Muslims plan Gaelic translation of Koran
Published Date: 08 June 2008
By Murdo MacLeod
MUSLIM scholars are working on a plan to find new followers in the Western
Isles: they want to
translate the Koran into Gaelic.
They hope the £50,000 project will show Muslims' commitment to Scotland
and Scottish culture
and promote understanding between faiths.
However, the move has received a cool reception from some Gaels,
especially in the language's
heartland, the emphatically church-going Western Isles.
The project has been set up by a British-based Muslim publi****ng
organisation, the Muslim
Academic Trust, which is looking for Gaelic writers and scholars who can
help them translate
the Koran into the language. So far, they have failed to find anyone who
knows Arabic and
Gaelic well enough to start work, and are instead considering setting up a
translation
committee to work on the text using the existing Irish Gaelic edition,
along with English
translations. Irish and Scottish Gaelic are similar languages.
The Trust hopes to produce two bilingual Gaelic-Arabic editions, a
decorative colour edition
using Celtic and Arabic calligraphy, and a simpler print edition. The
translation and
publication is expected to take about four years.
The work is being funded by a donation from businesses in Dubai, and the
organisers also hope
to receive funding from the Scottish Muslim community.
Abdal Hakim Murad, a Muslim convert and lecturer in religion at Cambridge
University – who
heads the trust – said: "The Koran speaks of the diversity of human
languages as a sign of
God's beauty and creative power, and we feel that the specific genius of
each language needs to
be honoured by Muslims, and that a good translation of the Koran would be
an im****tant way of
bringing this about."
Murad, also known as Tim Winter, added: "We are very anxious to get this
done properly and to
the highest standard. Better not to do it at all than for it not to be
done well."
Ba****r Ahmad, the Nationalist list MSP for Glasgow, and Scotland's first
Muslim MSP, said: "We
want to make progress with this over the summer."
The move drew a frosty response from the main Gaelic church in the Western
Isles. Rev Iver
Martin, the minister of Stornoway Free Church, said: "I wouldn't have
thought there would be
much of a market for this. I'm not sure that a lot of Gaelic-speaking
people would be inclined
to read it. Of course, Muslims have the freedom to do what they want, but
it's worth pointing
out that in many Muslim countries, Christians do not have the freedom to
freely read the Bible."
But others have welcomed the move. Western Isles MP, Gaelic-speaker Angus
MacNeil, said: "It
sounds like a good idea. I have never read the Koran, but if they
translate it into Gaelic, I
will read it."
http://news.scotsman.com/gaelic/Muslims-plan--Gaelic-translation.4163502.jp
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