The Translatability of Qur’ân

The Qur’ān is the holy book of Islam and the most important of the three sources of authority which underpin Muslim religious life, the other two being the revelation received by the Prophet Muhammad during his life (hadīth, ‘sayings’) and the Prophet’s own practice (sunna, ‘tradition’). The importance attached to the Qur’ān stems from the belief that it contains, verbatim, the Word of God, as revealed piecemeal to Muhammad by the Angel implications Gabriel between 610 and 632 AD. “It is therefore considered inimitable, and this has important for both the legitimacy and the (authorized) methods of translating it. The Qur’ān consists of 114 sura(s) (chapters), each divided into aya(s) (verses),” (Routledge encyclopedia, 2001). Suras emanate from different times and places in the life of the prophet Muhammad. Traditional Qurans pay no heed, though, to this chronology, ordering suras instead according to their subject matter and length (with the shorter suras tending to come near the end). Although using a chronological sura arrangement might have certain pedagogical advantages, the fact is that no one can agree on the exact order. Also, most translations follow the traditional order. It has seemed sensible, therefore, to stick to the traditional order for the Quran Browser. …