This paper identifies the linguistic difficulties in translating the Holy Quran. For Muslims, the Quran is the word of Allah. It contains devotions and instructions that are full of both literal and figurative styles. These figures of speech constitute an obstacle in translating the Quran into English. This article attempts to elaborate some lexical, syntactic and semantic problems and supports the argument with examples of verses from the Quran.

The methodology of 'Ilm al-Tafsir and the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) highlight the similarities and differences in leveraging the text as research data beyond the level of the text's structure. Questions on similarities and differences between methodologies are addressed in the present study. This study, therefore, compares the similarities and the differences between the methodology of 'Ilm al-Tafsir and the methodology of CDA. Based on the comparison, the present study also constructs a religious discourse analysis model. The selected methodology of 'Ilm al-Tafsir is al-Sabuniy's in Safwat al- Tafasir (1979), while the chosen methodology of CDA is Fairclough's 3D (1992;1995). The universal principle of discourse and the linguistic goals in the philosophy of language is applied in the analysis. Similarities and differences were identified in the production, meaning and interpretation. The findings strongly suggest that the two methodologies have circumstances which lead to the use of language, the production of language, the features of texts, the nature of meaning and the means of interpretation. One of the main focuses of the comparison is on the differences that constitute barriers to the adoption of CDA for religious discourse analysis, specifically the critical approach towards the sickle and the fixed elements. The obstacles to this alternative are presented in order to prove that there is a linguistic approach that is capable of linking language with social elements. The findings thus have implications for the relatively new methodology of religious discourse in linguistic studies.

It is a fact that the role of pronouns, especially personal pronouns, in representing socio-political ideologies is not new as it has been studied extensively in relation to political discourse. However, this role needs to be examined in the newspaper discourse. Consequently, the current paper intends to examine personal and possessive pronouns used in newspaper articles to represent socio-political ideologies. Such a study requires a critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyse excerpts from news articles in Iraqi English newspaper, known as the Kurdish Globe (henceforth, KG), on the event of American military forces’ (henceforth, AMFs’) withdrawal from Iraq. Using a qualitative content analysis, the excerpts are categorized thematically in relation to the ideological values found in them. It is revealed that the KG newspaper made use of direct quotation of American politicians’ statements which contain plural personal and possessive pronouns when referring to their actions. This has served two aspects; firstly, it showed its objectivity in conveying the news event using quotations of newsworthy value. Secondly, it enhanced its socio-political ideologies through the direct quotations of American politicians whose government has a powerful authority over Iraq. On the one hand, the KG newspaper used personal and possessive pronouns associated with the positive representation of the U.S. government and its forces to show its trust in them. On the other hand, personal and possessive pronouns related to the Iraqi politicians were associated with negative representation to enhance its distrust in the Iraqi government.

Recently, deviant teaching has become a religious crime because it has been associated with extremist groups promoting violence and killing people in the name of Islam. This paper discusses the importance of forensic linguistics in detecting religious deviant teaching in Malaysia, having the objectives of (1) identifying a text's features that can be used as evidence when detecting deviant teaching, and (2) describing the interpretation of meanings given by the leader of the deviant group. The discussion of forensic linguistics is based on a religious discourse analysis approach proposed by Nordin (2015). The data used in the discussion are selected from two religious decisions, which are Ajaran Azhar bin Wahab in the state of Kedah and Ajaran Harun in the state of Pahang. The results show that the main features of a text that can be used as evidence in detecting deviant teaching are sacred words; for instance, karamah (extraordinary happenings) andTuhan (God). The results also show that the interpretation of meaning given by the leader of a deviant group is distorted from its actual meaning as determined by religious authorities, namely the Ahl Sunnah walJama'ah.

Perundingan merupakan salah satu bentuk interaksi sosial yang digunakan dalam proses perdamaian antara individu mahupun kumpulan yang berkonflik. Kemahiran penggunaan bahasa yang efektif dalam perundingan sangat penting bagi memastikan objektif perundingan dapat dicapai khususnya dalam pembinaan hubungan yang baik antara kedua-dua belah pihak. Kajian ini memberi fokus kepada cara Nabi Yusuf AS menggembleng bahasa dalam mengubah amalan sosial iaitu konflik antara baginda dengan saudara-saudaranya melalui wacana perundingan. Secara khususnya, kajian ini dilakukan untuk melakukan deskripsi terhadap dialog antara Nabi Yusuf AS dengan saudara-saudaranya semasa proses perundingan menerusi penganalisisan terhadap i) penggunaan bahasa sebagai medium utama perundingan; dan ii) hubungan kuasa perunding dengan bahasa dalam perundingan. Artikel ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif melalui analisis wacana al-Quran, metode al-Jurjānīy serta analisis wacana kritis, metode Fairclough (1992; 2003). Wacana perundingan yang dipilih untuk tujuan analisis ini ialah teks dialog antara Nabi Yusuf AS dan saudara-saudaranya daripada surah Yūsuf dalam tiga fasa perundingan iaitu perundingan penyediaan bekalan makanan, perundingan penahanan Bunyāmīn dan perundingan perdamaian. Berdasarkan pendekatan analisis wacana kritis Fairclough itu, dimensi tekstual kajian ini meliputi modaliti, partikel dan struktur teks. Manakala dimensi amalan wacana dibataskan kepada daya ujaran sahaja. Analisis dimensi amalan sosial diperlihatkan melalui pertalian antara kedua-dua dimensi. Dapatan menunjukkan bahawa terdapat praktis sosial yang menggambarkan wujud penggunaan kuasa dalam wacana perundingan Nabi Yusuf AS dengan saudara-saudaranya di samping penggunaan bahasa baginda yang bersifat persuasif, tegas dan santun yang membentuk hubungan sosial antara mereka.