A Comparative Analysis of the Āyāt al-Ifk in the 2019 Kemenag and 2020 UII Qur’anic Translations

Differences in translation strategies can be seen in the rendering of āyāt al-ifk in the 2019 Qur’anic translation published by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag RI) and the 2020 translation published by the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII). Although both translations convey the main messages of Q.S. An-Nūr [24]: 11–20, they differ in word choice, sentence structure, and contextual explanations. This study aims to analyze the similarities and differences between the two translations and identify their respective strengths and limitations. It employs a qualitative descriptive-comparative method with a library-based approach. The data are drawn from both Indonesian translations and analyzed using the concepts of tarjamah ḥarfiyyah and tarjamah tafsīriyyah, supported by linguistic, semantic, and Qur’anic interpretive analysis. The analysis focuses on key expressions related to false accusations and how each translation conveys the social and ethical messages of the verses. The findings show that the Kementerian Agama RI 2019 translation tends to provide more contextual explanations, making implied meanings and the social implications of the verses clearer. However, some added explanations may limit the meanings of certain Arabic expressions. In contrast, the UII 2020 translation generally uses shorter and more direct expressions that remain close to the Arabic text, although its limited contextual explanations may leave some aspects of meaning less clear. These findings indicate that the two translations adopt different strategies to balance fidelity to the source text, contextual accuracy, and readability. Neither is translation superior in every respect; rather, each has its own strengths and limitations in conveying the meanings of āyāt al-ifk.