Library Islam What is Islam? Translator's note
Translator's note
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Translator’s note
(a) This is a translation of Ma-huwa ’l-Islam? from its 3rd printing in Beirut in 1414/1993.
(b) In the transliteration of Arabic words I have generally followed current academic usage but I have, however, deliberately avoided macrons and diacritics which might only confuse the non-specialist, (hence al-Rida, without a dot beneath the d, which would indicate one of the letters which have no parallel in English). Also, the Arabic letter (written like the emphatic ta’ with a dot), I have rendered as dh but solelyas a compromise: hence Kadhim, dhuhr (noon), ‘adhim (great), since Kazim, zuhr and ‘azim without diacritics give little idea of the correct pronunciation.
The ta’ marbuta at the end of a word is rendered by an a not ah, as, for instance, balagha not balaghah, except in a construct when it is written as a t, e.g. ma‘rifat Allah. The Arabic letters hamza and ‘ayn throughout are rendered by (’) and (‘) respectively.
(c) The holy cities of Mecca and Medina are rendered according to their original Arabic: Makka and al-Madina, respectively.
(d) The Arabic text has a few footnotes. These were not the work of the author. I have revised them, sometimes adding to them as well as adding new footnotes of my own.
(e) In references from the Holy Qur’an, the number of the sura (chapter), in italics, precedes that of the aya (verse).
(f) Whenever the author mentions Imam Amir al-Mu’minin, he is referring always to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib.
(g) Where two dates are given, the Hijri (Islamic) date precedes the CE (Common Era) one: i.e. the current year would be rendered 1422/2002.
NB Throughout this book, man and the pronoun he refer to mankind in general (men and women) and frequently translates the Arabic insan. This is to avoid the tedious repetition of he/she and so on. Similarly Muslim/the Muslims, as in Arabic, refers to Muslim men and women in general.
