Translation of the meanings of the Holy Quran into 30 languages
In a series of seminars and events organized by the Alexandria International Book Fair, a seminar entitled “The Role of Al-Azhar Center for Translation for the Publication of Islamic Culture”. It was held today, on Monday, in which there was a lecture by Dr. Yousef ‘Amer, vice President of Al-Azhar University, supervisor of Al-Azhar Center for Translation.
Dr. Yousef Amer confirmed that Al-Azhar Translation Center is the International spokesman of Al-Azhar in foreign languages because of the great role it plays in the translation of Islamic books. The lecturer pointed out that Al-Azhar seeks to present the true image of Islam and to stop those who talk about Islam in a false way to achieve their interests or because of ignorance. The lecturer pointed out that the Center has translated 154 books in a year and a half
The vice president of Al-Azhar University, the supervisor of Al-Azhar Translation Center, said that there are several criteria that Al-Azhar Center for Translation is keen on when choosing translators, namely efficiency and the legitimacy of faith. He added that there are five stages until the translation takes its final image. The first stage is the translation. The second is the review of the translation by other linguists. The third is the language review. The fourth is the joint audit by the translator and the linguistic auditor. The fifth stage is the examination and criticism of the translation by other specialists
Amer pointed out that the center has translated many important books, most notably the book «Elements of Islam» of the great Imam Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, Sheikh of Al-Azhar, «the human and the values in the Islamic perception» of Dr. Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouk, «Prophet of Islam in the mirror of Western thought» of Dr. ‘Iz Aldin Faraj “One Hundred Questions about Islam” by Sheikh Mohammed Al-Ghazali, “The Virtue of Islam” by Dr. Mohammed Al-Madani, and “The Theory of War in Islam” by Sheikh Mohammed Abu-Zahra, and other important books that illustrate the reasonable Islamic thought adopted by Al-Azhar for more than one thousand years.
The supervisor of Al-Azhar Center for Translation said that there are five major projects that the Center is working on. The first is the translation of the meanings of the Qur’an into 30 languages. The translation of the meanings of the Qur’an into three languages; English, French and Swahili has already been completed. The second project is the translation of the interpretation of the holy Qur’an of Sheikh Mohammed Metwaly Al-Sha’rawy through the simultaneous translation. This second roject is carried out in cooperation with the Voice of Cairo Company for Audio and Video. The third project is the translation of the magazine “Noor” for children, issued by the World Organization of Alumni of Al Azhar, to five languages and not English only.
the vice president of Al-Azhar University, supervisor of the Al-Azhar Center for Translation, said that the fourth project is “Al-Azhar Dictionary of Islamic Terms”, translated into 15 languages, in order to control the concepts and terminology of others. The fifth project is the translation of Al-Azhar series.
For the first time, Al-Azhar participates with a special pavilion at the Alexandria International Book Fair, with the aim of besieging the radical thought and correcting concepts, and demonstrating the philosophy of citizenship and peaceful coexistence. It is based on the educational and advocacy responsibility of Al-Azhar which has been adopted for more than a thousand years.
Al-Azhar Pavilion is located at the Alexandria International Book Fair, next to the Planetarium, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
