A methodological overview of translation studies of the Holy Quran in the Republic Period

Muslims have always aimed to understand the Holy Quran, which is the salvation guide for humanity, to learn the truths it contains in the most accurate way and to convey it to others. The translation activities of the Qur'an, which is the fruit of this aim, have attracted more attention than ever before since the last century. Especially after the transition to the republican regime, a significant number of Quran translations have been written in Turkey. The fact that every work written does not have the same level of scientific competence has had negative results in terms of the quality of the translations although the increase in the studies in this field is a positive development in terms of the vitality of scientific activities. It has been seen that some of the translations written by those who do not have the authority to translate the Qur'an, due to their ideological concerns, have resulted in falsifying the meaning of the Qur'an rather than benefiting it. For this reason, this thesis has subjected some of the translations of the Holy Quran, written from the first years of the Republic to the present, to a methodological analysis from the perspective of Islamic sciences. Therefore, the meaning of the "Meal" (Translation of Holy Quran) and the process of the emergence of this concept and the related concepts such as the Quran, tafsir (interpretation of Quran), ta'vil (implicature) and translation are discussed and explained. Then, the translation process of the Holy Quran and a brief history of the translations made into Turkish from the past to now are exhibited. In addition, information is given about some of the translations written in the Republican period. Among these translations, those containing different religious approaches were selected and analysed, and the value of these translations in terms of Quranic sciences was discussed. Finally, some basic principles have been put forward to increase the efficiency of the work of the translation readers, by explaining the basic issues that should be taken into account in reading the translation. As a result, this study tries to explain the relationship between the translation and the Quran, the value of some translations written in the Republican period in terms of Quranic sciences and the role of translations in understanding the Quran. Keywords: Holy Quran, Meaning of Holy Quran, Translation, Republican era, Quranic sciences.