Swahili as a Religious Language

Topan, Farouk M.

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Title:	Swahili as a Religious Language
Author:	Topan, Farouk M.
Year:	1992
Periodical:	Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:	22
Issue:	4
Period:	November
Pages:	331-349
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Uganda Kenya Tanzania East Africa
Subjects:	Christianity Islam Swahili language Religion and Witchcraft Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) language Swahili
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1581239.pdf
Abstract:	This paper examines the first two stages of the development of Swahili in eastern Africa, beginning with the role of Swahili as an Afro-Islamic language when it borrowed vocabulary and concepts from Arabic and Islam. Next came the 'oecumenical' stage when the language was also used by missionaries as an important medium for the spread of Christianity in the region. These processes occurred in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth. The process went beyond an exercise in translation. It involved the creation of a vocabulary to suit particular doctrinal needs as perceived on the East African coast and, separately, on the mainland. The underlying aim, however, was the same: to use Swahili as a religious language. Two factors are discussed. The first is historical: that the formulation of Islamic theological concepts in Swahili was undertaken prior to the repetition of the process for Christianity. The second factor is sociolinguistic and involves the validity or appropriateness of translating and transposing religious concepts from one cultural milieu to another. The two factors are linked. What transpired could perhaps be termed a 'transfer of knowledge'. The paper discusses the way the 'transfer' was effected through the use of selected terminology in Islamic and Christian Swahili. Attention is also paid to the extent to which words of Arabic origin were employed in Christian literature, and to the Swahili translation of the concept of the 'Holy Spirit'. Bibliogr., notes, ref.