TRANSLATION OF THE QUR’AAN
Question:
Is it permissible to translate the Qur’aan, for example, into English, French or Hebrew?
Answer:
To translate the Qur’aan into another language is an impossible task, for the wording of the Qur’aan in Arabic is a miracle, one that can not be replicated in another language. However, it is permissible to translate the meanings of the Qur’aan, which means to translate the explanation, or Tafsir of the Qur’aan.
Therefore one should choose a trusted Tafsir booking Arabic – one that is in accordance to the way of our pious predecessors – and then proceed to translate it into another language, so that people of other languages may know the meanings of the Qur’aan.
We should not forget, though, that it is obligatory upon every Muslim to learn Arabic, that language in which the Qur’aan was revealed, and the language of the Sharia’ah, so that one may correctly understand his religion, his Lord’s speech, and the Prophet’s Sunnah.
Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-`Uthaymeen
Fatawa Islamiyah, vol.7, p.39 DARUSSALAM