Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
Mandarin, Tamil translations of al-Quran available soon, 4 March 2010
The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) will publish the Al-Quran translation in Mandarin and Tamil languages for the convenience of the Mandarin and Tamil-speaking community.
Its director-general Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said the Mandarin translation of the Al-Quran was expected to be published by Ramadan (August) this year, starting with 10,000 copies.
With the Mandarin-speaking Muslims as its target group, he said, the translation had completed 26 juzuk (chapters), before it was temporarily stopped to make way for the translation of 'Amma juzuk, the last chapter in the Al-Quran.
"This is to benefit the new Mandarin-speaking Muslim converts to understand the Al-Quran easier because the 'Amma juzuk comprises short verses commonly used in prayers," he told reporters after opening the Al-Quran Language Appreciation Seminar in Kuala Lumpur today.
Wan Mohamad said, the process of translating the Al-Quran into the Tamil language, however, would begin very soon.
Meanwhile, he said Malaysia was still facing a shortage of experts in translating the Al-Quran because the translation process required a very high level of expertise and knowledge.
"The process of translating the Al-Quran requires the translator to have a good command of at least two languages and various fields of knowledge to ensure that the translation is accurate and does not diverge from the holy verses.
"The existing translation process from Malay into English takes about 10 years, including the checking and printing processes, whereas, translation into other languages takes only two and a half years.
"It's a process that needs a high level of expertise and experience. Each of the Arabic word in the Al-Quran may have various meanings and we must find the most accurate translation for the words," he said.
At present, he said Malaysia only had about 100 experts for translating the Al-Quran and the number was a far cry to meet the ever rising demand.
"Not everybody are qualified to translate the Al-Quran and we have used all our resources in various institutions of higher learning in the country for that purpose," he added.
(Bernama)
(End)
