The repercussion of grammatical and cultural culpability of the holy qur’an translation to religious harmony in Indonesia

Abstract

Arguably, among the sources of Islamic radicalization in Indonesia is the interpretation of certain terminology in the holy Qur’an. In a relatively long period, religious understanding of Indonesian society is shaped by the official Translation of the Holy Qur’an by Ministry of Religious Affairs. However, this translation contains several mistakes, including mistakes in translating key terms relating to the issue of warfare, non-Muslims and killing. This eventually contributes to radicalization of some element of Muslim society in Indonesia. The purpose of this research is to analyze error translation of The Holy Qur’an verses. Content analysis theory is applied in this research with grammatical and cultural approach against the Holy Qur’an translation by Ministry of Religious Affairs of Indonesia (MORA). The research shows that 90 fatal errors in translation of The Holy Qur’an verses regarding infidels and polytheists are confirmed. The errors might be play role in the increasing religious disharmony in Indonesia. Furthermore, they arguably have fueled Islam-based terrorism acts.

Full text

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
59
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
THE REPERCUSSION OF GRAMMATICAL AND
CULTURAL CULPABILITY OF THE HOLY QUR’AN
TRANSLATION TO RELIGIOUS HARMONY IN
INDONESIA
Abdul Muta'ali
University of Indonesia – Indonesia | moetaalingua@gmail.com
Abstract: Arguably, among the sources of Islamic
radicalization in Indonesia is the interpretation of certain
terminology in the holy Qur’an. In a relatively long period,
religious understanding of Indonesian society is shaped by
the official Translation of the Holy Qur’an by Ministry of
Religious Affairs. However, this translation contains several
mistakes, including mistakes in translating key terms
relating to the issue of warfare, non-Muslims and killing.
This eventually contributes to radicalization of some
element of Muslim society in Indonesia. The purpose of
this research is to analyze error translation of The Holy
Qur’an verses. Content analysis theory is applied in this
research with grammatical and cultural approach against
the Holy Qur’an translation by Ministry of Religious Affairs
of Indonesia (MORA). The research shows that 90 fatal
errors in translation of The Holy Qur’an verses regarding
infidels and polytheists are confirmed. The errors might be
play role in the increasing religious disharmony in
Indonesia. Furthermore, they arguably have fueled Islam-
based terrorism acts.
Keywords: Qur’an translation, polytheist, infidel, MoRA.
Introduction
There are many explanations behind Islamic radicalization trend in
Indonesia. Among the chief explanation is the interpretation issue of
the sacred scripts; the Holy Qur’an and the Prophet sayings (hadith).
for Muslims, the two sacred texts are fundamental in guiding their
lives. However, since the texts are in Arabic, for those who do not
master Arabic language, things get complicated. Several Indonesian
DOI: 10.15642/JIIS.2014.8.1.59-70

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
60
traditional Muslims rely upon the interpretation provided by the ulama
(religious clerics) of various leanings and persuasion, while others,
especially the modern Muslims, go to the translation of the two scripts.
Both ways have own limitations. However, a number of terrorism acts
and religious radicalization had been taken place, directly or indirectly,
as a result of scriptural understanding, especially on Qur’anic texts that
speak about warfare. This article aims to show that the Qur’an does
not advocate unjust war. It is the translation that justifies this act of
terrors. On the other words, it is the inaccuracy of translation, which
sourced from lack of knowledge of sufficient Arabic language, that
impacts to various kinds of terrorism acts.
In a seminar held by of National Agency for Combating Terrorism
on 11
th
May 2011 at Al-Hikam Boarding School Depok, West Java, the
chief of the agency states that Indonesian terrorism acts within 10
years are absolutely alarming since it was built on religious
understanding which is spread among youth who “falls in love with
religion”. That is to say, this young generation studies religion instantly
and less comprehensive.
1
Usually, this youth circles study the religion
through some translated books or religious websites contain certain
lessons without elaborating deep knowledge in understanding religious
texts. Since the majority of religious texts written in Arabic, the
translation becomes main vehicle. If the translation is problematic in
some ways, the meaning will be altered or changed. This, in turn, will
lead into wrong or inaccurate interpretation.
Generally, when the Holy Qur’an is concerned, Indonesian society
especially the youth study the Holy Qur’an through the translation
version from Ministry of Religious Affairs. In a relatively long period,
the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an of Indonesian Muslims is shaped
by the Qur’an translation from Ministry of Religious Affairs. If there is
an inaccurate translation, the consequence is grave to their
understanding of the text. Here is a very obvious example, in the Holy
Qur’an Translation from Ministry of Religious Affairs, every single
verse stated Qa
>
til al-Mushriki
>
na is always translated as “kill the
polytheists”. Whenever the object is polytheist or infidel it must
translated as “to kill!,” Whereas morphological derivative pattern of
qa
>
til derived from qa
>
tala- yuqa
>
tilu, which has meaning as “to wage war”.
1
Ansyad Mbai, NII Movement; Cause and Its Solution (Paper conveyed at National
Seminar, Al-Hikam Boarding School Depok, 11 May 2011).

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
61
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
In Arabic, this verb segmented as verb pattern III which has reciprocal
meaning. Kill and war are vastly different. Will “to kill” has individual
meaning, tribal, and primitive, “to wage war” with each other is more
egalitarian since it is in the authority of the state or leadership of a
given community. There is mechanism to wage war, who must be
fought against, and who has right to wage war instruction. Therefore,
“to kill” is one-way command while “to wage war” has reciprocal
meaning and it is two ways communication between two parties. In
fact, there are a number of errors translations on that literature,
especially several verses about polytheists. If this culpability is ignored,
certain Muslims would believe it and use it as religious justifications for
violence and terror against non-Muslims. The word (1) qa
>
tala-yuqa
>
tilu is
repeated 166 times in The Holy Qur’an and wrongly translated 90
times.
This article unfolds upon this background. Questions on this
article are formulated into these two things: How far is the impact of
culpability of interpretation, which happens in the translation of the
Holy Qur’an by Indonesia Ministry of Religious Affairs, to warfare
verses and religious harmony? And what is the concept of religious
text translation?
Admittedly, research about culpability of the Holy Qur’an
Translation by Ministry of Religious Affairs is not the first one.
Muhammad Thalib writes Corrections to the Holy Qur’an Harfiyyah
Translation by Ministry of Religious Affairs that published by Mujahidin
Assembly on 2012.
2
On that book, Muhammad Thalib mentioned 17
verses from 3229 wrong interpretation verses. However, he serves the
mission of his radical group, the Mujahideen Assembly. Consequently,
his book contains heavy bias. In contrast, focus on this article is the
verses in the Holy Qur’an which are estimated as wrongly interpreted
based on the grammatical and cultural interpretation which is the basis
of translation theory.
Translation in Theory
The basic of translation analysis is text. Therefore, discourse
analysis like Halliday and Hassan in Cohesion in English, Emily Apter in
Translation with No Original; Scandals of Textual Reproduction are also used
2
Muhammad Thalib, The Holy Qur’an Translation Correction Ministry of Religious Affairs;
Aqidah Review, Sharia, Muamala, Iqtishadia (Yogyakarta: An-Nabawy Institution, 2011),
pp. 34-132.

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
62
in order to analyze the text. Halliday and Hasan claimed that text is any
passage, verbal or non-verbal, as long as created one idea. The
interesting part is the differentiation between text and non-text based
on public opinion. In their view, text is a structural sentences showed
relations between them while non-text is sentences without unity.
3
Then, Halliday and Hassan added some clues about text. First of all,
text has texture since language is absolutely showed totality of its
meaning. Secondly, text has relation marked by cohesive elements. Last
but not least, meaning relation within text can be found semantically.
In translated text, text often separated as two big groups, general text
and special text.
4
The text of the Holy Qur’an is clearly special text, the
meaning and purpose on it are also special. Therefore, it also needs
special understanding. Minor culpability interpretation created special
wrong understanding which has grave effects.
Qualitative method is applied on this research with content
analysis approach using grammatical and cultural against the Holy
Qur’an verses. The main reference of this research is the Holy Qur’an
Translation published by Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic
of Indonesia. Procedural steps in this research are as follow. Firstly,
collected and inventoried the translation of The Holy Qur’an
published by Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Republic of
Indonesia.
MORA and the Translation of Holy Qur’an
In Indonesia, there are many versions of the translation of the
Holy Qur’an, namely; the Holy Qur’an translation by Dr. Mahmud
Junus
5
, translation by HB. Jassin
6
, translation of the Holy Qur’an into
Javanese by Bishri Musthofa,
7
etc. The Ministry of Religious Affairs
3
Halliday and Hasan, Cohesian in English (London: Longman, 1976), p. 29.
4
Rahayu Hidayat, Synthetic Text; in Education and Functional First Stage Translator Training
(Jakarta: Ministry of the State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2012),
p. 21
5
Khadher Ahmad and Khairuddin Mawardi, “Contribution of Mahmud Yunus To the
Interpretation of the Qur’an: A study of Tafsir Qur’an Karim,” Research in Islamic
Studies, 1, 1 (2014): pp. 88-101
6
Yusuf Rahman, “The Controversy around HB. Jassin: a Study of His al-Qur’anul
Karim Bacaan Mulia and al-Qur’an al-Karim Berwajah Puisi,” in Abdullah Saeed (ed.),
Approaches to The Quran in Contemporary Indonesia, pp. 85-106,
7
Islah Gusmian, “Bahasa dan AKsara Tafsir Al-Qur’an di Indonesia: dari Tradisi,
Hierarki Hingga Kepentingan Pembaca,” Tsaqafah, 6, 1 (2010), pp. 1-26

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
63
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
with its Agency of the Holy Qur’an Supervision and Correction, has
the role in supervising the translations of the Holy Qur’an that
circulate in Indonesia. The translation of the Ministry itself was firstly
published in 1971. It was translated by a team consisting of several
experts of Islam and Arabic literature. Since then, there was virtually
no update and language review. Because of its position as state
initiative, its translation of the Holy Qur’an is widely referred by
Muslim community in Indonesia. Moreover, other printing companies
also use this translation version and sell the translation to the public
because those companies are allowed to use the translation virtually
without paying any fee to the ministry. Therefore, it has a strategic role
in shaping the understanding of Muslims in Indonesia, who in majority
do not understand Arabic, in understanding this divine message. When
there is inaccurate translation, the impact is potentially Indonesian
wide.
This article focuses on the grammatical and cultural culpability of
the translation, especially in the second chapter of (al-Baqarah, lit. the
Cow) of the Holy Qur’an which relate to the terms of killing and
warfare. This Al-Baqarah chapter consists of 286 verses, which is the
longest chapter in the Holy Qur’an, talked about 3 things; three
segmentation of people in facing The Holy Qur’an, oneness and God
Power, as well as God warning to the Children of Israel. There are
seven verses that contain inaccurate grammatical and cultural
interpretation, namely verse 28, 41, 91, 120, 130, 132, and 191.
Verse 28
Text of this verse is: Kaifa takfuru
>
na billa
>
h wa kuntum amwa
>
tan fa
ah
}
ya
>
kum, thumma yumi
>
tukum thumma yuh
}
yi
>
kum thumma ilaihi turja‘u
>
n.
MoRA translation: “Why do you infidel to Allah, whereas you were dead and
Allah gave you life then take your life”.
8
Wrong interpretation occurred in the translation of takfuru
>
na billa
>
h
it translated as “infidel”. In Arabic Linguistic word infidel is an isim fa
>
‘il
or active participle. Whereas takfuru
>
na billa
>
h is an imperfective or fi‘il
mud
}
a
>
ri‘. In translation theory, although translation means forwarding
message process, it is better for translator to use the same
morphological form as long as they can use it with the same message
content. Then, takfuru
>
na billa
>
h is more accurate translated as “you
8
See The MORA Translation to the Holy Qur’an, 13.

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
64
refuse the favors of Allah”. Strong reason of word ‘ka-fa-ra’ translation
as “to refuse” is verse 85 of the same chapter of Al-Baqarah. The verse
of “….afatu’minu
>
bi ba‘d
}
i al-kita
>
bi wa takfuru
>
na bi ba‘d
}
is translated into:
“Do you believe in some scripture and do not in others scripture?”
9
In this case
the The Holy Qur’an translation is correct. Why verse 85 translated as
“to refuse” but verse 28 translates as “to be infidel” provided that they
are in the same context. Actually, the verse 85 talks about proofs of
Allah Power, not in a warfare context.
Culturally, Arabs commonly use the word “takfuru” (you refuse or
lie) or “kafarta” (you lied) in the context of social science. For instance,
“kafarta h
}
ubbi” (you lied to my love). However, if the use of the word
“ka-fa-ra” is translated literally in Indonesian, the message is very much
mistaken. Because the word “Kafir” in Indonesian is the opposite of
the word ‘mukmin’. while “kafir” means infidel, the “mukmin” means
believers. The case is different with verse 34 in the same letter that is
correctly translated. The use of the word ‘kafir’ in this paragraph is
correct. “Illa
>
ibli
>
sa aba
>
wastakbara wa ka
>
na min al-ka
>
firi
>
n”. Translation of
Ministry of Religious Affairs is: “unless the devil, he was reluctant and
arrogant and he belonged to the people who disbelieve”.
10
Verse 41 and verse 91
The text of the verse 41 is: wa a
>
minu
>
bima
>
anzaltu mus
}
addiqal lima
>
ma‘akum wala
>
taku
>
nu
>
awwala ka
>
firin bih. The translation of MORA is:
“And ye have faith in what I have sent down (the Qur'an) that confirms what you
have (Torah), and do not be the first person who disbelieves him”.
11
The text of
the verse 91 is: “wa idha
>
qi
>
la lahum a
>
minu
>
bima
>
anzalalla
>
hu qa
>
lu nu’minu
bima
>
unzila ‘alaina wa yakfuru
>
na bima
>
wara
>
’ah”. The translation by MORA
version is: “When it is said to them,” believe in the Qur’an Allah has revealed,
“they say”, we just believe in what was revealed to us and they disbelieve in al-
Qur’an that was revealed after that”.
12
In these 2 (two) verses, the word ‘ka>fir’ is using morphological
form of ism fa'il or perpetrator. So, at first glance it seems like a correct
translation above religious ministry, “the first infidel”. However, as
9
Ibid., p. 24.
10
Ibid., p. 14
11
Ibid., p. 15.
12
Ibid., pp. 25-26.

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
65
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
shown by Mutawalli Sha’rawi in the context of his commentary
13
on
the verse of the Qur’an, there is actually implicitly process and stages
of disbelief categorization interaction or community groups to
particular holy book the Quran. The first stage, there are already
people who are reading and believing but they do not practice. In the
ideology of Islamic monotheism or type is called fasiq. The second
stage, there are people who have read the Quran, but hesitated, called
munafiq (hypocrites). The third stage, there are people who have already
read but do not believe, called Ahl al-Kitab. But it is not an initial
disclaim enmity with Muslims. The fourth stage, since the Qur’an is the
physical form of text, when text is presented, there is the attitude of
some groups who do not want to read but still respect Islam, called
Ahl al-Kitab. While there is a fifth stage of people that did not want to
read the Qur’an, but they refuse in Islam called kafir. In the context of
this MORA translation, it seems to immediately jump to the fifth stage
and ignore the stages one to four. Thus, it is advisable to propose a
revised translation by taking the average of the meaning from the
context of the verse. This is the offer “And do not you be the first person to
refuse to Al- Quran”.
Verse 120
This verse of the text: “wa lan tard
}
a ‘anka al-yahu
>
du wala
>
an-nas
}
a
>
ra
h
}
atta
>
tattabi‘a millatahum. Qul inna hudalla
>
hi huwa al-huda
>
. Wa la inittaba‘ta
ahwa
>
ahum ba‘da al-ladzi
>
ja
>
’aka min al-‘ilmi ma
>
laka minalla
>
hi waliy
>
in wa la
>
nas
}
i
>
r”. That is the Indonesian version of the Ministry of religion “The
Jews and Christians will not be pleased to you until you follow their religion. Say:
‘Verily, Allah’s guidance is the only guidance (which is true)’. And if you follow
their desires after the knowledge came into you, God is no longer the protector nor
helper for you”.
14
Errors of translation in this verse occurs in the translation of the
sentence lan tard
}
a ‘anka al-yahu
>
du wala
>
an-nas
}
a
>
ra translated “the Jews and
the Christians will not be pleased”. In this verse, the word la
>
and lan
both translated with “will not”. Though the two different meanings.
“lan” means “will not” (never), while the “la” means “no” (no). If
translated one by one supposedly “Jews will never be pleased” and
“those Christians cannot be happy”. It can be understood that “lan”
13
Mutawalli Sya’rawi, Tafsir Sya’rawi (Beirut: n.p., n.d.), p. 69.
14
Ibid., p. 32.

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
66
and “la” translates the same as “will not” because of the presence of
“waw” (and) as connecting particles. So, as to facilitate the readers
likened translation as “the Jews and the Christians will not be pleased”.
In Arabic semantic grammar, this leads to the understanding of
Indonesian Muslim society that Jews and Christians are alike in a sense
that both people will never please until Muslims follow their religion.
However, that should not be the case if the verse translated correctly.
While the verse has state clearly that Jews will never please until
Muslim follow their religion, the verse does not rule out the possibility
of Muslim-Christian harmony. The translation, therefore, should be:
“the Jews different from Christians can, they want you to follow the teachings”.
Verse 130
The text of this verse sounds: “wa man yarghabu ‘an millati ibra
>
hi
>
ma
illa
>
man safiha nafsahu. Wa laqad is
}
t
}
afaina
>
hu fi al-dunya, wa innahu
>
fi al-
a
>
khirati lamina as-s
}
a
>
lih
}
i
>
n”. Translation of MORA is: “And no one hates the
religion of Ibrahim except someone who make a fool of himself, and indeed we have
chosen him in this world and in the hereafter he actually includes those pious”.
15
Translation mistakes in this paragraph contained in the translation
of the word ‘safiha nafsah’ which is translated into ‘make a fool of himself’.
In the dictionary Al – Mu‘jam Al-Qasith, the word ‘sa-fi-ha’ means not
productive or useless.
16
In Arabic there are several levels of the
meaning of words that has a field ‘dumb’, the lowest so-called ‘safi>h’,
then ‘bali>d’, and the highest level of dumb commonly referred to as
‘ja>hil’.
17
‘Sa>fih’ is commonly interpreted to be useless. ‘Bali>d’ is usually
translated with lazy thinking, and ‘ignorant’ is translated by fools. Thus
the translation version of MORA has occurred immediately leap to
interpret ‘safih’ using the third level. Of course this will make the
significant leap to justify stigma that people who do not necessarily
believe in the doctrine of monotheism soon would be stamped.
Though faith is a belief is a long process that takes a long time anyway.
Someone should read first, consult with religious leaders in the faith
and instill a confidence. So if we directly refer to someone who does
not believe in the doctrine or ideology that we believe to be a fool,
even though we both are looking for.
15
Ibid., p. 34.
16
Syauqi Dhaif et.al, Al-Mu'jam Al-Wasith (Cairo: Dar El-Arab, 1972), p. 458.
17
Ahmad Khalil Farahidi, Mu'jam Al-'Ain, volume 7 (Beirut: Dar El-Fikri, 2000), p.
139.

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
67
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
Verse 132
The text of this verse reads: “wa was
}>
a
>
biha
>
ibra
>
hi
>
mu bani
>
hi wa ya‘qu
>
bu
ya
>
baniy
>
a innalla
>
ha as
}
t
}
afa
>
lakum al-di
>
na fala
>
tamu
>
tun
}
a illa
>
wa antum
muslimu
>
n”. the translation of MORA is: “And Ibrahim had willed it to his
children, as did Jacob. (He said): ‘O my sons! Indeed, Allah has chosen this
religion for you, so do not die except in embracing Islam”.
18
The context of Ibrahim’s monotheism religion that becomes the
parent of all divine religions, yet in the context of the definition of
religion that we know today is Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Understanding this paragraph must be integrated with an
understanding of the previous verse, namely verse 131 the same
chapter which reads: “Idh qa
>
la lahu
>
rabbuhu
>
aslim, qa
>
la aslamtu li rabbi al-
‘a
>
lami
>
n”. Defined in the translations by MORA: “When his Lord said to
him: “Obey and comply!” Ibrahim replied: “I have surrendered to the Lord of the
universe”. Because of this, it can clearly be seen that translation of verse
132 as “so do not die except embracing Islam" is not consistent. Why are
pieces of verse 132 “muslimu
>
n” is defined “to embrace Islam” (becoming
Muslim) while verse 131 pieces the word “aslim” and “aslamtu” is
simply translated as “submission”?, Even though both are derived from
the same root and the same discourse context as well. This is similar to
the translation of verse 64 of Ali Imran letter, “fa qu
>
lu al-ashhadu
>
bi anna
>
muslimu
>
n”, which is translated by MORA to “bear witness, that we are the
ones who have surrendered (to Allah)”. The part of the sentence, “anna
>
muslimu
>
n”, not translated to: “we are Muslims”.
Translation of verse 132 “so do not die except in embracing Islam”, in
fact is also contrary to the Qur’an itself is verse 256 of Surah al-
Baqarah, which reads: “Laa ikra
>
ha fiddi
>
n” (meaning: “there is no
compulsion to enter the religion of Islam”).
19
In the part of verse 132
translation, the translation inconsistencies of Chapter al-Baqarah are
also seen if we compare it with the translation of the same verse 136
that read: “…la
>
nufarriqu baina ah
}
adin minhum wa nah
}
nu lahu
>
muslimu
>
n”,
which is translated into “...we make no distinction between any of them and we
submit to Him”. At verse 132 “Muslimun” means “embrace Islam”, while at
verse 136 “Muslimun” means “submission”.
18
See Ibid., p. 34.
19
MORA Translation, p. 63.

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
68
Similar to translation by MORA, Errors of interpretation is found
in The Holy Qur'an: Tafsiriyyah Translation issued by Majelis
Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI). Verses 131-132 of this chapter Al -
Baqarah translated by MMI with “O Quraysh, remember when God of
Ibrahim said to him: “O Ibrahim, you are immediately converted to
Islam without any hesitation”. He said, “I embraced Islam sincerely for
Allah, the Supreme Organize and Master of the Universe” (Surah al-
Baqarah: 131). Ibrahim and Ya’qub were instructing his sons. Ibrahim
said: “O my dear sons, truly God had chosen Islam as your religion.
Therefore you do not ever die, unless you die as Muslims”.
Verse 191
The text of this verse is: “waqtulu
>
hum h
}
aithu thaqiftumu
>
hum wa
akhriju
>
hum min h
}
aithu akhraju
>
kum wa al-fitnatu ashaddu min al-qatli, wa la
>
tuqa
>
tilu
>
hum ‘inda al-masjidil hara
>
mi h
}
atta
>
yuqa
>
tilu
>
kum fi
>
h. Fa inqa
>
talu
>
kum
faqtulu
>
hum. Kadza
>
lika jaza
>
’u al-ka
>
firi
>
n”. Translation of MORA is: “And
slay them wherever you find them, and drive them out from their place like they
drove you out (from Mecca); and slander has a greater danger than assassination,
and do not fight them in the Mosque of Haram, except if they fight you in that
place. If they fight you (in it), then kill them. Such is the reward of disbelievers”.
20
Errors of translation in this verse occurs in part of verse
“waqtulu
>
hum h
}
aithu thaqiftumu
>
hum”, which is translated into “and slay them
wherever you find them”. More specifically there is an error in the
interpretation of part of the verse ‘thaqiftumu
>
hum’ which is defined as
“wherever you find them”. Explicit understanding of this verse is gruesome
and dangerous. Just look at “and slay them wherever you find them”.
Anyone who are discovered to have non-Muslim identity, he or she
should be killed.
In Arabic grammar, the word ‘thaqiftumu>hum’, derived from the
root word ‘tsa-qa-fa’. In some classical dictionaries like Mu‘jam al-
‘Ain
21
and Lisan al-‘Arab,
22
interpreted by as “to attack” and “to make
slanderous act”. Thus, there appears to be missing from the translation
meaning ‘thaqiftumu>hum’ contained in the Qur’an translation of
MORA. Thus, the more appropriate interpretation should be: “and kill
them wherever you find them and make slanderous attack”.
20
Ibid., p. 46
21
Al-Farahidi, Mu'jam Al-'Ain, p. 120.
22
See Louis Ma’luf, al-Munjid (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 2002), p. 319.

The Holy Qur’an Translation of MoRA
69
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
Conclusion
Grammatical errors and cultural interpretations of the Qur’an
Translations by MORA happen because it only took a partial
translation of one of the meanings contained in words. It has ignored
that the Holy Qur'an contains elements of all polysemy-related words.
It is also inconsistent in translating words with identical roots across
the verses. In the focus of the article is the second (and the largest)
chapter of the Holy Quran, al-Baqarah, it has been noted several errors
in translation. The errors also take place in words relating to the
definition of Islam, the issue of non-Muslims, and the gradation of
infidelity. The consequence or this inaccuracy is grave since the
translation has put non-Muslim as enemy and put Islam as the sole
truth in Abrahamic religions. Arguably, radical approaches to Islam
which manifest in Indonesia recent years in form of unpleasant attitude
towards non-Muslims and terror attacks may result of reading of this
translation. []
References
Books and Articles
Abdul Baqi, Muhammad Fuad. Mu'jam Mufahras li Al-Faazhil Qur'anil
karim. Beirut: Dar El-Jail, 1988.
Ahmad, Khadher Ahmad and Khairuddin Mawardi. “Contribution of
Mahmud Yunus To the Interpretation of the Qur’an: A study of
Tafsir Qur’an Karim.” Research in Islamic Studies, 1, 1 (2014): pp.
88-101
Allen, Matthew. Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and
Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Dickin, James. Thinking Arabic Translation. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Farahidi, Ahmad Khalil. Mu'jamul Ain. Cairo: Dar El-Arabi, 1997.
Gusmian, Islah. “Bahasa dan Aksara Tafsir Al-Qur’an di Indonesia:
dari Tradisi, Hierarki Hingga Kepentingan Pembaca.” Tsaqafah,
6, 1 (2010): pp. 1-26
Halliday, M.A.K & Ruqaiya Hasan. Cohesion in English. London:
Longman, 1976.
Hasan, Tammam. Rawa'i 'ul bayan fi al-Qur'an al-Karim. Cairo: 'Alam al-
Kutub Publising, 1997.

Abdul Muta’ali
JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN ISLAM
Volume 08, Number 01, June 2014
70
Muta'ali, Abdul. Kontribusi Bahasa Arab dalam kosakata Bahasa Indonesia.
Purwakarta: Nur Elsyam Publishing, 2010.
----------. Membangun Negara Kuat: Kontribusi Islam terhadap Pemikiran
Politik Barat. Jakarta: UI Press, 2013.
Rahman, Yusuf. Rahman. “The Controversy around HB. Jassin: a
Study of His al-Qur’anul Karim Bacaan Mulia and al-Qur’an al-
Karim berwajah Puisi.” Abdullah Saeed (ed.). Approaches to The
Quran in Contemporary Indonesia. Oxford: Oxford University Press
in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2005.
Thalib, Muhammad. Koreksi Tarjamah Harfiyah Al-Qur'an Kemenag RI:
Tinjauan Aqidah, Syari'ah, Mu'amalah, Iqtishadiyah. Yogyakarta:
Ma'had An-Nabawy, 2011.