When we talk about Islam, whether from within Islam itself or from outside, what words do we use? Do we think about the effects those words have on the person with whom we are speaking? With these words, what relationships are we creating? Are we building bridges or tearing them down? What image of Islam are we helping to present?

 

At this event, we will reflect upon this subject with regard to a specific example, the translation of the name of the One God/Allah. It will be surprising to discover the wide range of answers that  have been given to this challenge in our immediately surrounding environment throughout history. We will also discover that in the same context of time and space, different options coexist, even within the same group. We will begin with testimony from the Spanish-Islamic communities of the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, the so-called Mudéjars and Moriscos, and end with the Qur’an translations into Spanish in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This stroll through history is ultimately intended to help cast light on the present. 

 

Juan Pablo Arias Torres has a PhD in Semitic Philology and is a professor of translation and interpreting at the University of Málaga. His research interests include the history of Al-Andalus Arabic linguistics, descriptive studies in translation, the history of translation from Arabic into Spanish and Islamic codicology. He is currently the principal researcher in the R&D project “Cataloguing the Aljamiado-Moorish manuscripts of the National Library of Spain” and is an ERC collaborator in The European Qur’an: Islamic Scripture in European Culture and  Religion 1150-1850 (EuQu). 

In order to attend this live event, prior registration is required. The decision on whether to hold these activities in person will depend upon the health situation at the time.  Attendance is limited, and the wearing of masks is required. Thank you for your patience.