The first translation of the Qur’an, the Muslims’ holy book, into the Igbo language has been published in Nigeria.
Muhammad Murtala Chukwuemeka, the translator, said it took him five years to translate the sacred Islamic book into Igbo from Arabic, BBC Africa reported.
Chukwuemeka, who converted to Islam in 1989, said he had printed hundreds of copies of the Qur’an in Igbo to spread the “message of Allah” to his Igbo brothers and sisters.
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Nigeria, one of the world’s most religiously committed nations, is divided between a Muslim north and a Christian south.
Muslims and Christians, who constitute 54 and 45 percent of Nigeria’s 225 million population respectively, have lived in peace for the most part.
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Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group from Southeastern Nigeria.
Many Igbo are Christians, some practicing a syncretic version of Christianity intermingled with indigenous beliefs.
The Qur’an is a revelation from God, the creator of the worlds, so He is the original author.
There is only one Qur’an, which is in Arabic and many translations of the Qur’an in several languages.
There could be multiple translations by different authors in the same language, such as English.