The Impact of Gender-based Ideological Perspective of Translators on Translations of the Holy Qur’an

Abstract

In the translation of Qur’anic verses, lexical choices can illustrate gender ideologies of translators and, consequently, change the attitude of individuals towards Islam and the status of women in Islam. The purpose of this study is investigating the impact of the gender-based ideological perspective of translators with different orientations in translating women-related verses. Since most of the Qur’an translators have been men, this research seeks to determine the extent of the impact of patriarchal ideology in translating some verses of the Qur'an. In this regard, two Persian translations of the Holy Qur'an were selected, one translated by a female translator and one by a male translator. Also three English translations of some verses related to women in the four surahs of Nisa, Al-Ahzab, Noor and Mumtahanah, translated by an Iranian woman and male translators with Eastern and Western orientations in their translation of woman-related verses. The translations were analyzed based on the model of critical translation analysis proposed by Khanjan (2011). The results showed that gender ideology of translators can consciously and unconsciously affect their translations. Although translators have translated accurately, their translations depict their conception of man from the Word of God. Gender ideology, prevailing social views and the translator’s conception of men and women, unconsciously affects the translator’s thoughts, beliefs, and lexical choices. Translators’ error in the translation of religious texts is a possibility but it is better that readers consider translation errors a probability.