Re: New Translation

I agree with Brother Naeem on his assessment on this. I also believe that, to quote Naeem "I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'translation' of the Qur'an" is correct. May Allah guide us all to His grace and light without any Baggage:) 


 --- On Tue 12/23, Na'eem Jeenah < [email protected] > wrote:
From: Na'eem Jeenah [mailto: [email protected]]
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 20:11:15 +0200
Subject: Re: [Progressivemuslimsnetwork] New Translation

salaam talib<br><br>I had a brief look at the site. A few comments:<br><br>* I welcome any commentary of the Qur'an done by <br>women. Of course, what the power dynamic is here <br>between these 2 women and 1 man... I'm not sure.<br><br>* I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'translation' of <br>the Qur'an. All so-called translations are, in fact, <br>commentaries.<br><br>* I'm generally suspicious when anyone says they want <br>to produce a translation that relies just on the Qur'an <br>itself and not on "ancient scholarly interpretations". Why? <br>Because they make the assumption that their translation has no <br>baggage, which is really untrue. There is no such thing. They <br>dispose of the baggage of earlier commentators but then apply <br>their own baggage. That they refuse to see that is problematic <br>for me.<br><br>* They make a point that they will not use ahadith or ot
 her <br>tafasir in their translation, but then they also make a point that <br>they will 'cross-reference' with the bible and "key philosophical <br>and scientific documents in the Western canon". huh?<br><br>* when I read one example on the home page: "For instance, <br>17:36, traditionally rendered "Pursue not that of which <br>thou hast no knowledge," has been held for centuries by the <br>Islamic clergy to apply only to those testifying as experts in <br>legal proceedings! We render it as "You shall not follow <br>anyone blindly in matters of which you have no knowledge," <br>thus (we believe) restoring the meaning to its original <br>dimensions", then I have a problem. I would much rather <br>have the literal translation of the Qur'an and then make of <br>it what I will, than have someone telling me they are giving <br>me a translation and what they are, in fact, giving me is <br>
 their interpretation - which, in this case, seems to be <br>somewhat coloured by their dislike of 'the clergy'.<br><br>* from the above points, it doesn't seem to me like this <br>translation will be "proclaimed without misdirection or <br>obstruction" as they claim.<br><br>* I liked their comentary on 4:34 :)<br><br>and now I have to run.<br><br>Talib, the PSC delegation is already there and working - very <br>hard. 2 have already been chased by settlers as they were <br>assisting with olive harvesting. Insha Allah they will be well. <br>Most are quite young - around 20.<br><br>na'eem<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>ProgressiveMuslims mailing list<br>[email protected]<br>http://willo.nitric.co.za/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/progressivemuslims<br>

_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.
Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com