One Stone, Two Birds: Studying Arabic Texts through Javanese Interlinear Translations

• In Event: Reading between the Lines: Islamic Interlinear Translation in Indonesia

Abstract

How have interlinear translation practices from Arabic to Javanese changed over time, and what might such shifts tell us about wider trends within Javanese Muslim society? These are the questions this paper sets out to explore. The tradition among Javanese Muslims of gaining religious knowledge through the study of interlinear translations of Arabic texts emerged several centuries ago and is still practiced today. Typically, a Javanese translation of the Arabic text was written between the lines in a modified form of the Arabic script known as pegon making the foreign text ripe for study and debate.

As case studies, I will explore examples from two different eras: the 17th century Mukhtaṣar Bāfaḍal manuscript written by Abd al-Rahman Bafadl of Hadramaut (d. 1512 CE), and the 20th century printed al-Hikam by Shaykh Ahmad al-Sikandari (d. 1309 CE). Both are popular classical Arabic texts studied in traditional boarding schools in Java, the former being the oldest surviving manuscript containing Javanese interlinear translation and focusing on jurisprudence, while the latter teaches sufism.

The comparative study of these two interlinear translations points to significant developments in the genre over time. While the earlier text shows that translations were limited to the jotting down of a Javanese meaning for every Arabic word, the later text demonstrates that Javanese translations came to include certain markers indicating the grammatical position of Arabic words and some information on sentence structure. I consider what such change indicates Javanese Muslims’ approach toward Arabic and the transmission of Islamic knowledge.

Author

• Saiful Umam, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University