A speech by Ibrahim Shuqqa regarding the translation of the Qur'an.

Abu Malik: These are many attempts, and the previous...

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Abu Malik: And this is an issue that has been raised for a long time, and they have made many, many attempts, and discussions have taken place, especially in the Egyptian newspapers. Many writers, or those who write, have spoken about it, and many scholars have spoken about it and issued rulings. Finally, after a long battle and many, many arguments and verbal disputes in the newspapers that reached the point of mutual cursing, insults, disparagement, and accusations of ignorance, the Fatwa Committee at al-Azhar at that time, and also many years ago, issued a fatwa that it is absolutely not permissible to proceed with a literal translation of the Qur'an. When we say a literal or word-for-word translation, it may be more accurate, but the expression "literal translation" is used because the letters of the Arabic language, especially some of the letters in the Arabic language, can absolutely never be translated or transferred to other languages, and this is well known. Then, secondly, a literal or word-for-word translation of the Qur'an deprives the Qur'an of its inimitability (i'jaz), which is the great aspect by which Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) challenged the Arabs in all their centuries, decades, and long periods. The Qur'an is not miraculous unless it is in Arabic. And when we speak even about the meaning-based translation of the Qur'an, we have seen many of those who translated the Noble Qur'an, either by meaning or by sense, and we found them falling into many errors, because the translators are not also secure in this aspect, because the translator must also have sound creed in order to convey it, especially the verses of creed, which are the most dangerous in the Noble Qur'an when translated, even by meaning or non-literally. And from this, what I see is that one person alone should not undertake the translation of the Qur'an, but rather there must be a body of trustworthy scholars who are hosted by an official entity from among those who guarantee the religion of Allah the Exalted to undertake the translation of this Qur'an. And there must be scholars of language, scholars of hadith, and scholars of meanings in explaining the different aspects of interpretation. And this naturally, without doubt, requires a long effort and continuous patience, and I do not think that one or two people can undertake this huge, great effort. And from this, we have found that the translations of the meanings of the Qur'an that have appeared until now, there is no translation among the translations we have that is one hundred percent sound. There are many flaws and mistakes in the language, in the meanings, in the aspects of interpretation, in the language, and in the creed as well. And this is, of course, a matter that is long and very long. Therefore, even the transfer of the Qur'an from the Arabic words to other meanings to bring it closer to the people cannot be done unless there is a committee that is trustworthy.