The ideology behind the translation of an Islamic moral ethic book: A case study of Al-Ḥikam’s aphorisms

This research investigated the ideology behind the translation of an Islamic moral ethic book, i.e. Al-Hikam, from Arabic into English. Such ideology can be examined through a textual equivalence analysis, which focuses on the cultural form and information structure. In this regard, one of the subjects of focus is themes (old information) and rhemes (new information). However, previous studies on the information structure in Islamic religious texts are limited and they do not investigate the ideological aspects of the translation. Thus, this study focuses on three research questions: 1) What are the forms of the themes and rhemes in Al-Hikam’s Arabic-English aphorisms; 2) How are the translation techniques applied in such aphorisms; and 3) What is the relationship between the method and ideology behind the translation of such aphorisms? The data was collected using observations and focus group discussions with a professional translator. The findings, based on Spradley’s change theory and componential analysis, showed that there is a close relationship between the translation ideology, the translation method and the translation technique in this book. The results can be useful for developing an investigative model of ideology and cultural aspects based on the study of Islamic Sufism texts.