An-Najah National University
Faculty of Graduate Studies

Loss and Gain in Translating Prophet
Mohammed’s Farewell Oration: A Comparison

of Three Variant Translations

By
Shifa Ali Ahmed

Supervisor
Dr. Abdel Karim Daragmeh

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Applied
Linguistics and Translation, Faculty of Graduate Studies,
An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.

2016



"" .Dr. Ekrema Shehabl Internal examiner

Defense Committee Members Signature r:>

Dr. Abdel Karim Daragmehl Supervisor 4.:,j~.\"\
Dr. Mahmoud Shreitihl External examiner

This thesis was defended successfully on 27/02/2016 and approved by:

By
Shifa Ali Ahmed

Loss and Gain in Translating Prophet
Mohammed's Farewell Oration: A Comparison

of Three Variant Translations

II



III

Dedication

To the dearest, father and mother, who offered me unconditional

love, constant care and support, without them this thesis would not have

been possible.

To the soul of my grandmother who would have been fascinated to

see this work come to life.

To my loving fiancé, the distant-close Hamzah, whose words are

always there to push me forward.

To the ever-supporting seven sisters who believe in me and helped

me to believe in myself.

To my one and only brother, Mohammed, who always stands behind

me and knows I succeed.

To my family-in-law who followed up with the progress of my work,

and offered me a great support.

To my sixteen nieces and nephews who have waited to see their

aunt’s work.

To all those who taught me even a letter.



IV

Acknowledgment

First and foremost, gratitude be to Allah for enlightening my way,

and giving me the will and patience till the final steps in this work.

I cannot find words to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.

Abdel Karim Daragmeh, for his inspiring words, patience and support from

the very early drafts to the final level. Without his invaluable guidance the

thesis would not have been successful.

Very special thanks go to Dr. Ekrema Shehab for being my writing

teacher throughout the study journey in the department of English. His

valuable comments, corrections and feedback have improved my work.

Many thanks are due to Dr. Mahmoud Shreitih for his suggestions

and feedback that contributed to the improvement of my work.

I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr. Jabir Khdair,

whose unlimited knowledge and suggestions have contributed to guiding

me to the right path.

Last but not least, I heartily thank my dear father and mother who

kept walking with me step by step, followed up with my work, and offered

me a great support. They were my inspiration throughout the whole work.



27/02/2016Date:

Signature:

Shifa Ali AhmedStudent's Name:

The work provided in this thesis, unless otherwise referenced, is the

researcher's own work, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any other

degree or qualification.

Declaration

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Loss and Gain in Translating Prophet Mohammed's Farewell

Oration: A Comparison of Three Variant Translations

v



VI

Table of Contents

Subject Page
Dedication III
Acknowledgments IV
Declaration V
Table of Contents VI
List of Tables VIII
List of Appendixes IX
List of Figures X
Abstract XI

Chapter One: Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Law and Religion 3
1.3 Why the Farewell Oration? 4
1.4 Statement of the Problem 4
1.5 Purpose of the Study 7
1.6 Significance of the Study 7
1.7 Limitations of the Study 8
1.8 Research Questions 8
1.9 Thesis Chapters 9

Chapter Two: Scope and Methodology 11
2.1 Review of Related Literature 11
2.2 Theoretical Framework 17
2.3 Methodology 18
Chapter Three: Variance in the Scholarly Translation of

the Oration
21

3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Translation of Sacred Text is a Challenging Task 22
3.3 Scholarly Translation and its Function 23
3.3.1 The Translation of الجاھلیّة (Al-jahiliyyah; t) 24
3.3.2 The Translation of األشھر الحرم (The Sacred Months) 30
3.3.3 The Translation Regarding Women Treatment 33
3.4 Mistranslation is a Certain Act During Translation 36
3.4.1The Translation of هللا (Allah) 36
3.4.2 The Translation of خطبة (Oration) 39
3.4.3 The Translation of دماء، أموال، أعراض (Blood, Money,
and Reputation)

40

3.5 Conclusion 44



VII

Subject Page
Chapter Four: Adaptation Practices and their Impact on

the Textual Force
49

4.1 Introduction 49
4.2 Translation: a Medium of Communication among
Languages

50

4.3 Adaptation Strategy in Translation 50
4.3.1 Deletion and Addition in the Oration 51
4.3.1.1 Historically Specific Terms 51
4.3.1.2 Relevance (Al-ā’shhur Al-hurum ) 56
4.3.1.3 The reference to Women Treatment 60
4.3.2 Addition 63
4.3.2.1 On Racism and Equality 63
4.3.3 Adaptation Practices on the Level of Words 65
4.3.3.1 The Translation of دماء (Blood) 65
4.3.3.2 The Translation of أموال (Money) 67
4.3.3.3 The Translation of أعراض (Reputation) 67
4.3.4 Adaptation Practices on the level of sentences 68
4.3.4.1 Instrumental Translation 68
4.5 Conclusion 72

Chapter Five: Conclusions and Recommendations 74
5.1 Conclusions 74
5.2 Recommendations 78
References 79
Appendixes 86
الملخص ب



VIII

List of Tables

Table No. Subject Page
Table (1) Source text orientation in both Diab and Faizer’s

translations
29

Table (2) The translation of (al-ā’shhur al-hurum) by Diab 30
Table (3) The translation of (al-ā’shhur al-hurum) by Faizer 31
Table (4) The original texts handling women treatment and

their representations in the two translations
34

Table (5) Faizer’s Translation for (Allah) 38
Table (6) Diab’s translations for (Allah) 39
Table (7) The translation of دماء، أموال، أعراض (blood, money,

and reputation)
41



IX

List of Appendixes

Appendix No. Subject Page
Appendix (1) The Transliteration System of Arabic letters 86

Appendix (2) The Farewell Oration in Al-Rahyq Al-
Makhtwm

88

Appendix (3) The translated Farewell Oration by Issam Diab 89
Appendix (4) The Farewell Oration in Al-Maghazi 91
Appendix (5) The translated Farewell Oration by Rizwi

Faizer
92

Appendix (6) The translated Farewell Oration by Amatullah
Abdullah

94



X

List of Figures

Figure No. Title Page

Figure (1) Comparison between Diab and Faizer’s abidance by
the standards of scholarly translation

45

Figure (2) Meanings associated with (life and blood) 66

Figure (3) The mismatch between the functions of texts 71



XI

Loss and Gain in Translating Prophet
Mohammed’s Farewell Oration: A Comparison

of Three Variant Translations
By

Shifa Ali Ahmed
Supervisor

Dr. Abdel Karim Daragmeh

Abstract

Since Islam is considered to be the worldwide religion, and has non-

Arab followers who live all over the world, the need has appeared to

translate its religious sources, so as to meet the needs of those believers

with different tongues. This comparative study handles three different

translations of the Prophet Mohammed’s Farwell Oration following

scholarly translation and adaptation as two opposed methods in translating

religious texts. It mainly focuses upon historicization and modernization

constrains affecting the translator’s choices due to the variant addressed

audience. It also traces the degree of variance in these translations,

identifies and explains the degree of loss and gain in the translated texts.

Finally, the study tries to determine the translation method for the

translators to follow during the process of translating religious texts.



1

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Mohammed (peace be upon him) is the Prophet of Islam. He was

sent 1400 years ago with the divine revelation from Allah to spread His

message to all mankind.

Black et al. state that “The divine nature of law means that under

traditional Sharia God makes the law, and God is the source of law making

through the Quran and the Prophet” (2013: 10). The Quran takes the first

place as the sources of law in Islam, and Prophet Mohammed's sayings

come as the second source of law.

Prophet Mohammed's Farewell Oration- his last Oration-, given

three months before his death, is considered as one important source of

regulation. Commenting on the status of the Farewell Oration, Al-Buty

(1996) argues that it has a regulative value with regard to the call for Islam,

the Prophet's life, and the teachings of Islam as a worldly religion. In this

Oration, Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) summed up many teachings of Islam

which will be inherited by the coming Muslim generations (327-328). A

reference to this Oration is made in verse 3: “This day have I perfected

your religion for you and completed my favor unto you, and have chosen

for you as religion Al-Islam” (Ma'idah; t: 3). This verse was revealed after



2

Prophet Mohammad had given his Oration to emphasize that Mohammed

(PBUH) has done his favor unto his people and left them Islam as their sole

religion.

The life of Mohammed (al-syrah; t al-nabawiyyah; t) has been

translated by Muslim and non-Muslim translators for various aims. Some

translations were neutral while others digressed from the original text. As

part of al-syrah; t, translations of the Farewell Oration are included in the

syrah; t translated books; other translations are individual translations

which do not belong to any books. See column 5 listed in appendix 1 at the

end of the thesis, it shows the followed transliteration system for some

Arabic words in this study.

Arab and Muslim scholars accept the idea of translating Prophet

Mohammed's sayings, orations, and letters which were sent to Kings of

different tongues.  They assure that this license to translate was given by

the Prophet himself. For example, scholars including Al-Bukhary and Al-

Tirmidhy mention how Prophet Mohammed (BPUH) dictated Zayd Bin

Thabit to learn the Syriac language to create some sort of interaction

between the two languages.

Another approval for translation is found in the book of the Muslim

scholar Al-Khaza'y. In mentioning what was translated for Prophet

Mohammed, Al-Khaza'i tells that the Prophet used to talk to Zayd Bin



3

Thabit in Arabic, who then translated his sayings into other languages such

as  Persian, Roman and Coptic (1985: 218-219).

Dingwaney et al. state that translating from one language to another

is a difficult task, especially when dealing with languages that belong to

different linguistic origins. This problem clearly arises in Arabic/English

translation. It is rather challenging to render puns, wordplay, stylistic

features, culture content, classical language and its audience, and finally the

religious content (1995: 223).

Darwazah; t says that the language of the holy Quran is the language

of Prophet Mohammed's time. The Farewell Oration has many figurative

occurrences whose meaning is hard to attain in some cases (1964: 390-

391). These occurrences will incur various kinds of loss when translated

into other languages. Would the translator be able to maintain the value and

the intended meaning of the source Oration? Would he/she be able to

transfer the style and the various shades of meaning for the words?

1.2 Law and Religion

As indicated earlier, Prophet Mohammed's sayings are considered to

be the second source of law in Islam. The document (The Farewell Oration)

is a religious one with binding legal values. Black et al.  so emphatically

describe the relationship between the Islamic religion and the Islamic law:

“In Islam, law and religion are so closely related that one cannot be

considered in isolation from the other” (2013: 1-2).The legal system of



4

Islam is based on the religion of Islam, and it is considered to be divine and

sacred for Muslims. In practice, law in Islam is part of a religious system in

which legal rituals and rules emerge. The authors mention Seyyed Nasr

who says: “[i]n the Islamic perspective, divine law is to be implemented to

regulate society and the actions of its members” (ibid: 6).

1.3 Why the Farewell Oration?

The Farewell Oration was chosen as study sample text for the

following reasons. Firstly, it is the last Oration for the Prophet Mohammed

(PBUH), and traditionally it is received by Muslims as an Oration with

much regulatory content in many aspects of life including Muslim

behavioral ethics and the basis for a range of social and economic

standards. Secondly, this Oration includes content that is universal in value

like human and women rights. It prohibits blood shedding, property

damage, defamation, and fighting in al-ā’shhur al-hurum (the sacred

months). Additionally, the Oration is of great importance since the

document is legally binding in the Islamic law. And finally, there is a

serious mystification regarding Islam in the West; the translation of such

important document will have a great impact upon the audience perception

when they read this text in translation.

1.4 Statement of the Problem

Translated texts often communicate knowledge about other people's

nations, religions, politics, customs, life styles and the various other aspects



5

of life. The translator himself/herself is the one who decides whether to be

subjective or objective, and whether to historicize or modernize the text.

Often translators add and/or delete content which they think suits

more the tastes of the target recipients. They also tend to use one of the two

approaches (historicizing or modernizing historical documents) for the

same purpose. Hatim (2001: 59) cites Holmes (1972), who defines

modernizing translation as a way of creating contemporary relevance, and

historicizing translation as a way of retaining the specificities of the

original text. Many would consider it as a serious flaw if the translator

tended to modernize a text like the Farewell Oration, an Oration which was

delivered more than 1000 years ago.

Consequently, the problem of this research has to do with the

adaptation of the content of the Oration and the variance between the three

translated versions. The variance will have implications related to the

Prophet, the image of Islam, and the Islamic culture. Therefore, it will be

important to clarify the reasons behind such variance and to evaluate each

translation based on the degree of its faithfulness to the letter and the spirit

of the original.

The Farewell Oration contains both behavioral and ethical values

which have a regulative force for Muslims. For example, it gives Muslims

instructions to abide by Quran and Sunnah; to perform the five pillars of

Islam; not to shed blood; not to fight during al-ā’shhur al-hurum (the

sacred months); and not to damage others’ property. It also gives certain



6

regulations regarding treating women and other issues that regularize

Muslims various life aspects. For example, the statement that handles the

treatment of woman in Islam, especially the way the husband should treat

his wife with, goes as follows: “ أن ال علیھنّ اً، فحقّ لكم علیھنّ ، وإنّ ساء علیكم حقاًّ للنّ إنّ 

فإن فعلن فإن هللا قد أذن لكم أن بإذنكم، بیوتكم أحداً تكرھونھ إّال دخلن، وال یُ أحداً شكم رُ وطئن فُ یُ 

تھجروھّن في المضاجع، وأن تضربوھّن ضرباً غیر مبّرح، فإن انتھین وأطعنكم فلھّن رزقھّن 

,”وكسوتھّن بالمعروف (literal translation: women have rights on you, and you

have rights on them, they are not allowed to permit others to foot on your

carpets [the husbands’ carpets], nor to permit others you dislike to come in

your houses unless you permit them, if they did so, Allah gives you the

permission to leave them in beds, and strike them, yet not severely, if they

refrained from and obeyed you, they have the right of livelihood and

clothing in kindness) (My translation).

Such cultural references are often too complex to convey in one

word in the target culture. To foreignize such terms or to localize them

becomes a rather serious challenge. If the translator foreignizes, he/she

risks text appeal, especially if the text is rich in local habits or practices. If

the translator domesticates, he/she risks over-simplification and loss in

intention. To omit or to add to the source text is yet another issue that steers

the translation product towards the translator's attitude and largely affects

the original text's intention. All these issues confront translators and

translation scholars with serious challenges, the thing that makes them rich

material for translation studies.



7

1.5 Purpose of the Study:

Since Islam is a world religion which has non-Arab followers who

live all over the world, the need has appeared to translate its religious

sources, including Quran and Sunnah, so as to meet the needs of those

believers with different tongues. However, any translation would only be

an interpretation of meanings, but not as another version of the Quran or

the Sunnah.

This research aims at studying three different translations for

Farewell Oration of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The research traces the

degree of variance in these translations, identifies and explains the degree

of loss and gain in the translated texts. Finally, the research shows the role

of the translator in constructing particular images of the Prophet by

comparing the images produced in each translation.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The research has great importance for it deals with a religious

document in the first place. It sheds the light on translating religious texts

which are considered to be the mirror image of one culture. The research

also elaborates the challenges Islam religion faces. It is considered to be the

worldwide religion, yet, confronts many challenges in not revealing its real

spirit so as to meet the global needs.



8

The study is also significant because it draws the line for the

translators to follow during the process of translating religious texts of

great magnitude like the Prophet’s Oration. It pinpoints the inaccuracies

and traps in which translators may fall, and as a result, the intended

meaning by the speaker will be sacrificed.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The study is mainly concerned with analyzing and comparing three

variant translations to the Farewell Oration. It is limited to those three

translations only. It handles the issue of interpreting and comparing the

translations in the light of the semantic and pragmatic constrains. It is also

focused upon determining and bringing out the appropriate method in

translating the religious document. Other features such as stylistics and

semiotics of the Oration are not covered in the current study.

1.8 Research Questions

It is anticipated that the research will answer the following questions:

1. Which translation method is considered to be the best in translating

the Oration (sacred text)?

2. To what extent have the translators succeeded and/or failed in

rendering the intended meaning of the original text? In which aspect

is each translation (un)faithful to the original? Would it be helpful to

combine the three translations into one?



9

3. In which cases did the translators fall in the trap of inaccuracies

and/or inappropriate equivalences in the text? What consequences do

these mistranslations have on the intended meanings in the original?

4. Is the reason behind such mistranslations related to the translation

strategies?

5. What could be a better suggested translation for the Prophet’s

Oration? What makes it a better translation when compared to the

existing ones?

1.9 Thesis Chapters

The current thesis includes five main chapters; their sequence is

summarized here below.

Chapter One is an introductory chapter, which briefly discusses the

state of Sunnah in Islamic religion in general, and the Farewell Oration and

the way it is translated in particular. The chapter also presents the statement

of the problem, the purpose of the study, the significance of the study, the

limitations of the study, the research questions, and finally the thesis

chapters.

Chapter Two introduces a review of related literature including the

works cited and their relevance to the study, the theoretical framework, the

data collection, and the adopted methods in analyzing data.



10

Chapter Three focuses on analyzing and evaluating the data of two

translations out of the three within the framework of Reiss’s scholarly

translation method. Then, it locates the mistranslations, describes the nature

and degree of loss, and suggests alternative translations.

Chapter Four covers adaptation practices in one translation only,

the effect they have on the source text, and the loss they caused. On the

other hand, the chapter handles the gain achieved for the target text and its

readers.

Chapter Five gives the conclusions. It is expected that the research

will reach important conclusions and generalizations regarding the

feasibility of translating religious texts, the method to translate such texts,

the reasons of translation failure, and the results of the mismatches between

the original and target texts. The research also provides recommendations

that could possibly be helpful in translating religious texts.



11

Chapter Two

Scope and Methodology

2.1 Review of Related Literature

The term translation has extended the notion of being a mere

linguistic activity; it is a way in which intercultural relationships are

transformed through the process of transference from one language into

another. Descriptions of the relations between the input and output of

translational work refer to notions of equivalence which becomes the

fundamental concern of translation studies.

Translation has been received and practiced differently all along

history; it has been defined by many scholars. Colina (2015: 16) defines

translation as “the requirement that the target text be equivalent to the

source”. Catford (1965: 20) offers another definition which concerns

equivalence too. He says: “Translation may be defined as follows: the

replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent material

in another language (TL)”. Consequently, equivalence is best defined to be

the result of successful translating. In other words, it means achieving

whatever the experienced translator should set out to reach.

The term equivalence has many representations and categorizations

by scholars who tended to verify their classification to accord with the text

in concern. When it comes to translating religious texts like the Farewell



12

Oration, there will definitely be a specific kind of equivalence to adopt.

Let’s have a glance on some of the characteristics of sacred texts, and then

list some classifications of equivalences, and notice their relation to

religious texts, in order to determine the most appealing equivalence for

such text type.

Translation researchers have studied important issues related to

religious and cultural translations. Long (2005) cites Zohar (2001) who

tells that “The physical translation of a community from one place to

another eventually requires the translation of the community's holy texts

into the host as generations integrate into the host society”. Zohar considers

the holy texts to be a reference and a mirror image of one community. To

emphasize the importance of recognition and understanding form the part

of the translator, he compares the translation of holy texts to the integration

of the generations in the host society.

Commenting on the challenges involved, Long (2005) also mentions

Steiner (1998), who states that “restoring the context is one of the most

difficult things for a translator to do”. The translation of holy texts is

challenging when it comes to interpreting meaning since translation is a

process of understanding and interpreting rather than a complex linguistic

interplay. There will be a multiplicity of possible translations by different

translators. This is due to the fact that it is not easy to understand the

intended meaning of the holy text as it is linked to the linguistic system and

the cultural context.



13

Long (2005) confirms the previous point by talking about the

multiplicity of interpretations when dealing with religious texts;

Furthermore, she says that the interference between cultures definitely

requires translation, especially in sensitive fields such as religion. She also

adds that the aim of translation is to survive throughout time, and she

focuses on the importance of formal translation of religious texts in order to

avoid changes during translation. If formal translation is practiced, many

versions which are close in meaning will appear. The reader will notice a

large degree of resemblance; find very little adaptations if any, and find

that they almost have the same meaning and effect.

Dingwaney and Maier (1995) confirm the role of the culture of target

text. They emphasize the need to understand the cultural aspects of both

source and target languages before moving to translation. They say that it is

not possible to study the language in isolation from the culture within

which it is embedded. During translation, the translator is not expected to

think of mere equivalences for the words in the target language, but his/her

attention must be extended to the context and cultural dimension in which

the utterances occur. When the two cultures have different expectations, the

translator may decide to change and/or delete cultural content to suit the

culture he/she is translating to, then new versions which are far distant in

meaning will appear.

Regarding the classification of equivalence, Nida (1964) offers two

kinds of equivalences. First, formal equivalence which is “basically source-



14

oriented; that is, it is designed to reveal as much as possible the form and

the content of original message”. Second, dynamic equivalence is seen as

“the closet natural equivalent to the source language message”. Nida

prefers the dynamic over the formal equivalence, because he is concerned

with the target readers, and advocates a translation which carries no

challenges while reading. He sees the formal as a way of distorting the

target language’s grammatical features and style, and then the message of

the original will be lost, and the receiver will not understand the intended

meaning (1964: 165-166).

Leonardi (2000) favors Nida’s formal equivalence because there are

sacred texts, such as the Bible. These texts need to be translated formally,

so as to maintain the words, grammar and style of the original as much as

the translator can, without forgetting the main purpose, which is

transferring the message of the original.

Newmark (1991) has two kinds of equivalence too, which have so

much in common if compared with Nida’s. He introduces semantic and

communicative translation, and lists features for each one of them.

Semantic translation is a translation which is oriented towards the

semantics and syntax of the source text. It is author centered, concerned

with the author and his/her intended message. It is also informative, more

faithful (more literal), more awkward, and more complex when compared

with the communicative translation. Finally, it conforms to the relativist

position of cultural relativity. While communicative translation is a



15

translation which is oriented towards the target audience. It aims at

maintaining both texts (source and target), and producing a translation

which is close to the target audience. Yet, they may face some challenges

to reach the intended meaning. It only adapts and makes the thought and

cultural content of the original more accessible to reader, more natural and

conventional. It finally conforms to the universalist position (1991: 11-13).

Venuti (1995) provides foreignization and domestication strategies.

On one hand, foreignization is considered as “an ethnodeviant pressure on

those [cultural] values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of

the foreign text, sending the reader abroad”. On the other hand,

domestication practice is “an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to

target-language cultural values, bringing the author back home” (1995: 20).

Like Venuti, Katharina Reiss (2000) advocates foreignization; they

both believe that foreignization keeps the features of the source, and allows

its message to be revealed. While other strategies, like in the case of

dynamic translation, may cause loss for important cultural values, and

considered to be adaptation for the source text.

Reiss has another representation for foreignization strategy. She uses

scholarly translation instead, and defines it as the situation “where the

reader must recognize the foreignness of the author. He/She has to learn

new thoughts and new expressions he has never met before, and himself

become the foreigner, no longer at home” (2000: 100). Her definition



16

reveals the first feature of the scholarly translation, which is maintaining

the foreignness of the source text. In this way the translated text will sound

more authentic.

Other features and constrains of the scholarly translation are

presented by different scholars. Here are some of them. Shaw (1967) states

that transliteration is one of the features of a scholarly translation,

especially when the translation addresses specialists in the field. This helps

in preserving the original taste (1967: 5).

Snell-Hornby (2006) calls scholarly translation a faithful translation.

This could be due to the adherence the translator shows during translation,

and as a result, the quality of the produced translation could be considered

faithful to the original text (2006: 86).

Chesterman (1997) handles historical occasions, and states that the

approach for translating them is scholarly translation. He also believes that

scholarly translations are “translations that would be appreciated by

scholars who also had access to the original source texts” (1997: 30). Then,

it is anticipated that scholars who are having translated texts to read, are not

only dependent on their content, but they may in a way or another refer to

originals too.

For the legally binding documents, Cao (2007) states that literal

translation or formal equivalence may not fit all kinds of texts. But, in the

case of translating legal document, literal and formal translations are



17

unavoidable. This is due to their content, which is not to be subjected to

change in content (2007: 60).

2.2 Theoretical Framework

This research is concerned with translation techniques and strategies

and their impact on the content of religious Oration. The main value of this

research is to define the strategy of translating religious text with binding

legal values terms and texts used within religious, cultural and historical

settings.

After the earlier mentioned theories and constrains that bounded the

document in concern for this study, one would expect the translation for a

religious document to be the formal one (scholarly translation). It is- as

Nida (1964) and Reiss (2000)- say a procedure that aims at transferring the

message of the original text and at creating an effect on the target receptors

similar to the effect created on the original receptors. The translation

should maintain the foreignization aspect, so as to reflect the original as

much as it can. This is the case of two translations in this study, which are

the translations of Issam Diab and Rizwi Faizer. In the third translation,

which is the translation of Amatullah Abdullah, one more edge emerges,

that is the historical text modernization. When it comes to practice, one

could add the promotional aspect, as in the case of translation of Abdullah.

Her translation aims at having promotional effects in order to fit in the

target culture and target readers expectations.



18

2.3 Methodology

The data for this study were collected from three main sources. The

first is Al-Rahyq Al-Makhtwm, The sealed Nectar, translated by Issam

Diab. The book introduces Mohammed's life in an objective way; it ranks

first among the books of al-syrah; t for introducing the Prophet's life in a

simplified way. The translation of the Farewell Oration appears in one

chapter in this book. The translation is largely faithful as it does not attempt

to produce a new version from the original text.

The second is Al-Maghazi, The Life of Muhammad, Al-Waqidi’s

Kitab al-Maghazi, translated by Dr. Rizwi Faizer. The book introduces the

events of the Prophet’s life from the time of his emigration from Mecca to

his death, and is generally considered to be biographical. Like in the

aforementioned book, the translation of the Oration has a specific chapter

within the book. The translator is an independent scholar who resides in

Canada. She works in the Asia Council for Law and Development.

Similarly, her translation is very faithful to the original, and seems not to

aim to produce a new text, but translates objectively in a scholarly fashion.

The third source is by Prof. Amatullah Abdullah who is a specialist

in Islamic studies with creditable experience in criminal law, international

law, family law and legal research. Her translation appears in an article

which is published on the electronic website "Islamreligion.com." The



19

website introduces Islam in classified articles. The translation is not faithful

to the original text as it tends to produce a new version from the original.

If one puts the varying translations next to each other, one will notice

that the first two translations by Diab and Faizer have the same orientation

(source text orientation) with minimal variances, while the third one will

seem like a tailored text, which does not reflect the orientation of the

original. It is, instead, a translation that has target culture orientation.  It

will be noticed then that each translator has adopted a method which

achieves a specific aim.

This research is set to measure the level of inaccuracy in rendering

the religious content of this Oration. It will identify and classify the various

kinds of loss. It will compare the three translations to show which one is

more accurate and in which parts of the Oration.

In this research, the researcher is going to use three methods to figure

out the inaccurate equivalence in translating the Oration from Arabic into

English. These approaches are:

1. The descriptive method to see how the translators have managed to

render source language text, and whether they are subjective or

objective to a certain point of view.



20

2. The evaluative approach in assessing and judging the quality of the

target text; is it an effective and communicative translation? Has it

affected the intended meaning of the text?

3. The last approach is the comparative one. It searches for areas of

similarity between the three translations? And if not, what is the

reason behind that? And have they intended to achieve the same

goal, or each one intended to have a specific goal?



21

Chapter Three

Variance in the Scholarly Translations of the Oration

3.1 Introduction

This chapter is mainly focused on analyzing and evaluating the

translations that are published in scholarly books-Issam Diab and Rizwi

Faizer- in the light of semantic and pragmatic concerns. The chapter will

first provide the major issues mentioned in the Oration, and it will give a

quick explanation of those issues depending on the Quran exegeses, the

books of Fiqh, and the independent judgment of renowned Muslim

scholars. Next, the two translations will be referenced and analyzed to

measure the degree of faithfulness to the original in each one. Finally, the

mistranslations will be identified and alternative translations will be

suggested. Arabic and English dictionaries will be used to indicate the

various meanings and connotations that the one word may have, and as a

result may cause a problem in translation.

An important point to remember is that both translations are included

as parts of the books of syrah; t. Actually, the translators have translated the

books as a whole, and the Oration appears in one chapter part in these

books. A worthy note is that the original texts are not typical; there is much

explanation of the riwayah; t (narration) line for the Oration in Al-Waqidi’s

book- Al-Maghazi. Such explanation is, of course, reflected in the

translation of Faizer. In comparison, the narration line included in Al-



22

Rahyq Al-Makhtwm, which is translated by Diab, is less detailed. Hence,

we can conveniently assume that the works of both translators are pure

scholarly ones. For further examination, see appendixes 2,3,4,5 at the end

of the thesis.

As a result, both Diab’s and Faizer’s translations are intended for

scholars. They are translations of published scholarly books which would

be used as primary sources for any researcher in the Prophet’s life history.

The works do aim to provide scholars with credible information. These

facts lead us to study the two translations in the context of translating

scholarly works which aim for accuracy, validity and reliability of content.

3.2 Translation of Sacred Text is a Challenging Task

Anthony Pym believes that sacred texts are far-fetched in translation;

especially when we have translation versions in more than one historical

period. He says “history is replete with sacred words pronounced but not

understood on the level of anything but form. Those words are commonly

believed to embody a divine message, not just to represent one” (2007: 5).

Hussein Abdul Raof (2001:1) has a restricted view regarding

translating holy texts; particularly translating Quran. He believes that:

Qur’an cannot be reproduced in an equivalent manner to the

original in terms of structure, mystical effect on the reader, and

intentionality of source text. Inaccuracies and skewing of

sensitive Qur’anic information will always be the by-product of



23

any Qur’an translation. The translation of the Qur’an remains in

limbo for the word of God cannot be reproduced by the word of

man.

We can apply the above to the case of translating the Oration, for

most of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) sayings, especially the ones in this

Oration are revealed from Quran. They have a sacred status in the 1st place,

and they also have a unique structure and effect on the reader.

3.3 Scholarly Translation and its Function

Scholarly translation as defined earlier by Katharina Reiss is the state

of recognizing the foreignness of the translated text. Foreignization in this

term is meant to be the consistent feature of the translated text; thus, the

faithfulness to the original will be achieved.

In his article, Mark Given (2015) sees that scholarly translation is the

best when it comes to translate sacred texts. He considers literal translation

a translation which maintains the style of the original, and is the most

accurate over all translations. He also claims that “the guiding principle of

a "literal" translation is “As literal as possible, as free as necessary." The

current and more correct scholarly terminology is "formal equivalency."”.

In other words, literal translations, which are technically known as formal

equivalence translations, are the more preferable when sacred texts are the

matter of a study.



24

The function of the scholarly translation is to facilitate the process of

getting knowledge of the source language/culture for the interested

scholarly reader in the target language. The translation will help the reader

to access new knowledge about the source text and culture which are

considered to be foreign to him/her (Reiss 2000: 100-101).

Here is a brief description for the two translations, which will help in

the process of analyzing their parts. If we have the full translations, one

could notice that the translation of Diab is short; its sentences are very

direct to the original, and contain many transliterated words. Whereas the

translation of Faizer is longer, more detailed, and contains less

transliterated words. However, if we compare the two, there are significant

differences on the levels of transliteration, foreignization, literalness and

formality, and finally clarity level.

3.3.1 The Translation of الجاھلیّة (Al-jahiliyyah; t)

Let’s begin with the translations of the term الجاھلیة (al-jahiliyyah; t).

It occurs three times in the Oration included in Al-Rahyq Al-Makhtwm,

which is translated by Diab. The text reads "أال كّل شيء من أمر الجاھلیّة موضوع، 

دماء الجاھلیّة موضوعة، وربا الجاھلیّة موضوعو ”, (lit: all the issues of al-jahiliyyah;

t are abolished, the blood of al-jahiliyyah; t is abolished, and the usury of

al-jahiliyyah; t is abolished) (My translation). In Al-Maghazi, which is

translated by Faizer, it occurs twice, and reads: "أال وإّن كّل ربا في الجاھلیّة 

,موضوع، وإّن كّل دم في الجاھلیّة موضوع" (lit: all the usury of al-jahiliyyah; t is



25

abolished, and all the blood of al-jahiliyyah; t is abolished) (My

translation).

Al-jahiliyyah; t is the most commonly used translation for ( ةالجاھلیّ  ).

Scholars such as Sayyid Qutub preferred to use transliteration to render the

term into English. Transliteration as defined by Marston et al (2004: ix) is

“one to one correspondence between source characters and transliterated

characters”. They claim that transliteration creates a degree of accuracy

during translation, especially when the two languages (source and target)

come from different roots. That is why it is a preferred strategy when it

comes to dealing with writings about religion, literature, and the arts.

Dictionaries usually give the semantic meaning (literal meaning) to

the words, since semantics means “how words literally connect to things”

(Yule 1996: 4). Al-wasyt dictionary (1972: 144) defines al-jahiliyyah; t as

the state of delusion and ignorance of Arabs before Islam. The term is a

purely Islamic one which has never been used before the dawn of Islam.

Islam has made a clear distinction between Islamic and pre-Islamic ways of

life by always designating the latter as a period of ignorance.

Mohammed Qutub says that al-jahiliyyah; t particularly refers to the

state of anyone not following Islam and the Quran. It is a broad title which

embodies various types of the intellectual defects and the doctrines which

oppose and/or refuse to accept Allah’s laws. Its definition focuses on the

ignorance in divinity, (al-ā'lohihyyah; t), and the true sense and features of



26

it. Al-jahiliyyah; t is also used to indicate the way of living and behaving

without the divine constrains and standards. These two definitions lead to a

more comprehensive meaning; which is the ignorance in Allah’s religion

and the Sharia Law (My translation, Mohammad Qutub 1993: 36).

What can be inferred from Qutub’s statement is that al-jahiliyyah; t

not only has a historical meaning, but it also has a modern significance in

indicating each one who is not abiding by Islam and its teachings. This

specifically means not referring to Allah and His Sharia.

The term has different representations in Diab and Faizer’s

translations. It is translated into Pre-Islamic time and into ignorance in the

translation of Diab. Despite the minimal loss, which is specifying al-

jahiliyyah; t to a certain period of time, and not connecting it to modern

periods of time, the translation gave the reader the chance to go and search

for its meaning, especially if we keep in mind that his audience is more

likely to be the Hadith and Sunnah scholars.

The meaning of such term could not be expressed by simply finding

an equivalence to it. Many shadows and interpretations are implicated

within the term. At the very beginning of the book, Diab talks extensively

about al-jahiliyyah; t life, its political, economic, social, cultural and

spiritual aspects. Therefore, readers will definitely recognize the meaning

of al-jahiliyyah; t and its shadows of meaning during the ages before Islam.

Therefore, covering the historical meaning is efficiently done.



27

In the translation of Faizer, al-jahiliyyah; t is translated by using

transliteration method. This is a good strategy since it helps maintain its

foreignness, especially during translating historical and religious

references. Moreover, Faizer maintained an important standard of scholarly

translation, which is preserving the foreignness of such a historical term by

resorting to transliteration. Yet, we cannot assume that the shades of

meaning are covered, unless we depend on her audience, who are scholars

like in the case of Diab. Given (2015) believes that scholars should not

intend to read one translation only; they are expected to read more than

one, and make a comparison among them to reach to the accurate and

comprehensive vision about the text.

Anyway, there is a failure in the translations of Diab and Faizer. None

of them covered the new interpretations which add a modern significance

to the term. What is lost in the Pre-Islamic translation is the contemporary

meaning it has. Their translation made the term historically specific when it

can have more universal meanings like in the case of Qutub’s more

contemporary orientations. Given (2015) also provides a solution in such

cases; he mentions footnotes, and states that they are good in explaining

what is pertaining to historical and literary issues.

When it comes to pragmatics, which is defined as “the study of

speaker meaning” (Yule 1996: 3), the term “context” will definitely arise.

Hickey (1998: 42) cites Sperber & Welson (1986) who give a definition to

the context of an utterance as a “psychological construct, a subset of the



28

hearer’s assumptions about the world; more specifically, it is the set of

premises used in interpreting that utterance”. Yule believes that the study

of pragmatics “necessarily involves the interpretation of what people mean

in a particular context…. Pragmatics is the study of contextual meaning”

(Yule 1996: 3).

The context of al-jahiliyyah; t is maintained in Diab’s translation.

His translation appears in a book of the life of the Prophet, and if the term

is not immediately available for foreign readers, its shades of meaning were

compensated for elsewhere in the book. The audience will reach the

intended meaning if they read the chapter on al-jahiliyyah; t period and its

practices. The chapter is titled with “Aspects of Pre-Islamic Arabian

Society”. It is three pages long, describing the social life of the Arabs, the

economic situation, and the ethics of Arabs during that time.

Whereas in the translation of Faizer, the audience might encounter a

problem in recognizing the total shadows of the term; her book gives much

importance to the life of Prophet Mohammed after immigrating to Medina,

and the battles he led according to their chronological time. A less

importance is granted to the life before Islam (al-jahiliyyah; t age), so that

the audience will have complexity in attaining the intended meaning,

because they have no references that may help illustrate al-jahiliyyah; t.

Depending on what is said by Reiss and Given, the degree of loss in

the translations of Diab and Faizer is justified. When a translation is



29

addressing the audience of scholars, the translated text is more source

adherent. Therefore, there should be an attempt to search for the

implications of the word from the scholars’ part, in an effort to get

knowledge of the source text. See the following table about source text

orientation.

Table (1): Source text orientation in both Diab and Faizer’s

translations

Source Texts Source Oriented Translations

Al-Rahyq Al-
Makhtwm’s Text

Al-Maghazi’s
Text

The Translation
of Diab

The translation
of Faizer

"أال كل شيء من أمر 
الجاھلیّة تحت قدمّي 
موضوع ودماء الجاھلیّة 
موضوعة.... وربا 

"الجاھلیّة موضوع

"أال وإّن كّل ربا 
في الجاھلیّة 
موضوع، وإّن كّل 
دم في الجاھلیّة 

.موضوع"

“Behold! All
practices of
paganism and
ignorance are
now under my
feet. The blood-
revenge of the
days of
Ignorance (pre-
Islamic time) are
remitted… usury
is forbidden”

“Indeed, all
usury in
Jahiliyyah has
no place, and all
blood in
Jahiliyyah has
no place”.



30

3.3.2 The Translation of رماألشھر الحُ  (The Sacred Months)

األشھر الحرم (al-ā’shhur al-hurum) is the four-month period of time

during which Allah has prohibited fighting. The Prophet (BPUH) here is

referring to the Quranic verse “ ھور عند هللا اثنا عشر شھراً في كتاب هللا یوم ة الشّ عدّ إنّ 

مم ذلك الّدین القیّ رض منھا أربعة ُحرماوات واألخلق السّ  ”, (lit: the number of the months

with Allah is twelve months by Allah's ordinance in the day that He created

the heavens and the earth. Four of them are sacred: that is the right religion)

(tawbah; t: 36) (My translation). He wants to remind Muslims of these

sacred months during which no fighting is allowed. More explanation about

the Battle of Tabwk, which was the reason behind stating this rule, will be

provided in the next chapter. Now, let’s observe the tables below about the

minimal variance between the two original texts, and the way Diab and

Faizer translated them.

Table (2): The translation of (al-ā’shhur al-hurum) by Diab

Al-Rahyq Al-Makhtwm’s text Diab’s Translation
إّن الّزمان قد استدار كھیئتھ یوم خلق “

الّسماوات واألرض، الّسنة اثنا عشر شھراً 
منھا أربعة ُحُرم، ثالٌث متوالیات، ذو القعدة 
وذو الحجة ومحّرم، ورجب مضر الذي بین 

”جمادى وشعبان

"Time has grown similar in form and
state to the time when Allah created
the heavens and the earth. A year is
twelve months. Four of which are
Sacred Months (Hurum). Three of
the four months are successive. They
are Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul- Hijjah, and
Al-Muharram. The fourth Month is
Rajab Mudar, which comes between
Jumada and Sha‘ban"



31

Table (3): The translation of (al-ā’shhur al-hurum ) by Faizer

Al-Maghazi’s Text Faizer’s Translation

ِزیادةٌ ءإِنّما النِّسيیا أَیّھا النّاس“
یَُضّل بھ الذین كفروا فركاليف

، ، ویحّرمونھ عاماً عاماً ونھ یُِحلّ 
لیُواطئوا عّدةما حّرم ّهللا، أَال وإِّن 

خلَق كھیئتھ یوم دارتالّزمان قَد اس
َواألَرض، وإِّن عّدة اواتالّسمّهللا 

یكتاب فاً ھرشرالّشھوِر اثنا عش
الیة وتمأَربَعة حرم ثالثةهللا منھا 

محّرم الحّجة والوذوقعدةذو ال
، یُدعى شھر ُمَضريورجب الّذ

ى اآلخرة وشعبان دبین جمايالّذ
، ماً وعشرون یوةوالّشھر تسع

”الثُونوث

“O people, Verily the transposing of a
prohibited month is an addition to unbelief.
The unbelievers are led to wrong thereby for
they make it lawful one year and forbidden
another year in order to adjust the number of
months forbidden by God. Indeed, time has
completed its cycle as it was on the day that
God created the heavens and the earth. The
number of the months is twelve in the book of
God. Of them four are sacred, three
consecutive months; which are Dhu l-Qa’da,
Dhu l-Hijja and Muharram. Rajab, which is
called the month of mudar, comes between
Jamada l-Akhira and Sha’ban”

Context is in concern here once again. Interpreting utterances is

highly context dependent. Hickey (1998: 42-43) states that understanding

the message depends on the speaker’s intended interpretation, and the

context in which s/he delivers text message. This could be applied to Diab

and Faizer translations, because they have similar orientation in translation;

their translations are much source text oriented; they tried to maintain the

context of the author and his Oration.

In the case of Faizer, there is a detailed translation for the part,

because it is more detailed in the original, and as a result, Faizer’s

translation is much clearer. The first two sentences of the original text are

enough to explain the purpose of prohibiting fighting during the four

months, and the practices of the disbelievers in bringing the months



32

forward and backward in a way that helps them in achieving specific aims.

This added part will surely reduce the task of the reader in looking for

original context and its attributes.

The reference done by Faizer could be included under the title of

interpretive translation, which is “a translation intended to relate to in some

way to an original” (Hatim 2001: 99). While the translation of Diab could

be seen in the light of descriptive translation, which is “a translation

intended to survive on its own without the receiver ever being aware there

was an original” (ibid: 99).

Again, the translations of Diab and Faizer are likely to have the same

orientation. They address scholars, who are aiming at reading books,

because books provide deeper and more comprehensive vision about ideas.

Thus, their translations are considered to be faithful to a satisfactory degree

to the original, especially for they are not aiming at changing functions of

the source text. However, if we have the clarity aspect in concern, we will

notice that Faizer’s translation is clearer than Diab’s, because it provides

more context. Diab, on the other hand, provided transliteration to the word

ُحُرم (Hurum), which reveals the main issue of this part. One could notice

that transliteration is done by using parenthesis, which is considered as a

more successful orientation for translating such texts.



33

3.3.3 The Translation Regarding Women Treatment

When it turns to the relationships inside the family, the researcher

will handle the part of the Oration which mentions the three stages of

woman discipline in the case of disobeying her husband as an example

here. When the Prophet (PBUH) said “ فعلیھّن أّال یوطئن فُُرَشكم أحداً، وال یُدخلن

بیوتكم أحداَ تكرھونھ إّال بإذنكم، فإن فعلن فإن هللا قد أذن لكم أن تھجروھّن في المضاجع، وأن 

,”تضربوھن ضرباً غیر مبّرح (lit: they are not allowed to permit others to foot on

your carpets [the husbands’ carpets], nor to permit others you dislike to

come in your houses unless you permit them, if they did so, Allah gives

you the permission to leave them in beds, and strike them, yet not severely)

(My translation). The Prophet nearly repeated what is said in the verse: 34

from surah; t al-nisā'. Allah says: “but those [wives] from whom you fear

arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed;

and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means

against them” (nisā': 34). The following table handles the two original

narrations, and as a result, this will be reflected on their translations.



34

Table (4): The original texts handling women treatment and their

representations in the two translations

Al-Rahyq Al-
Makhtwm’s Text

Al-Maghazi’s
Text

The
Translation of
Diab

The translation
of Faizer

ولكن علیھّن أن ال “
"یوطئن فرشكم أحداً 

تكرھونھ، فإن فعلن 
ذلك فاضربوھن ضرباً 

”حغیر مبرّ 

یوطئن فعلیھّن أال“
فُُرَشكم أحداً، وال 
یُدخلن بیوتكم أحداَ 
تكرھونھ إّال 
بإذنكم، فإن فعلن 
فإن هللا قد أذن لكم 
أن تھجروھّن في 
المضاجع، وأن 
تضربوھن ضرباً 

”غیر مبّرح

“It is incumbent
upon them to
honor their
conjugal rights
and, not to
commit acts of
impropriety
which, if they
do, you have
authority to
chastise them,
yet not
severely”

“and that they
should not bring
in anyone whom
you dislike into
your house,
except with your
permission. If
they do, the God
permits you to
desert them in
their beds and to
beat them but not
severely”

As we can see, there is one mentioned stage in the source and

translated text of Diab. For a reader who reads the original text, especially

if he/she is a Muslim, the stages would come to his/her mind, since they are

customary in Muslim communities. But, when the text is in the hands of

people who are considered to be foreigners to the text and Islam religion,

they would not be aware of the three stages.

The same could be applied to Faizer’s translation. The last two

stages are mentioned and translated, while the first one is not there. Both of

Diab and Faizer were faithful to the original text, they abided by the texts’

words to the degree of literalness.



35

Commenting on their translations to “اضربوھّن ضرباً غیر مبّرح”, (lit:

strike them yet not severely) (My translation), there is a difference in the

shadows of meaning between the two used words as translations to the

word )(ضرباً  . Diab used the word (chastise), which is defined as “to punish

severely” (al-ma’āny). So, it is meant to resort to the verbal punishment.

While Faizer used the word (beat), which means “to be difficult or hard

for” (al-ma’āny). Then, it deals with the physical punishment.

Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said regarding women: “women are

beaten but without hurting”. Mohammed Al-‘aryfy (2009), a Muslim

scholar, said in an interview with him that Mohammed’s saying means; the

husband should beat his wife with a toothpick which is (siwak) in Arabic,

for the toothpick is soft and gentle. This shows that the purpose behind

beating is not to infect pain, but it is meant to convey that she has gone too

far.

The Prophet’s words are surrounded by warnings against hurting

women or oppressing them in the Oration. He did not mean beating in its

literal meaning; instead, he wanted to emphasize the idea of warning wives

to not disobey their husbands. Therefore, the formal translation (chastise),

which is used by Diab is more accurate than the literal translation (beat),

which is used by Faizer.



36

3.4 Mistranslation is a Certain Act during Translation

Any Translation is ultimately liable to have mistranslations.

Generalizations about translation take the relative aspect, because “the

concept of an ideal or perfect translation is illusory, the concept of

translation equivalence can only be approximation. The translation and

mistranslation and translation equivalence are on firm ground” (Newmark

1991: 101).

Mistranslation relates to the problems of linguistic and textual

fidelity to the original text. Lately, it has been expanded to include the

pragmatic dimension, since translation, at the end, aims at “perpetuating the

cultural memory or advancing its effacement” (Apter 2006: 4). The issues

of semantic and pragmatic mistranslations lead to a failure in understanding

a text and consequently a translation which has a partial or total loss of the

original meaning, because it deals with two culturally different languages

such as Arabic and English.

3.4.1 The Translation of هللا (Allah)

An important word to have in the study of mistranslations is the very

culture-bound word (هللا), and the way it is translated in the two translations.

The word Allah as mentioned in al-wasyt dictionary (1972: 25) has come

from the combination of (al) and (ilah) to form a proper noun used to

indicate the worshiped God. Al-Nabulsy (1992) comments on the name



37

Allah by saying that Allah as a word refers to the whole self. He is the one

known with the qualities of existence, perfection and oneness.

A common translation for the word Allah is God. This translation

does not show the complete sense of Allah and the shades it carries. Lyyne

(2005) cites Abdul Raof who emphasizes the necessity of using the word

(Allah); he says regarding this the following:

The word (Allah) has a number of componential features,

idiosyncratic to Islam. It designates above all the oneness of

God, (i.e. monotheism), who has 99 attributes mentioned in the

Quran, the Lord with Who no one else can be associated, and

the creator of everything including the Prophets. To highlight

the divinity and the notion of oneness of God, the Quran

employs the word “Allah”, unique in its grammatical form; it
cannot take the plural form; i.e. the notion of oneness is

backed up by the very morphological form of the word itself

(2005: 166).

Abdul Raof is trying to say that the word (Allah) should remain as

Allah during translation; it is not to be subjected to any replacement by

other equivalents such as (God). This is because the word God lacks having

two features of Allah as a name; the first one relates to grammar; God as a

singular noun takes the plural form which is Gods; consequently, the

oneness notion is lost here, while it is preserved in Allah. The other lost

feature is that God is a masculine form which has a feminine one which is



38

(Goddess), and as a result, the word God lacks having the masculine

feature only as in the case of Allah.

In her translation, Faizer was versifying the translations for She .(هللا)

mostly translated it into (God), and used (Lord) twice only. The word

(God), as mentioned before, is not the ideal choice while translating .(هللا)

Regarding the word Lord, Oxford dictionary mentions that Lord has two

meanings; a man in a position of authority, and God; Christ. (2006: 464)

Lord then could be used to indicate human beings. This is besides the

Christianity feature it has, which may lessen the degree of the word (هللا)

value and connotations. The provided table shows some locations where

(هللا) was translated into God, and the two locations of Lord.

Table (5): Faizer’s Translation for هللا (Allah)

Source Text Translated Text
قد تركت فیكم ما ال تضلّون بھ، يإنّ “

”كتاب هللاّ 
“Indeed, I have left with you the book of
God, which will not lead you astray”

ا: نعم، قال: أال ھل بلّغت؟ قالو“
”داللھم اشھ

“Have I not informed you?” They said,
“Yes!” He said, “O God, bare witness!”

”إلى أن تلقوا ربّكم“ “until you meet your lord”
أَلُكم عنسن ربّكم فیوإنّكم سوف تْلق“

”كمأَعمال
“Surely you will meet your lord, and he
will ask you about your deeds"

In his translation, Diab used (Allah) as translation to (هللا), and (your

Lord) as translation to .(ربّكم) It could be better if the translator translated

(Lord) into (Allah) too, in order to maintain the features of the word. For

instance, he might translate “أال فاعبدوا ربّكم” into “I recommend you to

worship Allah”. Still, it seems that Diab is more consistent with abiding by

foreignization feature. This leads the reader to imagine an Islamic



39

atmosphere, after he/she goes through an expression like Allah. The table

below shows the locations of using Allah or Lord.

Table (6): Diab’s translations for هللا (Allah)

Source Text Target Text
فاتقوا هللا في النساء، فإنّكم “

أخذتموھّن بأمانة هللا، واستحللتم 
”فروجھّن بكلمة هللا

“O people! Fear Allah concerning women.
Verily you have taken them on the security of
Allah and have made their persons lawful unto
you by Words of Allah!”

وقد تركت فیكم ما لن تضلوا “
”بعده إن اعتصمتم بھ، كتاب هللا

“Verily, I have left amongst you the Book of
Allah which if you hold fast, you shall never
go astray”

”أال فاعبدوا ربّكم“ “So I recommend you to worship your Lord”
”وتحّجون بیت ربّكم“ “I recommend you to do the pilgrimage to the

Sacred House of your Lord”
”تدخلوا جنّة ربّكم“ “Then you will be awarded to enter the

Paradise of your Lord”

3.4.2 The Translation of خطبة (oration)

At the very beginning of the Oration, we have the word خطبة

(oration). In Arabic, it means “prose said by a well-spoken person who

addresses a group of people for the sake of persuading them” (al-wasyt

1972: 243). Its definition is more restrictive in al-sihah dictionary. It

restricted خطبة (oration) to religious occasions, by referring it to what is

said on Minbar (al-jawāhiry 1990: 121).

In Faizer’s translation it is translated into (sermon). It means “a

speech on religious or moral matter that is given as a part of a service in

church” (Oxford 2006: 700). The word is used in Christian religious jargon,



40

it might empty the term of its Islamic specific connotations, and thus may

make it less foreignized.

In Diab’s translation it is translated into (speech), which is “a formal

talk that you give to a group of people” (ibid: 744). The use of speech

seems to be more successful than the use of sermon. It gives the meaning of

formal talk without bringing connotations of Christianity. But, it lacks

covering the religious meaning, because it might relate to any formal talk

such as the political or historical ones. Speech is mostly used to indicate

خطاب (khitāb) in Arabic.

Oration, on the other hand, would be more accurate than speech,

since it is used to indicate خطبة (khutbah; t) in Arabic, and used for

mentioning religious sayings. Yet, one could argue why not to transliterate

such a word, especially because it occupies a front place in the Oration.

This is besides the translators’ aims at orienting the text towards the source

culture. If it is transliterated, more religious specification and inspirations

will be achieved, and the translation will sound more foreignized.

3.4.3 The Translation of دماء، أموال، أعراض (Blood, Money, and

Reputation)

In terms of forbidding shedding blood, protecting the self, property

and reputation; the researcher will have overt translation strategy to judge

the two translations. Consider the following table, which shows the

originals and their translations.



41

Table (7):  The translation of دماء، أموال، أعراض (blood, money, and

reputation)

Al-Rahyq Al-
Makhtwm’s text

The translation of
Diab

Al-Maghazi’s
Text

The translation
of Faizer

دماءكم إنّ “
علیكموأموالكم حرامٌ 

”....رمة یومكم ھذاكح

“It is unlawful for
you to shed the
blood of one
another or take
(unlawfully) the
fortunes of one
another They are
as unlawful,
(Haram) as
shedding blood
on such a day as
today…..”

إّن هللا حّرم “
علیكم دماءكم 

وأموالكم 
وأعراضكم 

م كحرمة شھرك
”ھذا....

“God has
declared your
blood unlawful,
and your
property and
your reputation
are as sacred as
this holy month
of yours…..”

Overt translation, which is defined by House et al. (1986: 188) as:

A translation in which the target addressees are quite “overtly”
not being directly addressed. An overt translation is thus one

which must overtly be a translation, not as it were a “second
original”, because the source discourse is tied in specific way
to the source language culture…. It may, for instance, have

been produced by a specific orator talking at a specific

occasion to a specifically language audience, or it may be a

literary discourse which, being a work of art and aesthetic

creation, is culture specific due to the prominent status of the

original author. A direct match of the original function is not

possible: the original is in a way sacrosanct, and needs to

remain as intact as possible given the process of translation.

The idea of House is focused on using overt translation with the texts

which are culture-bound, and delivered by an author of a prominent status.



42

When a text is sacrosanct, it could not be a second original with new

function. So, the translator has to keep in mind to create a faithful

translation as possible as he/she can.

Basil Hatim (2001: 94-95) emphasizes House’s point of view, and

mentions historical occasions as an example which needs employing overt

translation during translation. There is much reliance on the source text

content/culture. This is what exactly happened in Diab and Faizer’s

translations; they were very adhering to the original, and used shedding

blood as an equivalent to دماء (dimā'). They gave priority to the literal

meaning by using literal translation.

In the case of أموال (money), Diab translated it into (fortune), and

Faizer translated it into (property). It is true that أموال (ā'mwal) relates

literally to money, but in the Oration, the Prophet (PBUH) means money

and/or anything that has price such as goods and properties. This is the

interpretation of the scholar Mohammed Al-’aryfy in one of his Orations

(2013).

Faizer has a better translation to it; she translated it formally into

(property), which is more faithfully expressive than money. Faizer diverted

from literal translation to serve the Prophet’s aim, and give more

comprehensive explanations. Jerome (cited by Munday 2008: 20) rejects

literal translation, he considers following the form of source text an act of

absurd translation, which cloak the senses of the original. This is what



43

Faizer applied regarding (ā'mwal), in order to reveal the exact meaning.

Hence, she is more successful in transferring both the form and the sense

here.

In Al-Maghazi, there is mentioning to the word أعراض (ā''rād). It is

translated by Faizer into (reputation). In English, reputation refers to “the

opinion that people in general have about what somebody/something is

like” (som’ah; t :سمعة) (Oxford 2006: 651).While ā''rād which is the plural

of عرض (‘ard) is defined as the body, the self, the way of praising or

dispraising a person or the ones he has relations to al-wasyt dictionary

(1972: 594). Then, the word ‘ard is attributed to abstract and concrete

properties one might own, such as money, land, buildings, honor, dignity,

women, religion, and faith.

In Islamic communities, it is commonly known that the word ‘ard is

associated with women. Women are considered to be the honor of each

man. The Prophet (PBUH) was alerting Muslims to stay away from

adultery. Scholars emphasized that point in their explanation to what was

said by the Prophet (PBUH). For example, ‘Amr Khalid (2010) said that

Muslims must not even talk or report what is said regarding the ā''rād,

indeed, regarding women.

When Faizer used (reputation) to represent (ā''rād), she succeeded in

covering the abstract meaning of the word, which has to do with preserving

the good reputation. In Arab and Islamic societies, reputation has a lot to



44

do with women, and that is what the Prophet wants to deliver when he said

reputation is sacred. He was referring to women in the 1st place, and other

properties in one’s household in the second place. Thus, Faizer gives a

translation which achieves the aim of the Prophet, especially if we keep in

mind that she indicated the concrete belongings when she used properties

as a translation to أموال (money).

It is important to say that beside the above mentioned codes, there

are other culture specific references used by the Prophet in the Oration,

which were transferred without any significant variance between the two

translators. These references include persistence in performing the five

pillars of Islam, staying away from Satan, and asserting the idea of

brotherhood among all Muslims. For further clarification consider

appendices at the end of the thesis.

3.5 Conclusion

This chapter has compared two minimally variant translations. It

presented the strategies Diab and Faizer used to cover the meaning of

words. The two translations have one consistent aim- keeping the source

text sound. The strategies they used were also consistent to serve that aim.

Diab and Faizer employed literal translation, historical translation, and

overt translation which, at the end, take us to a scholarly translation that is

oriented towards the audience of scholars. These scholars will have enough



45

background about Islam and the Oration itself as an important Islamic

document.

To judge the quality of the translations, let’s observe the translators’

abidance to the standards of a scholarly translation in the following chart.

Historic
ization

Foreigni
zation

(Translit
eration)

Literal
Translat

ion

Formal
Translat

ion
Clarity

Footnoti
ng

Diab 100% 80% 86% 50% 50% 0%

Faizer 100% 60% 86% 50% 83% 0%

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%

100%

Q
ua

lit
y

Standard of a Scholarly Translation

Figure (1): Comparison between Diab and Faizer’s abidance by the standards of a
scholarly translation

First, historicization standard was maintained in both translations;

they were equal and aimed at historicizing the text in an objective way.

Their texts sound historicized, because they brought out the cultural codes

and values of the original.

Second, the foreignization standard, which is represented in the form

of transliteration, is much covered by Diab than Faizer like in the case of

األشھر الحرم  (the four sacred months), and listing them down (Dhul-Qi‘dah;

t, Dhul- Hijjah; t, Al-Muharram and Rajab), and the case of Haram



46

(unlawful), and Allah. While Faizer only foreignizes al-jahiliyyah; t and

lists the four sacred months. None of them transliterated the word خطبة

(oration). The total here is ten words to be transliterated. Diab transliterated

eight, and Faizer transliterated six out of ten.

Third, literal translation, which is sticking to historicization, should

not be the ultimate goal for the translator, because there are some sensitive

locations where literal translation is not sufficient. For instance the words

أموال (money), and ضرب (strike) need to be translated formally. Then, the

use of literal translation elsewhere in the text is good and justified, like in

the case of translating Allah, خطبة (oration), دماء (blood), حرام (unlawful),

and جاھلیّة (jahiliyyah; t). The total is seven; both of them got six out of the

seven.

Forth, formal translation, which should have appeared in the case of

translating أموال and (money), ضرب (strike), was applied differently. Diab

succeeded only in translating strike, while Faizer succeeded only in

translating money. The total is two; both of them got one out of the two.

Finally, the clarity standard was obvious in Faizer’s translation, not

because her translation is better in quality than Diab’s, but because the

source text she deals with is more detailed. Consequently, her translation

was more interpretive than the translation of Diab. This can be found in the

translation of the األشھر الحرم (the four sacred months), and أموال (money),

and the mentioning of أعراض (reputation). While al-jahiliyyah; t is much



47

clear in Diab’s translation. The other issues, which are related to blood,

women discipline are clear in them both. The total here is six; Diab got

three, and Faizer got five out of six.

An important point to indicate is that they both did not resort to

footnoting. It is mentioned by Given (2015) as a way that facilitates the

process of understanding terms and issues. It could be considered as a

standard among the standards of a scholarly translation. Footnotes, for

instance, could be used to indicate notes about the Battle of Tabwk, about

the al-jahiliyyah; t and its practices.

To conclude, the two translations were almost equal in their quality.

There is no great variance between them, because Diab and Faizer had the

same orientation, and opted to have functional category, which is, as

defined by (Reiss 2000: 101-102): “the category of choice for translation if

the translator specifies a more restricted group of readers for the target

language version that would normally be addressed by a translation”. They

decided to address one kind of the four kinds of audience mentioned by

Savory (1958: 26) and cited by Reiss. Their category encompasses “readers

who do not know the language and want to study it in a translation which

will give them a mirror image of its structures and turns of expression:

what they want is a scholarly translation, and it is irrelevant whether they

are familiar with the original language or not”.



48

Reiss comments on that by saying that these readers “may wish to

renew their knowledge of the language. Such readers would hardly be

helped by translations; at most they could use interlinear versions as

learning and reading aids” (Reiss 2000: 102). On the other hand, the other

category stands at variance to the first category. It includes “readers who

are ignorant of the original language and are interested only in literary

content. For these a free translation is right” (ibid: 102). This category of

people, and the way translators orient the text towards them will be the

main issue in the following chapter.



49

Chapter Four

Adaptation Practices and their Impact on the Textual Force

4.1 Introduction

This chapter is mainly focused on the deleted parts found in the

translation of the translator Amatullah Abdullah. The one added part and

other translation strategies by her are in concern too. There is no attached

source text to her translation. Therefore; the researcher will rely on the

source texts used by the previously mentioned translators, in order to assess

her translation. The deleted and added lines and all adaptation practices

will be taken in the context of modernization attempts by the translator.

The translation of Abdullah is attached in appendix No.6 at the end of the

thesis.

An important factor which may have contributed to deletion and

addition choices is the variant audience the translator has in mind. The

audience for Abdullah, as mentioned on the website, are ‘people from

various faiths who seek to understand Islam and Muslims.’ This variety in

text users will surely impact the amount of background information each

group will need, and it may in turn influence their varied perception of the

text; besides, these addressees have varied religious and cultural

expectations which may affect their understanding of the text.

At first, it is to be noted that the Farewell Oration is described as a

comprehensive and regulative one. Al-Nabulsy, a renowned Muslim



50

scholar, claims that the Oration is so comprehensive; it encompasses a wide

range if not all the behavioral ethics which regulate Muslims behavior in

many aspects of life (2005: 202). In such case, any deletion practices may

likely sacrifice such comprehensiveness, and will very likely compromise

some basic instructions which are considered as parts of the Muslims’

fundamental belief system.

4.2 Translation: a Medium of Communication among Languages

In the translation of the Prophet’s Oration, and as indicated by its

translator, and possibly by the means of publication- website, translation

has a great benefit in achieving communication among different languages

and cultures. It helps in increasing knowledge about Islamic culture and

creating the means for connection with other cultures. In her book’s

foreword, Reiss (2000: VII) assures the need for communication to

exchange ideas across the borders. She believes that communication is

inconceivable without translation.

4.3 Adaptation Strategy in Translation

Adaptation in translation means adjustment in which techniques like

deletion, addition, substitution, and footnoting could be used. These

techniques would definitely help the translator to create a readable

translated text in a way that assists in facilitating comprehension for the

text from the target readers part (Hatim 2001: 20). Comprehension in this

case would include mitigation of any parts which may create a negative



51

response in the receiver or which may enforce any circulating stereotypes

about Islamic culture, like polygamy, violence, and misogyny.

4.3.1 Deletion and Addition in the Oration

Deletion is commonly defined as the practice of omitting or

removing parts either totally or partially from a text. Hervey et al. (1992:

95) mention that, in translation, deletion is done for specific reasons and

purposes. They claim that “[o]mission strategy implies a degree of

translation loss”, which affects the audience, the original text and its

message.

Deletion occured three times in the Oration. The first time is with

deleting the historically specific term (al-jahiliyyah; t). The second one is

about relevance that has a role when talking about the reference to األشھر 

الُحُرم (al-ā’shhur al-hurum ). The last and most significant one had to do

with deleting specific references to Muslim women. Addition, on the other

hand, occurred once, again in relation to a cultural issue, which is, in this

case, Racism based on color and ethnicity.

4.3.1.1 Historically Specific Terms

In the prior chapter, al-jahiliyyah; t was presented as a term which

should be taken into consideration during translation, for it does not only

have a historical value, but it also has much to do with modern meanings

and indications. For a non-Muslim reader, deleting such term would affect



52

the understanding of the text. The translator overlooked the communicative

purpose, which occupies an important position in translation. In this

particular case, deletion sacrificed the distinction between Islam and al-

jahiliyyah; t. Islam in the first place has come to put an end to al-

jahiliyyah; t practices.

In cases where communication is the main aim for translation; the

translator’s purpose is to reach to the target audience having in mind their

beliefs and their background information about the idea he/she is

translating. This helps in creating a source of communication and

understanding of the text. In other words, the source and target texts will

have cultural orientations and values, and much of the understanding of the

text depends on the underlying presuppositions of the source and target

culture (Nida et al 1969: vii).

The term is deleted from the translation of Amatullah Abdullah. She

has dropped the reference completely and avoided making any reference to

the term elsewhere in the text. In the original text, Mohammed (PBUH)

mentioned al-jahiliyyah; t three times; he said: “ أال كّل شيء من أمر الجاھلیّة

,”موضوع، ودماء الجاھلیّة موضوع ..... وربا الجاھلیة موضوع (lit: all the issues of al-

jahiliyyah; t are abolished, the blood of al-jahiliyyah; t is abolished, and

the usury of al-jahiliyyah; t is abolished) (My translation). Abdullah

translated it as “Allah has forbidden you to take usury (interest); therefore,

all interest obligation shall henceforth be waived”.



53

As stated before, Abdullah addresses the entire world with its various

beliefs. This means that the orientation in her work is rather generic; she is

trying to present Islam to people from various faiths. It is fair to assume

that many among targeted readers do not know this term, its hidden

meanings, its cultural context, or its inherently allusive nature.

William Shepard (2003:4) cites Sayyid Qutub (1964), a Muslim

scholar, and who has a less contextualized interpretation of the term al-

jahiliyyah; t which places it in contemporary life. Qutub says that the

period of al-jahiliyyah; t which existed before Prophet Mohammed’s

mission is distinctly called (Arab Jahiliyyah; t). Al-jahiliyyah; t does not

particularly refer to a certain period of time nor to a certain geographical

area, he claims, but it is rather “a condition which existed yesterday, exists

today, and will exist tomorrow”. He adds: “Allah describes it and His

Qu’an defines it as the rule of humans by humans”. He calls it al-

hakimiyyah; t (governance), in which case humans will be servants to other

humans. Divinity and governance are ascribed to humans not to Allah.

Accordingly, al-jahiliyyah; t is a social and spiritual condition that

exists in the societies which do not abide by Islam and its rules. It exists

these days in the societies which do not hold Islam as their religion, and

there is an inherent distinction between Islam and Jahiliyyah; “all societies

are either one or the other, and they cannot be both”. Sayyid Qutub was

speculating on the meaning of the term, and its relevance to contemporary

life.



54

Like any other historical term, al-jahiliyyah; t has a value in terms of

the period it indicates. In this case, it can still be used to refer to Muslim

and non-Muslim nations which are not adherent to Islam and Allah’s law.

Therefore, it can be argued that it is unjustifiable to delete this term, since

these nations and societies still exist and their existence will continue in the

future; they are often called in Muslim scholars discourse (Jahily societies).

This modernization of the term would sound offensive to believers in

other faiths or residents of secular states, a case that would include all the

West, Japan, Korea, Canada and other nations. Abdullah, in turn, deleted

the term, and as a result, all the connotations are lost in her translation,

which is a rather heavy loss for an Oration that has a regulatory status in

the Islamic tradition.

Commenting on this and similar practices, Venuti (1998: 25) says

when translator intends to get rid of the original social and historical

variables, his/her translation will reflect on the cultural meaning, effects

and values. This is the case of Abdullah who overlooked the historical

value of the term and opted to create a translation that is less source text

and more target audience oriented.

Lucia Aranda (2007:18) briefly describes such cases of omission:

It is not infrequent for target texts to have a number of

omissions, and, as in the case of expansion, this can be due to a

lack of one-to-one correspondence between languages or

cultures or (why not?) to the whimsy of a translator ….



55

Translators will erase notion that he or she believes will not suit

the new readers’ sensibilities.

In the case of Abdullah, the last option seems to be the nearest and

most applicable to her translation. She is addressing the entire world, and

therefore wants her text to be more reader friendly. She opted for adapting

the text to fit the culture of the target language, and oriented the text

towards the target readers. The omission can therefore be justified on such

grounds.

Deleting parts of any text or locating alternatives instead of the

original would compromise much of its original sense, e.g. the historical,

cultural, religious and other dimensions. However, deletion in the case of

Abdullah can be explained based on the premises of relevance theory.

Al-jahiliyyah; t is mentioned in the Oration to refer to al-jahiliyyah; t

age, its practices and traditions. The context in which Prophet Mohammed

was giving his Oration is relevant to al-jahiliyyah; t and its customs, and

the Oration was meant to put an end to it. In particular, the Oration

emphasizes two practices, shedding blood and usury.

Hickey (1998) claims that utterances make sense to the hearer or

reader if they are relevant to their own beliefs and presumptions. A term

used in relevance theory to indicate the successful communication between

sender and recipient is the term (optimal relevance). “An utterance is

optimally relevant (a) when it enables audience to find without unnecessary



56

effort the meaning intended by the communicator and (b) when that

intended meaning is worth the audience’s effort, that is, when it provides

adequate benefits to the audience”. The nature of these benefits is

psychological one; it relates to the human’s psychological make-up; that is,

whenever a person wants to communicate something, he/she uses the

presumptions that are believed to be relevant to his/her audience (1998:

43).

This is exactly what happens with Abdullah’s translation. She edited

the text in a way that fits her readers’ presumptions and beliefs or worse

still may sound offensive to them. Clearly, the translator is accommodating

audience norms of expressing relationships and realities.

4.3.1.2 Relevance (Al-ā’shhur Al-hurum )

The second deleted part from the Oration in Abdullah’s translation is

إن الزمان قد استدار كھیئتھ یوم خلق السماوات واالرض، السنة إثنا عشر شھراً منھا أربعة حرم، “

,”ثالث متوالیات، ذو القعدة، وذو الحجة ومحرم، ورجب مضر الذي بین جمادى وشعبان (lit:

Time has grown similar in form and state to the day when Allah created the

heavens and the earth, a year is twelve months, four of them are sacred

months, three of the four are successive, Dhul-Qi‘dah; t, Dhul- Hijjah; t,

and Al-Muharram, and Rajab Muḑar, which is between Jamada and

Sha’ban) (My translation).

Sayyid Qutub provided an explanation for the verse by connecting it

to its early Islamic context; the number of months is twelve in one year,



57

and this was ordained by Allah in the day he created the heavens and the

earth. Four months out of the twelve are called (al-ā’shhur al-hurum)

which are Dhul-Qi‘dah; t, Dhul- Hijjah; t and Muharram in subsequent

order, and Rajab which comes between Jamada and Sha’ban. It is

forbidden to fight during these months so that hajj and ‘umrah; t are

performed with ease, and if peace is unthreatened there; then, the rituals of

hajj and ‘umrah; t will be performed in safety, and there will be a good

chance for trading and moving around from one place to another peacefully

(My translation, Sayyid Qutub 1971: 217).

The original text refers to another context which occurred during

previous periods of time. It takes us to the time of the Battle of Tabwk,

which occurred in Rajab, a month of the four al-ā’shhur al-hurum. Allah

allowed fighting and removed the obstacles in front of the fight because the

ambiguity in the chronological arrangement of the months. The sequence of

the months was not taking its right calendar path. Rajab was not happening

in its real time, but it came in Jamada Al-ā'khirah; t.

The al-jahiliyyah; t tradition was to move the months around when it

served some mundane purposes. This is called نسيء (nasy’). It is

considered irreligious and a sign of disbelief, because legalization and

prohibition are only decided by Allah (ibid: 216-217).

What is of interest here is the fact approved by this text. The whole

historical reality decides the act of fighting. Muslims are required to fight



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ahl al-kitab who are the people of the scriptures, who believe in the

“Torah” or the “Gospel” if they threaten the existence of Islam and they

work to stop its advancement (ibid: 218).

The translated text definitely has a new context with new attributes.

Thus, there may arise a problem in transferring the original context to the

new one. The solution for the problem of changing situations between

source and target texts can be solved by the translator by pointing to the

original context or by attaching explanatory notes which help in

overcoming this problem. Alternatively, the translator could rely on

audience competence and familiarity with the historical and cultural

background of the text he/she is going through. This serves in ensuring

better understanding for a text as argued by Hickey (1998: 50).

In the case of Abdullah’s translation, we cannot assume that the

audience is familiar with this historical context for the reference; in fact,

the translator excluded the whole part so that the reference to the context is

not there. The speaker, his utterance, the context and its explicatures and

implicatures are not included in the translation since the whole part is

deleted. Consequently, the faithfulness to the original text is sacrificed, and

the relevant aspect, which is supposed to indicate the Battle of Tabwk, is

not achieved as well.

Qutub continues commenting by saying that this is a law from Allah,

and no Muslim would argue with or resist it. The laws Allah made for



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humans are part of the laws he made for the whole universe; deviation from

it is a denial to the creation of this universe and its creator (1971: 218).

When Abdullah deleted this part, she omitted the reference to a

divine law- the law which forbids fighting in four sacred months for

reasons attributed to peace and safety. This part also shows a good

principle in Islam which advocates peace. For a foreign reader, Abdullah’s

target readers, such a part would not be of high significance. She might find

deletion suitable, since the deleted part deals with a historical issue which

is of no concern these days. Besides; her text is basically target reader

oriented, and this part achieves no benefit to them.

On the other hand, it would be more confusing if retained, because,

as it was mentioned above in Qutub’s book, any explication on these

months would have to include information about the Tabwk incident. If one

assumes that a footnote is added to achieve the task of explicating the

Tabwk contexts, “translators use footnotes and prefaces and other

paratextual material to make their translation strategies more directly

visible to the reader” (Bassnett 2014: 79). Then, the footnote would defeat

the translator’s purpose, and divert attention from the parts which are more

significant, since they pass necessary information about Islam as a religion

or Mohammad, the Prophet of Islam.

In a way or another, there is a certain practice of exclusion for the

original writer of the text. Hickey (1998: 49) cites (Gutt 1991: 72) who



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says “By translating a text for a target audience with a cultural background

other than the one envisioned by the original writer, the translator is, in

effect quoting the original author out of context”. In this situation, the

communication is “secondary communication situation” in which the text is

presented to the target audience with a context that differs from the original

context of the original text. Therefore, again, deletion is justified.

4.3.1.3 The Reference to Women Treatment

The third deleted part from the Oration in Abdullah’s translation is

“ أذن لكم أن تھجروھّن في المضاجع، وأن تضربوھن ضرباً غیر مبّرحفإن فعلن فإن هللا قد ”,

(lit: if they did so, Allah gives you the permission to leave them in beds,

and strike them, yet not severely, if they refrained from and obeyed you,

they have the right of livelihood and clothing in kindness) (My translation).

It is true that the three stages of (wife discipline) were not mentioned

completely in the two source texts, but, in regard to Abdullah’s translation,

there is an absolute exclusion to the whole stages. The three stages take the

following sequence; first, to admonish and warn her once, twice, three

times, or more. If this does not work, the husband may resort to the second

option which is deserting the wife in bed. If this method does not work, he

could resort to the final option by beating her without causing any bruises

or physical injury.

In their book, Yvonne Haddad et al, (2006: 22) say that in Western

critical tradition; Muslim Women are frequently represented as a passive



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victim of masculine dominance. They are only kept to gratify male sexual

fantasies; they present the silent images of oppressed victims of male

brutality. They (ibid: 22) also add that:

These accounts of the Muslim female have as much to do with

defining the West through its opposition to the Orient- the

West is democratic, modern and a place where women are

liberated- as it does with describing the Orient, which is

defined as primitive, barbaric and despotic.

These representations may explain why Abdullah decided to remove

these references in the translation. When she deleted this part, she

sacrificed a value of the Islamic discipline regarding women, which may

contribute to reinforcing the stereotype about Muslim women in the way

they are treated. It will reinforce images like women are maids and slaves,

and victims of Muslim men violence and abuse. They have no voice and no

rights and whatsoever.

There are many references within the Oration or elsewhere about

women treatment in Islam; here are a few pieces about what is said

regarding this in the Quran and Sunnah. First, Mohammed (PBUH), in the

Oration, just emphasized what exists in surah; t al-nisā': 34, which was

mentioned in the prior chapter.

Second, the examples given by the Prophet in treating women serve

as restraint against going to excess in either direction. When he was asked

about the rights a wife may claim against her husband, he answered: “to



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provide her with food when you eat, and with clothes when you dress. You

are not allowed to slap her on her face, insult her or banish her from your

bed anywhere except at home.” He also talked about women who came to

him complaining against their husbands, and addressed his companions

saying: “many women have called at Mohammed’s home complaining

against their husbands. Certainly these men are not the best amongst you”

(Translation of ‘Adil Salahy 2007: 116, Qutub 1971: 361-362).

Hervey, et al (1992: 95) mention in their book two conditions to

accept omission practices; the first is having appropriate alternative in the

target language; the second is the clarity of the deleted part, which can be

inferred from the whole context of the target text. They also state

conditions to not to accept omission if the deleted part is important to the

target text or if the target text has appropriate alternatives to the source text,

and finally if there is no compensation for the deleted part elsewhere in the

text.

In the case of Abdullah translation, none of the above is achieved,

because her audience (the whole world) will not have full understanding of

the text, and there is no compensation anywhere in the translation. She

succeeded only in bringing the text closer to her audience by not including

the part as a whole. Her text has lost in preserving the soul of the original,

and has countered the image of Muslim women the way it usually appears.

Instead, she included translations of other parts which refer to women, and

practiced adaptation on levels other than deletion or addition during



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translation to have the final shape of the text target-orientation. This will be

discussed forward in this chapter.

According to Venuti (1995) deletion may be done for two reasons; it

may be done due to oversight on the part of the translator who may fail to

recognize the importance of the deleted part. Alternatively, it may be

practiced in a way that serves the translator’s aim. His/her translation

reflects the purpose he/she is adopting in order to create a certain balance in

the translation. In either case, deletion will necessarily cause a loss that

affects the translations as well as the original text itself. In the case of the

Abdullah’s translation, deletion is practiced to attain a specific aim, which

is keeping the image of woman in Islam distorted.

4.3.2 Addition

4.3.2.1 On Racism and Equality

Abdullah’s translation featured another Hadith which is not part of

the Oration. She inserted a text within a text. The added part reads: “All

mankind is from Adam and Eve. An Arab has no superiority over a non-

Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab; a white has

no superiority over a black, nor does a black have any superiority over a

white; [none have superiority over another] except by piety and good

action”. This is a true Hadith said by the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in

another occasion but not in the Farewell Oration.



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To discuss this addition within the context of translation studies, let’s

take a look at how Hervey, et al (1992: 95) justify and/or reject addition:

Addition is acceptable on two conditions: first, that the target

language offers no suitable alternative; second, that the added detail is

implicit in the source text and fits in with the overall context of the source

text. But addition is not acceptable if the added detail creates discrepancies

in the target text; second, if the target language does offer suitable

alternatives to the addition of the detail.

The added detail in Abdullah’s translation fails to measure up to

these criteria; however, it does not seem to add any discrepancy to the

translated text. On the contrary, this addition has served to add to the

coherence of the translation if we keep in mind her earlier decisions to

delete parts of the Oration.

The addition decision seems to have a promotional effect by

emphasizing equality between white and black people and between all

mankind regardless of color and ethnicity. This would appeal to

marginalized and immigrant groups in the West like Africans, North

Africans, Indians, and other groups. The message from the addition might

sound to these groups like an invitation into the world of equality in Islam.



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4.3.3 A