The Influence of Class Shift on Illustrating the Meanings in Qur'anic Translations with Reference to the Islamic Teachings in Surat Al.Baqarah

This research investigates the role of class shift, a sub-branch of Catford's category shifts (1965), in expounding the Qur'anic meanings in selected translations of some verses including essential Islamic teachings in Surat Al.Baqarah. Fundamentally, the researcher aims at highlighting various dimensions of class shift away from the traditional view regarding it as an obligatory grammatical procedure applied to achieve grammatical naturalness in the process of translating a text from one language into another. To provide a holistic view about the influence of class shift on illustrating the Qur'anic meanings under discussion, the researcher refers to four translations; namely, Yusuf Ali's The Glorious Quran (1934), Arberry's The Koran Interpreted (1955), Al.Hilali and Khan's The Noble Qur'an (1984), and Abdel-Haleem's The Qur'an (2004). The data analysis reveals that class shift has significant functions including conveying a spiritual sense, illustration of Islamic legislations, clarification of religious-specific terms in addition to the traditional function of fulfillment of grammatical naturalness in the target text. Accordingly, this research proves the ability of class shift to render paramount Qur'anic meanings at the spiritual, legislative, and grammatical levels.