Translators' glossary of common Arabic/Urdu/Farsi religious terminology

oh i have remembered -- istinja = abstersion

 

btw 'data-mining' -- only an uber-geek would use such a term!

 

aH...thank you
yes Shaykh GF Haddad is a great source...someone should publish a dictionary for translators of arabic/urdu/persian into english!

btw there is an exact English equivalent of the word istinja (astanja) which I used to know but cannot remember -- i think it ended with --tion. Do u know it~?

 

mas'alah could be translated in varying contexts as
article
clause
rule
ruling
proviso
proposition
exposition
issue

or the tame:
problem or
question.

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listed under the entry of s-a-l [or he questioned] in al-qamus, taj al-arus and lisan al-arab, it is said:
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mas'alah is one of the many forms of the root [maSdar].

meaning requirement, necessity, need [Hajah]; as it is said: 'his need was fulfilled'

scientific* problems or rule or articles of knowledge [mas'alah al-`ilmiyyah.] an illustration of an issue [or issues cited as a problem]; for example, the issue of kohl among grammarians [mas'alah al-KuHl `inda an-NuHaah].

and similar to imam shafiyi's remark: 'if i bothered myself with buying onions** i would not have memorized '[or mastered] a single article of islamic law [law kulliftu bi 'l baSalah la ma Hafiztu mas'alah]

mas'alah as meant by researchers/scholars [ahl an-Nazar]: is a proposition upon which, or whose evidence, an enquiry is made. it is also used to mean the matter on which an exposition needs to be made. [sometimes] it is also used to indicate the ruling or opinion in the said matter.

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imho, no one-word in this case.

Allah ta'ala knows best.

* scientific here is used literally as 'pertaining to knowledge.'
** a hyperbole to mean: 'did not bother excessively with quotidian chores'

 

the best place for data-mining islamic terms in english is shaykh gibril's work. his choice of words in english translated from arabic is impeccable, admirable and enviable.

 

As-salamu 'alaykum,

I was taught that mas'ala means "subject". It may have other meanings.

 

thanks...what would be the best one-word translation of the word mas'ala (plural: masa'il)?

exposition?

 

nabi - prophet
rasool - messenger/apostle
khalifa - caliph
sahabi - Companion
taba'ii - Successor ?
hadrah -sacred dance ?
hadrat/hazrat - presence/the reverend?
ala hadrat - the most reverend?
jannat - paradise
ghawth - spiritual succour
ghawth al azam - greatest spirtual succour
qutb - spiritual pole
fana - annihilation
zawq/dhawq - taste
wajd - ecstasy
haal - state
maqaam - station/rank

 

mu'jiza - miracle /greater miracle
karamat - lesser miracle? /charismata?

I've found that a LOT of directly equivalent terms can be borrowed from Roman Catholicism...

 

:s1:

As a sometime translator I think it would be useful for myself and others if we could keep this thread permanent and add to it English translations of words that a translator of religious texts comes across commonly since it is necessary for any translator to be consistent. I think this will be useful.
exceptions could be made for words which have become so common that they've entered the English lexicon e.g. Shariah.

So here goes:

'ilm -- knowledge
ma'arifah/ma'arifat --gnosis?
madhhab - school of thought?
'ishq -- passionate love? passion? love?
Shar'iah -
(Islamic Sacred Law)
sajadah - prostration
ruku - genuflexion
raka'h/raka't -- prayer cycle?
tassawuf - sufism
sama' - audition?
wali -saint
dua - supplication
namaz/salah - canonical prayer
na'at -laudation/song of praise?/eulogy
hamd - hymn?
tawbah - repentance
gunaah - sin
gunaah- e- kabira - mortal sin
gunaah e saghira - venal sin
tasbih - rosary
wudu' - ablution
ghusl - greater ablution?
tajjali - theophany?
jalal - majesty
jamal - beauty
tawaaf - circumambulation
marsiya - elegy
istinja - abstemation ?
zikr/dhikr - chanting the names of God/remembrance?
ta'widh/taweez - amulets
tabbarak - sacred relics/holy relics
..

please help by adding more! feel free to disagree! lets make this a great resource!