AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 4, Number1. Feruary 2020 Pp.

254- 287
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no1.20

Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation of

Cultural Specific Items in Itani's and Ali's Translations of Alnisaa’
Sura

Mohammed El Haj Ahmed

Department of English
Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, PNA

Alaa Abu Shammala

Department of English
Al-Israa University of Gaza, Gaza, PNA
Abstract
The researchers aimed to identify the two strategies of foreignization and domestication as adopted
by Talal Itani and Abdullah Ali in translating fifty cultural specific items (CSIs) from Al-Nisaa’
Sura in the Holy Quran. They aimed to explore whether the two translations are source-text oriented
involving foreignization strategies or target-text oriented involving domestication strategies. The
study also attempted to investigate to what extent Itani and Ali had succeeded in achieving cultural
equivalence in translating the fifty CSIs. To do the study, the primary research method used to
answer the research questions was the comparative textual analysis for the two translations by Itani
and Ali and Ivir’s (1987) translation strategies. The results of the study showed that though the
translators’ tendencies towards foreignization and domestication seem to be roughly close to each
other, they opted for more domestication strategies than foreignization strategies. While Itani’s
foreignization percentage was (44.5%) and Ali’s (42.6%), Itani’s domestication percentage was
(55.5%) and Ali’s (57.4%). Moreover, cultural equivalence in Itani’s translation accounted for
53%%, while it accounted for 47%% in Ali’s translation. The study also showed that foreignization
strategies used by Itani and Ali were more appropriate in achieving cultural equivalence than
domestication strategies used by the two translators. At the end of the study, the researchers
recommended that the translators of religious texts in general and translators of the Holy Quran, in
particular, have to be fully aware of the metaphorical and connotative language of the Holy Quran
and be extremely knowledgeable of classical Arabic because it is the language of the Holy Quran.
They also called for the importance of identifying the target audience because this may affect the
strategies used by translators of religious texts. Based on the results of the study, the researchers
recommended other researchers to research the equivalence of the translation of the Holy Quran
because any loss of quality or sameness in the interpretation of the Holy Quran may lead to severe
and problematic consequences.
Keywords: Arabic translation, domestication, cultural specific items, foreignization, Quran
Cite as: El Haj Ahmed, M., & Abu Shammala, A. (2020). Foreignization and Domestication
Strategies in the Translation of Cultural Specific Items in Itani's and Ali's Translations of
Alnisaa’ Sura. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 4 (1) . 254- 287.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no1.20
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 AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies Volume, 4 Number 1 February 2020
Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation El Haj Ahmed & Abu Shammala

1.Introduction
In our globalized world, translation interferes in every aspect of our life in which it affects and is
affected by many assumptions. One of the highly-sensitive and correlated assumptions in
interpretation is the culture that is the accumulation of many things such as norms, habits, heritage,
etc. Due to the different cultures, there will be different attitudes that distinguish some people from
others. For example, an English person's mindset is different from an Arab person's mindset, and
the more the cultural difference is, the more remote the attitudes will be. Thus, the translator's job
will not be something easy as he/she deals with two different languages that have different cultures
from different families and backgrounds.

The translator's job becomes more difficult and challenging when he/she deals with
religious texts that have a very different system, discourse, and, more specifically, a different
register from that of everyday life's speech. Culture, as mentioned above, is one of the main
challenges in religious translation, like the translation of the Holy Quran. This, of course, results
in the problem of non-equivalence or untranslatability and it could be something logical since
Arabic has around 12,300,000 words, while English has 600,000 words. As cited in Kashgar (2011,
p. 52), Arabic must inevitably come at the summit of the world's untranslatable tongues due to
cultural constraints and linguistic barriers. Consequently, this could be applied to the Holy Quran
translation.

2.Research problem
In our globalized world, translation tries to connect multicultural nations with their different
religions and beliefs. When non-Muslims want to know more about Islamic culture and Islamic
communities, the first thing they do is reading the translation of the Holy Quran, and here comes
the pressing need to ensure that the interpretation of the Holy Quran is faithful to the source text.
The problem is not just for non-Muslims because "about more than eighty percent of about 1.5
billion population of the Muslims do not know Arabic and use translation as a means to understand
the meanings and messages of the Holy Quran" (Amjad & Farahani 2013, p.1). This may
complicate the issue because the translation of the Holy Quran might have been read globally. The
problem arises more when we deal with asymmetrical cultures trying to achieve symmetrical
equivalence. However, the situation is likely to be much more pronounced when we talk about
religious texts that require "additional consideration to be respected" (as cited in Issa, 2017, p. 1).

3.Significance of the study

The study is critical because it seeks to know how much the two translations of Itani and Ali are
faithful to the source text in their rendition of CSIs in Al- Nisaa’ Sura based on equivalence
percentage in each reading. It is essential because any loss of equivalence in the translation of the
Holy Quran may lead to severe consequences and problems. The study is significant to ensure that
the interpretations of the Holy Quran are without any manipulation or deviation from the original
text. It is also important because it sheds light on the fact that some translators translate the Holy
Quran without being faithful to the source text at the expense of easiness and naturalness and this
causes loss of meaning.

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4.Aims of the Study

This study aims to unveil the two strategies of domestication and foreignization as adopted by Itani
and Ali in their translations of fifty selected CSIs from Alnisaa’ Sura. The study correctly will see
whether each of the two interpretations are oriented towards domestication or foreignization. It
will also investigate to what extent both Itani and Ali have succeeded in achieving cultural
equivalence while rendering the fifty CSIs.

5. Research Questions
RQ1: How are CSIs rendered in Alnisaa’ Sura using the two strategies of foreignization and
domestication as adopted by Itani and Ali?
RQ2: To what extent have the two translators succeeded in achieving cultural equivalence in their
translations?
RQ3: Which strategy of domestication and foreignization have the two translators tended to use
more in their translations?

6.Literature Review
In his paper entitled Linguistic Precautions that to be Considered when Translating the Holy
Quran, Siddiek (2017) tried to know the reason behind linguistic misunderstanding in the readings
of the Holy Quran. He looked into some samples of translations by well-known English translators.
The results showed that there were some errors in the readings. The main two reasons behind those
errors were using obsolete words in the translation and dumping into literal translation. The
solution given by the researchers for the first reason is that it is not a matter of obsolete or new
words; however, it is a matter of the functions which have to be transferred. He also commented
on literalism, saying that it is unjustified belief even though the purpose is to preserve the sanctity
of the Quranic-text.

Anari and Sanjarani (2016) conducted a study entitled Application of Baker's Model in
Translating Quran-Specific Cultural Items. They stressed out that the translation of the Holy
Quran is a magnificent contribution to cross-cultural understanding. The researchers selected three
different readings to study how Quran-specific cultural items were rendered using Baker's Model.
The main results showed that the most frequently-used strategy was a translation by more general
words (subordinate). On the other hand, strategy like omission and illustration were never used.
The least frequently-used strategy was translating by paraphrasing using unrelated words.

In her study, Domestication and Foreignization in Translating Culture-specific References

of an English text into Arabic, Mansour (2014) emphasizes the importance of foreignization that
"it offers the target readership a chance to enjoy a different culture atmosphere… facilitates the
process of borrowing among languages and builds new vocabulary and terms within the target
language" (p.29). In the study, Mansour picked up a famous English novel, The Burglar Who Liked
To Quote Kipling. She applied the strategies of foreignization and domestication on the Arabic
translation of the book, and she also provided her own interpretations. She explained that the most
problematic points are those related to sensitive areas such as religion, ethics, and cultural
differences. Her main result was that both strategies are irreplaceable and that both strategies help
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the translator to produce a readable version to the target readership. She also mentioned that the
text she had chosen was challenging itself because it was a literary text requiring that the translator
should be an artist to amuse his/her readers. At the very end of her study, she couldn’t deny that
she tended to use foreignization strategy as much as she could to give the Arab readers the chance
to experience the English lifestyle and involve them in real English drama.

Al- Jabri (2008) conducted a Ph.D. thesis entitled "Reasons for the Possible
Incomprehensibility of Some Verses of Three Translations of the Meanings of the Holy Quran into
English.” The study examined the incomprehensibility of the translation of some verses of the
Quran for English native speakers. It also looks at the possible reasons for the failure to transfer
the meaning of some verses of the Quran. Al-Jabri selected three translations for his study: Al-
Hilali's, Yusuf Ali's, and Arthur Arberry's, and extracted some translations for them and put them
in a questionnaire. He distributed it among well-educated English people attempting to know to
what extent the translations were understandable for them. For him, "the extent to which the
extracts included in the questionnaire were incomprehensible was extremely shocking" (p.237).
He stated that the range of intelligibility of the translations was less than 5% because they were
rendered in poor quality English. The main results, as the researcher stated, that generate vagueness
were: peculiar style, literal translations for some idioms and fixed expressions, cultural differences,
the use of old-fashioned words, transliteration which do not convey any meaning to target readers,
unusual orthography; the absence or misuse of punctuation marks, and finally, the excessive use
of explanations between brackets.

7. The results
Extract 1:-

‫ّللا الَّذِي‬
َ‫سا اء ۚ َواتَّقُوا َه‬ ‫ث مِ ْن ُه َما ِر َج ااًل َكث ا‬
َ ِ‫ِيرا َون‬ َّ َ‫اس اتَّقُوا َر َّب ُك ُم الَّذِي َخلَقَ ُك ْم مِ ْن نَ ْف ٍس َواحِ دَةٍ َو َخلَقَ مِ ْن َها زَ ْو َج َها َوب‬
ُ َّ‫يَا أَيُّ َها الن‬
‫علَ ْي ُك ْم َرقِيباا‬ َ ‫سا َءلُونَ ِب ِه َو ْاْل َ ْر َح‬
َ‫ام ۚ ِإ َّن َه‬
َ َ‫ّللا َكان‬ َ َ‫ (ت‬Al Nisaa, verse 1)
Itani:
O people! Fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul, and created from it its mate,
and propagated from them many men and women. And revere God whom you ask about,
and the parents. Surely, God is Watchful over you.
Ali :
O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created,
of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and
women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence)
the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you..

In the two translations provided above, Itani rendered the word ‫ هللا‬as God while Ali transliterated
it as Allah. Here it should be noted that there is a clear difference between the two words Allah
and God. In Arabic, the word “Allah” says the omnipotent and only deity creator of the universe
to whom we direct our worship. And though God has its equivalent in Arabic as ‫اله‬, it does not
mean the same thing. God means anything that you worship and it could not mean “Allah” because
it has different connotations for different peoples. It is not even easy to prove who and what is
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“God” for Christianity because there is no original manuscript for the Bible. Another example that
shows the difference between the two terms is the religious term ‫" شهادة‬testimony faith," which
says: 'there is no God but Allah." This testimony faith proves that both conditions are not the same
thing as among all Gods, "Allah" is determined to be the only one.
By transliterating Allah, Ali is using foreignization strategy while Itani has chosen a close
equivalent to the term ‫ هللا‬substituting it with the term God. So while Itani has not been able to
achieve cultural equivalence, Ali has succeeded in doing so.

Extract 2:-

َ‫ع ۖ فَإِ ْن خِ ْفت ُ ْم أ َ ًَّل ت َ ْع ِدلُوا فَ َواحِ دَةا أَ ْو َ هما‬ َ ‫ساءِ َمثْن َٰى َوث ُ ََل‬
َ ‫ث َو ُربَا‬ َ ِ‫اب لَ ُكم ِمنَ الن‬
َ ‫ط‬َ ‫طوا فِي ْاليَت َا َم ٰى فَان ِك ُحوا َما‬
ُ ‫إن خِ ْفت ُ ْم أ َ ًَّل ت ُ ْق ِس‬
ْ
(Al Nisaa, verse 4) .‫هملهكهتْ َأ ه ْي همانُ ُك َْم ۚ ٰذَلِكَ أَدْن َٰى أ َ ًَّل تَعُولُوا‬
Itani:-
If you fear you cannot act fairly towards the orphans-then marry the women you like-two,
or three, or four. But if you fear you will not be fair, then one, or what you already have.
That makes it more likely that you avoid bias.
Ali :
If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your
choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with
them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more
suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.

The Arabic religious expression ‫ ملكت أيمانكم‬as Ibn Katheer (1372, p.212) and Ibn Abbas
(1992, p. 84) point out means bondwomen man possesses. The man could have bondwomen
through different ways either by money or as captives in the aftermath of wars. The man who has
the right to have bondwomen can have a sexual relationship with, but under specific rules differing
a little bit from a typical marriage.
By translating ‫ ملكت أيمانكم‬as “what you already have,” Itani tries to substitute the source
CSI with a very general meaning without making any explanations or making any efforts to
simplify it for the target reader. It is implicit from the original verse that what is meant by ‫ملكت‬
‫ أيمانكم‬is women, especially bondwomen. However, Itani’s interpretation could be interpreted for
other meanings other than women, money, for example. Ali, on the other hand, tends to
domesticate the translation by adding the word captive in a footnote and then translating ‫ملكت أيمانكم‬
as “your right hands possess.” Rendering ‫ ملكت أيمانكم‬as “captive” could lead to some loss in
meaning because not all ‫ ملكت أيمانكم‬are captives, as some were bought from the slave market. Also,
the word “captive” bears negative connotations because “bondwomen” are not dealt with as
captives. Besides, Islam gives them rights and dignity, and it has banned the slavery phenomenon
as all Muslims are treated equally well regardless of their color or race.
In Arabic, the word ‫ يمين‬could mean the right hand, and it is Sunna (something preferable
following the prophet’s doings) in Islam to start doing or having things by your right hand like
eating, drinking and dressing. When asking the chairman of the Iftaa Committee at IUG, Dr. Zyad
Miqdad (personal communication), whether the word ‫ يمين‬has to do with the right hand, he replied

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that this meaning has nothing to do with the meaning of the original phrase, adding that a Muslim
man could receive “bondwomen” in his left hand, and not necessarily by his right hand.
It seems that Ali’s interpretation of ‫ يمين‬in ‫ ما َملَكت أيمانكم‬as “your right hands possess” is not
the correct interpretation as explained above by Dr. Miqdad. So Ali translated ‫ يمين‬literally as right
which is unrelated to the source utterance purpose. He also translated ‫ َملَكت‬literally into possess.
So by using literal translation and addition, Ali used a combination of foreignization and
domestication strategies.
So, we could say that both Itani and Ali have not been successful in achieving the full
cultural equivalence of ‫ملكت أيمانكم‬. If they had used the interpretation of Ibn Kathir mentioned
above, “the bondwomen man possess,” they could have achieved cultural equivalence.
Extract 3:-
ۚ ‫ُوصينَ ِب َها أَ ْو دَي ٍْن‬
ِ ‫ص َّي ٍة ي‬ ُّ ‫ف َما ت ََركَ أ َ ْز َوا ُج ُك ْم ِإن لَّ ْم َي ُكن لَّ ُه َّن َولَدٌ ۚ فَإِن َكانَ لَ ُه َّن َولَدٌ فَلَ ُك ُم‬
ِ ‫الربُ ُع مِ َّما ت ََر ْكنَ ۚ مِ ن َب ْع ِد َو‬ ُ ‫ص‬ ْ ‫ولَ ُك ْم ِن‬
َ
‫صونَ بِ َها أ ْو دَي ٍْن ۗ َوإِن‬ُ ‫صيَّ ٍة تُو‬ ُّ َّ َّ
ِ ‫الربُ ُع مِ َّما ت ََر ْكت ُ ْم إِن ل ْم يَ ُكن ل ُك ْم َولَدٌ ۚ فَإِن َكانَ لَ ُك ْم َولَدٌ فَلَ ُه َّن الث ُمنُ مِ َّما ت َ َر ْكت ُم ۚ ِمن َب ْع ِد َو‬ ُّ ‫َولَ ُه َّن‬
‫ث ۚ مِ ن‬ ِ ُ‫ش َركَا ُء فِي الثُّل‬ ُ ‫ُس ۚ فَإِن كَانُوا أَ ْكثَ َر مِ ن ٰذَلِكَ فَ ُه ْم‬ ُ ‫د‬ ‫س‬
ُّ ‫ال‬ ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ ‫ه‬ ْ
‫ن‬ ‫م‬ ‫د‬
ٍ
َ ُ ِ ِ‫ِ ِ َ اح‬ ‫و‬ ‫ل‬ ُ
‫ك‬ ‫ل‬ َ ‫ف‬ ٌ‫ت‬ ْ
‫خ‬ ُ ‫أ‬ ‫و‬
ْ َ ‫أ‬ ‫خ‬ٌ َ ‫أ‬ ُ ‫ه‬ َ ‫ل‬ ‫و‬ ٌ ‫ة‬َ
َ َ ْ ِ ‫أ‬ ‫ر‬ ‫م‬‫ا‬ ‫و‬َ ‫أ‬ ‫ة‬
َ ‫ه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ه‬
‫هَل‬‫ك‬ َ ُ
‫ث‬ ‫ُور‬
َ ‫ي‬ ‫ل‬ٌ ‫َكانَ َر ُج‬
( Al Nisaa, verse 12).‫علِي ٌم َحلِي ٌم‬ َ ُ‫َّللا‬َّ ‫َّللا ۗ َو‬ ‫ا‬
ِ َّ َ‫صيَّة ِمن‬ ِ ‫ار ۚ َو‬ ٍ ‫ض‬ َ ‫غي َْر ُم‬ َ
َ ‫ص ٰى بِ َها أ ْو دَي ٍْن‬ َ ‫صيَّ ٍة يُو‬ ِ ‫بَ ْع ِد َو‬

Itani:
You get one-half of what your wives leave behind, if they had no children. If they had
children, you get one-fourth of what they leave. After fulfilling any bequest and paying off
debts. They get one-fourth of what you leave behind, if you have no children. If you have
children, they get one-eighth of what you leave. After fulfilling any bequest and paying off
debts. If a man or woman leaves neither parents nor children, but has a brother or sister,
each of them gets one-sixth. If there are more siblings, they share one-third. After fulfilling
any bequest and paying off debts, without any prejudice. This is a will from God. God is
Knowing and Clement.
Ali:
In what your wives leave, your share is a half, if they leave no child; but if they leave a
child, ye get a fourth; after payment of legacies and debts. In what ye leave, their share is
a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of
legacies and debts. If the man or woman whose inheritance is in question, has left neither
ascendants nor descendants, but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two gets a
sixth; but if more than two, they share in a third; after payment of legacies and debts; so
that no loss is caused (to any one). Thus is it ordained by Allah. and Allah is All-knowing,
Most Forbearing.

Ibn Katheer (1372) interprets ‫ كَللة‬as a person who has no sons and daughters, and his father and
mother are dead (p.230). Both Itani and Ali used substitution as they substituted the term ‫ كَللة‬by
its purpose. Itani’s translation as neither parents nor children has successfully achieved cultural
equivalence and transferred the original meaning. Ali’s translation as no ascendants nor
descendants, however, has not been successful in transferring the exact intended meaning because
‘ascendants’ could be, for example, one’s father and his/her grandparents. The same is for
“descendants," which could mean all the persons descended, such as grandsons. And grandparents
and grandsons are not part of the meaning of the word ‫كَللة‬, as explained by Ibn Katheer above.
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By using the substitution strategy, both Itani and Ali have gone for the domestication
strategy to make the meaning understandable and comprehensible for the target reader. However,
while Itani’s translation of the term ‫ كَللة‬was a successful choice, Ali’s choice of “no ascendants
nor descendants” was inaccurate.
Extract 4:-
‫ار خَا ِلدِينَ فِي َها ۚ َو ٰذَ ِلكَ ْالف َْو ُز ْالعَظِ يم‬ ٍ ‫سولَهُ يُدْخِ ْلهُ َجنَّا‬
ُ ‫ت ت َ ْج ِري مِ ن ت َ ْحتِ َها ْاْل َ ْن َه‬ ِ َّ ‫ت ِْلكَ ُحدُو َُد‬
َ َّ ‫َّللا ۚ َو َمن يُطِ ِع‬
ُ ‫َّللا َو َر‬
( Al Nisaa, verse 13)
Itani:
These are the bounds set by God. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will admit
him into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. That is the great
attainment.
Ali:
Those are limits set by Allah. those who obey Allah and His Messenger will be admitted
to Gardens with rivers flowing beneath, to abide therein (forever) and that will be the
supreme achievement.

The word"‫ "حدود‬in Arabic is the plural form of ‫ حد‬which means the thing that you stop at,
for example, when we say the boundaries of the country. In Islam ‫ حدود هللا‬means the things that are
forbidden to commit in a clear-cut way. Ibn Katheer (1372) explained it as the provisions and
statutes defined by Allah so people (heirs) can follow (p.232). So it separates between Allah’s
obedience and disobedience.

Itani and Ali used literal translation for translating the cultural expression ‫حدود‬, but the
difference is that Itani translated‫ حدود‬as bounds while Ali translated it as limits. Also, both of them
added the phrase set by which is not mentioned or explained in the source text. In translating ‫هللا‬,
as in the first extract, Itani used substitution, turning it into God, thus being unable to achieve
cultural equivalence. At the same time, Ali brought it into ‫ هللا‬succeeding in making cultural
equality.
Both Itani and Ali used a combination of foreignization and domestication strategies. Itani
used literal translation, addition, and substitution, while Ali used literal translation, addition, and
transliteration. Ali’s translation has succeeded in achieving cultural equivalence, while Itani’s
adaptation that used “God” instead of “Allah” has not been successful in achieving cultural
equality.

Extract 5:-

‫ت َحتَّ ٰى يَت ََوفَّاهُن‬ ِ ‫سكُوهُنََ فِي ْالبُيُو‬ َ ‫علَ ْي ِه َّن أ َ ْربَعَةا ِمن ُك ْم ۖ فَإِن‬
ِ ‫ش ِهدُوا هفأ ه ْم‬ َ ِ‫الَلتِي يهأْتِينهَ ا ْل هفاحِ ش َهةه مِ ن ن‬
َ ‫سا ِئ ُك ْم فَا ْست َ ْش ِهدُوا‬ َّ ‫َو‬
.‫س ِبيَلا‬ َّ ‫ (الموت أ َ ْو يَجْ َع َل‬Al Nisaa, verse 15)
َ ‫َّللاُ لَ ُه َّن‬
Itani:
Those of your women who commit lewdness, you must have four witnesses against them,
from among you. If they testify, confine them to the homes until death claims them, or
God makes a way for them..

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Ali:
If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable)
witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until
death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.

When discussing adultery, the Holy Quran sometimes uses euphemistic expressions. For
example, the polite expression ‫“ الفاحشة‬lewdness” is used instead of “adultery.” The verb that
collocates with “lewdness” in the source text is ‫يأتين‬which means come up with this action. This
verb comes to show that Allah forbids this action, but people who do adultery go to it by
themselves with their own choice.
In the two translations provided above, Itani substituted the word ‫ يأتين‬with “commit,” and
Ali substituted the verb‫ يأتين‬with the phrase are guilty of. Both also use literal translation in
translating ‫ الفاحشة‬into lewdness. So it can be said that both translators are in favor of domestication
by using the substitution strategy and foreignization by using the literal translation. They also have
achieved cultural equivalence because the meaning is still the same.
In the previous verse, when the Holy Quran says‫ فأمسكوهن‬for those women who commit
lewdness, this does not mean touching; but “confining them at homes.” Both translators substituted
the word ‫ أمسكوهن‬with its meaning “confine them.” So both translators have used the domestication
strategy achieving cultural equivalence as the target reader could quickly get the intended purpose.

Extract 6:-

‫علِي اما َحكِي اما‬ َّ َ‫علَ ْي ِه ْم ۗ َو َكان‬

َ ُ‫َّللا‬ َّ ُ‫ب فَأُو ٰ َلئِكَ َيتُوب‬
َ ُ‫َّللا‬ ٍ ‫َّللا ِل َّلذِينَ َي ْع َملُونَ السُّو َء ِب َج َهالَ ٍة ث ُ َّم َيتُوبُونَ مِ ن قَ ِري‬ َ ُ‫ِإنَّ َما الت َ ْو هب َة‬
ِ َّ ‫علَى‬
(Al Nisaa’, verse 17).

Itani:
Repentance is available from God for those who commit evil out of ignorance, and then
repent soon after. These-God will relent towards them. God is Knowing and Wise.
Ali:
Allah accept the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards;
to them will Allah turn in mercy: For Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.

Both Itani and Ali used the same translation for the word ‫توبة‬, i.e. repentance. They both
have achieved cultural equivalence by using the literal translation, one of the common
foreignization strategies.

Extract 7:-
َ‫ض ْعنَ ُك ْم َوأَخ ََوات ُ ُكم ِمن‬ َّ ‫ت َوأ ُ َّم َهات ُ ُك ُم ا‬
َ ‫لَلتِي أَ ْر‬ ِ ‫خ َوبَنَاتُ ا ْْل ُ ْخ‬ ِ َ ‫َاًلتُ ُك ْم َو َبنَاتُ ْاْل‬ َ ‫ع َّمات ُ ُك ْم َوخ‬ َ ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم أ ُ َّم َهات ُ ُك ْم َو َبنَات ُ ُك ْم َوأَخ ََوات ُ ُك ْم َو‬ َ ‫ت‬ ْ ‫ُح ِر َم‬
ُ‫علَ ْيك ْم‬ َ َ ُ ْ ُ َّ َ ْ ‫ه‬
َ ‫سا ِئك ُم الَلتِي هدخلت ُمَبِ ِهنََ فإِن ل ْم تَكونُوا دَخَلتم بِ ِه َّن فَل ُجنَا َح‬ َّ ُ َ ِ‫وركُم ِمن ن‬ َّ
ِ ‫سائِك ْم هو هربهائِبُ ُك َُم الَلتِي فِي ُح ُج‬ ُ ُ
َ ِ‫ع ِة َوأ َّم َهاتُ ن‬ َ ‫ضا‬ َ ‫الر‬ َّ
.‫ورا َّرحِ ي اما‬ ‫غفُ ا‬ َ َّ ‫ف ۗ ِإ َّن‬
َ َ‫َّللا َكان‬ َ َ ‫ل‬ ‫س‬
َ ْ ‫د‬ َ
‫ق‬ ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ َّ
‫ًل‬
َ ِ ِ ‫إ‬ ‫ْن‬
‫ي‬ َ ‫ت‬‫خ‬ْ ُ ْ
‫اْل‬ َ‫ْن‬‫ي‬ ‫ب‬
َ ‫وا‬ ُ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬
َ ‫ج‬
ْ َ ‫ت‬ ‫ن‬ َ ‫أ‬ ‫و‬ َ ‫م‬
َ ْ ِ ‫ك‬
ُ ‫ب‬ ‫ه‬
‫َْل‬‫ص‬ ‫ه‬ ‫أ‬ ‫ن‬ ْ ِ‫م‬ َ‫ِين‬‫ذ‬ َّ ‫ال‬ ‫م‬ُ ُ
‫ك‬ ‫ئ‬
ِ ‫َا‬ ‫ن‬‫ب‬ْ َ ‫أ‬ ‫ل‬ُ ‫ئ‬
ِ َ
‫َل‬ ‫ح‬
َ ‫َو‬
( Al Nisaa’, verse 23)
Itani:

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Forbidden for you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your
maternal aunts, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your foster-mothers who
nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your stepdaughters in
your guardianship-born of wives you have gone into-but if you have not gone into them,
there is no blame on you. And the wives of your genetic sons, and marrying two sisters
simultaneously. Except what is past. God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Ali:
Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters,
Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you
suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship,
born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those
who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock
at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

‫ ربائبكم‬is the plural form of the word ‫ ربيبة‬meaning “stepdaughter.” Ibn Abbas (1992)
interprets the phrase ‫ الَلتي في حجوركم‬as “you educate and take care of at your homes” (p.89). The
expression ‫ دخلتم بهن‬means that you have consummated your marriage by having a sexual relation
with your wife.
Both transl
ators translated ‫ ربائبكم‬as "stepdaughters” using a literal translation that could convey the
meaning. Both translators used substitution and translated ‫ حجوركم‬into “guardianship.”When
consulting the chairman of the Iftaa Committee, Dr. Zyad Miqdad, he said that there is no
relationship between “guardianship” and the word ‫حجوركم‬. He added that the Quran uses ‫حجوركم‬
which comes from the word ‫ حِ جر‬that linguistically means “hug” and the connotational meaning is
“patronage.”

Regarding the expression ‫دخلتم بهن‬, both translators mistakenly translated this term using
literal translation: have gone into and have gone in respectively. When talking about sexual
relations between wife and husband, the Quran usually uses a euphemistic language that conveys
the meaning politely and properly. The translation of the two expressions by Itani and Ali does not
bear anything of the significance of the source language expression, and this could lead to loss of
meaning, thus failing to achieve cultural equivalence.

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets‫ الذين من أصَلبكم‬as “the son a person has after having a relationship
with his wife at his bed” (p.89) Dr. Miqdad explained that this phrase means your “real sons” not,
for example, your “adopted sons.” He gave an example that Arabs sometimes used to call the uncle
or the grandfather as “father” while they are not their real fathers. So this phrase ‫ من أصَلبكم‬excludes
the metaphorical and adopted sons. Itani used the lexical creation strategy translating ‫ أصَلبكم‬as
“genetic” trying to produce equivalence in the meaning of the source text utterance. Meanwhile, it
seems that Ali thought in a very tight circle, and he translated it literally to one of its possible but
not exact meanings, i.e., “loins.” This translation is not the intended and precise meaning because
one, for example, could have a real son by lab-grown babies or IVF babies.

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The researchers believe that Itani’s interpretation could achieve, to some extent, cultural
equivalence, while Ali’s rendition could not reach the target reader. One reason for this is that that
the back translation for the word “loins” is ‫ عورة‬which falls short of conveying the meaning as
some could have their sons by other means, as explained above.

Extract 8:-
َ‫صنِين‬ ِ ْ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم ۚ َوأُحِ َّل لَ ُكم َّما َو َرا َء ٰذَ ِل ُك ْم أَن ت َ ْبتَغُوا ِبأ َ ْم َوا ِل ُكم ُّمح‬ َ ‫َت أ َ ْي َمانُ ُك ْم ۖ ِكت‬
ِ َّ ‫َاب‬
َ ‫َّللا‬ ْ ‫ساءِ ِإ ًَّل َما َملَك‬
َ ِ‫صنهاتَُ مِ نَ الن‬‫وا ْل ُم ْح ه‬
‫ض ِة ۚ إِ َّن‬ ْ
َ ‫ض ْيتم بِ ِه مِ ن بَ ْع ِد الف َِري‬ ُ ُ
َ ‫عل ْيك ْم فِي َما ت ََرا‬ َ َ
َ ‫ضة ۚ َوًل ُجنَا َح‬ ‫ا‬ َ ‫وره َُّن فَ ِري‬ ُ ُ ْ ُ
َ ‫سافِحِ ينَ ۚ فَ َما ا ْست َ ْمتَ ْعتم بِ ِه مِ ن ُه َّن فَآتوه َُّن أ ُج‬
َ ‫غي َْر ُم‬
َ
َ ‫علِي اما َحكِي اما‬ َ َ‫َّللا َكان‬ َ َّ (Al Nisaa’, verse 24)
Itani:
And all married women, except those you rightfully possess. This is God's decree, binding
upon you. Permitted for you are those that lie outside these limits, provided you seek them
in legal marriage, with gifts from your property, seeking wedlock, not prostitution. If you
wish to enjoy them, then give them their dowry-a legal obligation. You commit no error
by agreeing to any change to the dowry. God is All-Knowing, Most Wise.

Ali:
Also (prohibited are) women already married, except those whom your right hands
possess: Thus hath Allah ordained (Prohibitions) against you: Except for these, all others
are lawful, provided ye seek (them in marriage) with gifts from your property,- desiring
chastity, not lust, seeing that ye derive benefit from them, give them their dowers (at least)
as prescribed; but if, after a dower is prescribed, agree Mutually (to vary it), there is no
blame on you, and Allah is All-knowing, All-wise.

‫ المحصنات‬is the plural form of the singular word ‫محصنة‬, and is derived from the word‫حصن‬
that means “fort.” However, what the Holy Quran has intended is the women who are married, as
Ibn Katheer (1372, p.256) and Ibn Abbas (1992, p.89) interpret. The Holy Quran uses the word
‫ محصنات‬that is from ‫ حصن‬as an indication that marriage for women is like “a stronghold” or “a
castle,” reflecting the solid foundation of marriage in Islam.

Both translators conveyed the intended meaning of the Holy Quranic expression using
literal translation (foreignization) interpreting it as “married women." However, Ali went on in his
translation, adding the English adverb “already” before the word “married” (domestication).

Extract 9:-

ُ ‫َّللاُ أ َ ْعلَ ُم بِإِي َمانِ ُكم ۚ َب ْع‬

‫ض ُكم‬ ِ ‫َت أ َ ْي َمانُ ُكم ِمن فَتَيَاتِ ُك ُم ْال ُمؤْ مِ نَا‬
َّ ‫ت ۚ َو‬ ِ ‫ت ْال ُمؤْ مِ نَا‬
ْ ‫ت فَمِ ن َّما َملَك‬ ِ ‫صنَا‬َ ‫ط ْو اًل أَن يَن ِك َح ْال ُم ْح‬ َ ‫َو َمن لَّ ْم يَ ْستَطِ ْع مِ ن ُك ْم‬
‫ص َّن فَإِ ْن‬ ُ
ِ ْ‫ت أه ْخدهانَ ۚ فَإِذَا أح‬ ِ ‫ت َو ًَل ُمتَّخِ ذَا‬ ٍ ‫سافِ َحا‬ َ ‫غي َْر ُم‬
َ ‫ت‬ ٍ ‫صنَا‬ َ ْ‫وره َُّن ِب ْال َم ْع ُروفِ ُمح‬ ُ
َ ‫ض ۚ فَان ِك ُحوه َُّن ِبإِذْ ِن أ َ ْه ِل ِه َّن َوآتُوه َُّن أ ُج‬ ٍ ‫ِمن بَ ْع‬
(Al Nisaa, verse 25).ِ‫صنَات‬ ْ
َ ‫على ال ُم ْح‬ َ َ ‫ف َما‬ ُ ‫ص‬ َ َ َ ِ‫أَتَيْنَ بِ َفاح‬
ْ ِ‫ش ٍة فعَل ْي ِه َّن ن‬
Itani:
If any of you lack the means to marry free believing women, he may marry one of the
believing maids under your control. God is well aware of your faith. You are from one
another. Marry them with the permission of their guardians, and give them their
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recompense fairly-to be protected-neither committing adultery, nor taking secret lovers.

When they are married, if they commit adultery, their punishment shall be half that of free
women. That is for those among you who fear falling into decadence. But to practice self-
restraint is better for you. God is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Ali:
If any of you have not the means wherewith to wed free believing women, they may wed
believing girls from among those whom your right hands possess: And Allah hath full
knowledge about your faith. Ye are one from another: Wed them with the leave of their
owners, and give them their dowers, according to what is reasonable: They should be
chaste, not lustful, nor taking paramours: when they are taken in wedlock, if they fall into
shame, their punishment is half that for free women. This (permission) is for those among
you who fear sin; but it is better for you that ye practise self-restraint. And Allah is Oft-
forgiving, Most Merciful.

‫ أخدان‬in Arabic is the plural form of the word ‫خِ دن‬. Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets it as “a friend
in secret who practices adultery with a woman” (p.89). Itani tried to domesticate his translation by
substituting ‫ أخدان‬with an equivalent meaning secret lovers which could convey the purpose of the
source text term. Ali, however, went for foreignization using literal translation, translating it
“paramours." Both interpretations, to some extent, have achieved cultural equivalence.

Extract 10:-
ٍ‫ش ْيء‬َ ‫علَ ٰى ُك ِل‬ َ َّ ‫َصي َب ُه ْم ۚ ِإ َّن‬
َ َ‫َّللا َكان‬ ِ َ‫ِي مِ َّما ت ََركَ ْال َوا ِلد‬
‫ان َو ْاْل َ ْق َربُونَ ۚ َوالَّذِينَ ه‬
ِ ‫عقهدهتْ َأ ه ْي همانُ ُك ْمَفَآتُوهُ ْم ن‬ َ‫َو ِل ُك ٍل َج َع ْلنَا هم هوال ه‬
.‫ش ِهيداا‬
َ (Al Nisaa’, verse 33)
Itani:

To everyone We have assigned beneficiaries in what is left by parents and relatives. Those
with whom you have made an agreement, give them their share. God is Witness over all
things.
Ali:
To (benefit) every one, We have appointed shares and heirs to property left by parents and
relatives. To those, also, to whom your right hand was pledged, give their due portion. For
truly Allah is witness to all things.

Ibn Katheer (1372) interprets‫ موالي‬as “heirs” and ‫ عقدت أيمانكم‬as “you agreed with” (p.288).
And even though the word ‫أيمانكم‬, which is derived from the phrase ‫يمين‬, means “an oath,” Dr.
Miqdad has insisted that the term does not necessarily involve making an oath in agreements.
So ‫عقدت أيمانكم‬includes agreements with a promise or not.
Itani inaccurately translated ‫ موالي‬as beneficiaries which is totally different from heirs.
Using literal translation and addition, Ali turned it shares and heirs.‫ موالي‬does not mean shares,
but the “heirs” among whom shares are distributed. Itani domesticated the translation by
substitution, while Ali did this by addition. Itani’s translation is totally far away from the source
text meaning, but Ali’s translation bears part of the definition.
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Itani’s translation of ‫عقدت أيمانكم‬as you have made an agreement using substitution for‫أيمانكم‬
as “agreement” and literal translation for ‫ عقدت‬as “have made” successfully transferred the intended
meaning. Ali again understands the word ‫ يمين‬as “right," which is not correct in this context. And
it is not a requirement for any agreement to be done using the right hand, even though some may
use it for handshaking. Some contracts, for example, are just written. So Ali’s translation of ‫أيمانكم‬
as “your right hand” does not carry the meaning of the source text expression. He also translated
‫ عقدت‬literally into pledged. Yet, the whole translation your right hand promised has been inaccurate
in achieving full cultural equivalence. By using literal translation, and addition to the word hand,
Ali tends to use both foreignization and domestication strategies.

Extract 11:-

ِ ‫ظاتٌ ل ِْلغَ ْي‬

‫ب بِ َما‬ َ ِ‫صا ِل َحاتُ َقانِت َاتٌ َحاف‬ َّ ‫ض َوبِ َما أَن َفقُوا مِ ْن أ َ ْم َوا ِل ِه ْم ۚ َفال‬ ٍ ‫ع َل ٰى بَ ْع‬َ ‫ض ُه ْم‬ َّ ‫ض َل‬
َ ‫َّللاُ بَ ْع‬ َّ ‫ساءِ بِ َما َف‬ َ ِ‫علَى الن‬ َ َ‫الر َجا ُل هق َوا ُمونه‬ِ
‫َّللا‬ ‫س ِب ا‬
ََّ ‫يَل ۗ ِإ َّن‬ َ ِ َ َّ
‫ن‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ي‬
ْ َ ‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫وا‬ُ ‫غ‬‫ب‬ْ َ ‫ت‬ َ
‫َل‬ َ ‫ف‬ ‫م‬ ُ
‫ك‬
ْ ْ ‫ن‬
َ ‫ع‬‫ط‬َ َ ‫أ‬ ْ
‫ن‬ ِ ‫إ‬ َ ‫ف‬ ۖ َّ
‫ُن‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ُو‬ ‫ب‬‫ْر‬
ِ ‫ض‬ ‫ا‬ ‫و‬ َ
‫ع‬ ‫هاج‬
َ ِ ِ ‫ه‬ ‫ض‬ ‫م‬ ْ
‫ل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ِي‬ ‫ف‬ ََ‫ُن‬ ‫ه‬ ‫و‬ ‫ر‬ ‫ج‬
ُ ُ ‫ه‬ْ
‫ه‬ ‫ا‬ ‫و‬ َّ
‫ُن‬ ‫ه‬ ‫و‬ ُ
‫ظ‬ ‫ع‬
ِ َ ‫ف‬ َّ
‫ُن‬ ‫ه‬ َ‫وز‬ ُ
‫ش‬ ُ ‫ن‬ َ‫ون‬ ُ ‫ف‬ ‫َا‬
‫خ‬ َ ‫ت‬ ‫ِي‬ ‫ت‬ َّ
‫الَل‬ ‫و‬ ۚ
َ ُ َّ
‫َّللا‬ َ
‫ظ‬ ‫ف‬
ِ ‫َح‬
.( Al Nisaa’, verse 34)‫يرا‬ ‫ع ِليًّا َكبِ ا‬
َ َ‫َكان‬
Itani:
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, as God has given some of them an
advantage over others, and because they spend out of their wealth. The good women are
obedient, guarding what God would have them guard. As for those from whom you fear
disloyalty, admonish them, and abandon them in their beds, then strike them. But if they
obey you, seek no way against them. God is Sublime, Great.

Ali:
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one
more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means.
Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's)
absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear
disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds,
(And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them
Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).

Ibn Katheer (1372) interprets‫ قوامون على النساء‬as “the man is her master, ruler and
maintainer” (p.292) while Ibn Abbas (1992) explains it as “responsible for maintaining women”
(p.91). In explaining ‫ اهجروهن في المضاجع‬Ibn Katheer (ibid) mentioned that most interpreters like
Ibn Abbas said that it means “not to have a relation with women at their beds." Ibn Abbas (ibid)
said that it could also mean “giving her his back at their bed.”

Both translators substituted the term‫ قوامون‬as protectors and maintainers trying to transfer
the connotative meaning of the expression. When consulting Dr. Miqdad, the head of Iftaa’
Committee at IUG, if this rendition could achieve full cultural equivalence, he said that it could
produce only partial equality. The partial equality is because ‫ قوامون‬could bear more than one

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meaning other than "being protectors and maintainers." For example, the responsibility of the
husband to give his wife her needed money could fall under one of the meanings of ‫قوامون‬.

In translating ‫ اهجروهن‬and ‫ مضاجع‬Itani employs foreignization strategy by using literal

translation for each item. Itani translated the two terms as abandon and beds, respectively, but he
added the pronoun their before beds. This addition meant to provide more clarification. So it can
be said that Itani used a combination of foreignization and domestication. Based on Ibn Abbas’s
and Ibn Katheer’s interpretations of these two utterances, Itani’s rendition does not achieve precise
equivalence.
Ali dealt with
these two items as one unit, and he did not use literal translation, but he substituted the two
items with its meanings refuse to share their beds. According to Ibn Katheer’s and Ibn Abbas’s
interpretations of this expression, Ali’s translation has not been able to transfer the meaning
precisely.

Extract 12:-
ِ ُ‫ار ْال ُجن‬
‫ب‬ ِ ‫ار ذِي ْالقُ ْربَ ٰى َو ْال َج‬
ِ ‫ِين َو ْال َج‬
ِ ‫ساك‬ َ ‫ساناا َوبِذِي ْالقُ ْربَ ٰى َو ْاليَت َا َم ٰى َو ْال َم‬ َ ‫ش ْيئاا ۖ َوبِ ْال َوا ِلدَي ِْن إِ ْح‬
َ ‫َّللا َو ًَل ت ُ ْش ِر ُكوا بِ ِه‬
َ َّ ‫َوا ْعبُدُوا‬
.(Al Nisaa’, verse 34).‫ورا‬ ‫َّللا ًَل يُحِ بُّ َمن َكانَ ُم ْخت اَاًل فَ ُخ ا‬ ََّ ‫َت أ َ ْي َمانُ ُك ْم ۗ ِإ َّن‬
ْ ‫َو َما َملَك‬ ‫ل‬
َ ِ ِ ‫ي‬ ‫ب‬‫س‬َ ‫َال‬ ‫ْن‬‫ب‬
ِ َ ‫ا‬ ‫و‬ ‫ب‬
ِ ‫ن‬‫ج‬ ْ
َ ِ ‫ب‬
‫ال‬ ‫ب‬ ِ ِ‫َوالصَّاح‬
Itani:
Worship God, and ascribe no partners to Him, and be good to the parents, and the relatives,
and the orphans, and the poor, and the neighbor next door, and the distant neighbor, and
the close associate, and the traveler, and your servants. God does not love the arrogant
showoff.
Ali:
Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans,
those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by
your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loveth
not the arrogant, the vainglorious

The literal meaning of the word ‫ سبيل‬according to Al Maany Dictionary is “the road or the way the
traveler walks on." In Arabic, it is called ‫ ابن السبيل‬because the road or the way of traveling
accompanies the traveler. Ibn katheer (1372) in his interpretation says that Mojahed and Alddahk
interpret ‫ ابن السبيل‬as “the one who passes by you while he/she is travelling” (p.300). However, Dr.
Miqdad said that not all who pass by you while traveling can be considered ‫ابن السبيل‬. Only the ones
who do not have their livings and they need help can be categorized under ‫ابن السبيل‬.

Itani substituted ‫ ابن السبيل‬with “traveler” which could not wholly transfer the intended
meaning of the source text. The source item means those who travel on foot, but not all travelers
travel on foot; some may travel by planes or cars. And based on the previous interpretation
provided by Dr. Miqdad, Itani’s translation has not been successful in achieving the full and precise
cultural equivalence.

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Ali used literal translation for the phrase ‫ ابن السبيل‬i.e. “the wayfarer”, which can convey part
of the intended meaning because, as explained above, the “wayfarer” should be in need to be
considered as ‫ابن السبيل‬. Ali also added the phrase “ye meet” between brackets. So he used a
combination of foreignization and domestication strategies. It should be mentioned that Ali’s
translation partially conveys the meaning of the source text.

Extract 13:-

‫سلُوا ۚ َو ِإن ُكنتُم‬ ِ ‫س ِبي ٍل َحت َّ ٰى ت ه ْغت ه‬ َ ‫َار ٰى َحت َّ ٰى ت َ ْع َل ُموا َما تَقُولُونَ َو ًَل ُجنُبا ِإ ًَّل‬
َ ‫عا ِب ِري‬ َ ‫سك‬ ُ ‫ص ََلة َ َوأَنت ُ ْم‬
َّ ‫يَا أَيُّ َها ا َّلذِينَ آ َمنُوا ًَل تَ ْق َربُوا ال‬
ُ‫س ُحوا ِب ُو ُجو ِهك ْم‬َ ‫ام‬ َ َ
ْ ‫صعِيداا طيِباا ف‬ ‫ه‬ ‫ه‬ َ َ
َ ‫سا هَء فل ْم ت َِجدُوا َما اء فتيه َم ُموا‬ ُ
‫ست ُمَالنِ ه‬ ‫ه‬ َ ْ
ْ ‫سف ٍَر أَ ْو َجا َء أ َ َحدٌ ِمنكم ِمنَ الغَائِطِ أ ْو َل هم‬
ُ َ ‫علَ ٰى‬ َ ‫ض ٰى أ َ ْو‬ َ ‫َّم ْر‬
‫غفُ ا‬
‫ورا‬ َ ‫عفُ ًّوا‬ َ َّ ‫َوأَ ْيدِي ُك ْم ۗ ِإ َّن‬
َ َ‫َّللا َكان‬
Itani:-
O you who believe! Do not approach the prayer while you are drunk, so that you know
what you say; nor after sexual orgasm-unless you are travelling-until you have bathed. If
you are sick, or traveling, or one of you comes from the toilet, or you have had intercourse
with women, and cannot find water, find clean sand and wipe your faces and your hands
with it. God is Pardoning and Forgiving.
Ali:
O ye who believe! Approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand
all that ye say,- nor in a state of ceremonial impurity (Except when travelling on the
road), until after washing your whole body. If ye are ill, or on a journey, or one of you
cometh from offices of nature, or ye have been in contact with women, and ye find no
water, then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces
and hands. For Allah doth blot out sins and forgive again and again.

The religious expression ‫ ُجنُب‬is an adjective affixed to a man or a woman after having a sexual
relationship. ‫ تغتسلوا‬means having a shower that removes the status of ‫ ُجنُب‬. ‫ًلمستم النساء‬, according
to Ibbn Abbas (1992), means “having sexual relation with one’s wife” (93). ‫ التيمم‬is wiping one’s
face and hands with sand when the water is not available or scarce. So it is an alternative to ablution
under certain circumstances.
Itani substituted the meaning of ‫ ُجنُب‬with its cause sexual-orgasm. Orgasm is a new utterance
that is not necessarily a condition for being ‫ ُجنُب‬. Ali uses the definition of ‫ ُجنُب‬that is a state of
ceremonial impurity, and it could convey the direct meaning of the source text. In translating ‫تغتسلوا‬
Itani used a direct translation, i.e. “have bathed," while Ali added “all your body” to the gerund
washing explaining it as “washing your whole body." Both translations have conveyed the
meaning.

In translating the phrase, ‫ ًلمستم النساء‬Itani seems to have followed Ibn Abbas’s
understanding translating it as “has intercourse with women” using the substitution strategy. This
translation, based on Ibn Abbas’s interpretation above, achieves cultural equivalence, but the
difference is that the Holy Quran implicitly expresses that using euphemistic expression while
Itani translated it explicitly. Ali’s translation, as have been in contact with women, is very general
and falls short of conveying the intended meaning. So it seems that Ali, unlike Itani, has not been
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able to transfer the intended and precise purpose. Both Itani and Ali used substitution, one of the
domestication strategies.

In translating the word ‫تيمموا‬, both translators use the definition (domestication) of the term
‫تيمم‬. So Itani explained it as find clean sand and wipe your faces and your hands with it, and Ali
explained it as then take for yourselves clean sand or earth, and rub therewith your faces and
hands. Both translators have achieved cultural equivalence since the meaning of the source text
term could reach the target reader without any difficulty.

Extract 14:-

‫ارهَا أَ ْو نَ ْل َعنَ ُه ْم‬ِ ‫علَ ٰى أَدْ َب‬

َ ‫س ُو ُجوهاا فَن َُردَّهَا‬ َ ِ‫طم‬ ْ ‫ص ِدقاا ِل َما َم َع ُكم ِمن َق ْب ِل أَن َّن‬
َ ‫اب آمِ نُوا ِب َما ن ََّز ْلنَا ُم‬
َ‫َيا أ َ ُّي َها الَّذِينَ أُوت ُواَا ْل ِكت ه ه‬
‫وًل‬‫َّللا َم ْفعُ ا‬ َ
ِ َّ ‫ت ۚ َو َكانَ أ ْم ُر‬
َِ ‫س ْب‬
َ ‫هابَال‬ ‫صح ه‬ ‫ه‬
ْ ‫( َك َما َلعَنَّاَأ‬verse 47)
Itani:

O you who were given the Book! Believe in what We sent down, confirming what you
have, before We obliterate faces and turn them inside out, or curse them as We cursed
.the Sabbath-breakers. The command of God is always done.
Ali:
O ye People of the Book! believe in what We have (now) revealed, confirming what was
(already) with you, before We change the face and fame of some (of you) beyond all
recognition, and turn them hindwards, or curse them as We cursed the Sabbath-breakers,
for the decision of Allah Must be carried out.

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets ‫ اوتوا الكتاب‬in this verse as the ones who were given the Torah
(p.94). ‫ أصحاب السبت‬is a title given to a group of Jewish people who were abandoned to go fishing
on Saturdays by Allah, but they break the rule and go fishing instead. So Allah punished them by
deforming them into monkeys and pigs, as explained by Ibn Katheer (1372).

Both Itani and Ali used literal translation for translating the word ‫ كتاب‬as “book." They
translated ‫ أصحاب السبت‬as “Sabbath-breakers." According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word
“Sabbath” is defined as (in Judaism and Christianity) "the holy day of the week that was used for
resting and worshipping God. For Jews, this day is Saturday, and for Christians, it is Sunday."
Both translators borrowed the term ‫ سبت‬as Sabbath with little modification for the last sound in the
word. Instead of saying ‫أصحاب‬, they substituted it with the adjective “breakers” describing those
people. So when translating ‫أصحاب السبت‬, Itani and Ali used a combination of foreignization by
borrowing and domestication by substitution, thus achieving cultural equivalence.

Extracts 15:-

‫ار خَا ِلدِينَ فِي َها أَبَداا ۖ لَّ ُه ْم فِي َها أه ْز هواجَ ُّم ه‬
‫طه هَرةَ ۖ َونُدْخِ لُ ُه ْم ظِ ًَّل‬ ُ ‫ت تَجْ ِري مِ ن تَحْ تِ َها ْاْل َ ْن َه‬
ٍ ‫سنُدْخِ لُ ُه ْم َجنَّا‬
َ ‫ت‬ َ ‫َوالَّذِينَ آ َمنُوا َو‬
َّ ‫عمِ لُوا ال‬
ِ ‫صا ِل َحا‬
( Al Nisaa’, verse 57) .‫ِيَل‬ ‫ظل ا‬ َ

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Itani:
As for those who believe and do good deeds, We will admit them into Gardens beneath
which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. They will have purified spouses therein, and
We will admit them into a shady shade.
Ali:
But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall soon admit to Gardens,
with rivers flowing beneath,- their eternal home: Therein shall they have companions pure
and holy: We shall admit them to shades, cool and ever deepening.

Ibn Abbas (1992, p.95) interprets ‫ أزواج مطهرة‬as “female spouses purified from menstruation and
dirtiness." Ibn Katheer (1372, p. 338) adds that they are also purified from the postpartum period,
bad habits, and menstruation. Itani translated the adjective ‫ مطهرة‬as “purified” and Ali as “pure and
holy." “Pure” and “purified” can be a translation for the word ‫ مطهرة‬achieving cultural equivalence.
But when consulting Dr. Miqdad whether holy can be added to the interpretation, he said that it is
not the intended meaning of source expression, and it adds an additional purpose that is not found
in the source utterance.

Both translators inaccurately translated ‫ أزواج‬into spouses and companions, respectively as

what is meant by ‫ أزواج‬in the original verse is females only. Spouses and companions could mean
both males and females. And also, the word companions does not necessarily imply spouses; it
could be “friends." So both translations have been inaccurate to achieve cultural equivalence.
While Itani used the literal translation (foreignization), Ali used substitution of ‫ أزواج‬with
companions, literal translation for ‫مطهرة‬, and addition for the word holy. So Ali’s translation is a
combination of both foreignization and domestication strategies.

Extracts 16:-

َ‫َّللا َكان‬ َ َّ ‫اس أَن ت َ ْح ُك ُموا بِ ْالعَدْ ِل ۚ إِ َّن‬

ُ ‫َّللا نِ ِع َّما يَ ِع‬
َ َّ ‫ظ ُكم بِ ِه ۗ إِ َّن‬ َِ ‫َّللا يَأ ْ ُم ُر ُك ْم أَن ت ُ َؤدُّوا ْاْل ه همانها‬
ِ َّ‫ت إِلَ ٰى أ َ ْه ِل َها َوإِذَا َح َك ْمتُم بَيْنَ الن‬ َ َّ ‫إِ َّن‬
.
.‫يرا‬
‫ص ا‬ِ َ‫سمِ ي اعا ب‬
َ .(Al Nisaa’, verse 58)
Itani:-
God instructs you to give back things entrusted to you to their owners. And when you
judge between people, judge with justice. God's instructions to you are excellent. God is
All-Hearing, All-Seeing.
Ali:-
Allah doth command you to render back your Trusts to those to whom they are due; And
when ye judge between man and man, that ye judge with justice: Verily how excellent is
the teaching which He giveth you! For Allah is He Who heareth and seeth all things.

In the two translations above, Itani defined ‫ أمانات‬as things entrusted to you using domestication
strategy. Ali used literal translation (foreignization) for the word ‫ أمانات‬as trusts, and he added the
pronoun your (domestication). Both renderings have achieved cultural equivalence.

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Extracts 17:-

‫سو ِل إِن‬ ُ ‫الر‬ َ ‫ِيَاْل ه ْم َِر مِ ن ُك ْم ۖ فَإِن تَنَازَ ْعت ُ ْم فِي‬

ِ َّ ‫ش ْيءٍ فَ ُردُّوهُ إِلَى‬
َّ ‫َّللا َو‬ ْ ‫سو َل هوأُول‬ َّ ‫َّللا َوأَطِ يعُوا‬
ُ ‫الر‬ َ َّ ‫يَا أَيُّ َها الَّذِينَ آ َمنُوا أَطِ يعُوا‬
‫ا‬ ْ ُ
.‫سن ت َأ ِويَل‬ َ َ ٰ ْ ْ ُ ُ ُ ُ
ِ َّ ِ‫ (كنت ْم تؤْ مِ نونَ ب‬Al Nisaa’, verse 59)
َ ‫اَّلل َواليَ ْو ِم اْلخِ ِر ۚ ذلِكَ َخي ٌْر َوأ ْح‬
Itani:-
O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among
you. And if you dispute over anything, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in
God and the Last Day. That is best, and a most excellent determination.

Ali:-
O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority
among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger,
if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final
determination.

Ibn Abbas (1992, p.59) interprets ‫ أولي اْلمر‬as “scholars,” and Ibn Katheer (1372, p.334) says
that it means the people of religion and jurisprudence and it could generally refer to anyone in
authority and also to scholars.
Itani and Ali used the definition strategy in translating the phrase ‫( أولي اْلمر‬domestication).
So while Itani translated it as those in authority, Ali translated it as whose charged with authority
among you. Both translations have achieved cultural equivalence.

Extracts 18:-

ْ ‫س ِل ُمواَت ه‬
‫سلِيما‬ َ َ‫ش َج َر بَ ْينَ ُه ْم ث ُ َّم ًَل يَ ِجدُوا فِي أَنفُ ِس ِه ْم َح َر اجا ِم َّما ق‬
‫ضيْتَ هويُ ه‬ َ ‫فَ ََل َو َربِكَ ًَل يُؤْ مِ نُونَ َحت َّ ٰى يُ َح ِك ُموكَ فِي َما‬
( Al Nisaa’, verse 65)
Itani:-
But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they call you to arbitrate in their
disputes, and then find within themselves no resentment regarding your decisions, and
submit themselves completely.
Ali:-
But no, by the Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make thee judge in all
disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against Thy decisions, but
accept them with the fullest conviction.

According to Ibn Abbas (1992, p.96),‫ يسلموا تسليما‬means to submit themselves totally to
Allah and Ibn Katheer (1372, p. 348) adds that it should be with full acceptance from outside and
inside without showing any objection. In Arabic, the use of the cognate accusative like “‫”تسليما ا‬
serves to emphasize the meaning of the main verb. Itani used three strategies in handling with
‫يسلموا تسليما ا‬. The first strategy is literal translation for ‫ يسلموا‬as submit. The second one is an addition
for the pronoun themselves, which is not in the source utterance. And the last strategy is the
substitution of the cognate objective "‫ "تسليما ا‬into the adverb completely. He used a combination of
foreignization and domestication strategies, and he has achieved cultural equivalence by doing so.

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Ali used definition (domestication) of the meaning of the phrase ‫يسلموا تسليما ا‬, and he
translated it as accept with fullest conviction, thus conveying full cultural equivalence

Extracts 19:-

َ‫صالِحِ ينَ ۚ َو َحسُنَ أُو ٰلَئِك‬

َّ ‫ش ههدهاءَِ َوال‬ ِ ‫علَ ْي ِهم ِمنَ النَّبِيِينَ َو‬
ُّ ‫الصدِيقِينَ هوال‬ َّ ‫سو َل فَأُو ٰلَئِكَ َم َع الَّذِينَ أ َ ْنعَ َم‬
َ ُ‫َّللا‬ ُ ‫الر‬ َ َّ ‫َو َمن يُطِ ِع‬
َّ ‫َّللا َو‬
‫ َرفِي اقا‬.(Al Nisaa’, verse 69)
Itani:
Whoever obeys God and the Messenger-these are with those whom God has blessed-
among the prophets, and the sincere, and the martyrs, and the upright. Excellent are those
as companions.
Ali:
All who obey Allah and the apostle are in the company of those on whom is the Grace of
Allah,- of the prophets (who teach), the sincere (lovers of Truth), the witnesses (who testify),
and the Righteous (who do good): Ah! what a beautiful fellowship!

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets ‫ الشهداء‬as those who die for the sake of Allah (p.97). And this
is what Itani had understood, and so translated it literally as martyrs. On the other hand, it seems
that Ali misunderstood the definition of the source item word and he translated it to a meaning that
could be used in different contexts other than this one. Ali turned it to “witnesses (who testify).
Though ‫ الشهداء‬in some regards could mean “witnesses," in this verse, it means martyrs only.

Itani and Ali translated ‫ الشهداء‬literally employing the foreignization strategy. Though Itani
provided the intended sense of the source item, Ali’s translation has not been accurate in capturing
the correct definition providing a meaning that falls short of conveying the intended purpose of
the source text item. In short, Itani’s use of literal translation has succeeded in achieving cultural
equivalence. In contrast, Ali’s use of literal translation and addition through the use of the phrase
“who testify” (domestication) has not been accurate in achieving cultural equivalence.

Extracts 20:-

‫هان الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ َر َّبنَا أَ ْخ ِرجْ نَا مِ ْن ٰ َه ِذ ِه ْالقَ ْريَ ِة‬

َِ ‫ساءِ هوا ْل ِو ْلد‬
َ ِ‫الر َجا ِل َوالن‬ ْ َ ‫َّللا َو ْال ُم ْست‬
ِ َ‫ضعَفِينَ مِ ن‬ َ ‫َو َما لَ ُك ْم ًَل تُقَاتِلُونَ فِي‬
ِ َّ ‫سبِي ِل‬
.‫يرا‬‫َص ا‬ َّ َّ َّ َّ
ِ ‫(الظال ِِم أ ْهل َها َوا ْجعَل لنَا مِ ن لدُنكَ هو ِليًّا َواجْ عَل لنَا مِ ن لدُنكَ ن‬Al Nisaa’, verse 75) ُ َ َّ

Itani:
And why would you not fight in the cause of God, and the helpless men, and women, and
children, cry out, "Our Lord, deliver us from this town whose people are oppressive, and
appoint for us from Your Presence a Protector, and appoint for us from Your Presence a
Victor."
Ali:
And why should ye not fight in the cause of Allah and of those who, being weak, are ill-
treated (and oppressed)?- Men, women, and children, whose cry is: "Our Lord! Rescue us

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from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will
protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!"

according to the Al Maany Dictionary means “young boys” and Ibn Abbas (1992) ‫ولدان‬
as “children,” which is ‫ ولدان‬as a “protector” (p.97). Both Itani and Ali translated ‫وليا ا‬interprets
is only used for young boys. ‫ولدان‬not correct because children could mean boys and girls, but
They both substituted the source text item with a more general word (domestication) that has
been inaccurate to achieve cultural equivalence.

as protector while Ali ‫وليا ا‬Itani used literal translation (foreignization) for translating
used definition (domestication) defining it as thee one who will protect.
Both translations have achieved cultural equivalence.

Extracts 21:-

ٌ ‫ع َل ْي ِه ُم ْال ِقتَا ُل ِإذَا َف ِر‬

( ‫يق ِم ْن ُه ْم‬ َ ‫ِب‬َ ‫ُواَالزكهاةهَ فَلَ َّما ُكت‬
َ ‫أَلَ ْم ت ََر ِإلَى الَّذِينَ قِي َل لَ ُه ْم ُكفُّوا أَ ْي ِد َي ُك ْم هوأهقِي ُمواَالص هََلةهَ هوآت‬
ََ ‫َّللا أ َ ْو أ‬
‫ا‬.‫شدَّ َخ ْشيَة‬ ِ َّ ‫اس َك َخ ْشيَ ِة‬ ْ
َ َّ‫(يَخش َْونَ الن‬Al Nisaa’, verse 77)
Itani:-
Have you not considered those who were told, "Restrain your hands, and perform your
prayers, and spend in regular charity"? But when fighting was ordained for them, a
faction of them feared the people as God is ought to be feared, or even more.
Ali:
Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who were told to hold back their hands (from
fight) but establish regular prayers and spend in regular charity? When (at length) the
order for fighting was issued to them, behold! a section of them feared men as - or even
more than - they should have feared Allah.

Ibn Abbas (1992, p.98) interprets ‫ أقيموا الصَلة‬as to complete the five prayers with main pillars
sujood (prostration) and rokoo’ (bowing down) and on times. Though the word ‫ الصَلة‬is singular,
if any Muslim reads it, he/she will know that it means all the five prayers they must perform daily.
Regarding the word ‫زكاة‬, it is a religious obligation for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria
of wealth.

In the translations above, Itani translated ‫ أقيموا الصَلة‬as “perform your prayers” while Ali
translated it into “establish regular prayers." Itani added (domestication) the pronoun your and
substitutes ‫ الصَلة‬into the plural form prayers (domestication). Itani and Ali both translated ‫أقيموا‬
literally as perform and establish, respectively (foreignization). Ali added the adjective regular to
prayers (domestication), and he also substituted ‫ الصَلة‬into the plural form prayers. Both renditions
perform your prayers and establish regular prayers have achieved cultural equivalence.

Regarding the phrase ‫ آتوا الزكاة‬both translators translated it into the same utterance as spend
in your regular charity. However, this rendition could not convey the full meaning of the source
text expression ‫آتوا الزكاة‬, first, because ‫ الزكاة‬is not customary for all people and at all times. It has
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Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation El Haj Ahmed & Abu Shammala

a specific condition, such as having a particular amount of money in particular time. Second, the
word charity does not bear the meaning of obligation, but a kind of something preferable.
However, ‫الزكاة‬, for the people who have the money and for whom the criteria are applied and met,
is obligatory and could not just be considered as charity. So their translation of ‫ آتوا الزكاة‬does not
achieve cultural equivalence. The strategies used by the two translators are substitution for the
word ‫ زكاة‬into charity, the literal translation for the phrase ‫ آتوا‬as spend in, and addition for the
pronoun your and the adjective regular. So their translations are a combination of foreignization
and domestication strategies.

Extracts 22:-
َّ ‫ُورهُ ْم أَن يُقَاتِلُو ُك ْم أ َ ْو يُقَاتِلُوا قَ ْو َم ُه ْم ۚ َولَ ْو شَا َء‬
ُ‫َّللا‬ ُ ‫صد‬ ُ ‫ت‬ ْ ‫ص َر‬ ِ ‫صلُونَ ِإلَ ٰى قَ ْو ٍم بَ ْينَ ُك ْم َو َب ْينَ ُهم ِميثَا ٌق أ َ ْو َجا ُءو ُك ْم َح‬
ِ َ‫َّإًل الَّذِينَ ي‬
‫َّللاُ لَ ُك ْم‬
َّ ‫سلَ َم فَ َما َج َع َل‬َّ ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم فَلَقَاتَلُو ُك ْم ۚ فَإِ ِن ا ْعتَزَ لُو ُك ْم فَلَ ْم يُقَا ِتلُو ُك ْم َوأَ ْلقَ ْوا ِإلَ ْي ُك ُم ال‬ َ َّ‫سل‬
َ ‫ط ُه ْم‬ َ َ‫(ل‬Al Nisaa’, verse 90)
.َ‫سبِيَل‬ ‫علَ ْي ِه ْم ه‬
َ
Itani:
Except those who join people with whom you have a treaty, or those who come to you
reluctant to fight you or fight their own people. Had God willed, He would have given them
power over you, and they would have fought you. If they withdraw from you, and do not
fight you, and offer you peace, then God assigns no excuse for you against them..
Ali:
Except those who join a group between whom and you there is a treaty (of peace), or those
who approach you with hearts restraining them from fighting you as well as fighting their
own people. If Allah had pleased, He could have given them power over you, and they
would have fought you: Therefore if they withdraw from you but fight you not, and
(instead) send you (Guarantees of) peace, then Allah Hath opened no way for you (to war
against them).

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets ‫ سبيل‬as an excuse or an argument for fighting (p.101). Itani
translated the metaphorical meaning of ‫ سبيل‬as an excuse and Ali translated it into its direct
linguistic meaning “way." Both translators have used literal translation, which has roughly
conveyed the intended purpose and achieved cultural equivalence.

Extracts 23:-
َ‫ص َدقُوا ۚ فَإِن َكان‬َ ‫سلَّ َمةٌ إِلَ ٰى أ َ ْه ِل ِه إِ ًَّل أَن يه‬
َ ‫ير هر هقبهةَ ُّمؤْ مِ نَ ٍة هو ِديهةَ ُّم‬ ُ ‫طأ ا فَت َ ْح ِر‬
َ ‫طأ ا ۚ َو َمن قَتَ َل ُمؤْ مِ ناا َخ‬َ ‫َو َما َكانَ ِل ُمؤْ مِ ٍن أَن يَ ْقت ُ َل ُمؤْ مِ ناا إِ ًَّل َخ‬
ُ ‫سلَّ َمةٌ ِإلَ ٰى أَ ْه ِل ِه َوتَحْ ِر‬
‫ير َرقَ َب ٍة‬ َ ‫اق فَ ِد َيةٌ ُّم‬
ٌ َ ‫ير َرقَ َب ٍة ُّمؤْ مِ نَ ٍة ۖ َو ِإن َكانَ مِ ن قَ ْو ٍم َب ْينَ ُك ْم َو َب ْينَ ُهم ِميث‬ُ ‫عد ٍُو لَّ ُك ْم َوه َُو ُمؤْ مِ ٌن فَت َ ْح ِر‬َ ‫مِ ن قَ ْو ٍم‬
( Al Nisaa’, verse 92).‫علِي اما َحكِي اما‬ ُ َّ َ‫َّللا ۗ َو َكان‬
َ ‫َّللا‬ ‫ا‬
ِ َّ َ‫ش ْه َري ِْن ُمتَتَا ِبعَي ِْن ت َْوبَة ِمن‬ َ ‫صيَا ُم‬ َّ
ِ َ‫ُّمؤْ مِ نَ ٍة ۖ فَ َمن ل ْم يَ ِجدْ ف‬
Itani:
Never should a believer kill another believer, unless by error. Anyone who kills a
believer by error must set free a believing slave, and pay compensation to the victim's
family, unless they remit it as charity. If the victim belonged to a people who are hostile
to you, but is a believer, then the compensation is to free a believing slave. If he belonged
to a people with whom you have a treaty, then compensation should be handed over to
his family, and a believing slave set free. Anyone who lacks the means must fast for two
consecutive months, by way of repentance to God. God is All-Knowing, Most Wise..
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Ali:
Never should a believer kill a believer; but (If it so happens) by mistake, (Compensation
is due): If one (so) kills a believer, it is ordained that he should free a believing slave, and
pay compensation to the deceased's family, unless they remit it freely. If the deceased
belonged to a people at war with you, and he was a believer, the freeing of a believing
slave (Is enough). If he belonged to a people with whom ye have treaty of Mutual
alliance, compensation should be paid to his family, and a believing slave be freed. For
those who find this beyond their means, (is prescribed) a fast for two months running: by
way of repentance to Allah. for Allah hath all knowledge and all wisdom.

In the Arabic language, what is meant by ‫ رقبة‬is not the literal meaning neck; it is a
synecdoche referring to the whole body rather than this part of the body. In this context, it means
explicitly the slave. According to the Al-Maany Dictionary, ‫ دية‬means “money obtained at the cost
of life; received by a murderer for killing someone or as a reward for betraying somebody who is
to be put to death - blood money." ‫صدقوا‬ َّ ‫ ي‬in this context means that the victim’s family forgives
the murderer for paying the ‫ دية‬he has to pay for the killing.

In rendering the word ‫رقبة‬, Itani and Ali substituted it to its intended meaning which is slave.
This substitution (domestication) has successfully achieved cultural equivalence. Using
substitution with a more general word, both translators translated ‫ دية‬as compensation. However,
this translation does not carry the full and exact meaning. First, ‫ دية‬in Islam is money or in other
words, “blood money," yet compensation is a more general term that may mean money and other
things. For example, compensation could be paid for food, houses, goods, or other things. Finally,
the connotative meaning of the phrase “compensation” may not reflect the connotative meaning
implied in the phrase ‫دية‬. So the translation of the word ‫ دية‬as “compensation” as provided by Itani
and Ali does not fully achieve cultural equivalence. Also, both Itani and Ali added the verb pay,
which is not found in the source text.

In translating the verb ‫ َيصدقوا‬, Itani and Ali used the substitution strategy (domestication)
with an equivalent utterance. While Itani translated it as “remit it as charity," Ali translated it as
“remit it freely." Both translations have roughly achieved cultural equivalence.

َ Extracts 24:-
‫َّللاُ ْال ُم َجا ِهدِينَ بِأ َ ْم َوا ِل ِه ْم‬ َّ ‫َّللا بِأ َ ْم َوا ِل ِه ْم َوأَنفُ ِس ِه ْم ۚ َف‬
َّ ‫ض َل‬ َ ‫غي ُْر أُولِي الض ََّر ِر هوا ْل ُمجها ِهدُونهَ فِي‬
ِ َّ ‫سبِي ِل‬ َ َ‫ًَّل يَ ْستَ ِوي ا ْلقها ِعدُونهَ مِ نَ ا ْل ُمؤْ مِ نِين‬
َ ‫علَى ْالقَا ِعدِينَ أَ ْج ارا‬
.‫عظِ ي اما‬ َ َ‫َّللاُ ْال ُم َجا ِهدِين‬ َّ َ‫َّللاُ ْال ُح ْسن َٰى ۚ َوف‬
َّ ‫ض َل‬ َ ‫علَى ْالقَا ِعدِينَ دَ َر َجةا ۚ َو ُك ًَّل َو‬
َّ َ‫عد‬ َ ‫َوأَنفُ ِس ِه ْم‬
( Al Nisaa’, verse 95)
Itani:
Not equal are the inactive among the believers-except the disabled-and the strivers in the
cause of God with their possessions and their persons. God prefers the strivers with their
possessions and their persons above the inactive, by a degree. But God has promised
goodness to both. Yet God favors the strivers, over the inactive, with a great reward..

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Ali:
Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive
and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a
grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who
sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight
Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-

The verse above comes to compare between two types of believers: the ones who fight for
the sake of Allah )‫ (المجاهدون‬and the others who do not fight and stay at home )‫(القاعدون‬.

It seems that Itani looked at the superficial meaning of the word ‫قاعدون‬. He substituted it
with an adjective adhered to ‫القاعدون‬, i.e. “inactive” (domestication). This translation is not
appropriate because the lexical item “inactive” could mean those passive and lazy people.
However, the source text expression means those people who do not go for fighting for the sake
of Allah. So Itani’s translation falls short of conveying the full cultural equivalence even though
the word “inactive” could be one of the attributes of ‫القاعدون‬.

Ali translated ‫ القاعدون‬as (believers who sit at homes) using definition (domestication). It’s
true that one part of the translation is that those people sitting at home. Still, Ali’s rendition could
convey part of the meaning without fully explaining the full meaning sought in the source text as
he did not provide any explanatory notes illustrating that they sit at home to avoid taking part in
battles.

In translating the word ‫مجاهدون‬, Itani translated it literally to “strivers” (foreignization),

while Ali defined it as "those who strive and fight" (domestication). Both translations have
achieved cultural equivalence.

َ Extracts 25:-
‫ص ََلةِ ِإ ْن خِ ْفت ُ ْم أَن يَ ْفتِنَ ُك ُم الَّذِينَ َكف َُروا ۚ ِإ َّن ْالكَاف ِِرينَ كَانُوا‬ ُ ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم ُجنَا ٌح أَن ته ْق‬
َّ ‫ص ُروا مِ نَ ال‬ ِ ‫ض َر ْبت ُ ْم فِي ْاْل َ ْر‬
َ ‫ض فَلَي‬
َ ‫ْس‬ َ ‫َو ِإذَا‬
‫ا‬.‫عد ًُّوا ُّمبِينا‬ ُ َ
َ ‫(لك ْم‬Al Nisaa’, verse 101)
Itani:-
When you travel in the land, there is no blame on you for shortening the prayers, if you
fear that the disbelievers may harm you. The disbelievers are your manifest enemies.
Ali:-
When ye travel through the earth, there is no blame on you if ye shorten your prayers,
for fear the Unbelievers May attack you: For the Unbelievers are unto you open enemies.

Ibn Katheer (1372) interprets ‫ تقصروا من الصَلة‬as “to shorten the four-rakaa prayer into
two-rakaa prayer” (p.393). Both Itani and Ali have achieved cultural equivalence by translating it
literally to “shortening” and “shorten” respectively. They both used a foreignization strategy.

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Extracts 26:-

‫علَى‬َ ‫َت‬ْ ‫ص ََلة َ كَان‬ َّ ‫اط َمأْنَنت ُ ْم فَأَقِي ُموا ال‬

َّ ‫ص ََلة َ ۚ ِإ َّن ال‬ ْ ‫علَ ٰى ُجنُو ِب ُك ْم ۚ فَإِذَا‬ َ َّ ‫ص ََلةَ فَاذْ ُك ُروا‬
َ ‫َّللا ِق َيا اما َوقُعُوداا َو‬ َّ ‫ض ْيت ُ ُم ال‬
َ َ‫فَإِذَا ق‬
ُ ْ
.‫ (ال ُمؤْ مِ نِينَ ِكتهاباَ َم ْوقوتا‬Al Nisaa’, verse 103)
Itani:
When you have completed the prayer, remember God, standing, or sitting, or on your
sides. And when you feel secure, perform the prayer. The prayer is obligatory for
believers at specific times.
Ali:
When ye pass (Congregational) prayers, celebrate Allah's praises, standing, sitting down,
or lying down on your sides; but when ye are free from danger, set up Regular Prayers:
For such prayers are enjoined on believers at stated times.

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets ‫ كتابا ا موقوتا ا‬as “obligatory” (p.104), while Ibn Katheer (1372)
quoting Ibn Masoud said that ‫ كتابا ا موقوتا ا‬means “the prayer has specific times like pilgrimage”
(p.403).
In the translation of the verse above, Itani and Ali substituted the word ‫كتابا ا‬, which could
mean nothing to the target reader if translated as “book," into “times” (domestication). They
literally translated ‫ موقوتا ا‬as “specific” and “stated” respectively (foreignization). Both translations
“specific times” and “stated times” have achieved cultural equivalence as they captured the
intended meaning of the source text item. They both used a combination of foreignization and
domestication strategies to convey the purpose of the source cultural expression.

َ Extracts 27:-

َّ ‫ت‬
ِ‫َّللا‬ َ ‫اس ۚ َو َمن يَ ْفعَ ْل ٰذَلِكَ ا ْبتِغَا َء َم ْر‬
ِ ‫ضا‬ ِ َّ‫ح بَيْنَ الن‬ ْ ‫ص هد هقةَ أ َ ْو َم ْع ُروفٍ أ َ ْو ِإ‬
ٍ ‫ص ََل‬ ‫ِير ِمن نَّج َْواهُ ْم إِ ًَّل َم ْن أ َ َم َر بِ ه‬
ٍ ‫ًَّل َخي َْر فِي َكث‬
(Al Nisaa’, verse 114).‫عظِ ي اما‬ َ ‫ف نُؤْ تِي ِه أَ ْج ارا‬ َ َ‫ف‬
َ ‫س ْو‬
Itani:
There is no good in much of their private counsels, except for him who advocates charity, or
kindness, or reconciliation between people. Whoever does that, seeking God's approval, We
will give him a great compensation.
Ali
In most of their secret talks there is no good: But if one exhorts to a deed of charity or justice
or conciliation between men, (Secrecy is permissible): To him who does this, seeking the
good pleasure of Allah, We shall soon give a reward of the highest (value).

Ibn Abbas (1992) interprets ‫ صدقة‬as “poor charity” (P.105). So ‫ صدقة‬is giving money, food,
help, etc. to people who are in need. In translating the word ‫ صدقة‬as charity, Itani and Ali used
literal translation (foreignization). Both interpretations have roughly conveyed the meaning and
achieved cultural equivalence.

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َ Extracts 28:-
‫غفُ ا‬
‫ورا‬ َ َ‫َّللا َكان‬ ْ ُ ‫صت ُ ْم ۖ فَ ََل تَمِ يلُوا ُك َّل ْال َم ْي ِل فَتَذَ ُروهَا كها ْل ُمعهلَقه َِة ۚ َوإِن ت‬
َ َّ ‫ص ِل ُحوا َوتَتَّقُوا فَإِ َّن‬ َ ِ‫َولَن ت َ ْستَطِ يعُوا أَن ت َ ْع ِدلُوا بَيْنَ الن‬
ْ ‫ساءِ َولَ ْو َح َر‬
.( Al Nisaa’, verse 129) .‫َّرحِ ي اما‬
Itani:
You will not be able to treat women with equal fairness, no matter how much you desire
it. But do not be so biased as to leave another suspended. If you make amends, and act
righteously-God is Forgiving and Merciful.
Ali:
Ye are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire:
But turn not away (from a woman) altogether, so as to leave her (as it were) hanging (in
the air). If ye come to a friendly understanding, and practise self- restraint, Allah is Oft-
forgiving, Most Merciful.

‫ معلقة‬is a description for a woman who is neither divorced nor married, Ibn Abbas (1992,
p.104). Using literal translation (foreignization), Itani translated the source cultural expression into
“suspended." The translation could roughly achieve cultural equivalence. Using the same strategy
of literal translation, Ali translated ‫ معلقة‬as “hanging” (foreignization). He also used another
strategy (addition) by adding the two phrases (as it were) and the metaphorical description (in the
air). Both translations have achieved cultural equivalence.

Extracts 29:-
َ‫علَ ْي ُك ْم َون َْمنَ ْع ُكم ِمن‬ ِ ‫َّللا قَالُوا أَلَ ْم نَ ُكن َّمعَ ُك ْم َو ِإن َكانَ ل ِْلكَاف ِِرينَ ن‬
َ ْ‫َصيبٌ قَالُوا أَلَ ْم نَ ْست َ ْح ِوذ‬ ِ َّ َ‫صونَ بِ ُك ْم فَإِن َكانَ لَ ُك ْم هفتْحَ ِمن‬ ُ َّ‫الَّذِينَ يَت ََرب‬
(Al Nisaa’, verse 141) .‫يَل‬ َ َ‫علَى ْال ُمؤْ مِ نِين‬
‫س ِب ا‬ َ َ‫َّللاُ ل ِْلكَاف ِِرين‬
َّ ‫اَّللُ َيحْ ُك ُم َب ْينَ ُك ْم َي ْو َم ْال ِق َيا َم ِة ۗ َولَن َي ْج َع َل‬
َّ َ‫ْال ُمؤْ مِ نِينَ ۚ ف‬

Itani:
Those who lie in wait for you: if you attain victory from God, they say, "Were we not with
you?" But if the disbelievers get a turn, they say, "Did we not side with you, and defend
you from the believers?" God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection; and God
will give the disbelievers no means of overcoming the believers.
Ali:
(These are) the ones who wait and watch about you: if ye do gain a victory from Allah,
they say: "Were we not with you?"- but if the unbelievers gain a success, they say (to them):
"Did we not gain an advantage over you, and did we not guard you from the believers?"
but Allah will judge betwixt you on the Day of Judgment. And never will Allah grant to
the unbelievers a way (to triumphs) over the believers

The source text utterance “‫فتح‬," according to Ibn Abbas (1992), means “victory and gain”
(p.109). Itani and Ali used literal translation (foreignization) and they translated ‫ فتح‬as victory.
Both translations have achieved cultural equivalence.

Extracts 30:-

.‫ظا‬ َ ‫ت َوأ َ َخذْنَا مِ ْن ُهم ِميثَاقاا‬

‫غلِي ا‬ َّ ‫س َّجداا َوقُ ْلنَا لَ ُه ْم ًَل تَ ْعدُوا فِي ال‬
ِ ‫س ْب‬ َ ‫ور ِبمِ يثَا ِق ِه ْم َوقُ ْلنَا لَ ُه ُم ادْ ُخلُوا ْال َب‬
ُ ‫اب‬ ُّ ‫َو َرفَ ْعنَا فَ ْوقَ ُه ُم ال‬
َ‫ط ه‬
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(Al Nisaa’, verse. 145)

Itani:
And We raised the Mount above them in accordance with their covenant, and We said to
them, "Enter the gate humbly," and We said to them, "Do not violate the Sabbath," and We
received from them a solemn pledge..
Ali:
And for their covenant we raised over them (the towering height) of Mount (Sinai); and
(on another occasion) we said: "Enter the gate with humility"; and (once again) we
commanded them: "Transgress not in the matter of the sabbath." And we took from them
a solemn covenant.

‫ الطور‬is the name of a mountain in the Sinai city of Egypt. In his translation above, Itani
substituted the original name of the mountain by the general word Mount (domestication), while
Ali used two different strategies. First, he added the phrase (the towering height) which is not
found in the source text (domestication) and substituted the word ‫ الطور‬with a general word Mount
and identified its geographical place, i.e., Sinai (domestication).

Though the two translations explain what is meant by ‫الطور‬, they ignore its real name that
already exists in the source text. Therefore, the two translations have conveyed part of the source
text meaning being unable to achieve full cultural equivalence.

Extracts 31:-
( Al, Nisaa’, verse 160) ‫َّللا َكثِيرا‬
ِ َّ ‫س ِبي ِل‬
َ ‫عن‬ َ ‫ت أُحِ لَتَْ لَ ُه ْم َو ِب‬
َ ‫ص ِد ِه ْم‬ ٍ ‫ط ِي َبا‬ َ ‫ظ ْل ٍم ِمنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا َح َّر ْمنَا‬
َ ‫علَ ْي ِه ْم‬ ُ ‫فَ ِب‬
Itani:
Due to wrongdoing on the part of the Jews, We forbade them good things that used to be
lawful for them; and for deterring many from God's path.

Ali:
For the iniquity of the Jews We made unlawful for them certain (foods) good and
wholesome which had been lawful for them;- in that they hindered many from Allah's
Way.

In Islam, the things that are permissible to do or have are called ‫ حَلل‬Halal and it is defined
and prescribed by Allah not by humans. Translating ‫ حَلل‬as lawful by both translators using the
substitution strategy (domestication) falters in conveying the religious connotations of the source
text utterance. According to the Oxford Dictionary, lawful is defined as “allowed or recognized by
law; legal." The law, which is usually put by humans, may change from time to time. However,
what is Halal in Islam is defined by Allah and is consistent while remaining unchangeable under
all circumstances. So both translations have not been able to achieve full cultural equivalence.

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Extracts 32:-
‫َّللا َو َك ِل َمتُهُ أَ ْلقَاهَا إِلَ ٰى‬
ِ َّ ‫سو ُل‬ ُ ‫سى ا ْب ُن َم ْريَ َم َر‬ َ ‫َّللا إِ ًَّل ْال َح َّق ۚ إِنَّ َما ْال َمسِي ُح عِي‬ َ ‫ب ًَل ت َ ْغلُوا فِي دِي ِن ُك ْم َو ًَل تَقُولُوا‬
ِ َّ ‫علَى‬ ِ ‫يَا أ َ ْه َل ْال ِكت َا‬
ُ‫س ْب َحانَهُ أَن َي ُكونَ لَهُ َولَدٌ ۘ لَّه‬ ٰ َّ ‫س ِل ِه ۖ َو ًَل تَقُولُوا ث ه هَلثهةَ ۚ انت َ ُهوا َخي اْرا لَّ ُك ْم ۚ ِإنَّ َما‬
ُ ۖ ٌ‫َّللاُ ِإلَهٌ َواحِ د‬ ِ َّ ‫َم ْر َي َم هو ُروحَ ِم ْنهُ ۖ فَآمِ نُوا ِب‬
ُ ‫اَّلل َو ُر‬
‫اَّلل َوك ا‬
‫ِيَل‬ ِ َّ ِ‫ض ۗ َو َكف َٰى ب‬ َ ْ
ِ ‫ت َو َما فِي اْل ْر‬ ِ ‫س َم َاوا‬ َّ ‫ فِي ال‬.(Al Nisaa’, verse 171) ‫َما‬
Itani:
O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion, and do not say about God
except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is the Messenger of God, and His
Word that He conveyed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His
messengers, and do not say, "Three." Refrain-it is better for you. God is only one God.
Glory be to Him-that He should have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and
the earth, and God is a sufficient Protector.
Ali:
O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the
truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and His Word,
which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and
His apostles. Say not "Trinity" : desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah.
Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the
heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.

Ibn Katheer (1372) interprets ‫ روح‬as the spirit Allah gave to Mariam by His Angel (p.477).
This spirit was the prophet Issa (Jesus). He (ibid) also interprets ‫ ثَلثة‬as not making Issa and his
mother partners with the Almighty Allah.

Itani and Ali used literal translation (foreignization) in translating ‫ روح‬into “spirit,” and this
translation achieves cultural equivalence. In translating ‫ثَلثة‬, Itani used literal translation “three”
(foreignization) and this could achieve cultural equivalence. However, Ali rendered ‫ ثَلثة‬as
“Trinity” using the substitution strategy (domestication). “Trinity” in Christianity, according to the
Oxford Dictionary, is “the union of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one God." However, this
definition does not exactly convey the source meaning utterance ‫ ثَلثة‬. What is meant by ‫ ثَلثة‬in
the source text utterance is Prophet Issa (Jesus), his mother (Mariam), and Allah. This is why it
could be said that “Trinity” could not achieve full cultural equivalence.

8. Discussion
8.1 The first Question
The first research question was “How are CSIs rendered in Alnisaa Sura using the two strategies
of foreignization and domestication as adopted by Itani and Ali?." Table (1) in the Appendices
answers this main question by summarizing all the CSIs and their translations by both translators
Itani and Ali. The table shows a variety of translation strategies used by Itani and Ali. It shows that
the two translators used a variety of translation strategies trying to fix the gap between the two
different languages with their different cultures. Two of these strategies are considered as source-
text oriented or foreignization strategies, and they are literal translation and borrowing. The other
strategies are target-text oriented or domestication strategies, including addition, substitution,
definition, deletion, and lexical creation.
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It should be noted that in translating some CSIs, some translators used more than one strategy,
two or three. For example, in translating the source CSI ‫ يُسلِموا تسليما‬Itani used three strategies:
literal translation, addition and substitution. Also, in translating one CSI, they sometimes used a
combination of domestication and foreignization strategies. Ali, for example, used literal
translation (foreignization) and addition (domestication) in translating ‫طهرة‬ َّ ‫ ُم‬as pure and holy.

8.2 The Second Questio

Question two was: “ To what extent have Itani and Ali succeeded in achieving cultural
equivalence." Table 2 below answers this the question :

Table 2. Achieving cultural equivalence in translating CSIs.

Cultural equivalence Cultural equivalence

achieved by Itani achieved by Ali
Number of translated CSIs 36 26
that has achieved cultural
equivalence
Percentage 53% 47%

The table above shows that Itani has achieved cultural equivalence in 36 CSIs accounting
for 53%, while Ali has achieved cultural equivalence in 26 CSIs accounting for 47%.
As table 2 above shows Itani did better than Ali in achieving cultural equivalence. This
result could tell us that the most recent translations of the Holy Quran could be more accurate than
old translations.

Trying to interpret this result, the two figures below show what strategies have achieved
cultural equivalence, as used by both Itani and Ali.

25
20
15
10
5
0
Literal Substitution Addition Definition Borrowing Lexical Deletion
translation Creation

Figure 1. No. of strategies used by Itani in achieving cultural equivalence

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18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Literal Substitution Addition Definition Borrowing Lexical deletion
translation Creation

Figure 2. No. of strategies used by Ali in achieving cultural equivalence

As can be seen in figure 1 and figure 2, the most common strategy used is literal translation
by both translators. Itani’s tendency to use, for example, the substitution strategy (13 times)
compared with Ali’s (7 times), helped him more in achieving cultural equivalence as he tried to
substitute the source CSI with its closest and most appropriate equivalent trying to convey the
intended meaning. For example, in translating the CSI ‫كَللة‬, Itani substituted it with its proper
meaning, i.e. “neither parents nor children”. At the same time, Ali’s substitution was too general
translating it as “no ascendants nor descendants." Another example showing Itani’s use of the
substitution strategy is the translation of ‫عقدت أيمانكم‬. Trying to understand the context correctly,
Itani successfully translated ‫ عقدت أيمانكم‬as “you have made an agreement” ruling out the literal or
denotative meaning of the word ‫“ يمين‬right” , as provided by Ali, i.e . “your right hand was
pledged."

8.3 The Third Question

Question three was: “Which strategy of (domestication and foreignization) have Itani and Ali
opted for in the translation of CSIs in Alnisaa' Sura?." To know the answer the researchers
counted all the strategies used in translating the 50 CSIs and classified them into the two main
categories of foreignization and domestication, as explained in the tables and figures below.

Table 3. Strategies used by Itani and Ali

Name of strategy No. of strategy Percentage of No. of strategy Percentage of
used by “Itani” strategies used used by “Ali” strategies
by Itani used by Ali
Literal translation 27 42.9 % 26 41.3%
Substitution 26 41.3% 19 30.2%
Addition 6 9.5% 13 20.6%
Definition 3 4.8% 7 11.1%
Borrowing 1 1.5% 3 4.8%
Lexical Creation 0 0% 0 0%
Deletion 0 0% 0 0%

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Table 4. Foreignization strategies used by Itani and Ali

Foreignization Strategies Foreignization strategies Foreignization strategies

used byItani used by Ali
Literal translation 27 26
Borrowing 1 3
Number 28 29
Percentage 44.5 % 42.6%

Table 5. Domestication strategies used by Itani and Ali

Domestication Domestication Domestication

Strategies strategies used by strategies used by
Itani Ali
Substitution 25 19
Addition 6 13
Definition 3 7
Lexical Creation 1 0
Deletion 0 0
Total 35 39
Percentage 55.5% 57.4%

As can be seen in Tables 3, 4 and 5 the translators’ tendencies towards foreignization and
domestication seem to be close to each other. For example, in using foreignization strategies, Itani
used 28 foreignization strategy (44.5%) while Ali used 29 (42.6%). And in using domestication
strategies, Itani used 35 domestication strategies (55.5%) while Ali used 39 (57.4%).

By looking at the tables and figures above, one could find that both Ali’s and Itani’s
translations are more oriented towards domestication. One explanation for this could be that the
language of the Quran needs explanations so that the target reader can get the message without
difficulty. This is simply one reason why the two translators tended to use more domestication
than foreignization strategies as they were trying to get the translation closer to the target reader.
However, we should not forget that this could sometimes be at the expense of achieving cultural
equivalence because sometimes there is translation loss in the original meanings though the
translators have used domestication strategies.
Also, in answering the second question of the study, we found that the strategy that received
the highest percentage in achieving cultural equivalence was one of the foreignization strategies
“literal translation” (53 times) by both Itani and Ali. This main result could show that if the two

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translators had been source-text oriented using more foreignization strategies, they could have
achieved more cultural equivalence.

9. Conclusion
In the last few years, the tendency towards translating the Holy Quran has considerably increased.
Many different studies were conducted to investigate how these translations were rendered and
what strategies were used in these translations. None of the studies made on the translation of the
Holy Quran, as mentioned in the literature review chapter, showed satisfaction on the translation
of the Holy Quran. So, for example, in their study, Al Azzam et al. (2015) stated that there is a
significant loss in the meaning of the translations of the Holy Quran they selected. Also, in her
Ph.D. study, Najjar (2012) said that all the translations she consulted “suffer from glaring
weaknesses and blatant errors " (p. 239). Also in his PhD study, Al- Jabri (2008) stated that the
range of intelligibility of the translations he investigated was less than 5% because they were
rendered in poor quality English.

One of the questions of the present study tried to investigate to what extent have Itani and
Ali succeeded in achieving cultural equivalence in translating the 50 CSIs from Al Nisaa’ Sura.
The researchers found that cultural equivalence in Itani’s translation accounted for 53%, while it
accounted for 47% in Ali’s translation. These results corroborate with the results of other studies,
for example, Al-Jabri (2008), Najjar (2012), and Al- Azzam et al. (2015), showing that loss in
translation is something inevitable with none of the translations done so far has achieved 100%
cultural equivalence. The result is something logical as none of the translations of the Holy Quran
has been able to maintain the glamorous harmony of Allah’s words reflecting the inability of
humans to fully render Allah’s words.

Another result of this study shows that both Itani and Ali were in favor of using more
domestication strategies as they both cared more about the target reader trying to simplify the
language as much as they could. This, as shown by equivalence percentage, was sometimes at the
expense of achieving cultural equivalence.

About the Authors:

Dr. Mohammed El Haj Ahmed is an assistant professor of translation at the Islamic University
of Gaza. He obtained his BA in English language and literature at the IUG in 1988, his MA in
Applied Linguistics at the University of Khartoum in 1995, and his Ph.D in Translation Studies at
the University of Salford, UK, in 2009. Since 1997 Dr. El Haj Ahmed has been involved in
teaching translation at the BA, professional diploma and MA levels. He has published several
papers on Translation and Interpreting in local and international journals. He has also supervised
a considerable number of MA theses. He served as the head of the English Department between
2017-2019,
Alaa Abu Shammala is a part-time instructor at Al Aqsa University of Gaza. She obtained her
BA in English language at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) in 2005 and her MA in Translation
and Applied Linguistics at IUG in 2019. She worked as an instructor at IUG besides her experience

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in teaching English at both UNRWA and governmental schools. In addition to teaching, Abu
Shammala is working as a freelance translator and a medical interpreter.

References
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the Qur’an. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 1, 28-34. doi:
10.11648/j.ijalt.20150102.12
Al-Hilali, M. T. U., & Khan, M. M. (1996). Interpretation of the meanings of the noble QURAN.
Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications.
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Almaany Team - https://www.almaany.com/
Amjad, F. A., & Farahani, M. (2013). Problems and strategies in English translation of Quranic
Divine Names. International Journal of Linguistics, 5(1), 128.
Anari, S. M., & Sanjarani, A. (2016). Application of Baker's Model in Translating Quran-Specific
Cultural Items. Journal of Language Sciences & Linguistics. Vol, 4(3), 145-151.
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Hornby, A. S., Cowie, A. P., Gimson, A. C., & Hornby, A. S. (1974). Oxford advanced learner's
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Ibn Abbas, A. (1992). Tanwir al-Miqbas Min Tafsir Ibn Abbas. Beirut. Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah.
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Itani, Talal. “QURAN.” Quran in English and Arabic with Audio, 2012, www.quranful.com/
Issa, I. M. (2017). Mistranslations of the Prophets' Names in the Holy Quran: A Critical Evaluation
of Two Translations. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(2), 168-174.
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Mansour, M. H. (2014). Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in Cultural Term Translation
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6(2).
Munday, J. (2012). Introducing Translation Studies/Jeremy Munday. London and New York:
Routledge.
Najjar, S. A. (2012). Metaphors in translation: an investigation of a sample of Quran metaphors
with reference to three English versions of the Quran (Doctoral dissertation). Liverpool:
John Moores University.
Siddiek, A. G. (2017). Linguistic Precautions that to be Considered when Translating the Holy
Quran. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 8(2).
Venuti, L. (2008). Translation, simulacra, resistance. Translation Studies, 1(1), 18-33.

Appendices
Table 1. Translation strategies of CSIs in Al Nisaa’ Sura by Itani and Ali

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A

No. CSI Itani’s Translation Strategies Achieve Ali’s Translation Strategies used By chieving
used By Itani ng full Ali full
cultural cultural
equivalen equivale
ce nce
1- ‫هللا‬ God literal No Allah Borrowing Yes
translation
2- ‫ملكت أيمانكم‬ what you already substitution No (a captive) that your Addition No
have right hands possess literal translation
3- ‫كَللة‬ neither parents nor substitution Yes no ascendants nor substitution No
children descendants
4- ‫حدود هللا‬ the bounds set by literal No limits set by Allah literal translation Yes
God translation addition
addition borrowing
substitution
5- َ‫َيأْتِين‬ Commit substitution Yes are guilty of substitution Yes
6- َ ِ‫ْالفَاح‬
َ‫شة‬ Lewdness literal Yes lewdness literal translation Yes
translation
7- َّ‫فَأ َ ْم ِس ُكوهُن‬ confine them substitution Yes confine them substitution Yes
8- ُ‫الت َّ ْوبَة‬ Repentance literal Yes Repentance literal translation Yes
translation
9- ‫َو َربَائِبُ ُك ُم‬ Stepdaughters literal Yes step-daughters literal translation Yes
translation
10- ‫ور ُكم‬ ِ ‫ُح ُج‬ guardianship-born substitution No guardianship substitution No
11- َّ‫دَخ َْلتُم ِب ِهن‬ have gone into literal No have gone in literal translation No
translation
12- ‫أَص ََْلبِ ُك ْم‬ Genetic lexical Yes loins literal translation No
creation
َ ْ‫ْال ُمح‬
13- ‫صنَات‬ Married literal Yes already married literal translation Yes
translation addition
14- ٍ ‫أَ ْخد‬
‫َان‬ secret lovers substitution Yes paramours literal translation Yes
15- ‫ِي‬
َ ‫َم َوال‬ Beneficiaries Substitution No shares and heirs literal translation No
addition
16- ‫عقَدَتْ أَ ْي َمانُ ُك ْم‬
َ you have made an literal Yes your right hand was literal translation No
agreement translation pledged addition
substitution

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 AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies Volume, 4 Number 1 February 2020
Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation El Haj Ahmed & Abu Shammala

17- َ‫قَ َّوا ُمون‬ protectors and substitution No protectors and substitution No
maintainers maintainers
18-‫َوا ْه ُج ُروهُنَّ فِي‬ Abandon their beds literal No refuse to share their substitution No
‫اج ِع‬ َ ‫ْال َم‬
ِ ‫ض‬ translation beds
addition
19- ‫س ِبي ِل‬
َّ ‫اب ِْن ال‬ Traveler substitution No the wayfarer literal translation No
(ye meet) addition
20- ‫ُجنُباا‬ sexual orgasm substitution No state of ceremonial definition Yes
impurity
21- ‫تَ ْغتَ ِسلُوا‬ have bathed literal Yes washing your whole literal translation Yes
translation body addition
َ ِ‫ًَل َم ْست ُ ُم الن‬
22- ‫سا َء‬ had intercourse substitution Yes have been in contact substitution No
with women with women
23- ‫فَتَيَ َّم ُموا‬ find clean sand and definition Yes then take for definition Yes
wipe your faces and yourselves clean sand
your hands with it or earth, and rub
therewith your faces
and hands
َ ‫أُوتُوا ْال ِكت‬
24- ‫َاب‬ Book literal Yes Book literal translation Yes
translation
25-‫ت‬
ِ ‫س ْب‬
َّ ‫اب ال‬ ْ َ‫أ‬
َ ‫ص َح‬ Sabbath-breakers borrowing Yes Sabbath-breakers borrowing Yes
substitution substitution
26- ٌ ‫أَ ْز َوا‬
‫ج‬ Spouses literal No companions substitution No
translation
27- َ ‫ُّم‬
ٌ ‫ط َّه َرة‬ Purified literal Yes pure and holy literal translation No
translation addition

ِ ‫ْاْل َ َمانَا‬
28- ‫ت‬ things entrusted to definition Yes your Trusts literal translation Yes
you addition

29- ‫َوأُولِي ْاْل َ ْم ِر‬ those in authority definition Yes those charged with definition Yes
authority among you
30-‫س ِل ُموا تَ ْسلِي اما‬
َ ُ‫َوي‬ submit themselves literal Yes accept them with the definition Yes
completely translation fullest conviction.
addition
substitution
31- ُّ ‫َوال‬
ِ‫ش َهدَاء‬ Martyrs literal Yes the witnesses (who literal translation No
translation testify) addition

ِ ‫َو ْال ِو ْلد‬

32- ‫َان‬ Children substitution No Children substitution No
33- ‫َو ِليًّا‬ Protector literal Yes one who will protect definition Yes
translation

Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 286
ISSN: 2550-1542 | www.awej-tls.org

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 AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies Volume, 4 Number 1 February 2020
Foreignization and Domestication Strategies in the Translation El Haj Ahmed & Abu Shammala

34- ‫َوأَقِي ُموا‬ perform literal Yes establish literal translation Yes
َ‫ص ََلة‬
َّ ‫ال‬ your prayers translation regular prayers addition
addition substitution
substitution
35- ‫َوآتُوا‬ spend in literal No spend in literal translation No
َّ
َ‫الزكَاة‬ regular charity translation regular charity substitution
substitution addition
addition
36- ‫سبِ ا‬
‫يَل‬ َ Excuse literal Yes way literal translation Yes
translation
37- ‫َرقَبَ ٍة‬ slave substitution Yes slave substitution Yes
38- ٌ‫ف ِديَة‬ pay compensation addition No pay compensation addition No
substitution substitution
39- ‫صدَّقُوا‬
َّ ‫َي‬ remit it as charity substitution Yes remit it freely substitution yes
40- َ‫ْالقَا ِعدُون‬ Inactive substitution No believers who sit (at definition No
home)
41- َ‫َو ْال ُم َجا ِهدُون‬ the strivers literal Yes those who strive and definition Yes
translation fight
42- ُ ‫تَ ْق‬
‫ص ُروا‬ Shortening literal Yes Shorten Literal translation Yes
translation
43- ‫ِكتَاباا َّم ْوقُوتاا‬ specific times literal Yes stated times literal translation Yes
translation substitution
substitution
44- ‫صدَ َق ٍة‬
َ ِ‫ب‬ Charity literal Yes Charity literal translation Yes
translation
45- ‫ك َْال ُمعَلَّ َق ِة‬ Suspended literal Yes as it were) hanging addition Yes
translation (in the air) Literal translation
46- ‫فَتْ ٌح‬ Victory literal Yes Victory literal translation Yes
translation
47- ‫ور‬ ُّ
َ ‫الط‬ Mount Substitution No (the towering height) addition No
of Mount (Sinai) Substitution

48- ْ‫أُحِ لَّت‬ lawful substitution No Lawful substitution No

49- ‫ح‬
ٌ ‫َو ُرو‬ Spirit literal Yes Spirit literal translation Yes
translation
50- ٌ‫ثَ ََلثَة‬ Three literal Yes Trinity substitution No
translation

Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 287
ISSN: 2550-1542 | www.awej-tls.org

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