It's Amazing That A New Translation Of The Qur'an Is Circulating, The Meaning Of Awiliya Is Replaced By A Loyal Friend, Let's Check It!

Social media illustration (Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The WhatsApp messaging application is again enlivened with a chain message that says, the new translation of the Al-Qur'an Nusantara, Surah Al Maidah 51 has been circulating.

The new translation has changed the meaning of Awiliya to a loyal friend from the previous translation which means leader. In the narration, the messenger wrote this.

"Innalillahi wa innaillaihi roojiuun. Now the Koran of the Archipelago has been realized. Astaghfirullah. O Allah, forgive us and save us and our grandchildren from the fire of hell. The Quran has been distributed with FAKE translations to schools under the pretext of waqf of the Koran. Please If there is a FALSE QUR'AN WAKF, check the Al-Maidah verse 51 and so on, the translation has been changed..."

"Move quickly, Report!!!!!!!!!”…… there is a fake Al Qur'an.. now in circulation, the new translation of Al Maidah 51, the “leader” has been replaced with a “faithful friend” And almost all which is sold on GRAMEDIA… The interpretation has been changed to become a loyal friend!!! This….. It's true that the REAL ISLAM has gone too far…. BEEN BACK FROM ALL DIRECTIONS."

Is that right?

A similar message apparently circulated in 2016 and was clarified by the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag). The acting head of the Ministry of Religion's Lajnah Pentashihan Mushaf Al-Quran (LPMQ), Muchlis M Hanafi, was quoted from Republika as denying this.

Muchlis emphasized that it was not true that there had been recent editing of the translation of the Qur'an.

"The allegation that the editing was carried out on the instructions of the Ministry of Religion is also baseless," said Muchlis.

According to Muchlis, the word awliya in the Qur'an is mentioned 42 times and translated in various contexts. Referring to the translation of the Koran of the Ministry of Religion revised edition 1998-2002.

In surah Ali Imran [3] verse 28, an-Nisa [4] verses 139 and 144, and al-Maidah [5] verse 57, for example, the word awliya is translated as leader. Whereas in surah al-Maidah [5] verse 51 and al-Mumtahanah [60] verse 1, it is interpreted as a loyal friend.

"In surah at-Taubah [9] verse 23 it is interpreted as a protector, and in surah an-Nisa [4] it is translated with friends," said Muchlis.

The Ministry of Religion's translation of the Koran, said Muchlis, was first published in 1965. In its development, this translation has undergone two revision and refinement processes, namely in 1989-1990 and 1998-2002. The process of improvement and refinement is carried out by scholars and experts in their fields, while the Ministry of Religion acts as a facilitator.

Based on this explanation, the content of the chain message falls into the category of misleading content.