Despite the traditional opposition to the Quran being translated, there have been scholars who believed that translation cannot be completely done away with. One such was Abu Hanifa, the Iraqi scholar of the 9th century. He was of the view that the text could be translated, provided the Arabic original is also provided along with the translation. He also felt that non-Arabic speakers could express the meaning in their own language while they recite the Quranic verses. However, the stricture that a non-believer cannot translate the Holy Quran still holds.

As is the case with the Torah, translation of the Quran also implies explanation of the meaning and significance of the verses. Interpretation can very often be dictated by personal beliefs and ideology, and perhaps this explains the importance given to the translator’s faith in the translation of the Quran. Somebody who does not share the beliefs embedded in the text might knowingly or unknowingly distort the message of the book. Hence it is not a surprise that non-believers are asked to keep away from it.

Despite the barriers surrounding it, translations of the Quran have taken place. Hassan Mustapha notes that the first translations were done during the reign of the Abbasids (8th – 12th centuries in what is present day Iraq). These were done by the first Persians who converted to Islam. However, there was an early translation which was by a non-believer – the Latin translation commissioned in 1143 by Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny to repudiate the tenets of Islam.There were other translations like these, with the specific aim of undermining Islamic religious beliefs.In the Middle Ages in which the Crusades witnessed the most bitter and protracted of battles between Christians and Muslims, translation became another weapon to fight the infidel with. Since then, there have been numerous translations of the Quran, but Mustapha is of the view that “there is, by implication, no universally recognized single translation, or edition in translation, of the Quran” (201).