Types of Islamic Texts and their

Characteristics
Translation of Proper Names and
Islamic Cultural Words
 Types of Islamic texts
• Types of Islamic Texts
• There are different types of Islamic texts:
• The Holy Quran
• Hadith (The prophet’s tradition -Sunnah)
• Islamic Theology Books
• The prophet’s biography books
• Jurisprudence (Legislative) books
• The exegesis (Interpretation) books of the Holy Quran
• The companions’ biography books
• Islamic culture books
 Characteristics of the language of Islamic texts

1. Formality
• In English, there are five styles of tones:
a) Frozen formal (the language of the old versions of the Bible and the Torah. ‫فصيح جدا أو‬
‫قح‬
b) Formal ‫فصيح‬
c) Informal‫غير فصيح‬
d) Colloquial‫عامي‬
e) Vulgar or slang‫سوقي‬
 
• Arabic, on the other hand, has four major styles, which are:
a) Classical Arabic (the language of the Holy Quran, the prophet’s tradition and classical
literature (.
b) Modern standard Arabic (the formal written Arabic of today).
c) Colloquial Arabic (the language of conversation).
d) Vulgar/ Slang Arabic (the very local and bad language).
The language of Islamic texts is all in frozen formal (i.e. classical) or formal Arabic.
Colloquial Arabic is irrelevant here.
 Characteristics of the language of Islamic
texts
2. Complexity of structure
Long complex sentences in both English and Arabic religious
texts are very frequent
3. Theological jargon
This refers to obscure and unintelligible terms in English religious
language. However, in Arabic jargon terms are classical terms
and are not necessarily obscure or unintelligible, for example:
‫ الخلع‬،‫ العقيقة‬، ‫ األضحية‬، ‫ التركة‬، ‫ الحجامة‬، ‫ الغلو‬،‫الدية‬
4. Imperativeness
Religious language is known for using imperative structures that
ordain what is right and wrong. These take the forms of
imperative verbs, conditional sentences and so on.
 Characteristics of the language of Islamic
texts
5. Details and elaboration
The language of all types of religious texts tends to be detailed and
elaborated. Both Quran and Sunnah have many examples. This
feature is quite clear in the exegesis books, biography books..etc.
6. Cultural implications
The language of religion is rich with exemplifications and expressions
of cultural-specific reference by way of illustration, explanation or
addressing the people concerned with their language and culture.
7. Universality of religious discourse
Generally, the language of religious discourse addresses mankind at
large, especially Islam and Christianity. The linguistic forms used
are direct forwarded to mankind.
 Characteristics of the language of Islamic
texts
8. Sound features and effects
These are popular features, especially rhyme, rhythm,
and parallelism. The language of the Quran is more
remarkable than other types of religious texts
9. Unintelligible language
Both Arabic and English religious language sometimes
requires to be interpreted or explained due to
complicated reference, grammar, style or lexicon.
For example: ‫)) إنما يخشىهللا منعباده العلماء‬
 Translation of proper names and Islamic cultural words

Islamic texts are full of proper names and Islamic

cultural words. This includes Allah’s Glorious
names and attributes ‫ العليم‬-‫ الرحمن‬, the prophet’s
names‫ يعقوب‬-‫ أحمد‬, the companions’ names and
nicknames ‫ أبو بكرالصديق –عثمان‬, names of cities
and geographical places ‫ البلد األمين‬-‫ مكة المكرمة‬,
battles ‫ بدر – حنين‬, buildings ‫ بئر زمزم‬-‫ الكعبة‬,
objects ‫عصا‬-‫ الحجر األسود‬, cloths‫ اإلحرام نقاب‬, acts,
practices and worships ‫ صالة‬-‫ الوضوء‬-‫ السعي‬.
 Translation of proper names and Islamic
cultural words
• Translating Islamic proper names and cultural words is not
a straightforward process. However, several translation
procedures can be used to overcome this problem:
1. Translation: this procedure is employed with the terms
that have English equivalents. Also, it is used with the
names that are originally attributes, such as, Al-Rahman
(the most Merciful).
2. Naturalization: some names have religious equivalents in
English, (e.g. ‫ مريم‬Mary, ‫ ابراهيم‬Abraham) so they could be
naturalized to look natural to the TL reader.
 Translation of proper names and Islamic
cultural words
3. Transliteration: this procedure means writing the Arabic word in
English letters as pronounced in Arabic. It is employed when the
Arabic name or word has no straightforward equivalent in English.
(e.g. ‫ كعبة‬Ka’ba).
4. Classifier: this means using an identifying word before or after the
name or the cultural word. (e.g. ‫ أحد‬Ohod mount, ‫ بدر‬Bader battle).
5. Transliteration &translation: Some terms can be transliterated and
translated at the same time, (e.g. ‫ الحج‬Hajj –Pilgrimage).
6. Transliteration & paraphrase: the proper names that do not have
English equivalents can be transliterated then paraphrased in
brackets, e.g. ‫ كعبة‬K’aba (the holy house of God). A paraphrase is a
short explanation following the transliterated word. It should not be
too long to avoid interrupting the translation.
 Translation of proper names and Islamic
cultural words
7. Translation & paraphrase: this could be applied
to the terms that can be translated with the
addition of an explanation to clarify the meaning
to the reader, e.g. ‫ أمهات المؤمنين‬mothers of
believers (the prophet’s wives).
8. Classifier & paraphrase: some terms though
being classified, they still need or could be
explained, e.g. ‫ أحد‬Ohod mount (at Madina), ‫حراء‬
Hira cave (where the prophet got the revelation).
Thank You