International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 6, Issue 4, April 2018, PP 38-53 ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online) http://dx.doi.org/10.20431/2347-3134.0604005 www.arcjournals.org International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Page |38 Review of Some Orientalists’ Approaches used in the Translation of the Holy Quran Dr. Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek* Associate Professor, Shaqra University-KSA, Former Head/Dept of English, Al-Zaeem Al-Azhari University– Sudan 1. BACKGROUND There were great efforts from Islamic scholars who wrote to defend Islam and Muslims, especially in the area of the Translation of the Holy Quran. Some articles were so good and powerful in criticizing – those intentional or unintentional practices of wrong translations of the Quran, by some of the Orientalists. But these great efforts were written by these Muslims Scholars and Fuqha ( ( ءΎهϘ فin Arabic or other local languages, a thing that made the messages limited to specific readers and consequently did not reach the target audiences- the Orientalists themselves - in their own languages. So this article is an attempt and may be followed by others to reflect the viewpoints of these Islamic scholars in English to correct some wrong stereotype images about Islam and Muslims that were made and are still made by Orientalists. 1.1. The Quran and the Arabic Language Islam is a universal religion and the Quran is the WORD of ALLAH Almighty to his messenger Mohammed–peace be upon him. It was revealed during 23 years to reach the four corners of the earth. The Quran was revealed in Arabic to challenge the Arabs in their own trade; and to give evidence for its Divine origin as not a man-made book. The Arabs were challenged to make ten Suras similar to it. Then they were challenged again to make only one sura, but they could not make it in both situations. According to (Siddiek: 2012) the moment that (Gabriel)-peace be on him) was sent by Allah Almighty to Earth to speak to Mohammed (peace be upon him), in Makkah- in his own Arabic language; that moment- was the greatest in the history of the Arabic language. (Siddiek) believes that the Arabic Language had reached its maturity as a full grown linguistic system, to be selected as a perfect medium of communication at that time and during all times. The Quranic language is not too complicated with obsolete language structures, as it was the case in the Jahalia era, nor too lower as it is spoken today, with different variations in the Arab world. So that moment was historical in the development of the Arabic Language. The Arabic language – comparatively – then was at its best and mature enough to carry the word of Allah Almighty, in the most elegant style of art, grammar, lexicology, phonology and stylistics and in all other linguistic aspects. So the Arabic language had reached the peak of perfectness, when Gabriel (peace be upon him) came down to Makkah to teach the prophet- peace be upon him – the first revelations of the Holy Quran. Abstract: Islam and Muslims were and still are subject to systematic attacks on their physical beings and on their religious belief. These attacks are from individual persons, and from organized institutions as well; who are fiercely attacking the Islamic Religion, to disgrace the Islamic Values and distort the image of the Prophet Mohammed-peace be upon him. This paper is an attempt to shoulder the reasonability to speak to these people in their own languages to correct some wrong images; they had about Islamic Faith. On the other hand we want to defend Muslim entities and individuals as well. The paper discusses some questionable approaches used by the Orientalists in translating the Holy Quran. It will shed light on mistakes made in these translations. The findings proved that there was great harm-intentionally or unintentionally-made to Islam and Muslims due to these mistranslation practices of the Quran, the Holy Book of Muslims and the ultimate authentic reference to all Islamic laws and Islamic Teachings. Keywords: Religious Differences, Film Title Translation, Functional Equivalence Theory *Corresponding Author: Dr. Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek, Associate Professor, Shaqra University-KSA, Former Head/Dept of English, Al-Zaeem Al-Azhari University–Sudan