Translating Hadith into English. A Comparative Study of Hadith Djebril’s Translations

Abstract

Since Islam is stated in Arabic and it is spread all over the world, the need necessitates the involvement of translation, for better understandings and impacts. This study aims at discussing the idea of translating Hadith, the second source of Islamic principles. It is motivated by one question, “how can hadith be translated?” which offers three hypotheses. It can be translated literally, semantically, or under the umbrella of cultural translation. This comparative study handles three different translations of Hadith Djebril, when The Prophet Mohamed Peace Be upon Him, states all the core principles of Islam. It analyses comparatively the translations made by Ezzedine Ibrahim and Denys Johnson Davies, Ahmed Badi and Ibrahim Aburisha. It mainly focuses upon the specifications and collocations of Islamic texts, as well as the English foreigners and their culture. The contribution of this study lies on finding the appropriate procedures, methods, and strategies followed to avoid both misunderstandings and mistranslations, that may cause no spreading of Islam, in foreign countries. The findings show that hadith is a religious text that needs electing various strategies at once, depending on its Qur’anic words, Islamic collocations, and its wanted impact on TT receptors; in addition to the professional level of translators, concerning the linguistic and cultural religious features of both ST and TT.