Abu Dhabi, March 23rd, 2010 (WAM) -- The translation initiative KALIMA, of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), announced the publication of "Islam and Arab history: a Guide to the Most Recent Western Literature", a book which provides an overview of works written on that topic in four languages: English, French, German, and Spanish.
The general overseeing of the book was conducted by Jumaa Al Qubaisi, Director of the National Library at ADACH; it was prepared by Dr. Ali bin Tamim, Director of KALIMA; with editing contributions from: Dr. Khalil Al Sheikh, Dr. Zainab Benyaya, Samer Abu Hauwash, Saeed Al Ghanemi , Subhi Hadidi, and Dr. Sadiq Jawhar. The book divides the 160 books mentioned into five categories, Islam: 26 publications, History of the Arabs and Muslims: 26 publications, Arts, Sciences and Philosophy: 21 publications, Andalusia, the Jewel of the World: 18 publications, The Ottoman Empire: 15 publications. The guide aims to open the door for the complete translation and thorough research of these works, which is seen as a first step to contributing to dialogue and relations with the West. The guide shows the process in which Arabs in their golden age translated the classical Greek works and developed them in a way that laid the foundations of modern European renaissance. KALIMA said there are scored of books published in the world, especially in the US and Europe, that need to be translated and researched in Arabic. Some of these works show the important role played by Arabs and Muslims in the development of human civilization, while other works have sought to give Western readers a view of the Muslim culture and faith in accordance with the authors' own subjective views. Regardless of the sate of their accuracy, these books nevertheless reflect how the West predominately views the Muslim World. And knowing how the other views you is an important part when engaging in dialogue. KALIMA noted that following 9/11 many books were published on Arabs and Muslims but some of them have sought to give a balanced account. And despite for the calls for a clash of civilisations and the huge amount of misconceptions and negative stereotypes, which had been previously fuelled by Orientalists, there had been a number of works that acknowledge the positive impact of the Islamic civilisation, and calls for understanding the other and constructive dialogue.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2010.
