One of the most important factors of success in Islamic translation specialty is looking to achieve high quality work. In fact, reaching this goal is not easy at all, it needs a very high level of attention and commitment.
Management of quality process is the key factor of success in this very specialized field.
Having more than 3-4 phases is essential to achieve this goal, as it can not be reached in one or two phases of translation and revision only.
Having phases of translation, revision, lingual and Shari‘ah proofreading, quality assurance, and then offering the whole work to an external reader to get his/her feedback is the only way to get the level of quality needed in this field.
The reason for the importance of high quality in Islamic translations is due to the nature of texts handled, as they are sacred texts in most cases. So, we must make sure that the translation process has not affected the original text.
Translators should take care when dealing with such texts, making sure they fully understand the meaning of the source text. In our work at Al-Andalus Group LTD, we employ an expert in Islamic texts who is called a Shari‘ah investigator for this particular reason, to give advice to translators, reviewers and proofreaders working in the project, as we are extremely keen to get the highest quality in this specialty.
Also, we encourage our team to take our Islamic Studies courses, to make sure they have deep knowledge of Islamic texts they handle.
After achieving their Diploma in Islamic studies, we promote them to be Shari‘ah reviewers or proofreaders, which will be another addition to their career, and to quality process which depends on the skilled resource engaged in it.
Another method we use to achieve this high-quality work is the usage of the latest and most recent translation technology, which facilitates translators, reviewers, proofreaders and quality assurers’ work, where they can easily recognize errors or dissimilarity, follow the same rules and instructions that we provide them.
Another essential tool that we use is having a Style Guide for each language, containing the guidelines and instructions for Islamic translations, and how to deal with Qur’anic verses and Hadeeths of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. This helps also to unify the style the whole team uses in all projects they handle. And for more accuracy, we create in some cases, a style guide for every project if it is of a special nature where more instructions are needed. After all this work and effort, we must be open to any comments or feedback from customers, experts or readers (viewers), and deal with each comment or feedback as an opportunity to improve quality and work.
We wish that by reaching the highest level of quality in this very special type of translation – where we are transmitting our Islamic Sciences and religion to other nations – only thinking this way will make it easy for you to spend hours and hours trying to reach the high-quality satisfying Allah, Exalted Be, then ourselves, customers and readers.
This was a brief overview of this topic where we always seek to achieve the highest quality, the highest level in this specialty in particular, and in all fields in general.
By: Hossam Ash-Sharkawi
Chairman
Al-Andalus Group LTD
