The Contribution of Ahmed Deedat to Process in General and Religious Translation in Particular

Abstract

The field of criticism and examination of the translated versions of the holy Quran and other religious texts has emerged recently. It has become an attractive hub that aims to examine religious texts, detect challenges, rectify errors, and explore translation methods, styles and techniques in order to come out with the best ways for the translation of the glorious Quran. The aim of the study is to identify the contribution of Ahmed Deedat to translation process in general and religious translation in particular. This aim is accomplished through the examination and analysis of all the books of Ahmed Deedat and the exploration of the translation’s methods, models, styles and strategies that Deedat handled in his writings such as the theory of equivalence and transliteration strategy. For the purposes of the study, the researcher has adopted the descriptive approach which is conducive to the analytical nature of the study. The researcher opts for eclecticism, instead of confining to a particular rigid model or approach, which is a combination of text-analysis translation-oriented approaches of De Beaugrande and Dressler Model (1981) Nida’s (1964) the theory of equivalence), Newmarks (1988) Transliteration strategy, Halliday (1994), Beekman and Callow’s (1974). The study has revealed that the Quranic verses which Deedat cited in his books were translated in an old version of English language. It has also revealed that Deedat introduced huge religious vocabulary in his writings. He applied the theory of equivalence and in few cases, he applied the transliteration strategy but with equivalence. The study recommends that the Holy Quran should be translated in a modern version of English or any other language and the theory of equivalence should be applied in writings and transliteration should be shunned.