Master’s research · Translation & Interpreting · 2016
Justified Violations in Subtitling The Holy Qur’an
How should subtitles preserve meaning, support different readers, and follow recitation? Ameerah Dana’s Al-Quds University thesis examines the reasons behind departures from familiar subtitling conventions.
Read the three articlesThe thesis argues that Qur’anic subtitles should be judged in relation to their purpose, and that some departures from conventional reduction, layout, and timing can be justified by that purpose.
The research asks how the subtitling of a sacred text differs from other audiovisual material, which linguistic and technical practices appear in selected Qur’anic-channel examples, and whether those practices fulfil the aims of the presentation. Its theoretical starting point is Skopos: the function a translation is intended to perform for its audience. The conventions used for comparison are chiefly the historical guidance discussed through Karamitroglou (1998) and Schwarz (2002).
The audience described in the thesis is varied. English can support understanding, Arabic on-screen text can help viewers follow recitation, and transliteration can assist with pronunciation. The study also identifies access for people with hearing difficulties and learning tajwīd among the possible purposes. Within its religious framework, the Arabic Qur’an and interpretations of its meaning have different roles; the subtitle must account for that distinction.
Using a descriptive, comparative method, the study examines selected internet and television material collected from 25 October 2014 to 30 December 2015. It brings together screenshots, published translations, linguistic discussion, subtitle measurements, and audio analysis. Examples are selected for the issues they illustrate. The two technical tables contain ten layout examples and fifteen timing entries; these are not the size of a representative channel survey.
The linguistic analysis explains why English may require more space. A polysemous Arabic word may need a context-sensitive equivalent or an explanatory gloss. Compact Arabic morphology can become a multiword English phrase. Repetition, passive constructions, negation, implicit references, cultural imagery, and gender marking can also carry meaning that simple shortening would change. The thesis generally defends retaining these features, while accepting some restructuring and explanatory additions.
The technical analysis finds varied placement, screen area, line counts, and durations. Seven of the ten examples in the layout table have three English lines. The timing discussion relates the on-screen text to recitation and the Arabic display, rather than explaining duration through text length alone. However, the author does not accept every departure: an opaque subtitle band that obscures an imam in prayer is treated as potentially unjustified.
The contribution is a purpose-based account of why subtitle conventions may need adaptation for this material. The study recommends further university research in audiovisual translation and trained translators and subtitlers for Qur’anic channels. It provides cases and interpretive arguments, but no reported viewer-comprehension experiment demonstrating that its favoured departures improve understanding.
Source: thesis abstract in the cover PDF, p. 6; body PDF pp. 1–9, 13–16, 17–65, and 66–68. See the source notes below for pagination and editorial qualifications.
How the study works
A close reading of selected audiovisual examples.
- 01Identify the purpose
Consider understanding, access, recitation, and pronunciation, alongside the roles of Arabic, English, and transliteration.
- 02Compare language choices
Examine subtitle examples and English translations for lexical, grammatical, rhetorical, and cultural differences.
- 03Measure the display
Use Subtitle Workshop, Microsoft Publisher, and Audacity to inspect text, screen proportions, duration, and recitation waveforms.
- 04Interpret the departures
Relate observed practices to the cited conventions and to the aims of Qur’anic presentation. Readability is a criterion advocated by the study, not an experimentally measured result.
Critical analysis
The contribution and its limits.
Contribution. The thesis connects technical decisions to linguistic and religious context. It gives concrete reasons why compression can remove rhetorical or interpretive information and why recitation matters to timing.
Scope. This is an issue-led selection of examples, not a representative survey of all Qur’anic channels. The methods describe limited channel outreach, with one reply, and do not establish a complete sampling denominator. Claims about the selected material should not become claims about every channel or present-day platform.
Evidence. Character counts, screenshots, and durations document features of a display. Judgments that particular choices better fulfil the subtitle’s purpose are the author’s interpretations. The thesis does not report viewer testing that would establish comprehension, reading comfort, or accessibility outcomes.
An internal tension. The conclusion’s strong call to preserve source structure sits alongside examples that accept English word-order changes, supplied referents, and explanatory paraphrase. The articles acknowledge this tension and treat fidelity as a question of meaning and rhetorical function, not an instruction to copy Arabic form mechanically.
Three English articles
Explore the thesis in depth.
Accessible editorial articles based on the thesis, each with source-page notes and a clear distinction between reported observations and practical implications.
When Purpose Comes First: Qur’anic Subtitling and Its Audience
Ameerah Dana’s master’s research asks when the purpose of a sacred-text subtitle can justify departing from familiar conventions of brevity, layout, and timing.
Read · 5 min read →Preserving Meaning Between Arabic and English
Polysemy, compact word structure, repetition, and implicit references make Qur’anic subtitling a problem of interpretation as well as screen space.
Read · 5 min read →Following the Recitation: Space and Time on Screen
The thesis’s measured examples show why subtitle length alone cannot explain display duration, while a closer reading reveals what those measurements can—and cannot—establish.
Read · 5 min read →Source & editorial notes
About this adaptation.
Da‘na, Ameerah ‘Mohammad Akram’ Younes. (2016). Justified Violations in Subtitling The Holy Qur’an. Master’s thesis, Translation and Interpreting, Al-Quds University. Supervisor: Dr. Mohammad Thawabteh.
This summary and the three articles were prepared in English from the supplied thesis body and its separate cover/front matter. They are editorial adaptations, not verbatim chapters or separately peer-reviewed publications. Religious and interpretive positions are attributed to the study. Practical suggestions beyond its findings are identified as editorial implications.
Page notes refer to PDF page positions counted from the first page of each supplied file. The body contains 71 PDF pages and the cover/front matter contains 14. This convention avoids ambiguity in the original contents list and printed pagination. The title and degree details come from the cover and approval pages; the abstract is on cover PDF page 6.
Minor source inconsistencies are not silently reproduced. Table 1’s first character total is arithmetically inconsistent, and two Table 2 durations do not exactly match their listed timestamps. The timing article uses four entries whose arithmetic agrees and distinguishes the “one word” label in Screenshot 23 from the isolated letters actually shown. It also distinguishes that display from the Arabic-only short-surah image in Screenshot 24.
The referenced subtitling guidance is discussed as part of the 2016 thesis, not as independently verified current platform policy. The original PDFs and their personal front matter have not been added as website downloads.
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