The effect of religious and cultural background in the translation of quranic terms: some French translation samples of astronomical terms in the Holy Quran

Abstract

Translating Quranic terms poses challenges for any translator, as it relies deeply on their ability to convey the nuanced meanings and transfer them accurately. However, this communicative and linguistic process requires considering the intellectual backgrounds and cultural assets derived from the religious, cultural and social environment of the translator. Particularly, when the translator backgrounds are distant of Arabic culture and outside of Islamic context. The resulting equivalents may differ from the original terms potentially altering the legal realities conveyed by those terms or they may give them new significations in the target language. In this case, their translation requires, on the one hand, the acquisition of linguistic and extra-linguistic knowledge, and on the other hand, the use of different Islamic exegesis in order to transfer their original significance with the same linguistic, terminological and quranic dimension. This paper concluded that the translator background affect his choice for the equivalent of quranic terms.