Impact of the Different Qirā’āt on English Translations of the Qur’ān

This study is primarily concerned with the variant qirā’āt (i.e grammatical variations of the Quranic words/phrases) of the Qur’ān, and their impact on English translations of the Qur’ān. A key feature of this study is to identify the most significant grammatical differences between the different qirā’āt. To ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the data selected for this study, the researcher relies on traditional Islamic studies to justify and explain the different qirā’āt. Starting from the fact that current English translations of the Qur’ān tend to follow the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ, the form of recitation that has become predominant almost throughout the world at the present time, this study investigates fourteen English translations of the Qur’ān to find out whether the different qirā’āt are reflected in the translations and to examine to what extent they are consistent with the riwāyah of Ḥafṣ. Additionally, this research produces a comprehensive dataset of the āyāt that involve different qirā’āt. This study reveals that despite the typical semantic similarity between the denotative meanings of two or more different qirā’āt of a given word/phrase in the Qur’ān, semantic identity between qirā’āt is not the norm. It is evident that different qirā’āt have a significant impact on the Qur’ān linguistically and semantically. This study reveals that not all variant qirā’āt affect the translations of the Qur’ān to the same degree, in fact, in some cases the differences between the qirā’āt are lost in translation. Nevertheless, this thesis shows that considering the different qirā’āt will improve the accuracy and consistency of Qur’ān translations in one or more of the following ways: (i) clarifying any ambiguity that may appear in the Quranic text, (ii) providing two or more different meanings for the same āyah, all of these being correct and without any contradiction, (iii) providing the complete meaning of a given āyah, and (iv) removing any unacceptable interpretation that may emerge as a result of not considering the different qirā’āt of the Qur’ān. This study proposes that translation of the Qur’ān should be consistent with one particular riwāyah (that of Ḥafṣ for example), that this should be stated in the introduction or on the cover page of the translation, and that in cases where the Quranic words/phrases have several variant recitations, these should be presented in a footnote. This procedure, by presenting all the meanings based on the different qirā’āt of the Qur’ān, would allow the reader to appreciate the depth of meaning of the āyah, contribute to raising the reader’s awareness of this significant feature of the Qur’ān, and the fact that despite several cases where the qirā’āt of the Qur’ān result in different words, styles, sentence structures and/or meanings, none of these differences contradicts one another.