Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Muslims and Christians have used the Bible and the Qur’an in their preaching and writing in order to convince each other of the unique truth of their own faith. Much of the writing has been produced in inexpensive booklets (tracts), whilst preaching takes place in public meetings using each others’ scripture. This paper examines the different Swahili versions of the Bible and the Qur’an and their reception. It then examines the use of the sacred texts of two world faiths, Christianity and Islam, using the local vernacular, Swahili, in East Africa.

Keywords

Bible interpretation of scripture Qur’an Swahili translation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

BHN (1995) Biblia Habari Njema Tafsiri ya Ushirikiano wa Makanisa. Dodoma: Bible Society of Tanzania.

BIBLIA-BFBS (1952) Maandiko Matakatifu ya Mungu yaitwayo Biblia: Katika lugha ya Kiswahili (Single column with full cross-references). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

BIBLIA-REVISED UNION VERSION (2006) Biblia: Yenye Vitabu vya Deuterokanoni: Yaani Agano la Kale na Agano Jipya (Two columns with few cross-references, with introduction to each book). Nairobi: Bible Society of Kenya.

BIBLIA-UNION VERSION (1997) Biblia yenye Itifaki: The Holy Bible in Kiswahili Union Version published as Maandiko Matakatifu (Two columns with few cross-references, with concordance). Dodoma: Bible Society of Tanzania.

Living Bibles International (2006) Swahili Bible (Whole Bible in Paraphrase with revised New Testament). Available at: www.biblica.com/bibles/swahili

NENO [Original version, subsequently withdrawn] (1985) Biblia ya Uzima. Nairobi: Living Bibles East Africa.

NENO (1987) Neno: Agano Jipya (Tafsiri Rahisi Kueleweka). Nairobi: Living Bibles East Africa.

NENO Arabic (1996) Neno: Agano Jipya (Parallel Swahili Arabic text). Nairobi: International Bible Society Africa.

NENO OT & NT (2009) Neno: Biblia Takatifu (Agano la Kale na Agano Jipya). Nairobi: Biblica.

10.

OT Mombasa (1949) Maagano ya Kale (The Old Testament in Swahili, Mombasa), (reprint of 1914 edition). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

11.

OT Zanzibar (1895) Msahafu Mtakatifu Wa Muungu: Mwenyi Agano la Kale, Yamefasirika Katika Lugha ya Zamani. London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

12.

NT Mombasa (1917) Chuo cha Maagano Mapya ya Bwana Wetu Jesu Masihi Mwokozi Wetu (Mombasa Dialect). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

13.

NT UV (1951) Kitabu cha Agano Jipya la Bwana na Mwokozi Wetu Yesu Kristo (The New Testament in Swahili Union Version). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

14.

NT Zanzibar (1942) Kitabu cha Agano Jipya la Bwana na Mwokozi Wetu Yesu Kristo Kimefasirika katika Maneno ya Kiyunani (New Testament in Swahili, Zanzibar). London: British and Foreign Bible Society.

15.

Roehl

(1937) Biblia ndio Maandiko Matakatifu yote ya Agano la Kale nayo ya Agano Jipya katika Msemo wa Kiswahili. Translated by Roehl

. Stuttgart: Württemberg Bible Society.

16.

Ahmadi Sh

(1953) Kurani Tukufu (in Swahili-Arabic). Nairobi: Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission.

17.

al-Barwani

(2000) Tarjama ya AL-MUNTAKHAB katika tafsiri ya Qur’ani tukufu (2nd printing). Dubai: Mbana Abdulla Ahmad Al Ghurair (in Swahili-Arabic).

18.

al-Farsy

(1969) Qurani Takatifu (in Swahili-Arabic). Nairobi, Kenya: The Islamic Foundation.

19.

al-Farsy

(1992) Qurani Takatifu (7th printing 1992) (in Swahili- Arabic [with Maududi preface]). Nairobi: The Islamic Foundation.

20.

al-Farsy

(1997) Qurani Takatifu (8th printing 1997) (in Swahili-Arabic [with Maududi preface]). Nairobi: The Islamic Foundation.

21.

Dale

(1923) Tafsiri ya Kurani ya Kiarabu (in Swahili). London: SPCK.

22.

Machano

(2000) Tafsiri ya Qur-an: Juzuu ya Pili. Zanzibar, Tanzania: Al-Khayria Press Ltd.

23.

Mayunga

(2003) Quran Tukufu (in Swahili-Arabic). Dar es Salaam: Ahlu’l-Bayt (a.s.) Assembly of Tanzania. Available at: http://quran.al-shia.com/sw/quran/tarjomee/moq/01.htm (accessed 29 May 2007).

24.

Mughniyya

(2002) on Al-Kashif. Translated by Mwalupa

Hasan

. Dar es Salaam: al-Itrah Foundation (Juzuu 1–9 and 30) (in Swahili-Arabic with exegetical commentary) Available at: http://www.alitrah.org/web/Quran/index2.asp (accessed 29 May 2007).

25.

Al-Islam (2011) The Author: Sheikh Mubarak Ahmad H.A. Available at: www.alislam.org/holyprophet/critique.html (accessed 13 September 2011).

26.

Badawiy

(1970) Fimbo ya Musa: Maonyesho ya Tafsiri Mpya ya Sheikh A.S. Al Farsy. Lamu: n.p.

27.

Bang

(2003) Sufis and Scholars of the Sea: Family networks in East Africa, 1860–1925. London: Routledge Curzon.

28.

Blood

(1955) The History of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa Vol II 1907–1932, London: UMCA.

29.

Blood

(1962) The History of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa Vol III 1933–1957, London: UMCA.

30.

Bobzin

(2006) ‘Translations of the Qur’an’, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. Vol. Five Si-Z (pp. 340–358). General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

31.

Broomfield

(1930) The development of the Swahili language. Africa 3(4): 516–522.

32.

Broomfield

(1931) The re-bantuization of the Swahili language. Africa 4(1): 77–85.

33.

Bundschur

(1985) Agano Jipya. Ndanda: Ndanda Mission Press.

34.

Bühlmann

(1950) Die christliche Terminologie als missionsmethodisches Problem: dargestellt am Swahili und andern Bantusprachen. Schöneck-Beckenried: Administration der Neuen Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft.

35.

Dale

(1924) A Swahili translation of the Koran. Moslem World XIV(1): 5–9.

36.

Duncan

(1982) The World of Allah. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

37.

Frankl

PJL

(1998) Tarjama ya al-Muntakhab Katika Tafsiri ya QurÞani Tukufu by Ali Muhsin al-Barwani: Review. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 25(1): 191–193.

38.

Frankl

PJL

(2006) Obituary: Sheikh Ali Muhsin al-Barwani, Poet, Scholar and Politician. Coastweek, 21 April 2006. Available at: www.coastweek.com/obit/obit-12.htm (accessed 2 July 2012).

39.

Glassman

(2000) Sorting out the tribes: The creation of racial identities in colonial Zanzibar’s newspaper wars. Journal of African History 41(3): 395–428.

40.

Kiplagat

von Sicard

(1960) A Report on Islam in Kenya for the Department of Biblical Study and Research of Christian Council of Kenya. Nairobi: Christian Council of Kenya.

41.

Kresse

(2007) Philosophising in Mombasa: Knowledge, Islam and Intellectual Practice on the Swahili Coast. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press for International African Library.

42.

Lacunza Balda

(1997) Translations of the Quran into Swahili, and contemporary Islamic revival in East Africa. In: Westerlund

Rosander

(eds) African Islam and Islam in Africa. London: Hurst & Company, pp. 95–126.

43.

Loimeier

(2003) Patterns and Peculiarities of Islamic Reform in Africa. Journal of Religion in Africa 33(3): 237–262.

44.

Loogman

(1936) Injili ya Matthayo. Mombasa: n.p.

45.

Loogman

(1938) Injili ya Yohana. Bagamoyo: n.p.

46.

Mnyampala

(1963) Utenzi wa Enjili Takatifu. Journal of The Swahili Committee 33(1): Suppl.

47.

Mnyampala

(1967) Utenzi wa Enjili. Ndanda: Ndanda Mission Press

48.

Mojola

(1999) God Speaks in Our Own Languages. Nairobi: Bible Society of Kenya.

49.

Musa

(1986) Maisha ya Al-Imam Sheikh Abdulla Saleh Farsy: Katika Uliwmengu wa Kiislamu. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Lillaahi Islamic Publications Centre.

50.

Ngariba

Kawemba

(1987) Islam in the Bible. Zanzibar, Tanzania: Al-Khayria Press Ltd.

51.

Nooriah

(1985) The World of Allah, by Duncan

. Reviewed in: The Muslim Sunrise 2: 9–13.

52.

Noss

Renju

(2004) The Tenzi of Mwalimu Nyerere: Scripture Translation in Poetic Form. In: Wendland

Loba-Mkole

J-C

(eds) Biblical Texts and African Audiences. Nairobi, Kenya: Acton Press, pp. 19–34.

53.

Noss

Renju

(2007) Mwalimu Nyerere engages his people: Scripture translation in Swahili verse. Journal of Translation 3(1): 41–53.

54.

Osindo

(2009) Mjadala, held at Ukunda, south coast near Mombasa, Kenya [DVD].

55.

Rizvi

(2003) Foreword. In: Assembly of Tanzania, Quran Tukufu (in Swahili-Arabic). Dar es Salaam: Ahlu l-Bayt (a.s.). Available at: http://quran.al-shia.com/sw/quran/tarjomee/moq/01.htm (accessed 29 May 2007).

56.

Roehl

(1930) The linguistic situation in East Africa. Africa 3(2): 191–202.

57.

Sacleux

(1925) Hadisi ya Dini (3rd ed.). Bagamoyo: HGF.

58.

Sanneh

(1989) Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.

59.

Simbaulanga

(1999) Maana ya Dini. Available at: http://biblianijibu.netfirms.com (accessed July 2006).

60.

Topan

(2007) Personal discussions at Swahili Colloquium, Iwalewa Haus, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Holy Scriptures and their Use by Christians and Muslims in East Africa

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References