Al-Kitab (Malaysia)

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The Al-Kitab with the notice of Penerbitan Buku Kristian (Christian publication) prescribed by the Malaysian Ministry of the Interior

Within Malaysia, Alkitab or Al-Kitab refers to the Bible written in Malay .

history

A first translation of the Gospel of Matthew into the Malay language was made as early as 1612 and published as a book in 1629 . It was made by the Dutch merchant Albert Cornelisz Ruyl. A copy of this book with the title Long Testamentum Baharu: Evangelium Mulkadus Bersuratnja Kepada Mattheum has been preserved in the public library in Stuttgart . Ruyl made further translations with the help of other authors. The printed edition of the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles appeared in 1651, followed by the Psalmsin the following year. In 1668 the first complete New Testament appeared in Malay, drawn up by Rev. Daniel Brouwerious. This translation suffered from the excessive use of Portuguese loanwords, which was detrimental to easy understanding.

It was not until the 18th century that a first attempt was made to translate the entire Bible into Malay. Melchior Leijdecker, a Dutch physician with theological training based in what is now Jakarta , prepared the first complete translation in 1773, which was printed in Latin letters in Amsterdam under the title Elkitab, Ija itu segala Surat Perdjandjian Lama dan Baharuw . 25 years later, in 1758, a five-volume edition of the Malay Bible appeared in Jawi .

Leijdecker's Malay Bible underwent extensive revisions in the 19th century. The editors now all came from Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula . At the same time there was another translation by a Dutch missionary named Cornelius Klinkert, which is based on the Malay language variant of Semarang on Java . The complete translation was completed in 1879 and represented a second essential basis for the translation of the Bible into Malay.

Late 19th century and early 20th century in manufactured Singapore acting Methodist missionary William Girdlestone Shellabear a new translation, specifically in the Malay language version of Malaya based and thus stood out from previous "Indonesian variants". Shellabear is also known for its New Testament in Baba Malay .

In the 1930s there were first attempts to replace the three existing translations with a uniform Malay translation. However, it took until 1974 for this project to be completed. The "New Translation" or "INT" came to be known as Terjemahan Baru and was the first truly ecumenical Indonesian Bible. This translation essentially followed a word-for-word translation ( formal equivalence translation ) that retained the characteristics of the original language. INT was also used by the Malaysian churches, but it was soon realized that a true Malaysian Bible translation was necessary in order to accurately reproduce the contents of the Bible without the source of misunderstandings that distinguishes the Malaysian and Indonesian languages. At the same time, the Methodist priest Rev. Elkanah T. Suwito was busy preparing a translation to Bahasa Malaysia using the dynamic / functional equivalence method , which emphasized the meaning of a text rather than a literal translation to transport. The New Testament was first published in 1974 under the title Perjanjian Baru: Berita Baik Untuk Manusia Moden , followed by the full Malay Bible in 1987. Its full title was Alkitab: Berita Baik Untuk Manusia Moden (TMV) .

Soon after it was first published, the need for revision arose to correct spelling shortcomings, translation errors, untranslated Indonesian expressions, and the like. This revision, which was carried out with immense personnel effort, resulted in the Alkitab Berita Baik (TMV96) , which was published at the end of 1996.

Special features of the Malaysian translation

The peculiarity of the Malaysian Bible translation lies in the use of the word “ Allah ”. In 1985 and again in 1989, the heads of the participating churches voted for the use of this term for scientific and historical reasons.

The Arabic loan word “Allah” is a cognate of the Hebrew names for God: ʾelô a h, more commonly in the formal plural form ʾelōhîm ( Hebrew אלהים). ʾElô a h / ʾelōhîm . Arab Christians prayed to Allah before Islam came into being, and Christian theologians also used the word in the written Arabic language. All Bible translations, starting with the first print edition of the Gospel of Matthew by Ruyl in 1629, the first and second complete translations by Leijdecker (1733) and Klinkert (1879), and all subsequent translations used the term "Allah".

Restrictions in Malaysia

The Bible - the full title is ALKITAB - Berita Baik or (German) The Book - The Good News is published by the Malaysian Bible Society in Petaling Jaya in the state of Selangor .

The Kementeriam Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (Ministry of Internal Security) has recently made the publication of the Bible in Malaysian subject to various conditions:

  • A clearly visible cross must be attached to the cover of the Bible, combined with the words Penerbitan Buku Kristian (German: "Christian publication"). The order of December 22, 2005 was intended to avoid confusion among the Muslim population.
  • The Bible may not be publicly distributed or sold, but may only be given or sold within the premises of Christian communities. The order of May 11, 2006 was designed not to confuse the Muslim communities in Malaysia. Therefore, the cover should be labeled “Untuk Penganut Beragama Kristian” (German: “For members of Christian communities”).

Controversy

The use of the word Allah in the Malay language for God always causes in Malaysia clashes with Islamic fundamentalists, the exclusive use of the word Allah by Muslims demanding.

An escalation threatened at the beginning of January 2014 when the Islamic Religious Office JAIS illegally entered the premises of the Bible Society of Malaysia with police support and confiscated 300 copies of the ALKITAB.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ PC Molhuysen en PJ Blok: Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 4th , AW Sijthoff, Leiden 1918; accessed on January 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Christopher Cheah: The Bahasa Malaysia Bible ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), August 2008; accessed on January 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ CERL Thesaurus: entry Leydekker, Melchior (1645-1701) ; accessed on January 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ January Sihar Aritonang, Karel Steenbrink A history of Christianity in Indonesia : 2008 S. 154th
  5. ^ A b Christian Federation of Malaysia: Allah-word & the Alkitab: Fact Sheet (revised) of March 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ Malaysia reserves the word "Allah" for Muslims in: FAZ, October 14, 2013; accessed on January 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ The Malaysian Insider: Selangor Islamic authorities raid Bible Society of Malaysia, 300 copies of Alkitab seized ( January 5, 2014 memento in the Internet Archive ), January 2, 2014; accessed on January 15, 2014.