Islamic Translation: A Message Delivering Good Understanding of Islam

Background

Islamic translation has been a key element in disseminating the message of Islam throughout history. It was employed also for teaching the converts the basics of Islam and mirroring the beauty of faith and Islamic morality everywhere in the globe. Being a powerful instrument for Da’wah, it should be as accurate and precise as possible and must be in accord with sound belief. To do this, translators must understand the original ST and transfer it faithfully, accurately and integrally into the target language.

Lexical Aspects of Islamic Translation

Islamic translation is characterized by its use of specialized lexical items. We can notice for instance that the occurrence of distinctively theological words like ‘Islam’, ‘belief’, ‘statement of faith’, ‘alms-giving”, ‘pilgrimage’, ‘paradise’, ‘hell’, ‘death’, etc. or names and attributes of God like ‘Allah’, ‘Almighty’, ‘the Merciful’ as well as names of religious figures like “Prophet Muhammad’ “Prophet Abraham”, etc.  are more frequently used in religious language.

Strategies for Translating Religion-specific Terms

We are going to adapt the same procedures proposed by Newmark (1988: 81-93) regarding the translation of culture-specific items:
(1) Transference
A strategy when a SL word is transferred into TL text in its original form (transcription/transliteration)
Examples:
الجهاد = Jihad
= مكة Makkah
(2) Naturalization
This procedure adapts a SL item first to the normal pronunciation of the TL, then to its normal morphology.
Examples:
Orthodox = الأرثوذكسية
Mecca = مكة
Kharjites = الخوارج

3) Cultural equivalent
A SL item is translated by an equivalent TL item while maintaining the same connotations.
Examples:
Heaven = الجنة
Hell = النار
Sins = ذنوب
Repentance = التوبة

4) Functional equivalent
This procedure requires the use of a religious-neutral (religious-free) item. It involves neutralization or generalization of the SL word.

Example
الحدود
This word literally means “limits” or boundaries but it usually refers to the Islamically established penalties or punishment for committing specific crimes or felonies: intoxication, theft, highway robbery, adultery/fornication, false accusation of adultery/fornication, and apostasy. Punishment for other crimes or felonies is called ta’zeer. This religious distinction between both terms may be discarded to give its functional equivalent in English: “penalties”.

Conclusion

To sum up, the transfer of religious texts from one language to another involves, among other things, the scientific study of language, including phonology, morphology, lexis, and semantics as well as the culture and awareness of the receiver.