Online Quran Project (OQP) Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an - Middle East. Multiple English translations of the Qur'an, Islam's scripture, line shelves at book stores. Amazon.com sells more than a dozen. Because of the growing Muslim communities in English-speaking countries, as well as greater academic interest in Islam, there has been a blossoming in recent years of English translations. Muslims view the Qur'an as God's direct words revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632).[1] Because the Qur'an stresses its Arabic nature, Muslim scholars believe that any translation cannot be more than an approximate interpretation, intended only as a tool for the study and understanding of the original Arabic text.[2] Since fewer than 20 percent of Muslims speak Arabic, this means that most Muslims study the text only in translation.
So how accurate are the Qur'an's renderings into English? Contextualizing the Qur'an No serious researcher denies that Muhammad came to a milieu that was highly influenced by Judeo-Christian ideas. Early Translations.