KOTA KINABALU, March 31 – The ethnic groups in Sabah, especially Muslims from the Kadazandusun and Murut communities, can now understand the meaning of the Quran with the Arabic verses translated into the Dusun language,
Chairman of the Malaysian Kadazan Dusun Murut Muslim Organisation (KDMRS Muslim) Nicholas Sylvester said 10,000 copies of the Dusun Al-Quran have been produced and distributed for free, while another 50,000 copies would be printed.
He said the effort to translate the Quran into the Dusun language started 20 years ago when he first went to the rural areas to conduct missionary work.
“The Dusun language used for the Quran translation is the standard Dusun language used by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) as well as the school teaching co-curriculum which is (dialect) ‘bunduliwan’, ” he told reporters after the launch of the Dusun Al-Quran by the Yang Dipertua Negeri of Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin on Sunday.
Also present were Tun Juhar’s wife, Toh Puan Norlidah R.M Jasni, State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun, Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Ruslan Muharam and the Sabah Islamic Organisation (USIA) president Datuk Sapawi Ahmad.
Nicholas said the translation of the Quran into the Dusun language was conducted by a team which will also be translating the holy book into four other ethnic languages namely Kadazan, Murut, Rungus and Sungai.
