushtarak al-Lafẓī) in the Qur’ān which has not yet been explored in the field of translation studies due to the gap that currently exists between the science of Tafsīr (the interpretation of the Qur’ān) and the science of Translation in relation to the Literal Association Phenomenon in the Qur’ān, and this is where the research problems lie. This study employs the analytical and inductive research methodologies in which the ʾāyāt (Qur’ānic signs) of the Literal Association and their semantics (meanings) are analysed and studied based on the approach and the perspective of Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī in his book of Tafsīr. This current study investigates and examines 581 ‘āyāt containing wordings of Literal Association from Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī’s Tafsīr which is known as al-Tafsīr al-Maʾthūr (narration-based type of Tafsīr). This research results in an extraction of 46 methodological rules for the process of translating the Literal Association in the Qur’ān. Additionally, this research results in a disciplined systematic study with a clear methodological framework which will be used in the science of Translation in place of the translations of the Qur’ān which have rendered this phenomenon based on their literal (linguistic) meanings and not their actual intended meanings (pragmatic functions) taken from their Qur’ānic contexts which surely result in some semantic clashes and contradictions.