The Contextualized Psalms (Punjabi Zabur)

A Precious Heritage of the Global Punjabi Christian Community

Yousaf Sadiq

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781725271531
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

The metrical translation of the Psalms into the Punjabi language, set to indigenous music in the late nineteenth century in India, plays a vital role in the personal and communal worship of the global Punjabi Christian community. This book is a pioneer work that comprehensively encompasses the cultural, socio-historical, missional, and sociolinguistic aspects of the Punjabi Psalter. It investigates the unique and fascinating story of the contextualizing of Psalms in an exclusive South Asian Punjabi context and engages in an in-depth study on the life and work of Rev. Dr. Imam-ud-Din Shahbaz. This work determines to bring a deeper appreciation for the Punjabi Psalter by encouraging the Punjabi Christians to not only pass the Psalms on to the next generations but also to grow in loving and valuing their mother-tongue, the Punjabi language. The thrust of this book is to esteem the shared heritage of the global Punjabi Christian community--the Psalms in Punjabi, commonly known as the Punjabi Zabur.

I

The Making of the Punjabi Psalter

The Psalms translated into the Punjabi language in versified form can unequivocally be regarded as the most accustomed, read, sung, recited, and memorized part of Scripture by the body of Christ in Pakistan. This chapter endeavors to explore the historical and sociocultural context in which the Psalms were translated into Punjabi, the methodology that was taken up by the Psalms committee in preparing them, and the past links of Christian missions with the Sialkot region of Punjab, where the story of the Punjabi Psalms originated. Furthermore, the Urdu metrical psalms that led to the preparation of Psalms in the Punjabi language are discussed.

1. Sialkot and the early Christian Missions

The account of the Punjabi Psalms dates back to the 1890s from Sialkot, a diminutive city situated in the northeast of present-day Pakistan, then British India. Before proceeding further, it is beneficial to briefly divulge a few historic connections between Sialkot and the preceding Christian missions, as the name Sialkot will recur over the following pages in relation to the Punjabi metrical psalms and the different characters attached to it. Today, the city is proud to produce world-class sports goods, preeminently hand-stitched footballs, and surgical instruments par excellence. It also generates the largest revenue for the country after Karachi, the largest city and the commercial nucleus of Pakistan. Moreover, Sialkot is famous for producing cordon bleu rice in the country. Doctor John Youngson, a missionary of the Church of Scotland in the Punjab, regarded the city as a key municipality in a highly productive and densely inhabited region.1 The contributions of the Christian missions toward the present-day business status and economic stability of the city does require some comprehensive research.

Many people appear ignorant and some are refusing to accept reality by calling the contribution of Christian missions to the present-day economic strength of Sialkot a mere coincidence, while others acknowledge the truth that the present-day surgical industry in Sialkot was developed due to the presence of the Christian hospital. It remains a fact that, toward the end of the nineteenth century, the Christian missionaries opened up business opportunities for the inhabitants of Sialkot, and encouraged them in the hand-working skills for which the city is today renowned. In regard to this, Robert Stewart, an American missionary of the United Presbyterian Mission in Sialkot, writes: “Another method adopted for the advancement of the people in worldly prosperity is that of industrial training,” it was considered an important area on which the Christian missions were focusing in making arrangements to help the locals to receive training.2 Today, several Christians living in Sialkot are involved in manufacturing world-class surgical instruments at a small scale.

Besides, the Christian missions contributed considerably in the areas of health and education in Sialkot. The Memorial Christian Hospital (commonly known as the Mission Hospital), was built by the American Presbyterians and inaugurated by the principal English representative Major Montgomery in 1889 and has been serving the people of Sialkot without any discrimination.3 It is fascinating to know that the surgical industry in Sialkot was born a...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter I: The Making of the Punjabi Psalter
• Chapter II: The Contributors for the Punjabi Psalter
• Chapter III: The Punjabi Psalms
• Chapter IV: The Present-Day Usage of the Punjabi Psalms
• Chapter V: Missiological Aspects of the Psalms in an Islamic Context
• Chapter VI: The Sociolinguistic Circumstances Facing Pakistani Punjabi Christians
• Bibliography