First Translator of Quran into Amazigh Language Dies
According to Al-Shorouk, Sheikh Tayeb, a prominent died at the age of 92 in the Tizi Ouzou province of Algeria.
In a message of condolences to the family of the deceased, Algerian Awqaf Minister Youssef Belmahdi said that with his passing, Algeria has lost one of its prominent figures, a unique man who dedicated his life to serving religion and science.
Belmahdi described the deceased scholar as an imam, a mentor and teacher who dedicated his life to teaching, guiding and spreading the meanings of the Holy Quran.
“He had the privilege of translating the entire Quran into the Amazigh (Berber) language,” the Awqaf minister noted.
“In the face of this great tragedy, I can only express my sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathy to his family, students and loved ones.”
The late scholar was the first person to translate the Holy Quran into the Amazigh language, and his translation was approved by the King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex in Medina. Saudi Arabia also declared him worthy of the country's special award in recognition of the efforts of this Algerian thinker to realize the teachings of the Quran and translate the Quran into the Amazigh language.
After seven full years of serious and silent work to translate the Holy Quran, he completed this great work and presented his great achievement in Arabic script, confirming with conclusive evidence that Arabic script is more suitable for writing the Amazigh language than any other script.
Tayeb was born in 1934 in the city of Ifrahonen, Tizi Ouzou province, Algeria. As a child, he went to Zawia (traditional schools for teaching Quran memorization in Algeria) to memorize the Quran. In Zawia, he became familiar with some Arabic words that helped him understand the verses, and in 1948 he went to the province of Bejaia to learn more lessons.
This Algerian translator and interpreter of the Quran went to the Ibn Badis school in Constantine, Algeria, in 1953 and worked as a teacher and inspector in the Algerian National Education Department. After a while, he joined the revolution (1954-1962) to fight against French colonialism, for which he was sentenced to prison in 1958 until his country gained independence in 1962.
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He did not deviate from his path in learning and understanding the Quran during his imprisonment. He also continued his studies in Arabic literature at the university, graduating in 1966. He then worked in several positions, including assistant professor at the University of Tizi Ouzou. In 1985, he went to France as inspector of Muslim minority affairs, remaining in this position for four years.
The Amazigh language is spoken mostly by people on the African continent. The roots of this language are Afro-Asiatic, and most speakers of this language live in Algeria.
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