History of Urdu translations of the Holy Qur'an in the subcontinent

Authors

  • Hafeez Arshad Hashimi
  • Dr. Manzoor Ahmad

Keywords:

Qur'an, translations,Urdu, Tafseer

Abstract

The Qur'an was originally written in the Arabic language and has been translated into most major African, Asian European and all over the world languages. According to Islamic teachings, the Qur'an is a revelation by God very specifically in Arabic, and so it should only be recited in  Arabic which is the language of Quraish.so the Muslims scholars allowed the Translations into other languages and it is necessarily the work of humans and so, according to Islamic teachings, no longer possess the uniquely sacred character of the Arabic original. Since these translations necessarily subtly change the meaning, they are often called "interpretations and translations. When the Islam came in to non-Arab regions so the Quran translation becomes a necessary work. Due to this, The first translation of the Holy Qur'an was performed by Salman bin Farsi the Persian, who translated Surah al-Fatihah into the Persian language during the early 7th century. Holy Quran was translated in many languages. First Urdu translation of Quran was done by Shah Abdul Qadir, who was the son of Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlawi.in subcontinent different scholars translate Quran in Urdu language according to their views like One of the authentic translation of Quran in Urdu was done by Imam Ahmed Rida Khan and was named Kanzul Iman. Molana Ashiq Elahi Merathi also translated the Qur'an in Urdu. Bayyan ul Quran is a renowned translation of Quran along with Tafseer and Shan e Nazool in Urdu by Molana Ashraf Ali Thanvi. There is large number of scholars by every school of thoughts in Pakistan who translated the Quran in Urdu language. In this research article, the different varieties of Urdu Translations of the Holy Quran have been discussed in shortly. These translations contain, underneath-context, lexis-based, semi-idiomatic and poetic translations. These have been studied on comparative and introductive level as well. The Arabic language has a different flavor and the Urdu has its own touch. The article also deals the introduction of Quranic translations as well. And the merits and demerits have also been neglected. The Urdu translation versions of the Holy Quran have also been comparatively judged. Because Urdu is national language of Pakistan and widely spoked in subcontinent. therefore, the History of translations have been specially discussed in detail.

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Published

2021-10-16