# أختي المؤمنة



## Huda

would anyone please help me give the appropriate translation to this title :أختي المؤمنة

وقد قمت بتخليص كتابي الروح  وحادي الأرواح لابن القيم الذي أثبت فيهما كل ما يصح عن رسول الله في ذلك

وأرسلته إلى أخت سميحة عندما توفي زوجها تعزية لها وتصبيرا لها على مصائب الدنيا وقد بلغت ثلاثة وثلاثين خطابا.. وجعلت عنوانها أختي المؤمنة.

Thanks in advance


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## cherine

Hello Huda,

I'm not too sure, but maybe as the book is addressed to Muslims, then maybe "Dear Muslim Sister"? or "To my Muslim Sister"?

Hopefully someone will be able to come up with a better translation.


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## Huda

cherine said:


> Hello Huda,
> 
> I'm not too sure, but maybe as the book is addressed to Muslims, then maybe "Dear Muslim Sister"? or "To my Muslim Sister"?
> 
> Hopefully someone will be able to come up with a better translation.



but "muslim" is مسلم not مؤمن


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## Drink

The best translation for مؤمن is "believer", but there is no good adjectival version that preserves the connotation (i.e. it would not sound as good if you said "my believing sister"). So the best translation I can think of for أختي امؤمنة would be "*my sister believer*", but this does not work very well if she is also your biological sister.


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## analeeh

Huda said:


> but "muslim" is مسلم not مؤمن



yeah, but مؤمن here basically means 'Muslim', right?


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## cherine

I understand what you mean, Huda. But the problem is in the perception of the words: when we see أختي المؤمنة in Arabic, we don't think أختي المسيحية المؤمنة ; it is clear to us that the title is addressing Muslims. But if you go for the litteral translation "believer", it would not be equally clear to English speakers which religion you're talking about. This is why I suggested replacing المؤمنة (believer) with المسلمة (Muslim). It would deliver the same intention, and would be clearer to the different target readers.


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## Huda

Thank you very much.


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## Drink

cherine said:


> I understand what you mean, Huda. But the problem is in the perception of the words: when we see أختي المؤمنة in Arabic, we don't think أختي المسيحية المؤمنة ; it is clear to us that the title is addressing Muslims. But if you go for the litteral translation "believer", it would not be equally clear to English speakers which religion you're talking about. This is why I suggested replacing المؤمنة (believer) with المسلمة (Muslim). It would deliver the same intention, and would be clearer to the different target readers.



I actually think that "believer" in English does have a fairly strong suggestion of Islam. On the other hand, don't you think that Christian Arabs (or Arabic speakers of any other religion) might also refer to themselves as مؤمن?


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## PlanC

"*My sister in faith*" > As a unique title, it would be more likely interpreted for biblical context, but since the original version أختي المؤمنة also implies this connotation i don't see any problem.
"My sister towards Allah" > (Unless you find a better term,) I'm afraid that the problem will now reside in the use of the word "Toward" Versus "Towards", However and regardless the subtile difference (explained in the page i linked), I would rather use towards with 's' because it means we are "so many" under His reign, and no one could be ever _and forever_ equal to Him like the singular form would insinuate.


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## cherine

Drink said:


> I actually think that "believer" in English does have a fairly strong suggestion of Islam.


To use your own words, don't you think that English speaking Christians might also refer to themselves as believers? 


> On the other hand, don't you think that Christian Arabs (or Arabic speakers of any other religion) might also refer to themselves as مؤمن?


Sure, but the expression أختي المؤمنة is commonly used in islamic books.


PlanC said:


> "*My sister in faith*" > As a unique title, it would be more likely interpreted for biblical context, but since the original version أختي المؤمنة also implies this connotation i don't see any problem.


This is a good suggestion. But again, in itself it doesn't indicate which faith the book is addressing.


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## Huda

cherine said:


> This is a good suggestion. But again, in itself it doesn't indicate which faith the book is addressing.



The book is full of many Hadiths said by Prophet Muhammad.


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## cherine

Yes, Huda, we all know that the text is Islamic, but unless you indicate this in the English title, using any derivative of "faith" won't be enough to indicate which faith/religion you're talking about. Hence my suggestion. Which, of course, you're absolutely free to disregard.


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## ayed

My pious sister


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## cherine

ayed said:


> My pious sister


برضو؟ ما هي ممكن تكون "بايوس" في أي مِلَّة
While I do agree that "faithful, believer, pious....etc" are correct translation, I strongly believe that they don't work in the context of a book title that does not specify which religion it is about. If I buy such a book and find out it's addressing a faithful/believer/pious Christian, Jewish, Budhist or any other faith-sister, I'd feel cheated.


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## ayed

cherine said:


> برضو؟ ما هي ممكن تكون "بايوس" في أي مِلَّة
> While I do agree that "faithful, believer, pious....etc" are correct translation, I strongly believe that they don't work in the context of a book title that does not specify which religion it is about. If I buy such a book and find out it's addressing a faithful/believer/pious Christian, Jewish, Budhist or any other faith-sister, I'd feel cheated.


_The context is the governor of the exact meaning._


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## Huda

cherine said:


> Hence my suggestion. Which, of course, you're absolutely free to disregard.


your suggestion "dear Muslim sister"?


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## Huda

cherine said:


> برضو؟ ما هي ممكن تكون "بايوس" في أي مِلَّة
> While I do agree that "faithful, believer, pious....etc" are correct translation, I strongly believe that they don't work in the context of a book title that does not specify which religion it is about. If I buy such a book and find out it's addressing a faithful/believer/pious Christian, Jewish, Budhist or any other faith-sister, I'd feel cheated.


why not let the translation as ambiguous as the original title? it's a translation technique also.


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## cherine

Huda said:


> your suggestion "dear Muslim sister"?


Yes.


Huda said:


> why not let the translation as ambiguous as the original title? it's a translation technique also.


Is the Arabic title ambiguous? Would an Arabic speaking Christian woman think that the book is addressing her? If you think the answer is yes, then by all means, go ahead and use the literal translation.
As I said, my suggested translation is jus a suggestion, and it's totally up to you to chose the translation that convinces you most.


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