b) On transliterating Hebrew
In a discussion on the Islamic newsgroup soc.religion.islam (SRI), Zaman argued that Muhammad is prophecied by name in Song of Songs 5:16, and as his argument developed he gave various non-standard transliterations of the word he was discussing. In the following I quote first Zaman's response to being corrected by Andy Bannister, and then Bannister's answer:
> Here Andy Bannister proceeds to "correct" me by contesting my English
> transliteration of Hebrew words. Unless Andy Bannister can introduce
> any official standard for Hebrew transliteration, this entire point is
> lengthy, unnecessary, and ridiculous.
Shibli, this is a complete cop-out. Nearly every elementary grammar of
Hebrew and most dictionaries contain a system of transliteration. While
there is no absolute standard of transliteration, NO PUBLISHED academic
dictionary or grammar would justify ANY of the multiple ways that you
transliterated the word under discussion.
Let me remind our readers once more of the multiple ways in which you tried
to transliterate the singular ("machmad") and the plural ("machamaddim") of
the word in question in Song of Songs 5:16. You variously used:
MACHAMADIM
MACHAMMADIM
MACHAMADD
MACHAMAD
and in this, your most recent post, you added another:
MUCHAMMADIM
Now the reason I pointed out these mistakes is not simply some quibble over
transliteration methods, but that *no* transliteration method would allow
the horrendous mistakes I have quoted above. Let me go further and explain
why each of these is wrong:
1. In the case of "MACHAMADIM", no system of transliteration would justify
not doubling the "D" before the plural ending "IM".
2. In the case of "MACHAMADD", no system of transliteration would justify
doubling a final "D" with no daggesh forte or transliterating a silent shewa
with "A".
3. In the case of "MACHAMAD" no system of transliteration would justify
transliterating silent shewa with "A".
4. In the case of your "MACHAMMADIM", no system of transliteration would
justify doubling a "M" without a daggesh forte.
5. In the case of your "MUCHAMMADIM", no system of transliteration would
justify the "U", nor doubling a "M" without a daggesh forte.
As I have already said, what is most ironic is that you contradict not only
the transliteration systems used by the authorative dictionaries and
grammars, but you also contradict *YOURSELF* from one page to the next.
(Source: Andy Bannister, Re: PART 1 OF 4 : [The claim that Muhammad is found in Song of Songs 5:16], SRI posting on 2000/04/17)
http://www.answering-islam.org/Response ... stency.htm