3. The Political Significance of Al-Qur’an dan Terjemahnya

The third chapter examines the political motivations behind the creation of Al-Qur'an dan Terjemahnya. Using paratextual elements to convey the ruling governments' interests in the translation's production, this chapter demonstrates that QT has been bound to different political interests from different ruling governments since its commencement. It contends that the production of QT is linked to the struggle to maintain or restructure power relations in stages during the Sukarno, Suharto, and post-Suharto periods of the state's political development. Furthermore, this chapter elaborates on the motivation for producing the official Qur’an translation in the context of national language development, that is to enhance the use of the national language amongst Muslim citizens and to the shift the language of Islamic scholarship from Arabic or regional languages to the Indonesian national language.