COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELECTED ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF AN-NAWAWI'S FORTY AHĀDĪTH

Two translations of An-Nawawi’s compilation of forty Ahādīth carried out by M. O.A. Abdul, on the one hand, and M. Bashir Sambo and Muhammad Higab, on the other, have been subjected to critical analysis. This is with a view to discovering the extent to which they have been faithful to the original text. Having been written as textbooks for secondary school students to pass the Senior Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examinations in Islamic Religious Knowledge, it can be understood that the books should conform to the level of the students in language, form and content. Nevertheless, this study has discovered that the works have shortcomings in conveying the meanings intended in the source language. Some of the factors responsible for this include the differences in lexis and structure of both Arabic, the source language, and English, the target language. More importantly, the proper understanding of the intended meanings as expressed in the source language coupled with ability to effectively express the same in English has been a great challenge for both authors. The method adopted for this study is comparative and narrative analysis of two selected translations. The article concludes that people to embark on the translation of Hadīth should avoid the pitfalls identified while teachers using translations for teaching should be on the look-out to discover deficiencies in such works with a view to making up for them.