Reading Arabic in Sumatra

• Published in: Indonesia and the Malay world Vol. 52; no. 153; pp. 221 - 242
• Main Author: Iankovskaia, Aglaia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Taylor & Francis Ltd 01-07-2024
• Subjects: 19th century; Arabic language; Ethics; Islam; Islamic schools; Jurisprudence; Teaching; Translation; Sumatra; Indonesia
• ISSN: 1363-9811; 1469-8382
• DOI: 10.1080/13639811.2024.2354597

The article explores the involvement of bilingual texts comprising a source and its interlinear translation in Islamic educational practices in 19th- and 20th-century Sumatra. Such texts occur among the so-called kitab kuning, materials dealing primarily with the principles of Islamic faith, jurisprudence, and ethics that have been traditionally used for teaching in Indonesia’s Islamic schools. Written in classical Arabic, these texts are sometimes provided with translations to Malay or other languages between the lines. The article addresses two cases demonstrating occurrence of this practice in manuscripts containing Islamic doctrinal texts that were often used for teaching beginners: an anonymous versified ‘aqīdah originating from late 19th-century Aceh and a copy of Umm al-barāhīn by al-Sanūsī (d.1490), from Palembang of around the same period. The manuscripts under discussion appear to demonstrate different types of interlinear translation from Arabic to Malay, i.e. phrase-by-phrase and word-by-word. The article argues that both types combine literality with interpretation, which allows the assumption that interlinear translation was used as a tool for teaching both the Arabic language and the basics of Islamic doctrine.